I recently acquired an srv strat. ive heard i should use 12's to on it to get that srv sound. Is there anything i could do to get his sound besides having his hands

Get an Ibanez Tube Screamer.

Also channel SRV in a eance type of ritual...because thats really the only way it'll happen.

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CREDO ELVEM IPSUM ETAIM VIVERE

Actually he used 13s and had very high action.He also had his amps dimed,so move out in the country .I have an srv strat and i have 10s on mine.I also play with thru a bassman ,a BDRI and a tubescreamer, but i dont sound anything like SRV. its those dang hands of mine! I would just experiment until you find a sound you really like and have fun with it.Nothing wrong with giving a nod to your hero , but find your own voice and play your heart out.

how do you get a high action

raise the saddles, but beware, if you're not use to 12 gauge strings, a high action is going to make it difficult to play, even with low action.

12's are hard at first, but after a while you learn to love 'em.

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'talkin about stevie - what height abouts was his action? i'm not usually arsed about all action and stuff, but I just got reading about action.

Judging from what I've seen on DVDs, I'd say all the way up.

It's insane...

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you'll also need about $10-12k for a Dumble Steel String Stinger

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The mind is like a parachute; it doesn't work unless its open-FZ

It's sort of interesting reading the debate about a high action or, more specifically, the tradeoff between tone and playability that ensues with action adjustments. Though SRV pretty clearly set his action a mile high, he did it because he was an excellent player who could afford the moderate increase in tonal quality offered by a high action. I, on the other hand, am forced to keep my action at more moderate levels; I generally set it low and move it slowly up until I can't quite play easily. Then I leave it and, eventually, it becomes easier and easier.

Having a high action won't necessarily make you sound more like SRV, but it will improve your tone and make you a stronger, better player. Most professional musicians I know are devoted to a high action for the first of these two reasons. As tremendous players, a loss in playability is subordinated to the quest for tone. All that said, I'd say that a moderate action can be easily tweaked to suit each individual players. Most metal guys like them insanely low, and lots of blues players prefer it higher. Really it's finding that balance.

As for sounding more like SRV, I believe his rig went something like this:

Stratocaster --> Tubscreamer --> Tubescreamer --> Y-splitter --> a pair of really loud, really clean (yes, really clean) Fender blackface combos of some sort.

Wow an SRV Strat it must be nice. I bet it sounds sweet. Sorry i cant help with your question.

Hey you guys forgot to mention that SRV tuned a half step down to E flat. This helped relieve some tension on those thick strings, and add a bit of a growl to his tone.

Henry Garza of Los Lonely Boys uses a very similar setup on his MIM 60's strats.

Peace!

This might be off the point here but high action can also make using a slide easier also...

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explorationx

I still say all this heavy gauge strings and jacking up the action business is totally unnecessary to mimic SRV's sound. Just tweak the settings on your amp, you'll get it.

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