There are 3 things that effect your tone and sound:

1. The guitar. What kind of guitar you have and how is the guitar set up? Both players played Strats for the most part. Rosewood necks sound different than maple necks. SRV used big thick strings and tuned his guitar half a step down to "Eb." Everything about the construction the guitar changes something.
You can also get Texas Specials Strat Pickups. Also Use the tone knobs that come with the guitar.

2. the Amplifier. SRV had many amps all chained together. I use a Peavey Delta Blues. It has a big old 16" speaker. I really like it. When you buy an amp bring your guitar with you. When buying a guitar use the amp you use at home. Amps play a big part in how you sound.

3. The last thing, and something you have little control over, is the way you play. We aren't Eric Clapton, Hendrex or SRV. Each person's attack is different. How you strike the strings; how you bend a note; how you do vibrato and how you phrase your playing effects everything.
I guarantee you that if you saw Eric Clapton playing in front of you and he stopped; handed you his guitar, you would sound different than him. You'd wonder why, too. A player's touch is unique to them and hard to mimic perfectly. If you list to SRV and Hendrix, you might surprised to find that they actually sound different. Watch how these guys play. In my opinion, no other guitar brings out a person playing style and sound like Fender Stratocaster


I hope this helps.

Paris

You could try the old blues tradition of selling your soul

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I traded my car in for a microphone.

57/62 pickups, a little reverb and use the neck pickup

Those are pretty good suggestions.

Low output pickups and a good amp (can be master volume to give you the distortion, but not a high gain type of distortion).

For me, it's Marshall amps (with Master Volumes).

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

If you ask me, that's two totally different tones you're after. Let's just say that we know the artist true tone is in the fingers, their gear has a distinctive voice.

If you want the Basic Idea,

Guitar and Amp :

Hendrix is a Strat Though Marshall.

SRV, Strat Through Fender (or Fender-like Riveras, Soldanos, and Music Man's).

Effects :

Hendrix - Fuzz, Delay, Octave.

SRV - Chorus, Rotovibe (Leslie), Tube Screamer.

The only thing they really have in common is Reverb.

Now you need to get a few techniques under your belt. You can find those in Guitar magzines and "Play Like" DVDs. Or try Hendrix Lesson or SRV Lesson in the Youtube.

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"Persistence Is The Father Of Invention"
-Crazy Old Man In Training

do some LSD. then play some BLUES = HENDRIX.
DRINK and do COCAINE then play some BLUES = SRV

i know this doesn't answer the question asked but i found when i stopped trying to sound so much like my favorite guitarists, i got better. i've got my own sound going on now whether it sounds good or not, i don't care. it's mine and i like it. i think we're always gonna be tinkering around with our sound but in the end we come back to "homebase".
make sense? i usually don't.

I agree, no matter how hard you try you'll always sound like YOU. It's nice to get close, it's nice to learn SRV or Hendrix licks, but make 'em your own...

I've seen guitar players with fancy guitars and amps trying hard to sound like somebody else with no luck, then here comes another guy with a cheap Sqiuer or whatever who sounds so much like SRV without even trying to!

I go thru phases, in the beginning, back in the 80s, I wanted to be Clapton, then I listened to what he listened to and then I wanted to be Freddie or BB... then I heard Albert King and wanted to be him, even learnerd to play upside down! At one time I wanted to be Santana, ok you get the idea... there was no way I could sound like any of these guys, but I really liked their tone, that's really what I was after, but it helped to shape my playing to what it is now, I just pick and choose licks from all these greats and make them my own.

Good luck and practice as much as you can!

Things you gotta have to sound like Stevie Vaughan:

Prodigal talent

A loner personality and self esteem issues

"Friends" who want to wring you out for everything they can get

Get cheated on and dabble in a little adultry

A major cocaine and /or crack addiction, a dash of alcoholism

A handfull of true friends

The desire to play and learn all day long, every day

Stand in the shadow of your older brother, whom you consider your hero

The desire to play anywhere, anytime regardless of how hard it is to get up in front of people

Do all of that and then you can approach what went on inside the man's head. Blues comes from the psyche, and life experience is the best slate from which to compose and phrase great blues. Sure, he had influences, but the life experiences that make a person are what gets them to tell their story the way Stevie did. Making that guitar your own voice by playing it to death several times over; he did that to more than one guitar! Most people's axes don't have the mileage he put on each of his show guitars.

Bottom line is it doesn't matter what you do because you'll never sound just like him. The best thing you can do is play, play, and play until your fingers can stap guitar necks. Pull from your influences; all of them. Let them have a word, but you gotta carry on the conversation yourself. That's how you get people to listen. When you sound like you, with all of your practice, pain, exhilleration, joy and sorrow, people will want to hear your story.

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60th Anniversary AD Strat, Deluxe Nashville Tele, Player's P Bass. Mesa/Boogie Mk IV combo, Marshall JCM800, 1960A cab, Genz Benz El Diablo 60, Genz 2x12" cab, too many neat little practice amps and kit projects!