“Without tone, there really isn’t anything”: How to nail Stevie Ray Vaughan’s guitar sound on a budget

Stevie Ray Vaughan has reference-quality blues god tone, but don’t let that stop you from trying to recreate it at home.

Huge heart and a ferocious picking hand are essential. So too a Stratocaster. This was the foundation. As SRV relayed to Double Trouble drummer Chris Layton, “Without tone, there really isn’t anything!”

Famously preferring heavy strings – as heavy as the fingers will allow – his playing was physical. His amps were bruisers, too. Vintage Fender for dynamics and headroom, then later Dumbles, such as the 150-watt Steel String Singer. 

He near single-handedly popularised the Tube Screamer, owned Hendrix’s Vox wah pedal, used various fuzz pedals, but here we’re thinking budget, so let’s look at some essentials to get started.

The ‘You can’t spell super saver without SRV’ rig

Squier Affinity Stratocaster – £219

(Image credit: Fender)

Get the 3-Color Sunburst, Surf Green or Honey Burst and you’ll have the Indian laurel fingerboard. Not rosewood but not bad and it nails the look. The three single-coils will give you the spank, and the fingerboard’s 9.5” radius and medium jumbo frets, allied to a crowd-pleasing C profile neck, makes this an excellent guitar for workshopping blues chops. 

Mooer Green Mile overdrive pedal – $66/£49, street

(Image credit: Mooer)

A super-compact Tube Screamer clone with Warm and Hot modes, Level, Tone and Overdrive controls, and a price tag that won’t give the bank manager the blues. 

Harley Benton TUBE5 Celestion – $138/£133

This is as cheap as tube amps get. It is low-powered enough to sound good at domestic volumes, and its power output is switchable between five watts and one. Use it on 5W for extra headroom. Sure, we would all love Stevie’s amp collection but who needs a Dumble Steel Stringer when playing at home?

The ‘Mary had a little cash’ rig

Squier FSR Classic Vibe 60s Stratocaster – $429/£419, street

Now we’re talkin’! Look at this thing. An FSR (Fender Special Run) Strat, so get it quick before it’s gone, this gets the vibe of Vaughan’s number one Strat right on, with gold hardware, 3-Tone Sunburst and a vintage-tint gloss neck. The Fender-designed pickups are more like it, too.

Fender Pro Junior IV – $649 / £609

(Image credit: Fender)

Classic Fender amp tones and very affordable, the Pro Junior makes for an excellent platform for SRV blues adventures. It has been revoiced for a tighter bass response and drives its 10” Jensen speaker with 15 watts.

Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini – $79/£55

(Image credit: Ibanez)

It has everything that its larger sibling has except the size. Okay, those dials are a little small, but once you dial it in, that’s you set. 

Vox V845 wah pedal – $89/£58

(Image credit: Vox)

We would be tempted to pony up for the V847 but at this price, no one is complaining. Heck, you could buy two of ’em to replicate Say What!. The circuit is based on the original vintage Vox wahs of the ’60s.

Some extras and a Texas wildcard

Fender 351 medium gauge picks – $5.99/£4.99 per dozen

(Image credit: Fender)

All this talk of gear doesn’t mean anything without the feel – and that means string contact. It might not work or everyone, but he used these 351 profile guitar picks, often picking with the fat end, not the pointy bit. Give it a try.

GHS Nickel Rockers 11-58 Low Tune – $9.99 / £12.99

(Image credit: GHS)

If the Cult of Stevie requires your Strat to be dressed in the heaviest strings possible, yet your finger dexterity is not quite there yet, try this hybrid set. Yeah, 11s are still heavy by our money, but not yet masochistic. And the heavy bottom strings will give you that solid foundation. 

Vertex Effects Steel String Supreme SR Mini Overdrive Pedal – $/£199

No one can afford a Dumble, and no company can really put that sound in a pedal, but as D-style drives go, this can give any clean amp more of that SRV snappiness and attack. Not cheap but could be a key ingredient with a Strat, Tube Screamer and… well, some talent.

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