Is a Strat a 'MUST' to Get Close to SRV's Sound

[rob5755]

I currently have a Made-in-Japan (MIJ) 2011 Fender Pawn Shop '51, alder body and maple neck.

REALLY getting into SRV lately and musician friends are insisting I've gotta have a rosewood fingerboard Strat instead. I have a PRRI amp, Ibanez TS-9, and an original ProCo RAT.

Thoughts, musings, ad hoc advice? My other guitars are an MJT Nocaster tele and a 2017 PRS SE245

 

[dlew919]

You’ll never get srv sound exactly. But you’ll go close with that. No need to upgrade


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[Frodebro]

SRV used the 4th position for some stuff, but you can get by with the Tele neck pickup for most of the rest. If you're dead set on nailing his stuff though, you need to look at the entire signal chain and, most importantly, put in the time learning his style and technique.

 

[Fretting out]

I think the finger board has less to do with it than the scale length and placement of pickups along that scale length (for a strat sound)
Even if you have SRV’s strat you wouldn’t sound like him , he could play an Es 335 and sound like himself

I’d say stick with what you have and work on technique as long as you have a decent amp with a little bit of overdrive and try different pickup positions on your current guitar

It can be an endless rabbit hole trying to replicate a famous tone , only to realize at the end you will never get it exactly right

 

[zeke54]

Fretting out ... +1 .

 

[Slap Axe]

In my humble opinion, yes, you need a strat for starters just to get yourself in the ballpark. Those neck, neck/middle sounds are pretty unique to the strat.

 

[rob5755]

KWS send to have SRV's sounds nailed down...

 

[Bergy]

Didn't Stevie start out on a Telecaster?

Your question kinda begs another in response; How close is close enough? I think in most applications of guitarism the specific guitar being played is quite a bit less important than the approach of the person playing it.

I don't think emulating the swagger of SRV is imperative on wielding a Stratocaster. If your playing fundamentals are sound and squarely rooted in the school of SRV, noone is gonna complain that your neck pickup has a slightly different frequency response curve. Most people aren't that attuned to guitar tones. If you've got friends who fetishize SRV so much that only a Stratocaster with SRV etched into the pickguard will do...hand them a guitar and ask em to show you how its done.

 

[brookdalebill]

I’ll go out on a limb and say “yes”.

 

[drf64]

yes

 

[Frodebro]

Your question kinda begs another in response; How close is close enough? I think in most applications of guitarism the specific guitar being played is quite a bit less important than the approach of the person playing it.

I agree with this. My old band did a handful of Stones songs, and I put in some extra time learning the basics of Keith's style to make things sound more "correct," and it did make a big difference once I learned it well enough to emulate it passably well.

 

[tdoty]

Maple versus rosewood isn't going to matter.....not one bit. I doubt any of your friends could tell the difference from one wood to another.

Pickup placement matters, but Stevie played a few different guitars, to great effect. Same with Hendrix, he just played off the rack Fenders, no vintage voodoo mojo going on there. I mention it because Jimi was one of Stevie's idols.

It's in the hands and the approach. I have a friend that has a definitive sound of his own......and can make it come out no matter the gear he is playing. OTOH, I sound equally crappy - no matter the gear.

Maybe, maybe, once you're well on the way to "the sound" gear will come into play. I think you'd have to be pretty far down that road for what you're driving to be the deciding factor.

Just my opinions.

 

[telemnemonics]

Drop in at your nearest GC location, plug in a Strat, and see if you then sound like SRV.
If not, go home and keep practicing on your 51.
Try a Strat once a month and when it makes you sound like SRV buy it.

Not being a jerk but you may need other things before the lack of a Strat is the thing that’s holding you back.

 

[Bristlehound]

Here's a maple-necked Affinity Telecaster demoing Tonerider pickups doing an SRV sound... I don't think you need a Strat.

 

[Frodebro]

Has anybody mentioned tucking your pants into your boots? I remember all the wannabes at the open mikes back in the '90s, and a lot of them had the pants tucked and the big hats. That might only work for Mary Had A Little Lamb and Pride And Joy, though, because I don't remember any of them playing anything else.

 

[rolandson]

No.
Practice. Critical listening. And more practice.

Equipment didn't make the sound. The man did.

 

[DougM]

I think that learning Albert King licks is just as important as anything in emulating SRV.

 

[marc2211]

There is a video on YouTube of Stevie playing a Tele... And sounding exactly like normal. Same for him playing a Les Paul.

It's so much more about the style and technique than the guitar itself.

The other issue trying for a SRV tone is the amps, and the sheer volume needed to get his sound.

For me technique>amps>guitar.

 

[Mad Kiwi]

In my humble opinion, yes, you need a strat for starters just to get yourself in the ballpark. Those neck, neck/middle sounds are pretty unique to the strat.

I agree with you. Yes a tele neck will get close, just dod that today as a matter of fact...but...only a strat does pos 2 and 4.

I think a lot of people get this backwards. A good/great player will sound great on almost anything. Will also mostly sound like themselves ...but...that's why they are considered good and revered.

For beginners or less good players, being in the ballpark of the sound and knowing that the equipment is the same/similar leaves you knowing that practice is still required, that the gear isnt the issue. It also helps with confidence and dedication to have those breif but recogniseable moments when THE sound comes from out of your fingers and gear.

Rosewood or maple is irrelevant but a strat IS the sound.

 

[rze99]

Lots of good advice here to focus on the playing and technique. But you’ll end up getting a Strat and you’ll need to in order to get as close as you’ll want to his tone.