SRV "pride and joy" tone

[tonedreamer]

Our band keeps getting requests for Stevie Ray Vaughn pride and joy, we're mostly a country band but get occasional requests for classic rock. Any tips on how to get that SRV tone in that song. I have an American Strat and a Fender tube amp. The songs not that difficult to play, got it down for the most part, just doesn't sound quite right. All I have for dirt is a DS-2

 

[jebbo]

Use the DS-2, roll your volume down a little so you get a nice bluesy OD, and use the neck pup of the Strat. That's all it is realy. It's your standard blues shuffle thing that everyone loves.

 

[tonedreamer]

copy that. thanks I'll try it

 

[Jakedog]

There is a lot of neck pickup tone in some of the solo passages in that song. Most of it however, is the in between position (bridge/middle).

Not familiar at all with the DS2. Stevie used TS pedals most of the time. FWIW, he wasn't concerned with the vintage models so much. When the 808 was new, he used that. When the TS9 was new, he used that. He even did lots of shows with the TS10 when it dropped.

The mid hump of those TS style pedals does a lot for beefing up the naturally scooped sound of a Fender amp.

IMO, the way to the SRV style tone is NOT with a neck pickup and a cranked up TS. That's way too dark to get into his territory.

SRV used all the positions on his switch, but really did a ton of stuff in the bridge/middle switch position. His tones are also incredibly bright a lot of the time, especially on the Texas Flood album. His technique for setting up an amp in those days was to use a Blackface like a Super Reverb or Vibroverb, and to turn it way, way up. The intro and rhythm tracking on that song is textbook Blackface cranked to the "annihilate" level, with no dirtbox.

He would set the tone of the amp, by turning it up, and jack hammering the low E string. He eq'd the whole amp around that low E. When it was sounding tight, with no flub or fart, and loud as hell, then the amp was right. That makes for a hella bright tone most of the time. Watch Live at the El Macambo for a great example of this.

With the amps set like that, the TS pedal didn't need much gain on it at all. It was almost used more as a clean boost, with the volume up and the gain down. It just pushed an already red hot amp over the edge.

If you want that tone at useable club gig volumes, IMO it can't be done. but you can get really close. Brighten up the amp, and try spending a lot of time in that #4 position with the bridge and middle together, and dig in really deep. Stevie's hand were like vice grips. Don't know what gauge strings you use, but I get WAY closer to his thing with 11's than with anything lighter. I used to play 12's, but can't do it anymore. Resist the urge to use too much gain. 99% of the time, SRV's tone is a lot cleaner than it sounds to the casual listener. later in his career when he got into the Dumbles his tone really gained up and got muddy, and I thought, suffered a lot. You can hear an example of that on the "Live From Austin,TX" video, the later ACL appearance was all that muddy Dumble thing. The pure cranked Blackface thing from the Texas Flood album is where it's at for me.

 

[tele_pathic]

^^^ This. All too often I hear play SRV with a distortion/gain/od pedal CRANKED, gain set to 11. This is totally wrong, I think. Listen to the Texas Flood version of P&J and you'll hear that's there's actually not much gain at all. Not totally clean, but almost, just a hint of dirt.

And be reserved/sparse/sparing/spars-ier than normal with note selection/length of solo. I saw one guy cover either P&J or Love Struck Baby and he got this whole double-tapping thing in there. It was AWFUL!!!

Like JD says, a Fender Blackface turned up is the sound. I'm willing to bet the DS-2 can get close enough, just back the gain way down.

And yeah, JD, I hate that Dumble phase. Unfortunately, Stevie didn't live long enough to get past it. Died on my birthday that year; I always pour one out for my fallen homie.

 

[Stratburst]

SRV used a lot less gain than people realize: his Tube Screamer was more of a boost than a distortion box. I'd say some kind of TS clone is essential for the mid-boost; I highly recommend the Way Huge Green Rhino since it sounds better and costs less than the real thing.

Pickup-wise, I'd try the mid-bridge combination or just the middle pickup. Technique-wise, I'd say screw speed and go for raw power: SRV really beat the hell out of his Strats.

 

[livepulse]

Not true, he played more things in the neck-pickup than you might think. Even complete solos too. I think the solo from Pride 'n joy is played with the neck pickup, something you can also check on several videos on Youtube. He hardly played the middle pickup (if ever) and if he switched he mainly played the bridge pickup for the stinging notes, just check the vids.

He was not obsessed with "vintage" but the old tubescreamers were his main thing. He did not really care for the new stuff, the old stuff had proven itself so why switch to the newer stuff?

Btw: volume is the key to his sound... not overdrive...

 

[Jakedog]

He was not obsessed with "vintage" but the old tubescreamers were his main thing. He did not really care for the new stuff, the old stuff had proven itself so why switch to the newer stuff?

This is absolutely innaccurate. How do I know? Renee Martinez told me. Stevie was much like Jimi in this way. If there was a new Tubescreamer out, he wanted it. He used the 808, then the 9, then the TS10, actually using the TS10 quite a bit. he would switch out, and go back to the older ones sure, but would also use the newer ones frequently, and sometimes mix and match.

Same reason he got into the Dumble amps. He was never satisfied for the most part with things that had proven themselves. He was always looking for something better. That's why he had the deal with Hamiltone guitars, and was always having his Fender amps tweaked. He used to have Diaz switch parts out on the chassis while he was playing the amp so he could A/B caps and such in real time.

The only reasons the strats stuck around for his whole career is that he never found anything he truly liked better. but even the strats were messed with. #1 had a flattened radius, larger frets, five way switch, and had all the parts changed out for Elite hardware. "Charlie" had the lipsticks installed. He was known to track through more than 20 amps simultaneously so he could choose his favorite tracks. The strats were also part of the evolution. He also played Gibson hollowbdies earlier in his career, and even did time in the Triple Threat Revue with a Ric 360. He got to the strats by always moving forward.

Something "proving" itself was never part of his equation in real life, and I for one thing if he were still around, he'd probably be playing different guitars by now. That's why I always chuckle when I hear somebody lay down an absolute like "SRV did _______ song with #1, a vibroverb, and a TS9". Yeah, right. for all we know it was his ES335 and a Gibson Skylark.

Unless you're physically seeing him on video or in photos, there's just no telling. He was always moving forward, he was never stuck in one thing too much.

 

[Stratburst]

Not true, he played more things in the neck-pickup than you might think. Even complete solos too. I think the solo from Pride 'n joy is played with the neck pickup, something you can also check on several videos on Youtube. He hardly played the middle pickup (if ever) and if he switched he mainly played the bridge pickup for the stinging notes, just check the vids.

'Pride & Joy' starts with the middle pickup then goes to the neck; check this 1985 Montreaux vid for proof.

He was not obsessed with "vintage" but the old tubescreamers were his main thing. He did not really care for the new stuff, the old stuff had proven itself so why switch to the newer stuff?

Btw: volume is the key to his sound... not overdrive...

If he only cared about the old stuff, he wouldn't have been constantly messing with his tone, adding the Dumbles and all those other amps. There's a reason why he had about 30 amps going for the In Step sessions.

 

[uriah1]

Any strat neck p/up cranked through a 3/4 way on TS9 into a fender tubey of your choice.

 

[Mid Life Crisis]

'Pride & Joy' starts with the middle pickup then goes to the neck; check this 1985 Montreaux vid for proof.

That's how it has always sounded to me - middle then neck.

 

[Old Cane]

Guys, who cares. Just play the song. People just want to hear the song. If you ever play somewhere and somebody says to his buddy "man, he nailed that tone" run away. You're in Nashville.

Do you really think SRV agonized over it? He just did it. Hey, that's a great slogan I just came up with. Just do it.

 

[LawDaddy]

Whatever you do, make sure the bass player plays the correct pattern.

 

[PinewoodRo]

I use a Strat on the neck/middle position for this song, which seems to work pretty well. Not exactly right but pretty close. Like others have said, less gain than you might think. In Dan Earlywine's book he says that SRV used 13's tuned to Eb which might explain his unique texture.

 

[HC]

I think the Wampler Black 65 is nice for getting the cranked Fendersound that Stevie used. And it is also very usable for a whole lot of other things. You should check it out. But in all fairness, most drive pedals in combo with a Strat neck and neck/middle pickup setting will get you close to SRV-land.

 

[dmarcus30]

Our band keeps getting requests for Stevie Ray Vaughn pride and joy, we're mostly a country band but get occasional requests for classic rock. Any tips on how to get that SRV tone in that song. I have an American Strat and a Fender tube amp. The songs not that difficult to play, got it down for the most part, just doesn't sound quite right. All I have for dirt is a DS-2

Stevie's tone is a massive topic.His amps were heavily and continuously modded. It had more to do with SATURATION than distortion and he used high wattage spkrs so he could turn up the amp to the point where the power tubes were really sweating and then the clean spkrs brought forth THAT sound. And, yeah, he got constantly bitched out by club owners for being "too loud".
He also stacked Tube Screamers, even wahs sometimes. I saw him 3 times. First time was with Tommy and Chris on Hendrix's birthday and it was freakin' life-changing.
Second time he had Reese with them and was clearly VERY drug-crazed. He kept complaining about his tone and would stop songs and unplug his pedals and throw them across the stage. Sad, and very worrying.

Last time I saw him he was clean and sober and better than ever, though I did miss the original "Flood" tones. He had a massive rig but his tone seemed 'smaller' somehow.
God bless that guy, I sure miss him.

I have the extreme good fortune to have in my town the very tech who refretted SRV's #1 just before the El Mocambo gig. Steve Crisp has built two guitars from me, rehabbed my 67 Tele and my brother's 57. He is the bomb and easily the best tech I've ever had.

 

[D.Allen]

Check out Bart Walker playing with a visual Sound double trouble pedal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCh4rJ9Jq_I&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Bart is using my FlatTop Strat pups and AlleyCat humbuckers

 

[macatt]

I was playing in Austin with "Bill Carter and the Blame" in the late "70's and early "80s. We played the Continental Club regularly as well as other local clubs where Stevie also played during this time. I met him several times and saw him play often.
(Bill Carter wrote "Crossfire" and "Willie The Wimp").

This was before Stevie had his record deal. He used all the pickup positions; the middle and neck positions a lot and played through Fender blackface amps including a Fender 75 and a Vibroverb with the volume cranked to ten.
These were fairly small clubs and we were all playing cranked back then.

S Mac

 

[fender_bender]

I use a Strat on the neck/middle position for this song, which seems to work pretty well. Not exactly right but pretty close. Like others have said, less gain than you might think. In Dan Earlywine's book he says that SRV used 13's tuned to Eb which might explain his unique texture.

Yup. Stevie was a big Buddy Guy fan and that guy lives on the Neck/Middle.

To my ears Neck/Middle and Neck dominate the SRV tonal universe.

Add a TS and fender amp and your 10% there. Add SRV's heart, soul and fingers and you have the other 90%.

 

[colchar]

try spending a lot of time in that #4 position with the bridge and middle together

The #4 position is the middle and neck pickups together.