Stevie's guitars

One of the most interesting things about Stevie Ray Vaughan was the diversity of guitars he used. Stevie mainly played Fender Stratocasters, but he also used a Gibson Johnny Smith and a custom "Hamiltone" Strat-style axe (built by John Hamilton of Buffalo, NY). Stevie's distinctive sounds came partly from the condition of his guitars, but also from his peculiar amplifier and effects setup. It is worth noting that Stevie was constantly tinkering with his equipment to find the sound he wanted, and also that his guitars and amps existed in various states of repair, since he had an extremely aggressive playing style and wore his equipment (especially necks!) out rather quickly.

"Number One" ("First Wife")

"Number One" (sometimes called "First Wife") is the most familiar of Stevie's guitars. It was a battered 1959 Stratocaster with a 1962 neck. Number One possessed a deep, growly tone that was instantly identifiable and Stevie used it for many songs.

Stevie acquired Number One in 1973 from Ray's Music Exchange in Austin, Texas. He liked the tobacco-sunburst finish and the thick, unusually-shaped rosewood D-neck (Stevie hands were large, so thin necks presented a problem for him). In an interview, Stevie said that he knew right away that it was the guitar for him:

"I didn't even have to play it - I just knew by the way it looked that it would sound great. I was carrying my '63 Strat and asked if [the shop owner] would like to trade. Thank God he did, and it's been my main axe even since."

Number One originally had a white pickguard, a right-handed tremelo bar, and 1959 pickups. Stevie eventually replaced the white pickguard with a black one and added the familiar "SRV" lettering. Rene Martinez, Stevie guitar technician, one remarked about how Stevie would sometimes resort to searching the ground around truck stops to find replacement letters when the old ones wore away. The tremelo unit was replaced with a gold left-handed unit in 1977. Stevie had always tried to emulate Jimi Hendrix and Otis Rush, both of whom were left-handed and played right-handed guitars turned upside down. The guitars pickups are a source of some debate. Many SRV fans believe that Stevie had the pickups rewound, resulting in an overwind and giving the pickups a "hotter" sound. Others believe that the pickups were overwound at the factory due to mechanical inaccuracies. Whatever the real story, they were definitely not regular Fender pickups.

Stevie and Rene also replaced Number One's stock frets with Dunlop 6100 bass-style frets. These bigger frets added sustain and and also helped during string bending. The second advantage was especially important, as Stevie always used massively thick strings. His string sizes varied over the years, but they were always fairly large. This choice of strings was very hard on Stevie's fingers and Rene eventually convinced him to switch to smaller strings to save wear and tear on his hands. A sample of his string gauges (from high E down) is .013, .016, .019, .028, .038, .056.

Number One was subjected to extreme wear and tear during its life with Stevie. Onstage, Stevie would kick it, pound it, rattle it on the floor, and even ride it like a sufboard. All this abuse stripped away what little finish remained on the body. Stevie's heavy strumming also wore down the surface of the guitar, particularly just above the strings. The gouge is clearly visible by Stevie's hand in the picture above. During his time with Triple Threat Revue, Stevie observed Jimmie bounce his guitar off a wall, catch it, and keep playing. He thought it was a neat trick and tried to duplicate it. The impact severely damaged Number One's headstock, nearly splitting it in two. The damage was repaired by Rene Martinez (the taped-up headstock can be seen in a picture on the inside of the CD jacket from In The Beginning).

By 1989, Stevie was considering retiring Number One. The neck had been repaired so many times that it would not take new frets and was very difficult to play. Rene replaced it with the neck from "Scotch", another of Stevie's Stratocasters. In 1990, that neck was broken at a show in Holmdell, New Jersey, when a piece of stage scenery fell on several of Stevie's guitars. Rene eventually ordered a replacement neck from Fender and received a copy of the 1963 neck.

Currently, Number One is thought to be in the possession of Jimmie Vaughan, although rumors persist that it is buried with Stevie in Dallas. After Stevie's death, Rene Martinez supposedly put the original neck back on Number One and presented it to the Vaughan family.

"Lenny"

Another of Stevie's well-known guitars was "Lenny". Lenny was an brownish-orange 1963 maple-neck Stratocaster. Its tone was brighter than Number One's and more jazz-like in feel. The guitar is named after Lenora "Lenny" Bailey, Stevie's wife from 1979 to 1988. Supposedly, Stevie found this guitar in a pawnshop, but couldn't afford to buy it. One of Stevie's roadies, Byron Barr, bought it and he and Lenora presented it to Stevie for his birthday in 1976. According to the story, Lenora was supposed to pay Byron for the guitar; she started a pool with her friends to collect the money, but it was Stevie who eventually settled the debt, with cash and a leather jacket.

Lenny was spared much of the conversion that Number One endured. Its neck was originally a thin rosewood, but Stevie replaced it with a thicker non-Fender maple neck (which was better suited to his large hands). This neck was given to him by ZZ Tops' Billy Gibbons. Stevie kept the tremelo arm, pickups and frets in their original condition. He did add a filigree-style decal to the bridge and put his "SRV" initials to the pickguard sometime in 1986. Rene Martinez also modified the tremelo unit to be "floating" (so Stevie could either pull up or push down on the bar to bend the strings).

Stevie used lighter gauge strings for Lenny than he did with most of his other guitars. This, combined with the pickups and the maple neck, gave Lenny a bright, sweet, clear tone that is the trademark of Stratocasters. Stevie used Lenny for his slower, mellower songs, such as "Lenny" and "Riviera Paradise". He would often finger-pick these songs instead of using a plectrum (pick) for an even softer tone.

"Charley"

"Charley" was a Stratocaster-style guitar that was assembled from spare parts by Charley Wirz, owner of Charley's Guitar Shop in Dallas. Charley Wirz often worked on Stevie's guitars and remained a close friend until he died in 1984.

Charley is all-white with a rosewood neck. On the back is a girlie-style pinup caricature and carved into the neck's heel plate are the words "To Stevie Ray Vaughan, more in '84." Wirz installed three Danelectro "lipstick tube" pickups and rewired them to his own configuration. This gave Charley a darker tone like Number One, but with a clearer, bell-like "ringing" sound. Stevie used Charley for songs like "Couldn't Stand The Weather", "Tin Pan Alley", and "Life Without You" (which is actually a tribute to Charley Wirz).

"Red"

"Red" was a 1964 Strat with a rosewood neck. Red actually started out as a black guitar, but was repainted by Fender in a deep red hue. This red color was later offered by Fender as a custom color option on Stratocasters. In the mid 80's, Rene Martinez installed a left-handed 1964 rosewood neck on Red. Since Stevie was right-handed, this allowed him to emulate the styles of Jimi Hendrix and Otis Rush.

Besides the left-handed neck and paint job, not many changes were made to Red. Stevie did add heavier gauge strings and "SRV" initials to the guitar. Red had a tone that was somewhere between those of Number One and Lenny; a little bright, but still growly. Stevie liked to use Red for "Love Struck Baby" and Pride and Joy". He also used sometimes used Red instead of Number One for "Rude Mood".

"Scotch" or "Butterscotch"

"Scotch" was a semi-mongrel 1963 Strat, a sort of a dark cream-colored ("butterscotch") body with a rosewood neck, and a "tiger-stripe" pickguard custom-made by Rene Martinez. Stevie favored this Strat once Number One began having serious neck problems. A notable change to this guitar was the installation of a brass nut, rather than the bone nuts that Stevie used on his other guitars. In late 1989, Stevie swapped the neck from Scotch onto Number One, and installed a left-handed neck onto Scotch. Stevie regularly played this guitar on "Leave My Girl Alone" on stage, and it was well on its way to becoming the "replacement" for Number One.

"The Yellow One"

That wasn't really it's name, but this Strat didn't really have a name. Yet, it had a very distinctive tone that is worth noting.

Yellow was a yellow 1959 Stratocaster that was given to Stevie by Vanilla Fudge's lead guitarist. It was in poor shape, but was restored by Charley Wirz. Charley once again worked his magic to resurrect this guitar from the graveyard. By the time Charley received it, the body was hollowed out to accept four humbuckers. Charley removed the humbuckers, and fashioned a new pickguard in which he placed a single Fender Strat pickup in the neck position. Stevie placed his "SRV" stickers directly under the strings, where normally the other two pickups are installed.

The hollow body gave Yellow a very unique, "ringing" sort of tone. This was supposedly the guitar played on the album versions of "Honey Bee" and "Tell Me". Yellow was stolen in 1985, but was later recovered and is now on display in the Las Vegas Hard Rock Cafe.

"Main"

"Main" was the custom Hamiltone Lurktamer Strat-style guitar, built by James Hamilton of Buffalo, NY. The guitar was given to Stevie as a gift from Billy Gibbons in 1984. It has a highly figured, book-matched reddish top, bound on all edges. The body is slightly thicker and slightly heavier than a Strat, with little contouring.

"Main" featured a neck-through-body design, unlike any other guitar Stevie owned. This resulted in the pickups actually being mounted on the neck, itself. The neck shape is similar to that of a Gibson Super 400, and was practically the same width as Number One.

It has an ebony fretboard, with "Stevie Ray Vaughan" inlaid in pearl across it. Pickups are active EMG with an onboard preamp. The guitar has a jangly, jazzy tone that was beefed-up by the active onboard electronics. Stevie regularly used Main on stage for "Couldn't Stand the Weather" and "Cold Shot".