Signature Strat' One of the most interesting things about Stevie Ray Vaughan was the diversity of guitars he used. Stevie mainly played Fender Stratocasters,like the "Signature" model to the left. He also used a Gibson "Johnny Smith" and a custom Hamiltone "Lurker" (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 the necks) out rather quickly.

Number One "Number One" (sometimes called "First Wife")is the most familiar of Stevie's guitars. It was a beat-up 1959 Stratocaster body and originally had a 1962 neck. Number One possessed a deep, growly tone that was instantly identifiable. Stevie used it for many of his songs. Over the years, Stevie and Rene Martinez gradually replaced nearly every part of the guitar. By 1990, the body and the pickups were the only remaining original parts. Stevie acquired Number One in 1973 from a shop in Austin. He liked the tobacco-sunburst finish and the thick rosewood D-neck (Stevie had large hands, so thin necks presented a problem for him). 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 reports that Stevie would scour truck stops to find replacement lettering! The tremelo unit was replaced with a gold left-handed unit in 1977. Stevie had always emulated Jimi Hendrix and Otis Rush, both of whom were left-handed and played right-handed guitars turned upside down. He may also have had the pickups rewired, although no proof of this exists. Another modification to Number One was the replacement of the frets. Jumbo bass-style frets were added to add sustain and facilitate 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 he eventually switched to smaller strings to save wear and tear on his hands. Number One endured much abuse during its life with Stevie. During his shows, Stevie would scrape, kick, and pound away at it, stripping the finish from its body. Stevie's heavy strumming also wore down the surface of the guitar, particularly just above the strings. The gouge is visible by Stevie's hand in the picture above. Once, Stevie tried to bounce Number One off a wall (a trick of his brother Jimmie's). The impact severely damaged the headstock, which was repaired by Rene Martinez. 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 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.

Lenny Another readily identifiable guitar in Stevie's arsenal of axes was the brownish-orange 1963 or 1964 maple-neck Strat he called "Lenny". This was another guitar that, over the years, produced Stevie's trademark jazz-like tones on songs such as "Lenny" and "Riviera Paradise". Lenny, the guitar, is named after Stevie's ex-wife. Legend has it that Stevie found this guitar in an Oak Cliff pawnshop, but couldn't afford it. Byron Barr, one of Stevie's roadies at the time, ended up buying the guitar. Byron and Lenny presented it to Stevie for his birthday, with the agreement that Lenny would reimburse Byron. She started a pool among friends to collect the money, but never did receive enough. In the end, Stevie repaid Byron, himself, with some cash and a leather jacket. Lenny, the guitar, originally came with a fairly thin rosewood neck. Stevie ended up replacing the neck with a thicker non-Fender maple neck, given to him by Billy Gibbons. He kept the right-hand vibrato, and set it to both pull up and push down, unlike Number One. Lenny was also strung lighter, but only by one step or so. He only used four springs in the vibrato. Stevie kept the stock pickups in Lenny. These pickups were also microphonic (meaning, if you would tap them with your finger, you would hear that sound coming through the amp). These pickups, combined with the maple neck and slightly lighter strings, gave Lenny that characteristically sweet, bright, ringing tone that is immediately identifiable as a Strat. Stevie loved to use this guitar for songs played softly, and regularly finger-picked solos to even further soften the tone. Lenny didn't change much through the years. One thing Stevie did was to add a filigree-style decal at the bridge, and add his "SRV" initials on the pickguard. He did this sometime after 1986.

Red "Red" actually started out black. "Red" is a 1964 rosewood neck Strat with slight modifications. It was originally black, but was repainted red around 1985 by Fender with a deep red hue, offered later by Fender as a custom color. In the mid 80's, Rene Martinez installed a 1964 left-handed rosewood Fender neck. Since Stevie was right-handed, this allowed him to emulate the styles of Jimi Hendrix and Otis Rush. Besides the famous "SRV" decals and heavier gauge strings, "Red" was basically stock. Stevie would regularly use Red on stage for "Love Struck Baby" and "Pride and Joy". Occasionally he used Red instead of Number One for "Rude Mood".

Charley "Charley" was a Strat-style guitar assembled from spare parts by Charley Wirz in 1983. Charley Wirz was a close friend of Stevie's, and he regularly worked on Stevie's guitars in the early years. Charley owned Charley's Guitar Shop in northwest Dallas, until his death in 1984.This guitar was a gift to Stevie, from Charley. A girlie-pinup style caricature decal was placed on the back. On the neck's heel plate is engraved "To Stevie Ray Vaughan, more in '84". This is an all white guitar, with a rosewood neck, and a white headstock imprinted with the "Charley's Guitar Shop" logo. Charley Wirz installed three Danelectro "lipstick tube" pickups, and wired it using his own custom, non-Fender configuration. The guitar had a tone similar to Number One, with a little more top end, and a slightly more "bell-like" quality. Stevie liked to play it rather clean, sometimes with an Echoplex and the Vibratone unit. You can hear it on the album versions of "Tin Pan Alley", "Life Without You" and "Couldn't Stand The Weather".

photo courtesy of Chuck Pulin/Starfile