Stevie Ray Vaughan – Texas Flood

This guitar is displayed at a Guitar Center in Austin, Texas. It is displayed with the following notes:

Stevie Ray Vaughan “Lenny” Fender Stratocaster

In 1980, Stevie Ray Vaughan came across a ’65 Strat in a Texas pawnshop. Though the pickups had been ravaged by time, and the guitar had been sloppily refinished, something about the instrument resonated with the struggling artist. Vaughan’s wife Lenora pooled together $50 from seven of Vaughan’s friend to meet the $350 asking price, and presented the guitar to him on his birthday. Vaughan was so moved by the gift that he played the guitar all night and penned a song for his wife, playing it for her when she woke up the next morning. The song and the guitar would both go on to be the lovingly names “Lenny” - Lenora’s nickname.

Used while recording "Texas Flood" for the song "Lenny", hence the name of the song, according to a 2003 interview with Richard Mullen (published in Guitar World, December 2022 issue).

In this video, Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Number One" Stratocaster can be seen. 1984 Guitar World interview with Vaughan reveals the guitar to be a heavily modified 1959 Fender Stratocaster.

Besides absorbing the essence of Jimi's spirit, Stevie also took a technical tip from Hendrix (and players like Otis Rush) by mounting a left-handed bridge assembly on his '59 Strat. "I like it better, it just makes more sense to me, " he says. "You don't have to really hold on to it. It's right there." Other modifications oh his main ax include a drastic fret job. "I don't like Fender frets," he explains. "I just can't grab onto the strings. The frets just aren't big enough for me to be able to get into it at all, so I use Gibson Jumbo Bass frets. If I didn't, I'd wear 'em out in no time."

According to the 2003 interview with Richard Mullen, Vaughan's audio engineer, the guitar was mainly used on "Texas Flood". The interview was published in Guitar World, December 2022 issue.

SRV used this amp for its ability to stay clean at extremely high volumes. This amp was sent through a 4x12 cabinet. According to a 2003 interview with Richard Mullen (published in December 2022 issue of Guitar World), Mullen initially came across Jackson Browne's Dumble amplifier, and Steel Singer was a collaboration between Howard Dumble and Mullen.

Stevie Ray Vaughan used two 1964 Vibroverb amps from the start of his career to the early 80's, replacing them later with a multitude of much louder and larger amps already listed here. The two Vibroverb amps he originally had were later modified by César Díaz, who added in rectifiers to give extra headroom and provide stability for SRV's extremely loud performances. The Vibroverb amps became an iconic staple of early Stevie Ray Vaughan's career and contributed to the legendary tone heard on his debut album, Texas Flood. More specific information and pictures regarding his Fender Vibroverbs and other gear can be found here:http://www.voodooguitar.net/2016/09/the-srv-gear-guide.html

According to Guitar World:

Although Vaughan didn’t use the Roland Dimension D in his live rig, it was a secret weapon in the studio, where he often added it to his guitar tracks during mixing. Vaughan first discovered the Dimension D while mixing his guitar tracks on David Bowie’s Let’s Dance, and he liked how its subtle chorus effect thickened his guitar sound without changing his natural tone significantly like other chorus effects frequently do.

The Dimension D was used on the solos to “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and “Pride and Joy” on Texas Flood and most of the solos on Couldn’t Stand the Weather. During mixing, Vaughan would add the Dimension D effects himself via the effects send/return controls on the mixing console." – March 2013 issue of Guitar World, page 65.

2003 interview with Richard Mullen (Vaughan's audio engineer, published in December 2022 issue of Guitar World) recalls the use of Dimension D:

One effect he used when we mixedTexas Flood was this Roland delay/chorus [Dimension D] that gave a little bit of a growl sound. It was a stereo device that created phasing effects, which you can hear on the solo to “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and the end solo on “Pride and Joy.” Stevie sat at the board and brought that effect in and out as the song progressed. He used the same effect on Couldn’t Stand the Weather, too.

This original Ibanez TS-808 Tube Screamer was used by the late Stevie Ray Vaughan. According to a 2003 interview with Richard Mullen (Vaughan's audio engineer, the interview was later published in Guitar World, December 2022 issue), it was the only pedal Vaughan used while recording the "Texas Flood" album.

In this photo Tommy is pictured with a Fender Jazz bass