Riff Tone

Life Without You

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble

Guitarblues1980s

Original Gear

GuitarFender Stratocaster 'Number One' (1959 body, 1962 neck, left-hand tremolo)

AmpDumble Steel String Singer (custom, 150W, 6550 tubes) and/or Fender Vibroverb (1964 Blackface, 2x15" speakers)

PickupsFender single-coil pickups (vintage spec, stock to Number One Strat)

Amp Settings

gain4

bass7

mid7

treble6

reverb3.5

presence5.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording for 'In Step' (1988-1989). SRV used multiple amps in the studio, but the Dumble Steel String Singer and Fender Vibroverb are most consistently cited for clean/blues tones on this album. No evidence of live rig or other guitars for this specific riff section.

Tone Character(10)

warm and smoothedge-of-breakup crunchtouch-sensitivefat, round lowssinging sustainclear single-coil articulationTexas blues shuffle feeldynamic response to pickingslight amp breakuprich midrange presence

Difficulty

The riff requires advanced control of dynamics and articulation, with heavy strings and expressive phrasing demanding strong technique and touch sensitivity.

Sources

Stevie Ray Vaughan's amps and effects pedals Metallica's Kirk Hammett: how to play like Stevie Ray Vaughan

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