Psychedelic Citrus: The Story of Orange Amplifiers

What was the best way to draw attention to your music shop during the cultural explosion of Swinging London in 1968? Paint it the most vivid, psychedelic shade of orange possible, and allow guitar luminaries like Peter Green, Paul Kossoff, and Jimmy Page to hang out.

The original Orange shop in London's West End

Clifford Cooper was a guitarist, amateur electronic engineer, and aspiring record producer, with plans to build a recording studio in an empty, neglected storefront at 3 New Compton Road in London's West End, not far from Carnaby Street fashions or the Denmark Street music shops. The studio itself would be in the basement, for soundproofing reasons, leaving the empty storefront to serve as a hangout. With little funds to spare on advertising, Cooper figured the best way to turn heads would be to paint his shop the brightest, most vivid shade of his favorite color possible, interior as well as exterior, and Orange Recording Studio was created. This drew the ire of his neighbors, attracting both the type of customers he desired and other businesses reviled.

While Cooper had acquired some basic recording equipment and experience from his time in the band The Millionaires, having recorded with British legend Joe Meek, the studio business was a tough one, especially with the competition he was up against in London at the time, and struggled to make rent in those first few months. He soon turned that storefront into a retail shop by placing his band's old Vox PA system in the window; it sold that very day, and the first used gear shop in London was born, creating a swapmeet atmosphere for local musicians that favored the odd and quirky to the shiny and new. Cooper attempted to carry popular lines of new gear, but manufacturers and distributors didn't take his business seriously, as he and his employees preferred t-shirts and jeans to the jackets and ties of the Denmark street shops. At first a stumbling block, necessity would prove to be the mother of invention.

The Orange crew doing some mobile advertising (left), and the inside of the shop (right)

One day in October of '68, Peter Green, former guitarist of John Mayall's post-Clapton Bluesbreakers and leader of the new group Fleetwood Mac, was hanging out at the Orange shop with his road manager, and mentioned they needed a full backline for their upcoming U.S. tour. Cooper, seizing an opportunity, offered to supply it... tube heads powerful enough for guitar and bass, speaker cabinets, and reverb units. While Cooper had a bit of electronics knowledge, having built small amplifiers in the past, he needed help to accomplish this, and with only one month before the tour began, he reached out to a friend.

Mat Mathias had been building amps in the back of his wife's retail shop since 1962 under the brand name Matamp, an evolution of his older RadioCraft company started in 1945. The Series 2000, a simple and pure 20-watt head, used a unique bent aluminum chassis that slid into a wooden cabinet like a window frame, and although very limited in quantity, was considered extremely high quality. Cliff Cooper reached out to Mathias about building 100-watt heads for Fleetwood Mac, a combination of Mat's current designs and Cliff's ideas, sub-contracting him to handle the electronics while the wooden cabinets would be built at the Orange shop (and covered in orange tolex, naturally). Mathias agreed, under the condition that the Matamp name be displayed on the front panel, along with the large, bold Orange logo (Cooper insisted on a logo that could be seen easily on a large stage). When Cooper and Mathias asked Peter Green how he'd like these new amps to sound, he replied, "I want it to sound sweet, but not like treacle. Like honey." The design used a pair of high-powered 6550/KT88 tubes to reach the 100-watt goal, while keeping the tone clean and sweet, as per Greeny's desires. They were also some of the first amplifiers to include echo send and return jacks on the front panel, a very primitive passive effects loop. The six prototype heads, sixteen speaker cabinets, and a couple of spring reverb units were completed in just under a month, 28 days to be exact, and Mathias hit the road with Fleetwood, keeping the amps maintained and running smoothly.

An original Matamp 2000 atop an early OR100 

After the tour, production began on a full lineup of Orange/Matamp designs. Mathias realized while traveling with the band that they'd have to switch from the aluminium chassis to steel in order to withstand the rigors of the road, and while he was busy building the amps, Cliff Cooper was making friends with everyone on the London scene. From '69-'72, three amplifier models, along with a spring reverb unit, slave amp (a 100-watt solid-state power amp), and 4x12" cabinets were manufactured; the OR100, derived from the original 100-watt prototypes but now using four EL34 power tubes for a more popular dirty tone, the ORST 50-watt "student" head, and the OR200 bass head using four 6550/KT88s, competing on every level with Marshall, Hiwatt, and other British amp makers of the day. The oversized speaker cabinets used Celestion "Greenback" G12M and G12H speakers, and sounded as huge as they looked.

A rare Matamp-branded reverb unit (possibly reboxed), atop an early OR100 

Peter Green (left) and Danny Kirwan (right) of Fleetwood Mac, with Orange heads and reverb units on top.

Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash with his Orange amps

Peter Green, along with fellow Fleetwood Mac members Danny Kirwan, Jeremy Spencer, and John McVie, were still the most prominent Orange endorsers, with Andy Powell and Ted Turner of Wishbone Ash sporting an Orange backline, and Paul Kossoff of Free using them occasionally to great result, as seen here. Jimmy Page would become one of the most well-known Orange players beginning in 1971, using Orange heads along with his Marshalls throughout the '70s and still to this day. An OR200, one of two built for Page and seen on The Song Remains the Same, was found in a garage in New Jersey, where it literally served as a rat's nest for years. It was cleaned up and sold on Ebay in 2009 by our local music store, the Rutherford Music Exchange, for $30,000.00 U.S. to an anonymous collector. The front panel engraving and Union Jack were added later by Orange after a factory modification (note the depth of both the oversized head and speaker cab).

"Custom Built For Jimmy Page" OR200, as displayed at Rutherford Music Exchange, 2009,
and seen at Madison Square Garden, 1973 (above left)

Although never official endorsers, Black Sabbath filmed one of the first and most iconic music videos ever using a full Orange backline, creating a cult-like Orange following among Sabbath-inspired stoner rock bands for decades to come, including Sleep, The Sword, and Wolfmother.

Black Sabbath's Paranoid video, my personal introduction to both metal & Orange.

The Orange "Voice of the World" crest

Along with the success of their amplifiers, the Orange Shop became even more popular, as Cooper began importing Fender and Gibson guitars from America, providing Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash with the first of his trademark Gibson Flying Vs. It's notable that Eric Clapton purchased a very rare lefty Stratocaster in Olympic white finish at the Orange shop on September 17th, 1970, which he planned to present as a gift to Jimi Hendrix later that night; he never did meet with Jimi, though, and Hendrix passed away in the morning of the very next day.

Following the same entrepreneurial spirit that started the Orange company, Cliff Cooper began making deals with many venues and production companies, and his brilliant marketing led to Orange becoming the official backline provider for the BBC's outdoor events, as well as festivals like Reading, Isle of Wight, and even the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, leading to the company slogan "Voice of the World" and a Coat-of-Arms-style crest logo. By the end of '72, Orange was outselling Marshall in Europe (there's even a rumor that Marshall began producing more orange-covered amps than just the usual custom orders in an effort to compete), but Mat Mathias' expanded amp factory could not keep up with demand, as many backorders accumulated. Mathias insisted on maintaining his meticulous, painstakingly high production standards at the sake of quantity, but Cooper wanted more cost-effective production methods and higher numbers. The two amicably dissolved their working relationship, with Cooper calling Mathias "A real gentleman for whom I have always had nothing but the greatest admiration." Mathias would bring back the Matamp brand and continue building handmade amps until his death in 1989, while the company has carried on under various owners since.

An original '73 "Pics Only" head, inspired by English road signs

The next phase for Orange came when R&D engineer John James designed the "Graphic Valve Amplifier", nicknamed simply "Pics Only". The unique faceplate of this model used graphic images to describe the knob functions, inspired by English countryside road signs, and became instantly polarizing for it's quirky new looks. It was also the first Orange amp available in a combo format, a 2x12" with Celestion Greenback speakers. By the end of 1973, production had moved to a larger facility and an extremely efficient assembly line, resulting in 20-30 amps manufactured per day. Orange began exporting to the U.S. for the first time, and the "Pics Only" head was slightly revised, both internally and cosmetically, adding text along with the graphics to avoid confusion (referred to as "Pics & Text"). The model names were also changed to reflect exaggerated output power rather than the original conservative RMS wattage ratings, upping the ante of the OR120 (120 watts) and OR80 (80 watts), again in both head and combo formats (the circuits were essentially the same, and this was mainly done to get a leg up on the competition). The Graphic design amp would become the most popular Orange ever, and the most widely-found of all the vintage models due to increased production and exporting. While some prefer the sound of the original Orange Matamps, there is no denying the influence of the Graphic series in the mid-70s and beyond.

A 1975 "Pics & Text" OR120, the most commonly found model in the U.S. and basis for future style

In 1975, a line of combos and head with Hammond spring reverb and tremolo called the Custom Reverb Twin, aka "Hustler", was designed to compete with the ever-popular Fender Twin Reverb, and combined a pristine clean tone with the fat crunch Orange had become known for, but with a new look of smaller multicolored knobs and a grey speaker grill. 1976 saw the introduction of the Overdrive line, based on the popular Graphics series but featuring a Master Volume control to allow cranked tones at lower volumes, which was becoming increasingly in vogue for amp design everywhere. 

Firmly established by the mid-70's as a premier instrument amplification company, Cooper set his sights on more diverse territory, and began experimenting with mixing boards, DJ equipment, solid state amps, and even digital processing, forming OMEC and developing a digital guitar amp (the first ever of it's kind and years ahead of its time), but never reaching the same heights of success as his early amp lines. By 1979, the original Orange shop was demolished, along with the rest of the storefronts on New Compton street; Orange would lay relatively dormant throughout the 1980s and early '90s, with Cooper building only small numbers of amps on a special order basis. Gibson attempted to revive the Orange name in 1993, but were not successful, and gave the rights back to Cooper in '97. A reawakening was about to begin.

The Orange line, circa 1978, including PA speakers, mixing board, turntables, and of course guitar amps.

An incredible collection of '70s Orange, top row from left: Pics & Text head, 
Overdrive head, Pics & Text, Overdrive in custom cab;
Bottom row: Pics only, Pics only, Orange/Matamp OR120, Pics only;
Front: PA monitor wedge, Custom Reverb Twin "Hustler" 2x12" combo.

1998 would witness a rebirth of the Orange name, with Noel Gallagher of Oasis leading the way, working with Cooper and new technical director Adrian Emsley to combine the best of the early years with the needs of current times. Noel initially used the Overdrive heads of the late '70s, but desired more crunch; this led to the OTR 80 and 120 heads, bearing a striking resemblance to those '70s classics with improved circuitry and quality. The AD series was launched soon after that, featuring Class A electronics and EL84 tubes, and receiving much critical acclaim and success; models included the AD30 head, AD30R 2x12" combo, and AD15 1x12" or 1x10" combo. An EL34-based AD50 head, switchable from 50 watts Class AB to 30 watts Class A, would combine the old with new designs, and the monster 200-watt AD200B bass head, utilizing four 6550/KT88 tubes, payed homage to the original OR200 (my favorite bass amp ever, personally). 

Noel Gallagher with a pair of Orange stacks, circa '98

Jimmy Page and his Orange AD50 heads at the 2007 Celebration Day reunion concert

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of The Mars Volta was a dedicated user of the newer Orange line,
with an AD30 early on and a Rockerverb head here.

Orange would follow this rebirth with several successful designs, incorporating channel switching into heads and combos, introducing the Rockerverb series, Tiny Terror mini tube heads and combos, Orange Crush solid-state practice amps, and many variations of its older designs, all with the signature orange tolex that started it all in 1968. Cooper is back to his great marketing tricks, bringing in the endorsees left and right, including Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, John McVie of Fleetwood Mac (again), The Eagles of Death Metal, Devon Allman, harder-edged bands such as Slipknot, Down, Mastodon, the Deftones, and many more. Clifford Cooper's "Voice of the World" mission statement is alive and well, and stage backlines are psychedelic orange once again, everywhere.

The man, the myth, the legend, Clifford Cooper.

If you liked this article, you may also enjoy Oddball British Hi-Fi: Sound City & Simms-Watts


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Guitarists You Should Know About: J.D. Simo

A few years back, while attempting to play some faux-country guitar for the first time with my singer/songwriter friend Josh Patch, he came back from a trip to Nashville absolutely raving about a guitarist he had just seen. Now, if you've never been to Nashville, the first thing to understand is that the guy delivering your pizza is a better guitarist than you. So is the guy driving your taxi, or pouring your beer. The town is just overloaded with exceptional musicians, especially the six-stringers. So for Patch to be this excited about one cat in particular, he had to be something special.

Next thing you know, I was watching YouTube video after video of the Don Kelley band, a longtime fixture at Robert's Western World on lower Broadway in Nashville, the kind of honky-tonk joint where you expect to hear some Merle Haggard or Marty Robbins songs expertly performed by the best around. Playing guitar with Don was a bushy-haired ginger named J.D. Simo, dressed like half Woodstock hippie, half Carnaby Street mod, effortlessly ripping incredible chicken' pickin' runs on a white Telecaster that looked like it belonged to Michael Bloomfield.

J.D. Simo at Robert's Western World, Nashville

                               

                                     

I'd never heard country guitar played like this before... this was Jimi Hendrix meets Johnny Cash. As a country novice, I was just trying to get some of the basic James Burton and Waylon Jennings licks under my belt, while the more technical playing of Johnny Hiland and Brent Mason was more frustrating than inspiring for a blues/rock player like myself. Now, along comes a guy with the feel of a blues player, the tone of a '60s rocker, and such incredible technique that you don't even notice it as technique, it's just pure personality coming through the instrument... I mean, that's the goal of all this, right? 

After listening to damn near every clip available online, an iTunes search yielded the then-just-released debut album by his new trio, simply called Simo, featuring Adam Abrashoff on drums and Elad Shapiro on bass. Much to my surprise, this wasn't country guitar... this was BLUES. This was ROCK. This was Disraeli Gears meets Zeppelin I meets the Allman's Live at the Fillmore.  This was an ode to Bloomers, to Clapton when he plugged his "Fool" SG into a Plexi, to Duane's slide, and to Zep when they were the New Yardbirds and just steamrolling over everyone with the most powerful rhythm section around. And the vocals! J.D. can sing, man. Warren Haynes might be the closest example of someone who can do both as well, and that's a tall order. Besides the original tunes, there's a cover of Muddy Water's "That Same Thing" that inspires sounds of Truth-era Jeff Beck sitting in with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, a reworking of Howlin' Wolf''s "Evil" that could be on Zep's debut, plus the beautiful "What's On Your Mind", a Bloomfield-jamming-at-Stax dream session masterpiece. Needless to say, this album was on repeat for months in my earbuds. 

I soon discovered Simo's vintage blog and rig rundown video, and became immediately impressed that the majority of his playing both live and on record is done with just a guitar and amp, maybe a wah or fuzz occasionally, but that's all. Just crank up a good amp, be it his '67 Deluxe Reverb & Tele with Don Kelley, or '62 ES-335 and purple Marshall Plexi with Simo, and all the tones are right there between your hands and guitar knobs. As someone who has always relied on pedals, this was a new approach, and it was incredibly eye-opening. Simo is a vintage connoisseur, and has an eye and ear for detail that few can match. Much can be learned from the insight in his gear demo videos. 

Simo rocking out on his '60 Les Paul

J.D.s favorite guitar, a '62 ES-335, and purple Marshall Plexi 100-watt stack

Simo's insightful Rig Rundown video for Premier Guitar

For the next album, Let Love Show The Way, Simo ended up cutting most of tracks at The Big House, the Allman Brothers' former home in Macon, Georgia, which is now a museum. J.D. played Duane's old Goldtop Les Paul on much of it, along with his own '60 Les Paul and an original '58 korina Flying V (currently owned by Joe Bonamassa). Couldn't wait to hear the results, and it did not disappoint... as much as I love the first album, they topped it, as the band has grown tighter in the four years between, and the songwriting has developed quite a lot, especially on tunes like "Long May You Sail" and "I'll Always Be Around". It's got a bit more of a raw blues-rock sound, likely influenced by their surroundings, and a little less 60's psychadelic, but still contains all of the elements that make them a unique and killer power trio.

Naturally,  I couldn't wait to catch them on tour when they hit NYC, but then something else happened... my buddy Patch noticed they had a night off before their Mercury Lounge show, and contacted them to offer a gig at a great spot he books talent for, The Strand Smokehouse in Astoria, Queens. He'd booked some great touring acts there before, like Sturgil Simpson and Hellbound Glory, and since his band was scheduled to perform that night anyway, they just became the opening act. We got an incredibly spontaneous Simo show, and a great hang with J.D., Elad, and Adam before and after. Not gonna lie, I was geeking out pretty hard. 

Simo at The Strand

J.D. with his '55 Tele and Deluxe/Showman stack

Simo joining Josh Patch & the Hell Dwellers for the barnburner "Life's Fool Again"

Aside from the incredible show, the real surprise came when Simo joined my buddy Patch for a couple tunes, including an original, "Life's Fool Again"... J.D. even said he hadn't played that fast since the Don Kelley days. In a guitar geek moment for me, he showed up without the usual purple Marshall stack, but instead with his old '67 Deluxe from the Don Kelley days, a Showman 2x15" cab (with original JBL D130Fs), and a vintage '55 Telecaster he had just acquired that same day. And what did he do, being one of the nicest guys I've ever met in this industry? He simply handed it to me to check out...

Your author, in full-on guitar-geek mode with Simo's '55 Tele

Great hang with this guy on the left

A great night with a great band, and can't wait to see them again. An older fella at the Strand mentioned he had seen both the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream back in the '60s, and Simo was right up there with both of them. It's only a matter of time before J.D. is regarded as one of the great guitarists of our modern era, with a respect and nod to the legends of the past. Do yourself a favor and check out Simo's two studio albums, plus their live EP Love, Vol. 1, and by all means necessary, catch them on tour! 


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The SRV Gear Guide

It is only appropriate to start with possibly the ultimate legend in the valley of the tone-seeker, a fellow Texan, Stevie Ray Vaughan.  As he needs no further introduction, let’s dive right into what made SRV SRV, with a heavy focus on his amps, while establishing some background and dispelling some myths…

SRV with Number One

We can’t begin without talking about his Number One Strat, which Stevie claimed to be a ’59, since that was the date stamped on the back of the pickups… this was incorrect, however,  as guitar tech Rene Martinez (who oversaw SRV’s guitars since 1980) found the stamp of 1963 on the body and 1962 on the original neck (the neck was replaced in 1989 after it could no longer be refretted properly; Rene used the neck from another SRV favorite, “Red”, as it was also a 1962 model). The pickups are also relatively low output, not the hot overwound myth that gained legs during the 80s… all 3 pickups are rumored to be under 6k ohms output impedance, which would be typical of a 1959 set (the neck pickups tended to be hottest, but not by much). Although the Fender SRV signature model uses Texas Special pickups, which Stevie was heavily involved in the making of, they do not accurately represent the sound of his original Number One (For my money, I use a set of Arcane ’61 Experience pickups in my main strat, and they sound incredible, especially in the neck/middle combined position).

As for strings, SRV used 13’s, as famously rumored, but it was a custom set with an unwound 3rd string… exact gauges, according to Rene Martinez, were .013, .015, .019p, .028, .038, and .058. Stevie had large, incredibly strong hands, but even he couldn’t bend a wound G-string up a full step for an entire night. Also, as he tuned down to Eb, the tension on the strings was closer to that of 12s, but with increased thickness. There is much debate as to the tonal difference with string gauge… I’ve found the biggest noticeable difference when using higher gain amps, as thicker strings retain their clarity a bit more than thinner, and as SRV loved big, clean tones (more when we get into his amps), I imagine this influenced his choice, but perhaps not more than the feel & his playing style… his percussive right hand strumming was acoustic-like, and light strings wouldn’t be able to take that kind of punishment for long.  Late in his career, he did go down a bit lighter to 11s (although it’s total speculation, I’ve gotta believe this had something to do with his getting sober… nerves become a lot more sensitive when you’re not dulling them constantly, and his fingertips took a beating from those 13s).

Although Stevie had several other great guitars in his arsenal, Number One was like an extension of his body & soul, and the others were just variations on the model he played primarily. I’d instead prefer to focus on SRV’s numerous and ever-changing array of amplifiers (I’ll be using a bit of info from this excellent Guitar World article, but have gone even further in depth).

Rear shot of Vibroverb #1

From the start, while cutting his teeth at clubs like Antone’s on 6^th street in Austin, it was a pair of 1964 Fender Vibroverbs that anchored the SRV tone, along with an Ibanez Tubescreamer to push them into overdrive. These two amps were both 15” combos (as opposed to the earlier ’63 models with 2x10” speakers), and powered by dual 6L6 power tubes for 40 watts of power each (Fun fact: although the amps were purchased years apart in different states, the serial numbers are one digit apart). Cesar Diaz would eventually mod these Vibroverbs with solid state rectifiers to increase the available headroom and squeeze a few more watts of juice out of them. In fact, Cesar mod’d just about all of SRV’s amps with a solid state rectifier, to prevent harmful voltages from damaging the tubes at such high volumes, and also because Stevie preferred the extra headroom and quicker response feel (Fender even made a special hand-wired '64 Vibroverb reissue with the Diaz mods, including a switchable rectifier circuit and ability to cascade one channel into the other. It is now discontinued). Transformers were also swapped out for the beefier hunks of iron found in Twins & Bassmans, as they held up much better at high levels than the original units. SRV initially used JBL D130 alnico speakers in these combos, then E130 ceramics, but eventually switched to ElectroVoice M15Ls (and stuck with EVs for the rest of his career, for both their power handling and high sensitivity before breakup). One of these combos was also used to drive his Fender Vibratone rotating speaker cabinet for live performances of “Cold Shot” and “Couldn’t Stand the Weather” later on.

Number One leaning against a Vibroverb (left) & rarely seen Marshall Club & Country (right)

SRV's Vibroverb (center) flanked by what look to be a pair of Mesa/Boogie combos, as he had mentioned using briefly around the David Bowie era.

As Stevie’s popularity grew, so did the size of venues and need for more power. Stevie would add a Marshall Club & Country combo (Marshall's answer to the Fender Twin, a 100-watt 2x12 with KT77 tubes & Celestion G12-80 speakers) to his Vibroverbs for more clean power, as well as experiment with blackface Fender Twins and Mesa/Boogie combos (likely Mark IIc+ models, used with David Bowie). This was the beginning of the quest for the ultimate LOUD yet clean tone, retaining clarity and detail along with the beautiful harmonic enrichment of cranked power tubes, and would be a lifelong venture. He also added a pair of Fender Super Reverb 4x10” combos to the stage, essentially the same amplifier as the Vibroverb but providing some variance in tone due to the different speaker array. With all four 10" speakers replaced with EVs, each combo weighed nearly 130 pounds and could take your head off with bite. The Super Reverbs even replaced the Vibroverbs altogether at one point in the mid-80s ever-changing amplifier landscape.

The Texas Flood Dumbleland Special, once owned by Jackson Browne, shown here being used in a recording session by John Mayer (recently sold for $160,000 to a private collector).

SRV with his Dumble SSS "King Tone Consoul" and custom Hamiltone strat, a gift from Billy Gibbons.

At Jackson Browne's Downtown Studios, SRV would encounter the Dumbleland Special amplifier head, originally built for and owned by Browne. There’s some debate as to whether this amp was a monster 300-watt model designed for bass, or the more conventional 150w head using 6550 tubes (which SRV’s eventual custom model would utilize), but either way, Stevie loved it, and used it along with his beloved Vibroverbs for the recording of his debut album (This amp was most recently owned & used by John Mayer for a brief period, before selling it to a collector). He would then contact Alexander Dumble and order his own custom amp, a Steel String Singer model, voiced to his personal specs and used on his next album, Couldn’t Stand the Weather (which, in my opinion, contained his best guitar tones ever recorded).  This amp would be dubbed “King Tone Consoul”, and regarded along with Number One as Stevie’s most prized and important pieces of gear (another similar Dumble would be built and added as a backup, with a third model ordered but never delivered due to a rumored dispute between Dumble & SRV, more on this later). After some speaker experimentation, a 4x12 loaded with EV M12Ls became the mainstay. The quest for a bold, beautiful clean tone was complete, and now it was time for some Hendrix-inspired color.

One of SRV's SSS heads, underneath a Marshall. This is from Jimmie Vaughan's personal collection, 
on display at the Grammy museum.

Fender Vibratone cab (upper left), on top of what looks like a Marshall 8x10" cab, two Dumble heads on top of a Super Reverb (being used as a speaker cab), and a Vibroverb (far right).

Vibratone (left), a stack of 4x12s, and Marshall Major on top of Dumble head (right).

As a lifelong Jimi devotee, Stevie began paying tribute to him both on album and in concert, and added a 200-watt Marshall Major lead head to the arsenal, at one point even ditching all of the Fenders and running just the Marshall & Dumble for a bit (You can see & hear this duo in the interview video below). Blowing tubes on this amp was an almost nightly occurrence, according to amp tech Cesar Diaz, as Stevie would walk over and crank it up to 10 for the encore “Voodoo Child” at the end of the set. He was also occasionally seen using Marshall Super Leads and even JCM 800s in the late 80s, but these flirtations rarely lasted long.

In addition to the Marshall, Stevie began experimenting with Dallas-Arbiter germanium Fuzzfaces, but inconsistency in the original units led Cesar to build a custom fuzz pedal for Stevie with matched germanium transistors, known as the Diaz Square Face fuzz. Stevie also incorporated an Octavia octave fuzz and original UniVibe pedal for his Hendrix tributes, along with Vox wah pedals. He famously linked two wahs together for the tune “Say What!”, and also ran a pair of Tubescreamers together at times, one set for the more traditional boost, the other with the gain higher (These pedals would feed into all of the amps simultaneously).

An SRV pedalboard with closeup of MXR Loop Selector used for engaging Vibratone

Another pedalboard featuring the Hendrix-style Roger Mayer Octavia (3rd from left, UFO-shaped), and Arbiter Fuzz Face (2nd from right, round)

During the recording of In Step, SRV had as many as 32 amps at his disposal, running up to 10 simultaneously, including a couple of reissue ’59 Bassman heads.  There’s a great article with producer Jim Gaines on the making of this album for more info.

Studio shot from the In Step sessions, L-R: Marshall JCM 800, Blonde Fender Twin, Dumble Steel String Singer, Fender Super Reverb, Marshall Majors on 8x10" & 4x15" cabs.

Shortly before his death, and likely influenced by Eric Clapton (whom used Soldanos heavily in the late 80s), Stevie began talking to amp builder Mike Soldano about a custom amp that could deliver the kind of tone he loved from his cranked amps but at a lower volume, and without any pedals… they started work on a custom model, but it wouldn’t be completed until after Stevie’s untimely death (See the below feature from Guitar World for more on this amp). 

It is rumored that Alexander Dumble wasn’t happy with Stevie’s flirting with another amp designer, which caused the delay and ultimate non-delivery of his third Steel String Singer (it’s also rumored that Dumble doubled the cost at the last minute, but none of this has been substantiated). This means that in addition to the Soldano, there is another custom-made SRV amp in existence, and unfortunately the world never got to hear it.  It's my understanding that Jimmie Vaughan owns most of the classic pieces, including Number One, the Vibroverbs, and his main Dumble Steel String Singer.

And in closing, after all this talk of amps and equipment, Stevie was still Stevie on an old beat-up Gibson acoustic...