A Brief History of Fuzz

In July of 1947, a "weather ballon" crashed on farmland near Roswell, New Mexico. By the end of that year, the transistor was invented, a revolutionary device unlike anything before it, made of a strange crystal substance called "Germanium", sparking a period of exponential technological advancement and paving the way for the semiconductor and microprocessor industries we know today. Coincidence? Conspiracy theorists like myself think not. But I digress...

Fine, you tell me where Third Stone From The Sun came from...

No, aliens did not bring us the first fuzz tone pedal (although it would've made a great sequel to Crossroads if Jimi Hendrix sold his soul to E.T. for a Fuzz Face), but as the Germanium transistor began replacing vacuum tubes in gain stage circuits, the smaller size, lower voltage, and cheaper price opened up a whole new world to electronics enthusiasts, beginning with transistor radio kits in the mid '50s. Manufacturers such as GE, Mullard, and Phillips published "cookbooks" of basic circuits utilizing their products in an effort to sell more units (somewhere, I have one of these original books, given to me by my college audio engineering professor). The guitar world owes a great deal of gratitude to these simple hobbyist guides, and would hear the results a decade later.

Although there are prior instances of accidentally (or intentionally) overdriving guitars on recordings throughout the 1950s, there are two competitors for the first use of a fuzz (please bear with me on the timeline, as many of these events occurred near simultaneously); in 1960, producer Lee Hazelwood, known for his work with rockabilly guitarist Duane Eddy, had his own standalone fuzz box built by a radio engineer in Phoenix, and it was used on Sanford Clark's song Go On Home by guitarist Al Casey. Depending on exactly when Hazelwood had this box commissioned, and no one seems to know, it may have predated all others.

Meanwhile, in Nashville, Marty Robbins recorded his hit Don't Worry in 1960, on which bassist Grady Martin played through a broken channel of the Langevin tube mixing board, resulting in an overdriven bass solo that recording engineer Glen Snoddy loved and refused to fix. This eventually led Snoddy to create his own fuzztone prototype, a three-transistor circuit utilizing Germanium 2N270s which he brought to the attention of the Gibson guitar company in 1962. This prototype became the Maestro Fuzz-Tone FZ-1, the world's first commercially available fuzz pedal.

A Maestro Fuzz-Tone ad by Gibson, and an original FZ-1 unit with attached instrument cable.

Inspired by Grady Martin's bass tone, another fuzz box was made in California by musician and electronics tech Orville "Red" Rhodes, a simple transistor circuit housed in a metal box with level knob and on/off switch. While never going into production, a few of these "Rhodes" fuzz tones were built for friends, including Nokie Edwards and Billy Strange of The Ventures, who used it on "2,000 Pound Bee" in 1962, the first known use of a fuzz tone on a rock'n'roll record.

Across the pond, Vox design engineer Dick Denney claims to have prototyped a simple 2-transistor fuzz circuit in 1962, based on transistor cookbook circuits and likely inspired by those American recordings and/or the Maestro unit, but as the Maestro was not selling much in America at the time, Vox did not pursue the production of this design yet. A couple years later, in 1964, English electronic tech Roger Mayer was approached by a young session guitarist named James Patrick "Jimmy" Page to build him something that would capture the sound of The Ventures' fuzz guitar, before anything of the sort was available for sale in London. Mayer's original pedal was rumored to be similar to the FZ-1 circuit (although he claims to have never seen one in person), but used Mullard Germanium transistors as well as several other components more easily available in the UK, giving a richer tone with more sustain than the Maestro. Page is rumored to have used this unique pedal for the next few years, both on session recordings and later with the Yardbirds.

Back in the States, Gibson produced 5,000 FZ-1 units in it's first production run of 1962, initially marketed as a way to imitate the sound of a baritone sax or trombone with a bass guitar, with extremely disappointing sales. So disappointing that in 1963, only three units were made, followed by zero in '64. The pedal was viewed as nothing more than a novelty by most, until Keith Richards stepped on one in 1965 to simulate a horn section playing the melody of the Stones' new song, "Satisfaction". Keith originally envisioned an arrangement closer to how Otis Redding would eventually record the tune and never intended the fuzz guitar version to be released, but the scratch track worked so well, it remained, and modern music would never be the same.

A 1965 Maestro FZ-1A, reissued by popular demand.

Suddenly, everyone wanted a fuzz; Maestro reissued the original Fuzz-Tone as the FZ-1A in America. As the unit was expensive to import and difficult to obtain in England, design engineers in the West End music shops got busy. The most notable was Gary Hurst, employee of the Macari's Musical Exchange on Denmark Street; Upon the request of Vic Flick (creator of the James Bond theme) for more sustain out of the Maestro unit, Hurst swapped out the original transistors for Mullard OC75s, adjusted the bias voltage for a smoother, less harsh tone, built it into a wooden wedge-shaped enclosure, and named it the Tone Bender. The original models, now known as the Tone Bender MkI, were used by Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend, Paul McCartney, and Mick Ronson, amongst others. Hurst formed Sola Sound Ltd. with Larry Macari, and the first run of metal-enclosed Tone Benders were produced for sale exclusively at the Musical Exchange.

 Tone Bender wooden-box prototype (left), and a 1st-run production model (right)

By 1966, everyone had a hand in the fuzz game; the Mosrite Fuzz-rite and Sam Ash Astrotone were fellow American responses to the Maestro, and Vox finally jumped in with the V816 Distortion Booster, a two-transistor unit based on Denney's earlier prototype that plugged directly into the output jack of the guitar itself. There was also a two-transistor Tone Bender pedal under the Vox name, licensed from Hurst and manufactured in Italy, with curious circuit origins; Denney says it's his original 2-transistor design, while Hurst has both laid claim to and denied designing a 2-tranny circuit in separate instances. Either way, this model became known as the Tone Bender Mk1.5, although there was no labeled designation at the time. The circuit was also virtually identical to that of another London-based manufacturer, Ivor Arbiter and Arbiter Music, whose Face line of effects pedals were based on the look of a round mic stand base, and included the Treble & Bass Face, Trem Face, and of course, the Fuzz Face.

A 1966 Arbiter ad featuring the Fuzz Face, and a vintage Fuzz Face pedal

The Arbiter Electronics Ltd. Fuzz Face was made incredibly popular by one James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix, who began using the pedal in late '66 to overdrive his already-cranked Marshall Super Lead amps. David Gilmour of Pink Floyd was also a fan of the Fuzz Face, using it heavily throughout the late 60s and early 70s on both recordings and live. These early designs, using now-coveted NKT-275 Germanium transistors, varied greatly with guitar output level and pickup impedance, and players like Hendrix and Gilmour preferred Stratocasters for this very reason, cranking the knobs on the pedal and using the guitar's volume and tone controls to vary from clean to over-the-top dirty and all shades in between (the Fuzz Face-Strat combo is just about the perfect pairing, as tonemeisters Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Johnson later discovered as well). Depending on where and when it was purchased, a Fuzz Face could be labeled "Arbiter England", "Dallas-Arbiter", "Dallas Music Industries Ltd.", "CBS/Arbiter Ltd.", or even "Sound City", after the shop owned by Arbiter in London's West End. Nowadays, Jim Dunlop has reissued several versions of the Fuzz Face, including later silicon transistor circuits.

It's important to note at this time that Germanium crystal transistors are incredibly inconsistent, with leakage, voltage, and temperature fluctuations a constant issue. Meticulous designers like Gary Hurst and Roger Mayer would measure the hFE gain of each unit, accounting for leakage and ideal voltage, using the appropriate bias resistors, and still sort through a hundred pieces just to find maybe 30 choice units. Many guitarists even preferred to use 9-volt batteries that were nearly dead, rather than fresh, for a warmer tone. When manufacturers such as Arbiter and Vox began mass producing these designs, that attention to detail was lost, and quality suffered. By the end of the 60's, most designers and manufacturers had switched to the newer and more consistent silicon transistors with great result, although there is nothing quite like a carefully selected and properly tuned Germanium fuzz, in my humble opinion.

A Macari's Musical Exchange ad for the Tone Bender MkII (top), original Tone Bender MkII & Marshall Supa Fuzz units (middle left), two versions of the Vox Tone Bender (middle right), and a sextet of MkIII models (bottom).

Later in '66, Gary Hurst refined his three-transistor design further in the Tone Bender Professional MkII, still manufactured by Sola Sound as well as licensed to other companies in the form of the Marshall Supa Fuzz and again as the Vox Tone Bender. This OC75 (sometimes OC81D) design became one of the most popular and widely-used fuzz circuits in England, due to it's thick, smooth yet expressive sound, incredibly intense at full guitar volume but capable of a similar range as the Fuzz Face when backed down. Being used by Jimmy Page on the first Led Zeppelin album and Jeff Beck on Truth (in the form of a Supa Fuzz) didn't hurt it's legacy, either; the MkII was the pinnacle of Germanium transistor circuits, as it was a bit more user-friendly than the Fuzz Face and less finicky with guitar pickup impedance matching (Page used it with his Tele, Beck with his Les Paul, two instruments not known to be as friendly with a Fuzz Face as a Strat).

Further revisions of the Tone Bender evolved in the 1968 MkIII and '70 MkIV models under the new Sola Sound Colorsound brand, now featuring tone controls and brightly-colored metal enclosures, while Gary Hurst became less and less involved with the company at this point. These fuzz circuits could also be found licensed as the Rotosound Fuzz Box, Park Fuzz Sound, and Vox Tone Bender (yet again). The Colorsound brand was widely popular, although these would be the last of the "vintage" Hurst 3-transistor circuits, and would never eclipse the legacy of the Professional MkII.

Some guitarist doing yoga alongside his original Vox wah, Octavio, & Fuzz Face pedals (Univibe hidden far right).

An original Roger Mayer Octavio (left), a Tycobrahe Octavia (center), and a Mayer Axis Fuzz (right)

1967 also brought us the landmark fuzz tone masterpiece Are You Experienced? by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, featuring both the Arbiter Fuzz Face and the new Roger Mayer-designed Octavio pedal, the first pedal to produce an upper-octave harmonic ghosting effect in addition to fuzz by utilizing full-wave rectification circuitry (listen to the "Purple Haze" guitar solo for an example of this). Originally using a small transformer to achieve this, the circuit was later altered to use transistors and diodes for the effect. The design was allegedly copied and reproduced in the U.S. as the Tycobrahe Octavia, one of the rarest pedals ever made, with much debate as to it's exact origin; it could have been an employee of Mayer's that went rogue, or a broken Octavio that Jimi dropped off locally to be fixed and never returned to pick up. The original Octavio has recently been reissued by Jim Dunlop, along with the Fuzz Face and Jimi's other favorite effects. Roger Mayer also has a full line of pedals based on his original 60s designs.

Later in '67, Mayer would design the silicon-transistor UFO-shaped Axis Fuzz (see? my conspiracy theory might be valid!), as inconsistency in Fuzz Face components and build quality often led to Jimi sorting through a dozen units in order to find one or two that met his standards. Arbiter would respond with their own silicon Fuzz Face in a blue-grey enclosure, also used by David Gilmour along with the original Germanium model.

Three Super-Fuzz pedals, an original '68 Univox (left), a '70s Univox and Ibanez Standard Fuzz (right) 

Japan jumped into the fuzz scene in 1968 with the Univox Super-Fuzz, a silicon-transistor design manufactured by Shin-Ei incorporating similar qualities of both the Tone Bender and Octavia, as it provided a thick, rich fuzz tone with the additional upper octave harmonic. This became Pete Townshend's fuzz of choice throughout the next decade, including the infamous Live At Leeds album, and is currently favored by Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. Later in the 1970s, the Super-Fuzz circuit was licensed to Ibanez and rebranded as the Standard Fuzz. 

Around this same time, the Fender Blender and Ampeg Scrambler octave-fuzzes also came onto the scene as their respective manufacturers' first forays into the fuzz world. Although not very popular at the time, both developed strong cult followings and were later reissued.

Two early Muffs, the first "triangle" version (left), and the "Ram's head" 2nd version (right).

The shift to silicon transistor circuits paved the way for America's next massive contribution in the form of Mike Matthews' Big Muff in 1969. Manufactured by Matthews' Electro-Harmonix brand, this 4-transistor circuit was the biggest, thickest-sounding fuzz to date, and ushered in a new era of tone. David Gilmour became a Big Muff aficionado in the mid-70s and lasting for the rest of his career, using many of the various circuit revisions (particularly the v2 "Ram's Head" model) both in studio and concert, including their epic The Wall album and tour (the "Comfortably Numb" solo is pure Muff). Hendrix is rumored to have purchased one of the first models before his death, and Carlos Santana used one throughout the 70s. Muffs saw a resurgence in the early '90s by alternative groups like the Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, Mudhoney, and Dinosaur Jr., and again in recent years by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys and Jack White. 

An original fuzz-covered fOXX Tone machine (left), and fOXX Fuzz&Wa&Volume pedal (right)

Timeless designs like these rarely go out of style, and the Big Muff quickly influenced it's competitors, the most notable of which was the fOXX Tone Machine in 1971, a purple fuzzy velour-covered 4-transistor fuzz with a switchable upper octave that was much stronger and (in my opinion) more usable than the Octavia or Super-Fuzz as a stand-alone octave effect. The Tone Machine was and still is a big favorite of ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, and has also been used by Adrian Belew and Peter Frampton over the years. The same octave fuzz circuit can also be found in the fOXX Fuzz&Wa&Volume Machine pedal, including (you guessed it) wah and volume with a treadle foot controler. Justin Chancellor, bassist of the prog-metal group Tool, uses one of these original pedals in his massive rig, along with a Tone Bender MkIII. 

Three silicon Tone Benders: a Supa, a Fuzz, and a Jumbo.

Sola Sound/Colorsound also responded to the Big Muff with the silicon 4-transistor Supa Tone Bender in 1973, as used by Steve Hackett of Genesis. The same circuit would also be labeled as the Tone Bender Fuzz, and a simplified variation as the Jumbo Tone Bender in 1975. Aside from the Tone Bender name, these were purely Muff clones and beared no relation to the classic Gary Hurst Tone Bender circuits.

My friend Kurt Martin's Experience pedal; he was smart enough to grab an original.

Although the fOXX company didn't last very long, the Tone Machine inspired the Prescription Electronics Experience pedal of the early '90s, one of the first true boutique pedals of the modern era, hand-built and custom painted (each pedal was unique), featuring a separate footswitch for the octave effect as a much-needed improvement over the original toggle switch of the fOXX. The Experience also featured a Swell circuit to simulate Jimi's backward guitar, based on the rare Boss SG-1 Slow Gear pedal of the 80s (I'm still kicking myself for not purchasing an Experience pedal in 1994 when I first tried one at a Sam Ash store). The custom one-of-a-kind psychedelic paint jobs were gone by the end of the 90s, replaced by solid-colored enclosures to increase production. Prescription Electronics eventually went out of business, but not before paving the way for other boutique builders such as Fulltone, Z.Vex, Menatone, and many others.

Each of these designers and manufacturers could warrant a blog of their very own, and many do exist, but for the sake of brevity, I've kept this timeline limited to the more poignant and influential models throughout the 60s and 70s. While there are many other incredible pedals out there, most are derived from and owe a debt of gratitude to the models featured here. A few current manufacturers make excellent modern interpretations of the classics in addition to the Jim Dunlop reissues, particularly Analogman in the US and D*A*M in the UK. I've got one of each, an Analogman Sun Face with 2SB Germanium transistors that sounds like pure Hendrix heaven, and a D*A*M Tone Bender Professional MkII that can wake the Gods like the hammer of Thor when cranked. Gabriel Currie of Echopark also makes a great Germanium fuzz, the F-1, reminiscent of the original Maestro and Mosrite Fuzzrite designs, but with it's own unique character and incredible interaction with guitar volume. Most importantly, the original designs that helped shape modern music are still alive and well in these great products.

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SRV tone on a budget

So, I can't afford a Dumble (not many can these days)...

Nor would I want to lug a 100-pound Super Reverb on NYC subways for gigs.

In a perfect world, I'd go for a Custom Shop strat or Echopark '62 model, into a handwired '64 Vibroverb reissue, or a Sebago Sound Texas Flood amp. That would be really, REALLY nice...

But as a working musician playing 2-3 gigs a week, they all can't be elaborate, expensive productions... sometimes it's all about setting up as quickly as possible in the corner of a bar (and hoping none of your equipment grows legs during breaks). Along with my favorite strat, Leia (a Fender 60s Road Worn model, heavily customized with Arcane '61 pickups and a Callaham vintage bridge), my amp for situations like this is a Fender Princeton Reverb reissue, upgraded with JJ 6V6 tubes and a Celestion G10 Vintage speaker in place of the stock Jensen. Both of these upgrades improve the clean headroom and overall tone of the amp tremendously, as the tubes that Fender uses these days are cheap Chinese-made imitations, and the newer Jensen speakers sound good at low levels but can't handle much power without getting flubby in the bass and breaking up harshly. The G10 gives me greater power handling, increased perceived loudness due to higher dB sensitivity (more on this in a future column), and retains the classic Fender sound while adding a bit of British midrange push, the best of both worlds for me!

Leia, my 60s Road Worn strat, complete with cigarette burns, beer bottle caps,
and a few New Orleans stickers (my second home).

Fender Princeton Reverb mic'd up with Sennheiser 609

I also keep a Sennheiser 609 microphone in my gig bag, which has a flat profile and can be hung from the amp handle right in front of the speaker. This setup allows me to cover just about any situation with a decent PA system without pushing the amp too hard, and provides a great clean platform to stack pedals into. It's also nice to have a great spring reverb and tremolo available without taking up any pedalboard real estate.

The J.Rockett Lenny clean boost pedal

Although Stevie loved his clean headroom, he also loved the rich harmonic juice of cranked tubes. My favorite way to simulate this is with a great new pedal from J.Rockett Audio Designs, called, not coincidentally, the "Lenny". It was an attempt to simulate the tone of a pushed Dumble Steel String Singer, and they nailed it in spades (although SRV actually used a Dumbleland Special for the song "Lenny", we'll look past that). Put in front of a clean amp like the Princeton or any blackface Fender, it adds beautiful harmonic midrange content, plus it tightens up the bottom end, and the tone control can be used to push the high end for a little extra cut. You can also use it to boost an amp into natural overdrive, too, but I prefer it for clean color (I believe it's very similar to the FET input stage that most Dumble amps feature, but this isn't confirmed). Before this pedal was available, I used another J.Rockett model, the "Archer" Klon clone, set for a clean boost, but Lenny does this job a little bit better for my needs, and the Archer has other great uses that we'll cover in the future.



Next up would be the mandatory TS-type overdrive pedal, and I've got a few to choose from... First is a late 80s Ibanez TS10, the last model that SRV used (John Mayer's favorite, as well), and although it sounds great, mine is very finicky and noisy, which makes it unreliable in a gig setting. I originally replaced it with a TS9 reissue, which would get the job done just fine with no bells or whistles, but my favorite, after trying many other options, is the Fulltone Plimsoul. At low gain settings, it nails the TS sound perfectly, with a bit more transparency in the top & bottom of the frequency range (this means your guitar is only effected where it matters, with no detriment otherwise), and true bypass switching. The overall tone is a bit firmer than the stock TS, and it also has much more gain on tap, with an additional "Stage 2" knob for more crunch (this becomes useful when doing more than just SRV tones, and as a gigging musician, variety is key). Stacking the Plimsoul into the Lenny is a beautiful thing, as I've demonstrated below, and it's also very interactive with the guitar's volume knob, so setting the gain at the highest you'll need (about 11-12 o'clock for me) and working the volume knob to clean up is very useful. I've included a quick comparison video, as well as the Plimsoul/Lenny combo:

Ibanez TS10 (left), TS9 reissue (center), and Fulltone Plimsoul (right)

                                         

                                         



Those two pedals will get you pretty far, but adding a few others will be even more fun... gotta have a good wah pedal for "Voodoo Child", right?? I've got a great-sounding Vox, but it's heavy and takes up lots of pedalboard space....the new Crybaby Mini by Dunlop sounds excellent, especially in "vintage" mode (internal switch), and as long as your shoes aren't too heavy, the feel is just fine (don't try it with cowboy boots). It also fits nicely on a Pedaltrain Nano.

Fulltone Mini Deja'Vibe

Next up in the "mandatory' category is a good vibe pedal... mine is a Fulltone Mini Deja'Vibe, which i leave set to "vintage" and 'chorus" modes. I'll use this for tunes like "Cold Shot" and "Couldn't Stand the Weather" in place of a Vibratone cab, and also for Hendrix tunes like "Machine Gun", "Freedom", and "Hey Baby" instead of a UniVibe. I've included a brief demo just to show the settings I use for these tones, as it is capable of much more than just that.  

                                            


Now, if you really wanted to push the "SRV-meets-Jimi" thing even further, you'll need a good Fuzz Face clone,  as well as an Octavia-type effect. For a while, I was using a homemade pedal for both of these, although it's a silicon-based fuzz, not germanium. I call it the "High Desert Buzz" (after a very mind-expanding trip I took to Joshua Tree, CA), and the upper-octave overtone effect can be switched on and off separately from the fuzz. It can be a bit over-the-top for vintage tones, but perfect for Billy Gibbons/Gary Clark, Jr/Josh Homme-type sounds (I'll demo this pedal in a future blog). There's also the great Analogman Sun Face germanium fuzz, which is a less intense, smoother-sounding fuzz, and likely closer to the Diaz Square Fuzzes that SRV used. If pedalboard space allows, i'll place the Sun Face or Desert Buzz first, as most fuzzes prefer to see the guitar's high impedance output directly, and kick it on for the occasional solo.

Analogman Sun Face (left), my homemade High Desert Buzz octave fuzz (right)

Well, there you have it. I certainly prefer my strat for SRV material, but honestly, it's way more about how you play it than what you're playing. Learning to nail that Texas shuffle feel is more important than any guitar, amp, or pedal. I've seen guys absolutely CRUSH "Pride & Joy" on a Les Paul, and occasionally i'll play it on a Tele when filling in with my friend J.D. Patch's outlaw country group, the Hell Dwellers. But if you ever have a chance to check out my band, J.P. & the Voodoo Blues, it'll be with the great gear you've read about here, and maybe a '64 Vibroverb someday.

(Disclaimer: i have no affiliation or endorsements with any of the manufacturers mentioned in this blog, it's simply my favorite gear that i've paid for myself)

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...