SRV Tone Essentials With Scott McKeon [Five Amps, Vibratone, Strats, Tube Screamers & Fuzz!)
There’s more to Stevie Ray Vaughan’s tone than you might think…
Welcome to the show! We’re absolutely delighted to welcome the splendid and tremendous Scott McKeon to the show! Dan is away sick unfortunately, which gave Scott and me the opportunity to totally geek out on a subject close to our hearts… Stevie Ray Vaughan.
We were both obsessed with Stevie as kids, so when Scott sent me a text saying he had some gear in his current possession that we just had to plug in and blast through… well, it just had to be. That said, when he arrived he didn’t actually realise we were going to make a video… Erm, sorry mate! Hahahaha!
Now, please hear this loud and clear before you hit the comment keyboard.
This is a taste of the kinds of things SRV used. It is NOT an exhaustive, blow-by-blow account of the exact gear, and nor can either of us ever really translate the man’s incredible tone and technique.
It’s a bit of homage, and a bit of fun hammering through a bunch of amps and a Vibratone. Please don’t get too twisty – just take it for what it is, rather than what it isn’t.
Massive thanks to Scott for doing this!
Check out Scott online: https://www.scottmckeon.co.uk/
And check out SM Fuzz, his pedal brand: https://smfuzz.com/
A signal chain explanation…
– TheGigRig G3 Atom is running the show
– The fuzzes and wah sit before G3 input, in line
– Loops 1, 2 & 3: Tube Screamers
– Loop 4: Send for the Two-Rock & Vibratone via a Humdinger (splitter)
– Loop 5: Send for the Marshall via a Humdinger (splitter)
– G3 main output 1 & 2: Vibroverb & D-Style Amp
– The Deluxe reverb is linked from the input of the Marshall (because it was a last-minute idea and that was quickest)
Enjoy the show!
Interesting bits and go to sections…
0:00 Intro & background
1:18 Intro playing
2:10 This is Scott & Why SRV?
4:56 SRV overkill?
5:28 Scott’s current work
7:26 That SRV Tribute Strat!
8:37 Scott’s ’62 Strat & CS replica
9:56 1964 Fender Vibroverb thoughts
11:17 Vibroverb sound
12:04 Vibroverb Bright switch?
15:30 Ibanez TS Tube Screamers
16:55 TS808, TS 9 & TS10 sounds
19:47 Multiple amps: Dumbles?
21:27 Adding a second amp…
22:30 Sounds too gainy?
25:20 Fender Vibratone
27:30 Vibroverb & Vibratone tones
31:04 Vibratone on its own
34:47 A Scuttle Buttin’ tangent
37:02 Vibroverb, Vibratone & D-Style amp
39:08 Cleaner?
42:08 Marshalls?
46:01 Vibroverb & Marshall (& Vibratone) sounds
48:04 Why a Deluxe Reverb in the toilet?!
50:50 Toilet Deluxe Reverb sounds
52:15 Four… five amps!
55:18 More toilet Deluxe Reverb sounds
56:47 Thoughts on fuzz and pre In Step times
59:55 MXR Loop Switcher?
1:00:52 SM Fuzz chat
1:02:50 SM Fuzz tones
1:04:30 SM Octa Fuzz
1:07:45 Mick has wah-wah schwang
1:10:20 Closing thoughts – Stevie Ray Guy?
1:13:50 Scott plays us out
Pedals & Stuff used in this show
If you use these links to buy stuff – any stuff – we receive a (very) small cut.
UK & Europe: Andertons Music – https://bit.ly/3zaTX5Z
USA: Sweetwater – https://sweetwater.sjv.io/5g6ALN
Australia: Pedal Empire – http://bit.ly/2mWmJQf
– SM Fuzz Pedal
– SM Octave Fuzz Pedal
– Ibanez TS 9 Tube Screamer (original 1980s model)
– Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer (modern reissue, Keeley Mod)
– Ibanez TS10 (original 1980s model)
– TheGigRig Humdinger
– TheGigRig G3 Atom
Guitars in today’s show
– 1962 Fender Stratocaster (Scott’s original)
– Fender Custom Shop Stevie Ray Vaughan Number One Tribute Stratocaster (2004)
– 1961 Fender Stratocaster – Mick’s video here: https://youtu.be/WOMHUQeHGRQ
Amps used in today’s show
– 1964 Fender Vibroverb with 1x 15 Celestion G15V Fullback
– Dumble-style Amp / Clone with custom 2×12 with EVM-12L speakers
– Two-Rock Classic Reverb Signature into…
– Fender Vibratone rotating speaker cabinet
– Marshall 1987x into Zilla Custom 412 with 2 x Celestion V30 and 2 x Jensen C12 Raptor 100 speakers
You can buy TPS merch to support our efforts https://www.thatpedalshowstore.com
We are on Patreon – crowdfunding for creatives
https://www.patreon.com/ThatPedalShow
Please visit our preferred retailers!
UK & Europe: Andertons Music https://bit.ly/3zaTX5Z
Australia: Pedal Empire http://bit.ly/2mWmJQf
#SRV #Tone #Essentials #Scott #McKeon #Amps #Vibratone #Strats #Tube #Screamers #Fuzz
Originally posted by UCnUXq8mGmoHt0e6ItuTs10w at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2vvPsNwROw
This is guitar nerd content at it’s finest! Please do more with all the classic heroes! Jimi, Jimmy, David!
More SRV content, please
Amazing video fellows !!
EPIC! ????????????
First heard SRV playing Couldn't Stand the Weather on Tommy Vance's Radio 1 show back in the 80s. This wasn't the Friday Rock show but his Thursday evening show called (I think) Into the Music. Anyway, if you can imagine a time when national radio and TV was dominated by non-guitar based music, to hear that this was a "new" artist was mind blowing. A few years later, I'd moved south and saw SRV & Double Trouble at the Hammersmith Palais in 86 and then a couple of years later at the Hammersmith Odeon. Amazing both times but possibly the first gig, just before he went into rehab, provided more hair-rising-on-the-back-of-the-neck moments. I can only speculate that this was because he was literally playing as if it might have been his last show. Thankfully it wasn't and he was able to come back clean until that sad, sad evening in Alpine Valley.
You have become the "Nerds" & I'm with you guys! This is best channel for guitar geeks! I'm surprised that there is not more subscriptions…… You guys go deep & sound great also & great guitar playing as well!………. All sounds are soooo goood! no matter what u guys do…………..
Loved the video but feel sorry for you ears. Look after them, you don't get another pair.
I saw Stevie Ray Vaughan in Monroe, Louisiana with only about 300 people … I was literally straight in front of him with my jaw open … he was wearing these white cowboy boots with 80’s genie pants tucked in them … it was so fuckin loud. You have no idea.
Dorset looks a lot like Connecticut (New England)! I actually lived a half year in Hampshire (Portsmouth).
No, nobody can.
Is that sss amp a ceriatone?
This is what the TPS would become if Dan could no longer do the show and Mick cloned himself. SRV and more SRV. ???? But seriously, what a great breakdown of the SRV sound. Even if we don't all have all of those amps, now we can get closer. Thanks Mick and Scott!
no. no you can’t. but only if you sell your soul to the devil
I had the good fortune of opening for Stevie in Alaska about a couple months before the crash. I had a 56 Bassman that he liked so I got to talk to him a bit.He was very nice and no attitude..He had 2 Twin Reverbs( EV),Steel String Singer,Marshall Major w/ KT88s,Vibroverb into Vibrotone for amps. When I razzed him about over 500 watts he said smiled and said ( I like a lot of headroom) I still kick myself for not checking his amp settings but I did check his pedals. Especially the TS9 because I had one..volume a little over 3 o’clock,tone ,drive pretty much off and tone not quite 9 o’clock..For this show it was Tycobrae Octavia,TS9 and Vox wah.That’s it..Of course he sounded great….CC
I swear John Mayer used to sound more like this. I prefer this more raw sound. Makes Mayer sound too sterile with his PRS.
Watched the episode, was amazed by the playing, yet I walk away empty. I now ONLY want to know the story behind the amp, and the towel lol.
Deloo Reverb
Mick can we swop Dan from time to time ..Scott kicked our asses with his guitar playing .. Awesome!
Scott has the magic touch the srv touch
Scott seems like such a cool dude. Appreciate him mentioning Jimmie and how much influence he had on Stevie.
Never thought of Stevie as a position 4 guy? What?
Muchas gracias por este video! Gran trabajo de Scott. Stevie siempre tuvo una busqueda en el tono. Por eso la prueba y cambio en el tiempo de su sonido. Creo que falto mencionar por ejemplo In session con Albert King usa el vibroverb sin ningun pedal, directo al ampli. El show en Finlandia con solo Marshall jcm 800 y un Leslie a sus espaldas. El pote de gain del TS9 que lo habia cambiado por una perilla mas grande y lo ajustaba con la punta del pie de la bota en los solos llevandolo a full. Saludos desde Argentina!
What was the routing used to send the signal to 4 amps simultaneously? Gigrig stereo out into two ABY?
Just as an aside and personal thing, I don't get relic finished guitars.
Scott's right hand attack is very similar to SRV's. And LH is not far behind to be fair. Total SRV experience ????
The bright switch is essential, it totally changes the character of the amp. It ain’t a fender with the bright switch off! Trick is to turn the treble and bass down to zero and eq up from there with the bright switch on – the bright switch gives you a different kind of high end that you just can’t get without it. It also lets you have more low end without getting flubby – it’s the golden key to fender tone. – had to edit my comment to add that 80s records always just sound the best, the mastering and mixing was so darn good in the 80s. It was just happy days.
does Scott have his own channel? he's bloody good.
SRV aficionados getting across the sound the feeling the atmosphere – love this episode. Thank you.
後ろの数字が目障り
These kind of videos always give me a laugh! SRV sounded like he did because it’s him playing, not the equipment. If he played through any amp it’d sound like him. So the obvious answer to the video thumbnail, no you can’t sound like SRV. You can sound like someone trying to sound like him but it’s not even close.
That octave thing has funny super power built in. It always turns on the riff machine in human.
Mick and Scott, thank you for making and posting this video! I'm Japanese, but I'm probably from the same generation, so I can understand what you're saying very well. Even though we were in different places, we were influenced by SRV at the same time. Returning to the roots in our 40s and 50s will enrich our lives even more. Anyway, I'm excited to understand the importance of Marshall, Vibratone, and toilet Reverb.
I was lucky enough to see SRV at Celebrity Theater in Phoenix back in 1999. He was so on fire, only stopping long enough more than halfway through to say, ” I'm having fun now." I worried for his drummer given the rigors of the set. Added to that massive mind-blowing concert, Gregg Almann Band received a standing ovation which I've never seen since.
There is some EQ work needed then you got it.
I think SRV used 15" speakers at times as well….. possibly on the dumble. He had tons more bass and mids than people think……
Thank you so much for a great show, Scott really nailed SRV's playing and sound! String gauges?
Funnily enough, "Toilet Deluxe" is my wife's nickname for me
Super episode! I don't think that Mick stopped grinning from ear to ear throughout.
great video enjoyed watching that . but whats with the obsession of trying to sound like SRV ? . i dont get it ? ..
It was allegedly one of SRV’s roadies who suggested the Tubescreamer after the roadie had been touring with Joe Walsh, (possibly Cutter Brandenberg)
The point about which pickup SRV preferred (or any Strat player) is bizarre to me, he epitomised control over the pickup switch to emphasise certain notes or phrases, he was all over it almost getting into Wah territory (notably on Testify for one example) using all five positions within a short solo at times.
I’ve played a Marshall Club and Country 2×12 before, a friend of mine owned one. They were an unusual Marshall for two reasons the first being they were quite unreliable and the second that they were Marshall’s attempt at a loud clean amp like a Twin Reverb (hence the name – aimed at country players etc) but it did possess a slightly different flavour to either a Fender Blackface amp or a Marshall, I liked it’s sound – very fat sounding and a muscular but fluid clean tone, capable of being extremely loud. There was a 4×10 version of the Club and Country amp too I’ve seen photographs of.
Hey, last time I checked that SRV custom shop was $60k.
Big fan of SRV.
I tell people most guitar players play similarly.
I can't think of one player that is as unique as SRV, well Jeff Beck.
Like they say SRV was a hurricane on the guitar.
I met @scottmckeonmusic in a vintage guitar shop in Adelaide Australia. cool guy.
Did SRV also use a SDD-320 live? Similar principle there to a rotary speaker.
Such a nice episode with epics sounds! I'm gonna be honest, I wouldn't have minded hearing Scott talk about his own tones and Album a bit. It's such an awesome Album and I keep coming back to it. Non the less, this was a proper one and I'm glad you had him over. What an experience!
First, 25 seconds I left because it’s not about you
I saw him everytime he came through in the 80's in the big venues. The sound was bigger than the sky with no pain.
I was describing my bedroom rig to the fellow who sold me his Diaz, and he said similarly, Stevie was recording with two or three amps mic'ed in each of many different rooms to blend up his tone. I just have a few in the other bedroom and a couple locked in the bathroom for safety, but yeah. If there's any weakness in your tone, you can almost always drown it out with one or two more amplifiers.