Would Like To Know Which SD Sounds Like SRV's?

house

New member
Guy's, I need your input. Which Duncan SC Neck PU's do you think sound closest to SRV's? As you can tell, I'm a Fan. Just wondering.
 
Re: Would Like To Know Which SD Sounds Like SRV's?

I always liked the idea of the Staggered 5/2's They are Alnico 5 on the Bass side and Alnico 2's on the Treble... results in more twang on the bottom and fatter on top.
.
 
Re: Would Like To Know Which SD Sounds Like SRV's?

SSL-1/2's are vintage-style Strat pickups, and they'll give you a classic, clear Strat neck tone...
 
Re: Would Like To Know Which SD Sounds Like SRV's?

Antiquities or SSL-1's with really big strings. Then attack your guitar like a bear..LOL.
 
Re: Would Like To Know Which SD Sounds Like SRV's?

Yep... 11's in standard or 13's in Eb... and a pissed off attitude with a mean index finger vibrato!
 
Re: Would Like To Know Which SD Sounds Like SRV's?

Yep... 11's in standard or 13's in Eb... and a pissed off attitude with a mean index finger vibrato!

Yeah, I tried the 11's one time, but I didn't tune down. Man them jokers ripped my fingers apart. Stevie must of had Cobalt finger tips. :eyecrazy:
 
Re: Would Like To Know Which SD Sounds Like SRV's?

i use 11s in standard tuning on my strat. Its no big deal. You get used to whatever strings you use. It doesnt take long.
The hard thing is getting an efficient technique where you dont waste a heap of energy in your movements. The vast majority of players develop their technique in such a way that most of their energy is actully fighting against themselves. That is true whether bending, bar chording, solo arrangements or playing single lines. We spend so much wasted energy when playing that holds us back from being able to express ourselves musically.
Think of good technique as a litte like king fu....
 
Re: Would Like To Know Which SD Sounds Like SRV's?

SSL5/6 always get listed as SRV tone with .009s...I Like Fender Fat 50s also.
 
Re: Would Like To Know Which SD Sounds Like SRV's?

i use 11s in standard tuning on my strat. Its no big deal. You get used to whatever strings you use. It doesnt take long.
The hard thing is getting an efficient technique where you dont waste a heap of energy in your movements. The vast majority of players develop their technique in such a way that most of their energy is actully fighting against themselves. That is true whether bending, bar chording, solo arrangements or playing single lines. We spend so much wasted energy when playing that holds us back from being able to express ourselves musically.
Think of good technique as a litte like king fu....

Ditto. Vintage spec A5 single neck will put you in the tonal ballpark. The rest is all you, and heavier strings and tubes are part of the SRV tone equation.
 
Re: Would Like To Know Which SD Sounds Like SRV's?

To me, the SRV tone always sounded like Fender 57/62s. Lots of quack.
The SSL-1 is thicker than a 57/62 by quite a bit.

I've never played an antiquity surfer but I'll bet that's what would give you the best neck pickup tone.
 
Re: Would Like To Know Which SD Sounds Like SRV's?

of all fenders offereings i like the fat 50's the best.

srv is simple. a great strat with vintage type singles (ssl1, ant surfer, fat 50's), tuned down 1/2 step with big strings and higher action, into a big clean fender with a tube screamer, bear paws for hands, a massive dose of soul and the blues chops of zeus.

if you got that you are all set!
 
Re: Would Like To Know Which SD Sounds Like SRV's?

To me,
SRV's pickups sound overwound, with more hot mids than stock Strat p'ups.
Fender's Texas Special SC is supposed to be the SRV pickup, right?
I believe they use it in his stupidly overpriced signature model......
Try the 5/2 or the Custom Staggered,
Get you a Visual Sound Route 66 or a Keeley modded Tube Screamer and
get the biggest strings that don't say "Bass" on the package.
That should get you in the neighborhood.
 
Re: Would Like To Know Which SD Sounds Like SRV's?

The pickups in his number 1 are vintage spec Fenders. The Texas Specials were made for those who like to use thinner strings but get that fatter sound. He actually used them in sig model prototypes for a very short time before he died. I had a set not too long ago and it was very easy to get that tone with 9 or 10 gauge strings.
 
Re: Would Like To Know Which SD Sounds Like SRV's?

the pups on #1 all read low, not over wound at all. the texas specials are nothing like the pups in stevies most used strats. #1, lenny, butter, or red. those all had low wind alnico V singles

tuning down a 1/2 step makes a big difference and people forget that
 
Re: Would Like To Know Which SD Sounds Like SRV's?

of all fenders offereings i like the fat 50's the best.

srv is simple. a great strat with vintage type singles (ssl1, ant surfer, fat 50's), tuned down 1/2 step with big strings and higher action, into a big clean fender with a tube screamer, bear paws for hands, a massive dose of soul and the blues chops of zeus.

if you got that you are all set!

For me to every play like him is impossible, IMO. I just play how best I can get a way with, but I just love the tone of his neck PU on his #1 Guitar. I had a Tube Screamer once but just didn't dig it. I instead I run an MXR Super Comp thru a Dunlop 535 Q, into an MXR GT Over Drive, into an MXR 78 Bad Ass, to my Dunlop Uni-Vibe SC-1 Stereo Chorus (Which I never use for the modulation effect. I use it for it's tonal shaping capabilities), on into my 1st Gen Fender Blues Deluxe (Cranked). I really wish I had Bear Paws. I have been damned with the worst inflicktion for any guitarist, small hands. I have some soul which has been inbeded since my begining, but still must perform maintenance to keep grooving. The Blues chops of Zeus, not even close, more like the blues chops of a Zoo. But if you every really looked at a Quwallah Bear in captivity you could easily tell he has the blues. If I can get that neck PU tone, that would be cool.
 
Re: Would Like To Know Which SD Sounds Like SRV's?

For me to every play like him is impossible, IMO. I just play how best I can get a way with, but I just love the tone of his neck PU on his #1 Guitar. I had a Tube Screamer once but just didn't dig it. I instead I run an MXR Super Comp thru a Dunlop 535 Q, into an MXR GT Over Drive, into an MXR 78 Bad Ass, to my Dunlop Uni-Vibe SC-1 Stereo Chorus (Which I never use for the modulation effect. I use it for it's tonal shaping capabilities), on into my 1st Gen Fender Blues Deluxe (Cranked). I really wish I had Bear Paws. I have been damned with the worst inflicktion for any guitarist, small hands. I have some soul which has been inbeded since my begining, but still must perform maintenance to keep grooving. The Blues chops of Zeus, not even close, more like the blues chops of a Zoo. But if you every really looked at a Quwallah Bear in captivity you could easily tell he has the blues. If I can get that neck PU tone, that would be cool.

Of course noone can play like SRV excpet SRV, but you can get a lot of the subtelties and tonalities of his style with a simple amp setup and a lot of practice. Try mimicing his sounds and licks without plugging in at all - thats the real key...its all in the way you play...not the gear. The good news is Its not your small hands that are holding you back. Django reinhardt only had 2 fingers, and Sharon Isbin has little hands too - and she plays classical guitar! Like everything in music, its all juts a matter of practice.
No axe/pedal/amp set up can change that.

Having said all that, if we really are talking gear then I think with your rig you are really barking up the wrong tree. Its so complicated i seriously thought you were joking (no disrespect intended).
If you absolutely have to use the stuff you have to get somewhere near an SRV type sound, then get rid of everything except the strat, the GT overdrive and the amp. Better still would be to trade your gear up to at least a deluxe reverb for fat clean tones at reasonable volumes. A blues junior is a nice amp, but it does have its limitations. I found they can do a cool texas blues tone, but the design of the amp does not allow that huge singing tone that SRV is famous for.


p.s. jeremy hit the nail on the head as usual.
 
Last edited:
Re: Would Like To Know Which SD Sounds Like SRV's?

Most people who don't have SRV's tendons and ligaments tend to use overwound pickups to get that sound without the steel hawsers for strings.

Something like the STK-S7 Hot Vintage Stack Plus (yeah, it's a hum canceller, but Seymour Duncan doesn't have comparable in it's production pickups) is a pretty good choice for something a bit fatter than the SSL-1/2 that most strat afficiandos like as a general strat pickup. [Can run it with hum-cancelling disabled if you prefer tradtional noise levels, or only enabled when it's by itself so that it still cancels hum when combined with a RWRP middle.]

SSL-5/6 is a great pickup, but a bit more Gilmour than SRV to me. STK-S6 is the hum-cancelling version of that.

If you try the STK-S7 and like it, and want matching hum-cancellers, I'd go with the STK-S4 Classic Stack Plus RWRP (doesn't have to be RW/RP unless you want the option of not using the noise-canceller for 2+4 position) for the middle and STK-S6 Custom Stack Plus in the bridge [If you like David Gilmour leads in particular]. Could also go with another STK-S7 in the bridge.

STK-S4 is the hum-cancelling version of the SSL-2 (which is the flat radius version of the SSL-1). Weak pickup in the middle gives more quack on 2+4 position. You could go STK-S7s in both neck & middle if you are more worried about the pickups when not combined.

I am very curious about the 5/2 option, but I don't know if they are particularly SRV in tone.
 
Back
Top