René Martinez - Texasguitarwhiz Chapter 6: Stevie Ray Vaughan Guitar Setup

Texasguitarwhiz, René Martinez walks us all the way through his process for setting up Stevie Ray Vaughan's guitars. Techs and tinkerers of all skill levels will benefit from Rene´'s experience and techniques!
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[@beachcomber4141]

I would have killed for this information and video in the late 80's and early 90's when all I wanted to do was play and sound like SRV. I tried 12's one time, and it was just too hard to bend. It still blows my mind how difficult to play Stevies set up was and how he just killed it every time. He probably had the strongest hands of any electric guitar player in history. To hear it from Stevies great friend and long time guitar tech is as real as we can get. I miss him so much. What he could have done......

[@ranman58635]

I believe he didn't use the whole set of 13's also, ie tuned down to E flat and which makes the strings way more stretchy.

[@TRWilley]

An off-the-shelf set of 12's or 13's tuned to concert pitch - yeah, not doable, but as stated it was more a hybrid set with the A and D being off a set of 11's. GHS mediums actually come with a .015 on the B for a medium set, so really just bump the G to .019 and it's a slightly heavier medium set. Then tune down to Eb, and you have a more manageable beast to tame.

[@Tonetwisters]

He's in Heaven waiting for us, if you know Jesus as your Savior!! 🙂

[@fishtailfred8686]

I remember seeing Rene as the opening act for SRV & DT while they are on tour in Germany in 1986, it was the first time I ever remember seeing someone play flamenco style guitar. His performance left such an impression on me that I still listen to flamenco guitar today.

[@flanneldaddy5220]

Rene is a legend himself whether he realizes it or not

[@druchumley4571]

Saw SRV open for Jeff Beck in 1989. Stevie beat the brakes off of that strat. I've never seen anyone do the crazy stuff that he did that night. The fact that the guitar held up and stayed in tune is a testament to how talented Rene is.

[@AP-ui7oi]

The string action is crazy

[@martynsparkes7118]

Yes it is..and from all the footage ive seen he didnt have the action that high...however strong your hands are I dont think you could play all that fast stuff the way he did...just have a look at the videos....this video is bullshit

[@johnnyc8742]

@@martynsparkes7118bro I think u trippin I seen some videos and that shit looks high.

[@elliotthall5543]

Man, I watched all six. This was great. Thanks, Rene and Mojotone!

[@brianjones7521]

Thank you for the details Rene.

[@stevestarr6395]

Thanks for the great tutorial Rene!

[@bluesatsun]

These are great….. thanks for these, and thanks Rene…

[@joeseher9453]

Rene I have been waiting about 7 years to watch this. Thank you so much! Oh man I hope you are doing well🙏😊

[@Diggilicious]

I have this guitar and it needs setup! Thanks for the instruction!

[@bandpassmess]

I used his advice on winding Strat with new strings The Strats stay in tune now . Thanks 🙏🏽

[@Tonetwisters]

I've been playing 62+ years, Rene, and I use that same guitar-on-foot technique! You got that one right, for sure! And I think I prefer your nut lubrication to just about everything out there! I load all my strings first, as well. You set up for one of the best guitarists who ever played; but I have been setting up my Stratocasters by only feel, for over 60 years. You certainly need those measuring tools, though, to set up someone else's guitar! And i readlly like your technique of "thumbing-down" the strings at both ends of the neck to get that hump out of them where they cross the bridge and the nut. I use Raw Vintage springs which are quite unique, and I leave my bridge floating just a little, as I like the action of the tremolo with wiggle in both directions. Just as an aside ... my very first guitar was a 1954 Stratocaster my dad gave me in 1963, serial number 0517.

[@fernandorodrigues4717]

This is such a hidden gem!

[@yvandewever6518]

Would really like to see him setup the pickup height.

[@pharmerdavid1432]

You have to do that by ear I've learned, and the recommended height from pickup poles to bottom of strings is always too high for my liking. My TV Jones T'Armond pickups are WAY down, about a 1/4" from the string, which gets rid of booming lows and sounds wonderful, warm and sweet......!

[@terrybanks5063]

if you watch srv playing live he almost always has his pickups right down almost level with the scratchplate. allowed him to play with a heavy hand and improved dynamics i heard in some interview. one day. somewhere.

[@keithremedy]

All of that changes with the pickups. I’ve learned over the years that I can set something exactly at the same height as another persons & set the string height & action the same & it doesn’t always gel. A lot of this you just have to do on a individual basis

[@keithremedy]

@@terrybanks5063 it wouldn’t be that low I know I looked at his number one when I went to Texas & it wasn’t any lower then any typical strat. If he had them too low they’d lose output even with 13s

[@craigpimlott204]

@@pharmerdavid1432 I find that .I’ve got my strat pickups on the fat 50’s right down to the pick guard to get the sound I like .the recommended height i found was too distorted when on number ten on the vol pot .lowered down its just right ..

[@dangillis4977]

excellent information I learned a couple things

[@austinharrison2453]

Luv you Rene

[@tymanngruter1808]

His masters voice!

[@5150show]

Incredible

[@rockandrollmd541]

6:00 Great tip about pressing the strings down on the saddles and nut. My Strat had a warbling sound before I did this, sounds more focused. I can't fathom how he could properly intonate the low E. I have a 49 gauge string and had to remove the spring and widen the opening in the saddle so that it wouldn't get crimped.

[@kevinobrien9626]

Was it Fender or Squier? Some of the overseas models use metric sizes and other quirks. I think there are ‘trade secrets’ that would allow the seasoned eye to tell if someone was trying to fob off an imitation as the real thing.

[@thesunman108]

Rene is such a badass. Would love to just sit and have a convo with him.

[@offaxisdude]

hey amigo ....from the old days at charleys guitars in the 70's !!

[@matthazelby506]

GOLD 👏👏👏

[@PedroSanchez-iv5np]

Renee you're the best

[@congamike1]

Thanks!

[@MrKmanhooks1]

Stevie: “Hey Rene? Any chance you can make this dinosaur Strat harder to play?” Rene: “I could raise the action 2 feet and throw some piano wire on it.” Stevie: “That’ll do nicely. Sill feels like a banjo but I’ll make it work…”

[@ranman58635]

What I do is keep raising it until the buzzing sorta stops. Then go a little higher, lol now I can play hard.

[@monkeysbum999]

You can use a fender xheavy pick as a feeler gauge at fret 14 or 15 .then graduate towards the the 11th towards the bass ,,fretting at fret 1 or two ,this gives similar height.

[@bpastorb]

So awesome to hear these stories from René. The stringing portion of this video was interesting - I was surprised to see Ernie Balls and not GHS nickel rollers. I would love to hear René go all in depth about strings, and maybe confirm or dispell some of the myths surrounding this topic.. From what I can tell from real evidence was Stevie alternated between .11-.13 depending on the state of his fingers. There is even a page with GHS customer relations person claiming to have worked on a custom set of 11's for when stevies fingers were injured but they are heavy top, and he mentions SRV specifically liking pure nickel. Lastly I would love to hear about SRV and his 'other' guitars - specifically his Gibsons.. Of course he played strats mainly live, there are a few examples even here on youtube of him playing some Gibsons. One example of him playing a flying V on TV, and another supposed home recording of him playing an es-335 or something similar. Would love to hear some of the nerdy guitar conversations him and SRV had over their years together

[@ericheine2414]

Thank you for teaching me the thumb trick Renee.

[@SuperGravityFilms]

Great Rene video series! Tip: during your shoot, capture extra close-up shots of the guitar--when you make an audio edit, insert the close-up shot instead of using a video dissolve.

[@GerryBlue]

Legend

[@markeyhendrix]

Thank you Rene I thought my string heights were ringt on for Stevie but after seeing this, christ there bloody high 👏👍

[@armandoplaysmusic]

Can we get the unedited uncut version because I would like to hear the full story

[@drock55551]

I just set my action to 3/32 before watching this video. Feels and sounds great now.

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

6/64? A harp?

[@michaelandrews8944]

Knowledge is such a beautiful thing...Stevie probably used such big strings because if you ever saw his fingers they were huge !!

[@pharmerdavid1432]

Thanks for the tips, but I have a question about the straight neck sighting procedure: how can you do that without the strings tuned to pitch? It seems to me that the string pressure will bend the neck, so having a straight neck without strings tuned to pitch seems meaningless. I've never seen guitar techs check the neck straightness without strings tuned to pitch, and guitar players check our necks by pressing the string at the first and last fret, using the string for a straight edge. Maybe I'm missing something....?

[@MAP448]

I would love to see Rene's view on setting up a Les Pual...

[@terrybanks5063]

why not just use a notched straight edge to check for a straight neck?

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

You got it!

[@Techcensorshipbot]

The action and setup on that strat reminds me of an old acoustic guitar. I wonder if thats why he liked this.

[@TRWilley]

GHS sells the actual strings Stevie used - the GHS Nickel Rocker "Lo-Tune" set, but another trick to get a "sort of" Stevie set is to get a 7 string set of Ernie Ball Power Slinky and leave out the .048, so you get .058, .038, .028, .018, .014, .011 - the only two strings that would be slightly lighter are the G and B strings. The Nickel Rockers are warmer, smoother sounding and have a touch more tension on the wound strings, but the Ernie Balls sounded great too.

[@nimitz1739]

Nice

[@kevindoyle9667]

excellent, what happened to the rest of the footage of the setup explanation and The SRV strat

[@ranman58635]

Ive played with different sizes qnd tried to get the neck to respond as Stevey and the only one i was successfully happy with was the SE Stratocaster with a baseball neck

[@kevinobrien9626]

This guitar is strung with 11’s. Just to close the loop… according to the bio Texas Flood, Stevie changed to 11’s after he got sober. After years of supergluing flesh from elsewhere on his body, he could actually ‘feel the pain’ for the first time. It reportedly was at the urging of his techs (inquire within), who had been telling him for years that there is little to be gained north of 11’s. Everyone who saw his last shows was unanimous that he never sounded better.

[@RobertFairweatherMusic]

So cool. Is there a video where Mr. Martinez shows how the dummy-coil is set up on the inside of SRV's guitar?

[@davedoyle9623]

Hi Robert . Tell me about the "dummy coil"? Please elusidate. DD

[@IamWadeHeineman]

Cool guy

[@bradleyquinlan7180]

Do a video on Steve Ray Vaughans amp tone

[@texasflashcoveinstaller4317]

Two years ago I picked up a SRV STRAT sunburst on a hunch and we opened it up today and it has name G. Martinez . It does have fender custom shop pickups , Brazilian board and appears to be a pre production prototype. Scored !

[@vintagepipesnightmares]

You need to use a feeler gauge. Because other players might want a specific relief. I don’t understand guitar techs that don’t use feeler gauge. There are a lot of them.

[@ilyesfourati5185]

Anyone has any idea of Tommy Shannon's Bass strings guauge ?

[@jimmyrotn]

The strings were Ernie Ball Power Slinky’s. 11-49

[@markellis6668]

Yes what about the pickup height . Thats very important

[@monkeysbum999]

Oh ,with 6 thou relief or adjust to compensate if more relief

[@dzidolgitara]

So what was the trust rot ajastment on srv guitar . what is the tentcion on the trudtrot ?????????????????????????

[@mattthompson7074]

What serial number SRV signature is that? I assume you have one of the first?? Cheers-

[@MrUniman609]

My fingers would get trapped under those strings. What an action! 😅

[@martinroy7016]

thanks man. why you dont clean the fretboard , polish the fret biz... your a pro

[@thomkopal1740]

What about setting intonation?

[@jaygorny]

Any neck relief? Or perfectly straight?

[@georgetoomer5323]

Hey René!

[@solocam1962]

I read an article years ago about SRV in an interview with one of his techs, maybe Rene? He said the average player would not be able to play SRVs guitar.

[@kevinobrien9626]

Is there anything cushioning the bridge at the body? Mine makes a smack when I let off on the bar. I was actually considering floating it like Jeff Beck, but I gather that Stevie Rey would never do that.

[@neilritson7445]

WHAT about the pickups? height? angle? makes a HUGE difference to tone!

[@fernandoferessauma]

👊🏻🌟🎸

[@bigdaddypiggy]

I’m pretty sure Stevie & Albert King became so close that Albert would refer to Stevie as his son 🖤

[@newgunguy4176]

Relief?

[@gilguajardo7808]

I see he doesn’t fret the strings at the 1st fret when setting string height. I know many recommend doing so.

[@overdriveguitarchannel3403]

I just want to know srvs pickup heights. I know they were low, but the only published settings for his pups were in dan erlewines book, and they are clearly wrong

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

You do know that pickup height isn't a mystery--?

[@keithbriscoe99]

did I miss his proprietary tuner post winding technique??

[@roswellminard9350]

Nope. Also missed how he used 12 AWG insulation on SRV’s guitar to cut down on breakage where the string meets the block just before the saddle. Not sure why he didn’t go over that; a much more valuable tip than string height.

[@robertdowneypeenis6139]

This should have millions of views, he worked with the legend🙌🏾✨💯

[@robertpatterson3406]

Rene is my sister’s brother in law .

[@nosmoking2735]

Wrud?

[@michaelkiese7794]

9:40 I'm surprised that he liked semi-flats. 9:58 the actual gauges SRV used: 11 15 19 28 38 58

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

What guitars and amps did SRV use on _Let's Dance_ ?

[@alans3792]

Mesa Boogie Mark IV with Roland SDD-320 Dimension D.

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

@@alans3792 With Strat on neck pickup, I presume.

[@brentstewart59]

Crazy high action and crazy heavy strings. This would be unplayable to us mere mortals. SRV could thumb wrestle a grizzly bear and win

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

Like all things that look crazy and impossible, there's a simple trick.

[@stevemineer2857]

Evidently it was unplayable to him at the end of his life as he went down to 11s. Tuned down 1/2 step it was like 10s in standard. His hands were killing him and couldn’t take it anymore. It’s also why he was out of tune all the time. The action was so high he pushed the strings right out of tune onto the frets. The bigger the string the more out of tune it will be.

[@limitededition1053]

I don't understand, on your card it said 2 3/2" at the 12th fret but later you said 3 3/2" ? Is that just Stevie spec?

[@gilguajardo7808]

I noticed that, too. He’s apparently using his Electric Bass specs for SRV’s string height.

[@elnico135]

Man those strings are thicc

[@armandoplaysmusic]

I don’t understand 3 1/2 and 30 seconds and I don’t know how to read the ruler 😢

[@rockandrollmd541]

3.5/32 of an inch, or 7/64 = 2.78mm. It is very high string action.

[@themsthebreaksband]

Lol...I know man, all these various measurement methods are a nightmare ...I was thinking, what has 30 seconds got to do with anything???..., like you need a clock as well???😂😂 if everything was explained in millimeters it would be far easier 😎

[@rockandrollmd541]

@@themsthebreaksband Imperial fractions are very confusing and annoying - 64ths, 32's, 16ths, 8ths, 4ths, Blah! There is no confusion with millimeters. Americans don't want to embrace the metric system.

[@stevemineer2857]

@@rockandrollmd541metric sucks.

[@escapetoparadise2226]

Can I commission you to build me a exact replica of Stevie’s? Same pots, pickups ect. 🙏

[@escapetoparadise2226]

🫤

[@keithremedy]

They have masterbuilts out there. They’re quite good but the price on them is pretty nuts now they cost more then both of my vintage strats together

[@escapetoparadise2226]

@@keithremedy links?

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

@@escapetoparadise2226 Why would you want an exact replica?

[@theofficialdiamondlou2418]

Burnished /Rollerwound …

[@jwhitty14]

Why not use 4/64ths or 1/16th? 🤣😂🤣

[@gilguajardo7808]

Which measurement are you talking about?

[@MikedeVeltaMusic]

Super slinky, Eb tuning and high action would feel like rubber bands imho. Thanks

[@AndreaAustoni]

You call 11-58 super slinky?

[@MikedeVeltaMusic]

@@AndreaAustoni Looked like the pink packet from the video? My apologies, the 11s are a similar colour. Thanks for your information. Much appreciated.

[@pharmerdavid1432]

Tim Pierce uses 9-42 extra-light strings, and he tunes down a half-step to Eb - I've seen many people do that. Kenny Vaughan said he played at the Grand Old Opry with James Burton, and when Kenny picked-up Burton's telecaster it seemed unplayable with .080 string set (like Billy Gibbons). To make it even worse, Burton plugged into the Twin Reverb next to the piano, which was an amp hated by guitar players because of its harsh sound. But Burton plugged into the hated TwinReverb with his tele strung with angel-hair thin strings and proceeded to blow the audience's minds! Kenny said Burton played so good it was amazing to behold............. (different strokes for different folks, and some guitar players can make anything sound good)

[@AndreaAustoni]

@@MikedeVeltaMusic no need to apologize :)

[@gilguajardo7808]

@@MikedeVeltaMusicHe said they were GHS Nickel Rockers, which are slightly flattened, like he said. I’ve tried them before.

[@vladzubac5360]

action way too high...could have dealt with a good 1,25mm at 12th fret...with lower action on the nut (and very good levelling on frets, maybe even some fall-away from 15th onwards on classic strats). And please do not tell me that higher action equals better tone because that is not true (examples for low action: Satriani and Timmons - if we speak for classic radiused guitars, not to mention Vai, Petrucci, etc).

[@jmo1366]

All of those guitarists you just mentioned have cheesy ass tone, aside from maybe Vai.. even tho I do also like low action..

[@mentosz9609]

SRV used high action, this video is about srv

[@Dad-Gad]

Yea , SRV with his high action sounded terrible ....... There's thousands of videos of people trying to capture that tone and probably not many trying to sound like Vai . You silly goose !

[@seanmckelvey6618]

Dude, who the hell cares? Action is largely personal preference anyway, unless the strings are so low they're buzzing on the frets it's not going to have much impact on tone to begin with. This is a video about SRV's setup, and he liked the high action. No one i telling you to set your guitars up that way, do whatever you want dude.

[@martymcgill1312]

LOL!! A genius critic of SRV .. Never heard of you, Vlad, but I'm sure you're highly intelligent 🤣🤣

[@garyclarke9557]

Try a Luthiers knot. It stays in tune well

[@kristopherk5454]

Rene uses that knot and leaves very little excess string. Saw this in another video somewhere.