SRV Strat Sound Shootout | Is It Pickups Or Tonewood

[@aab9828]

Pickup heights, other electric components, wire gauge, shielding are all important for an electric guitar. Borrow the SRV copy back from your friend, put the entire pickguard with pickups and all into your blue guitar, swap the bridge and hear the difference.

[@bryangarcia662]

Great video as always, Mike! The SRV really stood out to me here, it simply had "moar". If you can swing it, I would definitely get that guitar, especially if you connect with it. All you have to do is replace the pickguard, and all of a sudden it stops being an SRV "replica". I bet a nice tortoiseshell pickguard would look ace on it, Spitfire make truly amazing aged guards. 😎 Cheers!

[@Matt-1d]

“Open” was the word that came to my mind as well for the SRV strat. I see that others have suggested this as well, but maybe change your pots and bridge? I’d change those one at a time just in case it’s one or the other, and not both. But I bet it’s both. Ooh…and add a couple of stickers too. Clearly the secret sauce.

[@greg6509]

Love the passion and soul you play with! Great comparison vid!

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

Aww thank you, really appreciate it.

[@markleadbeatter6196]

Great upload again Mike and there is clearly a difference in the expressiveness of both guitars. I guess many of us are always in the pursuit of that perfect tone but the honest truth is that every guitar is individually different and there would be no guarantee that another Eternal Strat would be exactly the same as the example you tried. So you could ultimately end up being disappointed if you did take the plunge, especially if you went down the built to order path, as there are no guarantees you would ultimately get what you are looking for. That’s why it is so important to ‘try before you buy’ imho but that may not be an option with a boutique builder unfortunately.

[@jamesgeducation1097]

SRV was known for using vintage pickups and vintage Fender Super Twin Reverb Amps. But this does not mean you can't get his tone by other means. Even in the amp simulation world the SRV tone is very accessible. If you pull up a Fender Super Twin Reverb on any amp simulation software, add a tube Overscream pedal with drive set to 0 and tone set to 10. Add a compressor pedal with comp and level set to 12:00 - 2:00 o'clock and wal-lah! You got it! SRV was known for pushing his amps at high volume so this can create a compression like affect. But in today's standards it's about adjusting and rolling back the ratios. You have to use reasonably good single coil pickups though. Using the bridge and middle pickup together is the best. Adjusting the volume knob to 5 is another good option too. It can really clean up your sound and tone just with that!

[@comet-launch7468]

Sorry for my late reaction, the open sound was also the reason why john mayer had his ‘black one’; he wanted as less paint as possible, just like the guitar of bonny raitt. Black 1 sounds also amazing. And also the wood of the body can have something to with it (sort of wood, number of parts). Anyway, interresting video and enjoying your playing! Keep it up!

[@robbiehays1967]

I did the same comparison between maple and rosewood fretboards years ago. I feel the bright, almost tinny sound of your blue strat is the maple board. Stevie said it in an interview years ago. Hence why I did the comparison. My .02

[@DennisAlvarezMusic]

Interesting video. The blue strat has solid stainless steel saddles, which (in my experience) are darker sounding. IMHO, hardware design and material affects tone much more than the type of wood. Wood has a very subtle effect on the tone.

[@Monomonmamon]

idk if it's just in my head because of the aesthetic and it's style but when I changed my strat to bent saddles it became brighter than my block saddles! although I do not know if this is just my playing affected by the saddles or the saddles itself, I do agree hardware plays in the sound!

[@Furtheronmusic]

Interesting. Some years ago a bought a cheap Squier Strat like £70 for an idea to stick three blade humbuckers in it. I replaced tuners and all electrics and also lastly the old cast saddles with bent steel Fender versions (with the reduced Squier width), without a doubt they were the biggest enhancer that made it start to sing. Be an interesting comparison Mike if you are up to swap them over at some point.

[@jamescarey3995]

Try wearing the Jimi shirt while playing the blue one....

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

That def added some time for sure!

[@Michaelcollins24]

The Blue Strat sounds really good but I agree with you that Stevie Ray Vaughan replica guitar has such an open organic sound to it and your playing on that guitar was something special it would be great if Dave could build a guitar that was similar to the Stevie replica guitar with the same sound but not a straight replica Stevie' guitar which you could use on stage as a main guitar.

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

It would be great wouldn’t it! Let’s see what happens! 😊

[@DrKevGuitar]

I think the bridge saddles could be a big part of what we're hearing. Bent steel are usually brighter than solid steel. It would interesting to swap them between guitars (assuming the spacing matches, which it probably doesn't). The difference in tone using same pickups and cable is larger than anything I have ever seen attributed only to tone wood. Great playing and tone as always Mike!

[@helixworld]

I agree that bent steel saddles sound brighter, but the tuning stability is worse because the strings can move around when you do bends.

[@DrKevGuitar]

@@helixworld I did over 1000 gigs with a strat with traditional bent steel saddles. Tuning stability from side-to-side motion on the saddles is not an issue, but friction across the nut slots, string trees, and top of the saddles is. And it's entirely possible to notch or groove the saddles too. With enough wear and tear the strings will do that themselves.

[@helixworld]

​@@DrKevGuitar Question for you: Are the bent steel saddles on your Music man guitar completely flat across the top like Fender ones, or do they have a depression to locate the string?

[@DrKevGuitar]

@@helixworld On the Cutlass there is a depression. On my Silhouette Special there is a gentle v-shape on the top of the saddle. On my strat it's totally flat.

[@helixworld]

@@DrKevGuitar Thanks for your reply. Either of those features seem attractive to me, although I never played one of their guitars. The Fender bent steel saddles tend to get groves from the strings wear, and don't return to the same position after bends in my experience. Do you have any preference with those bridge and saddle designs?

[@JumboJimbo015]

The difference could be in pickup heights. The SRV might be just a little bit closer to the strings, causing them to have a little more punch.

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

Nope, they were all set quite low on both guitars

[@tonechest]

Love that you did the head-to-head on these beauties! So many differences between the two guitars, each subtle but when added is definately noticeble. Agree with the comments on saddles, maybe even the bridge itself given the srv is flipped? Definately the rosewood/maple is having effect, a snappier response. Tone pots in blue are Std, what about the SRV model? Fellow geeks unite😉

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

If I changed the pots there would probably only be a smidge of difference

[@nicko7238]

Massive difference in sound/tone. Don't know what it is, but it's there!

[@cbr8206]

Whoa!! That is nuts! This needs further investigation. The tone difference is so distinct and it shouldn't be in my humble opinion. It is almost as if the potentiometer controlling tone on your blue guitar is closed down all the way. Could your pot be malfunctioning? I also like the suggestion by another poster that the bridge and/or saddles could be affecting the tone. Let us know what you learn Mike!!

[@han36solo]

I agree something is off.

[@althewicked]

The difference is huge! I cant believe that this is so extrem. Sorry Mike, no matter how correctly tested that sounds but I have to check this by my own :) ...but thanks man, it was very interesting!

[@Fawkes1978]

Interesting! (to use a That Pedal Show adjective) Of course everything on an electric guitar makes a difference in tone, but such a dramatic change between the two guitars is outside normal boundaries of expectation! I think you have to check the wiring in your blue Strat! There is such a big drop in highs that make me suspect you might be experiencing some grounding on phasing issues somewhere in the signal chain. The other interesting question would be to ask if you notice a considerable difference between the acoustic/unplugged sound of the two guitars?

[@lancegranum1643]

I appreciate the differences between our guitars and recognize that they can lead to varying sounds. One thing I've noticed is that the pickups in the neck position seem to have different heights. I'm curious if the resistance values of the pickups are similar, and whether you used the same brand of capacitors. Additionally, do you have any specific tone pots, such as King Tone, in your replica that weren't used in the blue guitar? Another significant difference is that your guitar closely follows the SRV specifications with 21 frets, while the blue guitar has 22 frets. I’ve experienced something similar with my Mexican guitar, which has a shorter fret length of 21, compared to my American model with 22 frets. I believe that even with identical parts, variances can arise, and I’m inclined to think that the finish may not play a substantial role in the tonal differences. Factors like the bridge, nut material (if it’s bone), contact points, and fret size seem to have a more significant impact on tone. I’ve yet to see scientific evidence to support that differences in the fretboard would produce noticeable effects, as it’s not something you’d typically see on an oscilloscope. Overall, I think both guitars bring unique qualities to the table, and it’s fascinating to explore what makes each one special.

[@blustulagu]

Dumb question, were pickup heights the same?

[@nicko7238]

good point! Also, string action could make a difference.

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

Yes, pretty much the same all of them are set quite low with a similar string height, just above medium

[@kostaslekkas10]

srv sounds vintage, open and confident blue one sounds modern and versatile

[@craiger2399]

My brother has a Strat from the late 90s with a similar, mid-forward sound. I wonder if it's pots, pickup height, or saddles? Hard to know, but you can really hear a difference. The SRV sounds open (the highs and lows are more pronounced than in the Blue/1999.

[@djt6546]

Hi Mike. I am sure you have already had this experience with two identical guitars while trying them at different guitar stores/events around the world... I have three recent examples personally. I got two identical CS '60 Strats from GC because I know the sentiment in your video is really quite common, even in "identical" guitar models. The difference between them was not as extreme as this video, but still the same kind of difference. One sounded more open than the other, despite setting them up the same (neck relief, action & PUP heights). I also got two Gretsch 59vs Country Clubs to try. Again one was standing out as a clear winner. Not that the looser was a lemon either. I put the Peach Guitars Mark Foley No1 pickups in a Fender '64 reissue Strat. Decided they were now my favourite PUP set in a Strat. Bought a PRS Silver Sky and experimented by setting it up as a floating bridge like the Strat and using the same ViPOT's, capacitor and MF No1 PUPs from Peach... same result as your video again... The PRS remained midrange heavy and did NOT sound like the Strat. I take each and every guitar on it's own merits and if I want to buy a guitar I will try at least two of the same if I can get duplicates to pick out what feels and sounds best to me. As far as I am concerned, if you go around trying different guitars, you will find more stand out guitars than you already own. Partly psychosomatic as we love to find new guitars and partly because some really are clearly more open sounding (without being harsh) and more comfortable feeling than the ones we already own. Even if you don't get this particular SRV Strat and change the Pick Guard to make it your own, it sounds like you have accepted there are other Strats out there in the wild that can blow you away in terms of feel, vibe and tone. I suggest if you don't want to get the SRV, just make peace with looking for another one in the coming years to stop you thinking about this particular SRV copy. It doesn't have to be a guitar that got away, just one that gave you inspiration for the future. If however you fall in love with the feel of this particular guitar... that's a tough one to let go ( feel, vibe and tone in one great package ;-) Keep up the great content 👍

[@joescmoe4784]

They both sound great to me. Old blue is definitely glassy and has a better top end....to me anyways. But the srv rep has more warmth. It would be interesting to see the same guitar with maple/rosewood boards as the only difference 😀

[@frednoce3043]

Hi Mike, Absolutley love your playing! Your video got me intrigued with trying a similar experiment. I used an American Eric Johnson Signature strat (maple fingerboard) against a partscaster strat with a rosewood neck. Both have pickups that are similarly voiced and have DC resistance tolerance differences of +-10% and identical pot values. I found that both guitars sounded pretty much identical through the amp. So here is my conspiracy theory as to why your blue strat sounds so different than the SRV tribute. When you swapped out the pickups in the blue strat, did you keep the old volume/tone pots? I'm wondering if the SRV has higher value pots than what you have on the blue strat and that could be what's giving you that overly warm tone vs the bright/snappyness of the SRV. Might be worth checking out.

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

Hi Fred, thank you for the kind words. Think you’re right. The pots in the blue Strat are stock, so reckon if I change them, they will give me that extra 5-10% will see what I can do. 😏

[@greglavine4035]

I picked one up,Chinese copy...they had the old weak 62 pick up copies...and ....they nailed it...SRV played fairly clean ,he loved that chunky strat sound on a fender amp...what I notice is the middle pick up giving it that reedy twang.. apparently I need a 808 box to finish this deal for the scream but I am ecstatic with this one...oh,,,, there is a ton of tweaking but the tone of the tone!!!!

[@Buc27blount]

I really enjoyed the video. Your playing is great. When comes to the guitar comparison to me the SRV replica Strat was a bass singer and the blue Strat was a tenor. Both good but have different sonic ranges.

[@Bairov]

I wonder about the pots and tone caps along with the wiring. Were they the same, too?

[@igavehimadollar3354]

i love these comparison videos. I have a pro 2 strat and an american standard strat or i think it might be called a performer anyway when i bought the standard it was as my state was going into lockdown but you could still buy guitars lol and beer of course. But buying instruments you would buy online pull up open the boot they chuck the guitar in and off you go .Im pretty sure the lad said that it had yosemite pick ups in it but i could be wrong as i was keen to get home as it felt like a large drug deal had gone down lol and despite people in the shops where i live saying it was legal to do so i had questions lol. I had bought another guitar at another shop on the same trip so it was like 2 drug deals had gone down lol. Anyway i put texas specials in the pro 2 more of an experiment really. For the first time i plugged them in together same amp rig etc and the pro 2 with texas specials was better to the point where im gunna put some other pick ups in the standard now .But just like you where saying it wasnt until i put them together that i could really notice it. Any tips welcome on what i should put in the standard texas specials is an obvious choice but id like to try something else cheers guys and great video

[@jamesgeducation1097]

The SRV tone is the guitar, amp and stomp box all together. The best guitar is a single coil guitar of course. The best amp is a Fender Super Twin Reverb with a touch of tube overdrive. But what you really want is some medium compression on the effects chain. Wood tone will give you some variety but the amp and single coil guitar with compression will get you that tone. Middle and bridge pickup together is a good start.

[@helixworld]

The one piece maple neck is normally not as rigid as one with a rosewood fingerboard. Some of the high frequencies will be absorbed by resonances in the neck. They are the same resonances you hear when the guitar is unplugged. The sound via the pickups can be the inverse of the un-plugged sound. I'm not sure how much difference the poly finish will make, but when you are playing on the neck pickup and the lower frets, the tone of the neck with fretboard and its resonances is significant. I thought the CS69 and FS-1 pickups from the earlier "Mark Knopfler & Rory Gallagher" video were pretty nice in the blue guitar.

[@SomeKindOfMadman]

Great vid. There’s a difference indeed, but either way, that Blue Strat is still a killer guitar.

[@hankevans7890]

It sounds like the blue guitar has metal shield plate under the Pickguard. Those plates with suck the tone out and it sounds just like that.

[@steveindorset]

Yes I agree with you, the SRV is way "fuller" sounding

[@wyldeslash2003]

Maple necks generally make it more middy, no?

[@arnelwizardvlog]

Hi buddy , great video … by the way what pickups brand you are using your strat that sound like SRV ? Thanks

[@seanrosedotcom]

I've always thought the wood and the finish play a much larger role than most people want to admit. All the best sounding guitars I've played have had thin nitro. Still I own and love some poly finish guitars too...

[@MikelBluni]

First of all: beautiful playing and great recorded tone 🎸 Wow that’s a huge difference! I’d sell some stuff and get eternal build me such a Strat without the SRV relations. Your playing bloomed on that guitar! You might wanna check out Miranda Strats from Argentina. They’re in the same league as Eternal, but at half the price 🤩☮️

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

Thank you buddy, for the kind words really appreciate it. Haven’t heard of them, will check them out.

[@BuzzsawMoviesLtd]

Just from the get go, the Stevie Ray seems way louder? Much higher output.

[@BuzzsawMoviesLtd]

There's more low end as well. Sounds fuller

[@hgostos]

Actual pot values and taper can make a massive difference.... maybe something to consider?

[@rock90753]

The replica and your amazing. And what a song. The live version where he had to seamlessly switch guitars in Texas may be my all time favorite live song ever by a blues guitarist but I just recently discovered Rory (praise the Internet, how did I overlook him all these years) live 'walk on hot coals' is a very close second. I digress, sorry, the blue strat sounded a smig too bright compared to the SRV. But what do I know, I am just a wannabee blues guitarist.

[@SteeringSteel]

I would agree that there is definitely a sonic difference and that the blue one does sound may be a little more muffled but I wouldn’t have any idea what creates the difference. Maybe you should try stripping the poly finish off of ol’ blue and having it re-sprayed in nitro.

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

Oh man I couldn’t do that to the old girl!

[@SteeringSteel]

@@MikeBradleyofficial Yes Sir, I know exactly what you mean. :)

[@hangaroundrecords4761]

I do think that both guitars sound awesome! But yeah I hear the difference. In my opinion it’s probably one of three things. 1 pickup distance from the strings. This can make a huge difference in tone and it can be just a minor adjustment that does it. It’s crazy how much that distance matters. 2 bridge hardware. Again this can make a major difference in how the strings vibrate. 3 and this is probably the least likely. Pots and wiring. Especially if one guitar has 500k pots and the other has 250 that would definitely be a noticeable difference in the tone. But if you are trying to make the blue strat sound like the SRV strat I’d say try adjusting the pickups first and go from there. I doubt very much that it has anything to do with the finish or the wood. Those things matter when playing the guitar acoustically but not so much through an amp. In my opinion.

[@veciroker]

I think for every guitar you should set different tone setup. If you set amp parameters for SRV and then play Blue strat, maybe it wasn't best setup for that guitar. Try opposite, set tone first to get best sound from Blue strat and then play SRV with that setup. I think maybe in that case Blue would sound better, and SRV could be too bright or something else.

[@Thegingerwolff]

was it just the pickups you got or did you change the entire harness? if it was just the pickups then essentially you're just playing the eternal pickups but through fender stock pots, wiring, selector and jack. Maybe that's where it's not working out for you? let me know as I'm in the same boat as you. I really want "THAT" tone(eternal srv) from my Strat too. The fender cs 69s sound cool but don't quite get it. Im thinking its more to do with the rest of the gear under the pick guard instead of the actual pickups

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

I didn’t change the pots, think I might have to.

[@zd351]

The experimenting could be endless. What if you took both sets of pick ups out and swapped them to the other guitar? Does the sound follow the pickups or stay with the guitars? Are the pots all the same values? Tolerances could mean one guitar has a 237k pot and the other is up at 269k Could it be just one neck and body resonating together in a different way to the other neck and body? In the end do they sound that drastically different that it will matter out in the real world in a different room, on a different song, in a different band mix. Fun stuff to think about, but in the end, does the guitar I'm holding right now sound good enough for right now? Great video all the same Mike. I love this stuff and hate it all at the same time. It's because we care. 😁

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

Hahaha I hear you there with the love/hate! Haha

[@Matt-1d]

One more thought: were your volume controls all the way up? Because if not, then perhaps the SRV has a treble bleed circuit to retain high frequencies even at lower volumes, and the blue strat does not.

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

Yep volume all up and no treble bleed

[@aaronbrown0417]

I would say the differences is probably the saddles and the block... that's more important than the pickups

[@martinatkinson9271]

String heights?

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

Pretty much the same

[@jeevansingh6944]

Agree on sounds but there are so many variables, true pot readings, pickup heights, pickups winding differences even subtle. Etc. Not disputing what we hear though as I notice the same in general on very thin coated Alder instruments I have compared to the poly.. but that's anecdotal unless we really take out more variables. Both your guitars sound awesome in their own way too. The SRV wins by a long shot in the neck psition. The rest both sounds great. Probably down to the player even more so!

[@stephandelaney4097]

2:37 3:09

[@musicplaylists59]

i have a theory that the less finish you have on your guitar the better it sounds lol. i stripped all the finish off one of my guitars intending to re paint it but i put it back together with no finish and it sounds better than all my other guitars.. coincidentally one of my friends did the same thing with his old tele (stripped it and didnt get round to repainting or finishing it) and asked me to do some repairs on it, when i put it back together it also sounded amazingly open and big like my unfinished guitar. Maybe thats why SRV and Rory Gallagher's favourite guitars were the ones where all the paint had fallen off lol

[@jimjamarch]

Were the pickups mounted at the same height?

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

Pretty much yes

[@kamilkhan9317]

I closed my eyes and say SRV is more raw Blue is softer but still nice❤

[@eckiredlock]

Sounds like the pots are different.

[@slodziak222222]

both have 5 springs in the bridge?

[@BedeLaplume]

They both sound great however, replica sounds like it has slightly more definition.. I think you have a point about the finish.. Some manufacturers put too much poly and it seems like it muffles the instrument's resonance. You should consider sanding your strat and oil it.. It could be some of the lectronics like the capacitors also.. that said, i know Mick Ronson had the top of his Lespaul sanded with a light finish to make it more resonant.. BTW your blue Strat looks green on my screen.

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

Yeah regarding the colour, I always have called it Aqua. It’s hard to get it out on camera.

[@cederickforsberg5840]

I took pickups + pots from one guitar to another different guitar and record A/B and they sounded 100% the same But even same model pickups sounded different when trying them both...

[@sylvainmartini1480]

amazingly the SRV sounds more treble in the first comparaison... despite the neck differences... But there is one thing better than the SRV : your playing ! :D

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

Aww thank you!

[@tonymurga9609]

Hello mike first of all , the blue Guitar needs the same bridge as the Srv and it needs a bone nut and nitro does play a big part in your tone, also check you capasitors it might need a 22 for tone , good luck my friend !

[@holmerz]

How about pickup height and is guitar volume on 10 on both?

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

Yes guitar on volume and the heights are about the same, all of them are quite low.

[@holmerz]

@@MikeBradleyofficial Well, I have to say that the SRV sounds fuller and clearer than the blue, sorry Mike

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

@@holmerz I agree!

[@euregiojam]

The two guitars have different bridges. The SRV copy has an original bridge with 6 screws and probably sheet metal saddles. The other guitar has a modern 2-point bridge and bulk-metal saddles. Vintage version will give you the sping-like tone, less spikes. The 2-point bridge gives you more spikes. E.g. Clapton would only use the vintage bridge, while Jeff Beck uses the 2-point version because it's more reliable when using the tremolo bar a lot. in general the vintage bridge is an important part of the strat sound, no way to get that sound from the 2-point bridge. Also, as always, on a different amp, and at a different volume level things might be very different. And it's difficult to judge how the guitar will cut through the mix. Something that you think sounds muffled may cut through the mix great, and something that sound "open" might sound thin in the mix. Your playing is great, you sound like SRV. Maybe it takes a lot of practice, and there is no time for practicing other things. Isn't it better to find your own voice?

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

Thank you for your kind words, and some good points raised.

[@colinoscopy6837]

I think the biggest thing is the srv has no back plate and your blues has a back plate, that’s usually where the muffled sound comes from

[@watchfan6180]

100% on SRV

[@VanguardShags]

Now try this experiment: swap the necks - I bet you'll instantly hear the blue guitar sound a lot closer to the SRV guitar. To my ear, the biggest difference heard here is that the SRV guitar has more harmonic richness to it - think of what I'm describing as a sort of subtle high frequency chime/"chorus"/doubling. When a guitar has less of it, it sounds a bit more simple and dry (though the latter can sometimes be better for heavy distortion though, as it stays a bit more tight and defined). I've seen many necks play a giant role in all of this, but not necessarily the entire role. The vibrato design differences also have a bit of an effect on tone.

[@alexanderroesch2287]

I agree with all observations. However the difference seems too extreme to be attributed to the wood: With such a drastic change, the green guitar would practically have to have been made from mattress foam....! :) Instead: Both pickup sets are likely boutique-made and hand-wound (possibly with differing material specs - from different batches). Also, the electronic components under the hood, are unlikely identical. The resulting variances could be different enough to account for this change in tone. Swapping the pickguard assemblies between both guitars would be the way to confirm this. Nice Video!

[@Loilicorne17615]

3:50 I think the word you’re searching is “THICK “

[@MxRyder19]

The pots can have a role too....

[@CaptainAhab-im3kd]

The bridge

[@soeniundercover]

what size frets are on the blue gutar?

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

6000 I believe.

[@fender0942]

Awesome! I agree with other posters. This needs to be investigated please. Help us.

[@vw9659]

So they have the same model pickups not the actual same pickups right ? In which case it would be a big assumption to assume that 'same model' pickups means 'same' pickups. Pickup manufacturers provide zero information on manufacturing variability. And mostly they just wind them to a wind count target anyway, sometimes on different machines, with supplied components that may vary over time. They don't build them to a sonic specification (eg resonant frequency, Q factor). Lightly potted pickups (like these apparently are) are also subject to variation. Of course, you could swap the pickups (and electronics) between guitars, and see if the sound of the blue strat followed its pickups to the SRV, and vice-versa. You could also get a bode plot (frequency response) done on the pickups. There is also the suggestion on the Eternal site that the SRV has some non-standard wiring. We also don't know how each guitar was set up (e.g. pickup height, string age, trem setup) or how its pots' resistances might differ (measurably, not just what it says on the tin). There are many things that have been shown from objective measurements of real guitars to influence their sonic performance (more than was once thought), including strat saddles, and saddle wear (not always, but sometimes), and the modal resonant frequencies of the neck. You seem to be concentrating mostly on things you can see. There is zero evidence to clasp at straws like the finish difference or the body wood.

[@Furtheronmusic]

OK just my very duff old ears through my TV speakers but what I hear. The srv is more open and punchy but the blue Strat is too me more a compressed sound, more even response and I'd describe it as more "glassy". Both sound really good but that's as much the player as the guitars.

[@Dh6rma]

are the pickups the exact distance from the strings tho

[@Dh6rma]

on each ^

[@Dh6rma]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pGGVpXyjmMpmd6c I’m gonna drop this here ‘cause this is the most objective video on the topic

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

Yep pretty much the same, quite low down.

[@rayfranchi1507]

My best attempt at a description would be.... The blue Strat is like a new pair of jeans, clean, crisp, and a little stiff. while the Stevie strat is like a well worn pair of jeans. Lol

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

Couldn’t agree more!

[@lone-wolf-1]

The SRV replica sounds so concise! A rainbow of timbre painted on a very high ceiling of sound. Important is the harmonic marriage of neck and body woods, together with a perfect pairing of bridge, saddles, trem bloc and (often underestimated) the springs. That would be my guess. The blue strat lacks a bit the magnifying effect of perfect harmonious coordination of the materials used…😊 It‘s not bad, just different😌

[@spatnaspolecnost]

The only way someone is gonna do a worthwhile comparison is by actually taking out the pickups (maybe all of electronics?) and swapping them into both guitars, both with new strings on the same day running with the same setup etc.

[@TVoltG]

Replace the pickgaurd from the SRV to the Blue one. Recording the before and after.

[@stevieday515]

Both guitars would benifit with truss rod slackened a bit and action up a bit,it sounds to fret buzzie to me

[@zaprodaju1661]

Not sure what you hear, but maple one is much better guitar. It resonates like piano. Replica is a bit muddy. Not only that, but it's rare for maple strats to sound proper when playing SRV. This one does. Amazing guitar

[@DennisAlvarezMusic]

Everything on a guitar affects the tone.

[@paraflightjoe1053]

Paraflightjoe says," awesome Mike"" It's the Player"" Not, the pedal ,equip.,,?

[@xfighter1117]

It’s your neck buddy. That’s why I sold or replaced all my maple strats

[@bryantherocker]

It's the Amp

[@tunnel7]

Look Mike you need to re mortgage and get that SRV YES THAT ONE NOT ANOTHER LIKE IT PLEASE TRACK IT DOWN AND BUY IT.. GOOD LUCK M8 LOVE YOUR CHANNEL

[@Ric007Mason]

I suspect the difference is 50’s wiring.

[@TheRedSwallowCG]

It’s 3 things. I’ll tell you them, and save everybody 15 minutes. 1: Speaker speaker speaker. You play the speaker, not the guitar. 2: and not nearly as important as the first, but still 80% important. Pickups. But I say not as important because I can make a single coil pick up, P90’s, Jazzmaster pickups, and humbuckers all have a very similar tone. It’s all about attack. And that brings me to #3…. 3: Your fingers. Or rather, their fingers. A huge contribution to their tone is them. On the modern electric guitar, Tonewood has almost nothing to do with sound or tone. With an acoustic guitar, it’s 100% responsible for tone. Not so much the electric guitar . And to all the commentators that say tonewood is everything or…. it’s all pickups…. I say where is your proof? But we’re talking about KZbin guitarist, so it’s a case of…. “ but this one goes to 11”

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

Out of curiosity, are you referring to me as a “KZbin Guitarist”?

[@TheRedSwallowCG]

@@MikeBradleyofficial I was referring to many of the commenters. Those who jump in with comments that are just parroted with no real evidence. But let me start by saying, Mike, fellow guitar geek here. Please trust me when I say I didn't mean to offend you. By the way, you may have a faulty potentiometer creating the muffled sound. I say "youtube guitarist" term as a stereotype generalizing most guitarist on KZbin that generally make the subject about gear and sound shaping, which is fine and I promote curiosity, but I like answers to the curiosity. I was hoping you were going to install the same pickguard assembly into both guitars. We, AND the person conducting the experiment, are left still wondering what the answer to the question was while marketing departments make fun of us behind our backs. Hence, my reference to the movie Spinal Tap quote "but it goes to eleven". So videos like these are unfortunately more like click bait (i dont believe it was the intention here) as we never find out the answer. If anything, it creates more questions like you may have a faulty potentiometer. The electronics were similar but not the same, and you didn't take the electronics out and install them into the other guitar. Instead, by accident, your findings may have at least revealed a possible faulty potentiometer hense the "muffled" result. So you may want to look into that. Both guitars are great sounding instruments, and your playing is fantastic. Nice touch. Please understand that my intention wasn't to offend you. I'm just in a mood this morning and I was hoping when I saw the title of your video I'd see the wood being isolated while everything else remained the same and was disappointed to see another "KZbin guitarist" running pseudoscience for curiosity sake and no answers. "KZbin guitarist" are all too often experimenting with gear and not making enough art with their techniques. Keep your curiosity up and make some great art. If you want to run a test, then fantastic, but please isolate isolate isolate, and you will have many thankful and satisfied fellow science guitar geeks out there. Myself included. May that blue guitar bring you another wonderful twenty years of frictionless aid to your skill and expression. Cheers, and have a blessed day

[@antoonhermans8953]

it´s funny how you´re own mind can fool you , keep blue , sounds awesome ! forget about the fake and get on with you`re live !

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

Oh Blue is t going anywhere don’t worry about that.

[@ozzyfarrow9872]

You are wearing different T-shirts when you play ha ha

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

That makes a huge difference! Haha

[@brianlizotte1216]

wood doesn't make a differences in your tone lol

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

Ummm yeah sure… you’re absolutely right! 🤭

[@brianlizotte1216]

@@MikeBradleyofficialoh it’s very much true 😂 Jim Lill did the tests with a scientific approach and came to the conclusion that wood has nothing to do with tone lol didn’t even watch your experiment but let me guess both guitars sound different with “the same” pickups 😂

[@CemTubek95]

we have the same guitar and the same yamaha amp lmao

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

Great minds!

[@Dad-Gad]

Tonewood ? What's that ? Same as unicorn farts , a myth imo .

[@jeffshockey9456]

Even though the pickups are the same they aren't if that makes sense. Could be wound totally different or more or less winds or even differences in magnet if you wanna get down to it. Poly sucks and should never be on any guitar period.

[@officialWWM]

There’s no such thing as “tonewood”. It’s just wood :)

[@samp4tan]

Sell the blue

[@colinoscopy6837]

Take the back off your blues strat and it will be closer

[@multipipi1234]

Must be me ...but it looks green not blue...

[@MikeBradleyofficial]

Yeah it’s a strange one to pick up on camera. I’ve always called it Aqua Blue.