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MYSTERIOUS: 3 - What They Never Told You

“In all the years I’d played with Albert, I’d always wanted to hear him play something in a minor key – and he smoked it!”: Robert Cray tells the story behind the greatest all-star blues team-up of the ‘80s

In 1985, Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland, and Robert Cray got together for Showdown! – a bona-fide blues classic, and, as Cray tells us, a real fun time, too

Guitar World

“Everything in Double Trouble was a spontaneous thing – there was no plan”: How bassist Tommy Shannon stumbled onto the funky foundation for one of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s biggest radio hits

What started with a rehearsal room groove ended up an SRV classic. We dissect the anatomy of bassline that walks the line (you might even call it a Tightrope) between blues, rock and funk

Guitar World

“The volume was painful. The loudness came from Stevie, who had a Frankenstein wall of amps”: Marked by substance abuse, new members, and studio snags – Stevie Ray Vaughan's Soul to Soul was a classic that signaled trouble to come

Chris Layton, Reese Wynans, Tommy Shannon, and Joe Sublett recall the difficult birth of the 1985 classic of Texas blues, as cocaine, whiskey, and fatigue took their toll

Guitar World

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“Muddy Waters told my dad, ‘Jimmie, when I’m gone, teach everybody how to play like that.’ He liked the way he played slide”: He's the son of Jimmie Vaughan and the nephew of SRV, now he’s carrying the weight of his family playing legacy

SRV’s death left father and son struggling to continue, but they made it. Now, Strat fan Tyrone Vaughan knows he’s capable of delivering a great album – and it might be the one he’s working on now

Guitar World

Played by everyone from Magic Sam and Otis Rush to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Robbie Robertson, Noel Gallagher, and Robben Ford, the Riviera remains Epiphone's semi-hollow superstar

The Riviera played a crucial role in Epiphone's evolution through the New York jazz clubs of the 1920s, '50s electric blues, to today’s vibrant, diverse scene – and it might be the brand's GOAT

Guitar World

“Stevie came to my 5th birthday and gave me a pawnshop Harmony. It didn’t have a gig bag, it had two paper grocery bags on either end”: Tyrone Vaughan descends from blues greatness – and SRV helped him start his guitar journey early

Stevie Ray Vaughan turned up at young Tyrone's birthday party with a special gift that would help him follow in the footsteps of his relatives

Guitar World

That time Stevie Wonder jammed with Stevie Ray Vaughan... and played SRV's number one Strat

The two musical giants traded licks before Wonder picked up Stevie's guitar

Guitar World

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“If you’ve ever wondered what unobtanium looks like in amp form, this is it”: Played and revered by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Carlos Santana, and John Mayer, Dumble amps have an almost mythical reputation. But what's all the fuss really about?

The late Alexander Dumble built only a handful of meticulously crafted, much-sought-after amplifiers every year – and they ended up in the backlines of many of the greatest guitarists of all time. So where exactly did the magic come from?

Guitar World

“There are people who think it makes a big difference to the sound. Stevie always sounded the same whether it was rosewood or maple”: Jimmie Vaughan says your fretboard choice doesn’t matter – and SRV is his proof

SRV played Strats with rosewood and maple fingerboards, and although he's more commonly associated with the former, his brother says he performed the same on both

Guitar World

Stevie Ray Vaughan, Simple Minds, Megadeth, the Cult and the class of 1985 – only in the new Guitar World

Also starring Jimmie Vaughan, GA-20, Kiki Wong, Dead Kennedys, the Smithereens' Jim Babjak, Cracker's Johnny Hickman, King Diamond, Third Man Hardware, Sue Foley's new GW column, Money for Nothing and more

Guitar World

“To be honest, I didn’t like Stevie’s tone as much in the heavy Dumble period. It sounded a little tight to me”: Ian Moore on jamming with the Stones, writing with Billy Gibbons, and discussing those SRV comparisons – with Stevie Ray Vaughan

The SRV disciple admits he confused people by moving from Texas blues to art rock, but believes his skills are only increasing, despite a neurological condition that means he can barely speak

Guitar World

“I'd sit there with my guitar and that was my education. This show gave me purpose, it gave me hope”: Gary Clark Jr. dons a Strat to cover Stevie Ray Vaughan classics at Austin City Limits' 50th Anniversary televised special

As a nod to SRV, Clark Jr. and fellow blues guitarist Eve Monsees wielded Strats for the stirring performance

Guitar World

“I could barely play his guitar. He had 12s on the top. It was like a G string. I was like, ‘How do you do that?’”: Huey Lewis and the News' Chris Hayes looks back on his friendship with Stevie Ray Vaughan – and the blues great's notorious guitar setup

SRV served as Huey Lewis and the News' opening act on their ’84 tour – an experience Hayes describes as, “Every night, it was like a guitar lesson for me”

Guitar World

“Let's play... you start it off now, Stevie”: That time Stevie Wonder jammed with Stevie Ray Vaughan... and played SRV's number one Strat

The two musical giants traded licks before Wonder picked up Stevie's guitar

Guitar World

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Guitar World

“Lonnie came into an Austin club where we were playing. I asked him if he would play, but Lonnie, the master of the Flying V, said he wouldn't touch anything but a Gibson”: When Stevie Ray Vaughan met his oft-overlooked, pioneering, V-wielding guitar hero

Though their respective brand and model loyalties stood in the way of them swapping licks on that particular evening, that show sparked a years-long musical relationship that would span the stage and studio

Guitar World

“Copying the people you admire is a healthy thing to do – it teaches you to get inside what they do, then you can take it from there”: Eric Johnson on his G3 reunion with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai – and why the limits of guitar have yet to be reached

We catch up with the maestro to talk all things G3, formative influences, hollow-body Strat designs, and what he has to learn from Wes Montgomery after all these years

Guitar World

“It’s as if God convinced SRV and EVH to be reincarnated into one body”: Nuno Bettencourt says this 15-year-old blues player is in the league of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eddie Van Halen

The Extreme hero is betting on this young Australian guitarist after being blown away by his virtuosic performance

Guitar World

“The most inspiring tape echo ever crammed into a small form factor”: Strymon’s new EC-1 was modeled after an iconic delay unit – which had been modded by “one of the most storied gear techs of the last 50 years”

Strymon got its hands on an Echoplex EP-2 that had been modded by Stevie Ray Vaughan's old tech, and used it to mastermind its latest compact stompbox

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Guitar World

“In many ways, this amp is far more versatile than its tube counterpart”: Fender Tone Master ’59 Bassman review

Fender attempts the incredible feat of replicating the historic Bassman with a digital heart in its latest addition to the Tone Master series

Louder

“Stevie Ray Vaughan was a little worse for wear. He was eating KFC out of a box and then ate the box as well”: Jeff Beck’s wild tales of Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen and Frank Zappa

Sharing the stage with Page, giving Hendrix a guitar, being mistaken for Jagger – these were some of Jeff Beck‘s most memorable friendships

Guitar World

“Everyone who buys our products comes back saying the same thing – it’s the closest they’ve gotten to that SRV sound”: Behind the rise of Pedal Pawn, the UK stompbox brand loved by Eric Gales, Philip Sayce and Stevie Ray Vaughan fanatics the world over

Chris King Robinson, a vintage gear hunter and tone sleuth, explains how his stompbox brand became a favorite of modern-day blues heroes

Guitar World

“I have a fingerprint of the way I play – a mix of Carlos Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Gary Moore – but I’m constantly evolving”: Orianthi on why she loves old gear – and recording her new Band of Gypsys-inspired supergroup with Jimi Hendrix’s producer

The former guitarist for Michael Jackson and returning Alice Cooper member has survived the trials and tribulations of the pop industry, emerging with a new energy and soundthat honors hertrue inspirationsand talents

Guitar World

“Stevie would fill out the sound by combining bluesy licks with chords and rhythmic playing”: How to blend rhythm and lead blues guitar like John Mayer and Stevie Ray Vaughan

Listen to SRV, Mayer and Jimi Hendrix and you'll hear players who are masters of mixing rhythm and lead – an invaluable skill for anyone in a jam. We look at four ideas for upping the ante in your blues rhythm game

Guitar World

“He redirected the future of blues guitar from his very first release, and his influence continues to inspire new generations of aspiring players”: Joe Bonamassa pays tribute to the late, great Stevie Ray Vaughan

One blues legend pays his dues to another, the great SRV – a player who Bonamassa says has inspired us all to play the blues

Guitar World

Remembering the guitarists we lost in 2024

This year, we've sadly had to say goodbye to many guitar greats from across the world of music. Here, we recognize some of those guitarists, and their contributions to the instrument

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