What Pedals Does Stevie Ray Vaughan Use?
Stevie Ray Vaughan's pedal setup is famous for a counterintuitive principle: his most important pedal — the Ibanez Tube Screamer TS808 — is set with zero drive. It functions as a transparent clean boost into his already-cranked Fender Vibroverb, not as a dirt source. The amp provides all the drive; the TS808 pushes it harder.
Signal Chain Order
Guitar → Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer → Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face → Vox Wah → Dunlop Cry Baby → MXR Pitch Transposer → Amp (Fender Vibroverb)
Pedal 1: Ibanez Tube Screamer TS808
Role: Clean boost / foundation pedal
Drive: 0 (completely off)
Level: Maximum (10)
Tone: 12 o'clock (5)
This is the most important lesson from SRV's rig. The TS808 is always on. By setting Drive to zero, the pedal adds almost no additional distortion — its JFET circuit adds a tiny amount of soft compression, but primarily it pushes more signal into the Vibroverb's input, causing the amp to work harder at the same volume control position.
The result: the amp's natural breakup is enhanced, the touch sensitivity increases, and the entire tone becomes fuller without the added grain of a conventional distortion pedal.
Pedal 2: Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face
Role: Lead fuzz / sustain
Fuzz: 7–8
Volume: Matched to unity with bypass
The Fuzz Face provides the singing, sustaining lead tone. SRV used a germanium Dallas Arbiter-style Fuzz Face for his most vocal lead sounds — the organic, compressed sustain of germanium fuzz harmonises well with the Vibroverb's natural saturation.
Key setting: SRV would adjust the Fuzz Face's Volume control until it was at unity gain with his bypass tone, then use his guitar's volume knob to control how much fuzz was present. Rolling back guitar volume to 7–8 cleaned up the Fuzz Face significantly.
Pedal 3: Vox Wah / Dunlop Cry Baby
Role: Rhythm and lead filter expression
Type: Standard wah (Vox-style)
SRV used the wah pedal sparingly compared to his contemporaries — it appears on specific songs ("Voodoo Chile" style parts, filtered rhythm passages) rather than constantly. He used it as a filter device, parked at specific positions for vowel-like tonal character.
Pedal 4: MXR Pitch Transposer (M107)
Role: Octave effect for specific passages
Setting: -1 octave (fuzz down mode)
The MXR Pitch Transposer added a lower octave effect to specific bass-heavy passages, creating a fuller, more organ-like sound. Less frequently used than the TS808 or Fuzz Face — a colour pedal for specific songs.
Pedal 5: Uni-Vibe
Role: Rotating speaker simulation
Type: Various (including Dunlop and Shin-ei)
SRV occasionally used a Uni-Vibe for rotating speaker effects, particularly on slower blues shuffle numbers. The Uni-Vibe's mild chorus-vibrato effect at slow speed gives a subtle, moving quality to held chords.
What SRV Did Not Use
- Reverb pedal — the Fender Vibroverb has built-in reverb, used generously (3–4 on the dial)
- Delay — SRV did not use echo or delay in his standard rig; any delay was amp ambience or room reverb
- Compression pedal — no compressor; the TS808 at zero drive provides a degree of soft compression inherently
Replicating SRV's Pedalboard
Essential:
- Ibanez TS808 (or TS9 with TS808 mod): Drive 0, Level 10 — always on as clean boost
- Germanium Fuzz Face (Dallas Arbiter or Dunlop GCB95 — germanium type): Fuzz 7, Volume unity
Optional additions: 3. Dunlop Cry Baby or Vox V847 for wah 4. MXR Micro Amp (as alternative clean boost to TS808)
Why This Zero-Drive Technique Appears Across So Many Players on This Site
SRV's zero-drive Tube Screamer approach is the same underlying technique documented in this site's John Mayer and Gary Moore pedal guides — but SRV's version is the most extreme and most influential example of it. Setting Drive to fully zero while maxing Level means the pedal is contributing essentially no distortion of its own; its only job is delivering more signal into an amp that's already being driven hard by heavy strings and high volume. This is meaningfully different from a "low gain" overdrive setting, which still adds some pedal-generated saturation — true zero-drive is pure signal boost plus the Tube Screamer's inherent midrange voicing, nothing else.
Understanding this distinction matters because a player who sets Drive to 1 or 2 "just in case," rather than genuinely at zero, introduces a layer of pedal-based clipping that changes the character away from SRV's actual amp-driven approach.
Common Mistakes
Setting the Tube Screamer's Drive above zero "for a little extra grit." As explained above, any Drive above true zero introduces pedal-based clipping that SRV's actual technique doesn't use — the entire point is that the amp does 100% of the distorting, with the pedal only adding signal level.
Assuming a silicon Fuzz Face is interchangeable with SRV's germanium unit. As the guide states, the Dallas Arbiter germanium-transistor Fuzz Face produces a warmer, more organic, more compressed sustain than a silicon-transistor version — a real tonal difference, not an interchangeable detail.
Adding a delay pedal to chase a "fuller" SRV tone. As the guide notes directly, no standard delay appears in his rig — the sense of space comes from studio reverb, the Vibroverb's built-in spring reverb, and natural room acoustics, not any pedal-based time effect.
Underestimating how much heavy strings and amp volume contribute versus the pedals themselves. As the FAQ below explains, the pedalboard is only one part of a system that also depends on .013-gauge strings and a genuinely loud amp — the same pedals through light strings and a quiet amp won't produce the same sustain characteristics.
ToneStakr's Take
For players building this pedalboard, the single most important detail to get exactly right is the Tube Screamer's Drive control at true zero — this is the specific setting most players unconsciously deviate from, assuming a small amount of drive can only help. It can't; it actively works against the amp-driven approach that defines this entire tone. Pair the correctly-zeroed TS808 with a genuine germanium Fuzz Face for lead sustain, and treat the wah, pitch transposer, and Uni-Vibe as genuinely secondary, situational additions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does SRV's Tube Screamer actually do with Drive at zero?
It functions as a clean boost, pushing significantly more signal into the amp's input without adding conventional pedal-based distortion. This makes the amp work harder at the same volume setting, enhancing touch sensitivity and natural tube saturation rather than layering pedal-generated grain on top.
What kind of Fuzz Face did SRV use?
A Dallas Arbiter germanium-transistor Fuzz Face — the warmer, more organic, more temperature-sensitive type, as opposed to the brighter, more stable silicon-transistor Fuzz Face variants used by some other players.
Did SRV use delay?
No standard delay pedal appears in his rig. The spaciousness heard in his recorded tone comes from studio reverb during mixing, the Fender Vibroverb's built-in spring reverb (used generously), and natural room acoustics rather than any pedal-based echo.
Why does SRV's tone have more sustain than many other blues players?
A combination of factors working together: heavy .013-.058 gauge strings, correspondingly high action, a Fender Vibroverb driven near its volume limit for genuine power-tube saturation, and the Fuzz Face's natural compression — no single element accounts for it alone.
Is it worth buying an exact vintage Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, or are modern reissues close enough?
For most players, a quality modern germanium Fuzz Face reissue (Dunlop's germanium-spec models, for instance) captures the essential warmth and compression closely enough — the specific vintage unit matters more to collectors than to the practical tonal outcome for most players.
Can I get close to this tone without .013 gauge strings?
Reasonably, though not identically — as the companion amp settings guide notes, .011 gauge strings get you to roughly 80% of the full response. Going lighter than .011 starts to noticeably reduce the bottom-end authority and touch-driven sustain central to the sound.