Stevie Ray Vaughan

The legendary modern bluesman, SRV was an icon of the blues revival. He played a '63 Fender Stratocaster with insanely heavy strings (sometimes up to 13s!) and would tune down a half step to accompany his singing and ease the strain on his fingers.

While most believe he played only the legendary Dumble amp, in fact, Stevie would often use Fender Super Reverbs behind a TS-9 tubesceamer. If you want his tone, you'll need a Strat with hot pickups, fat strings, and a nice overdrive unit.

Known to play:

• Fender American Stratocaster (Maple Neck) at around $1119
• Fender American Stratocaster (Rosewood Neck) at around $1119
• Fender Standard Stratocaster (Maple Neck) at around $499
• Fender Standard Stratocaster (Rosewood Neck) at around $499