Stevie Ray Vaughan’s actual 1967 Fender Twin Reverb is almost £140,000 for Cyber Week – but here’s the gargantuan figure it’ll still set you back…
With countless deals across guitars, amps and pedals, the chaos of Cyber Week is truly in full swing. But you’ll be hard-pressed to find a saving better than this one – that is, if you’re willing to splash out £458,796.89 exactly on Stevie Ray Vaughan’s actual 1967 Fender Twin Reverb.
You might be thinking “Guitar.com, that’s still an awfully expensive bit of gear”, and we hear you. But the amp usually costs just under £600,000, which means you’re actually saving around £140,000. So, if you’re enticed by hefty discounts – and willing to ignore how much you’ll still pay – this Reverb deal is for you.
While the price tag may still scare people off, the amp is a pretty cool piece of blue rock history. Not only was it used during the recording of a slew of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s records, including 1983’s Texas Flood, 1984’s Couldn’t Stand The Weather, 1985’s Soul To Soul and 1989’s In Step.
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It was also used during a number of live shows between 1982 and ‘89, and even during rehearsal sessions for David Bowie’s Serious Moonlight Tour in 1983 – a tour where Vaughan was supposed to play as the opening act, before plans fell through.
The Twin has also been heavily modded, with the listing explaining that Cesar Diaz and René Martinez were likely involve in the amp’s tweaked electronics, which also sees the amp employing Electro Voice SRO, otherwise known as ‘coffee can’, speakers.
In an interview with Guitar World, the seller, Björn Groenen, explained that: “This amplifier was one of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s most favourite and important amplifiers. He owned many, but only one Twin Reverb with Electro Voice coffee can speakers.”
“In the five years that I have owned it, I have played the amplifier just once. It deeply shocked me how an amplifier could sound like that! I immediately recognised the sound of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s most famous songs… this amp is the most important amplifier in blues musical history.”
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The seller has also got a number of engineers, techs and tour managers to confirm the authenticity of the £458,796.89 amp. His sources vary from Stevie’s mate, fellow blues rocker Bill Carter, to the Stevie’s guitar tech, Richard Spencer, to David Bowie’s guitarist, Carlos Alomar. The list goes on, and on, and on – and he’s even got Stevie Ray Vaughan’s ex-partner, Janna Lapidus (now Leblanc), to sign on the dotted line to prove it’s the real deal.
Credit: Reverb
He’s also included a number of photos pointing out where the amp has appeared in old recordings, all helpfully circled or highlighted. So, its fair to say the man has been thorough.
For Stevie Ray Vaughan mega fans, this is certainly a cool bit of kit. The listing also serves as a great history lesson; there’s loads of insight into how Vaughan used the Twin. “The guitar techs would wire wired Stevie Ray Vaughan’s signal into [the Twin and a Marshall combo] and sometimes a sheet of plexiglass would be placed in front to lower the volume because he played extremely loudly,” the listing reads.
Frank Pavlich, another of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s guitar techs, has also provided some insight into the amp’s life. “Yes, this is absolutely authentic. I had the privilege of working with Stevie Ray Vaughan during David Bowie’s rehearsal period… I worked on that crazy Fender Twin Reverb amplifier with Electro Voice SRO speakers. I never understood how it made such fabulous noise.”
The tech also shines some more light on why the Bowie and Vaughan tour may have fallen through. “The concept colour for David Bowie’s Serious Moonlight was blue… when the set designer said ‘blue’, Stevie Ray Vaughan went ballistic!” he explains. “The collaboration with David Bowie went downhill afterwards. It was a very tumultuous rehearsal period. David Bowie had very specific ideas about the set, costumes and crew. Stevie Ray Vaughan didn’t want anything changed.”
Head to Reverb for more information.
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