Lenny
A slow, freely played instrumental of jazz-inflected sixth chords, shaded with the tremolo bar, between soft solo runs.
What is the Lenny guitar tone?
The Lenny guitar tone is a slow, freely played instrumental of jazz-inflected sixth chords, shaded with the tremolo bar, between soft solo runs, heard on Stevie Ray Vaughan's 1980s blues rock recording. It is a clean solo tone, and Stevie Ray Vaughan reportedly tracked it with Lenny, the brown, maple-neck Fender Stratocaster named after his wife Lenora, who with several friends pooled the money to buy it for his birthday in 1980 after he found it in an Austin pawnshop and could not afford it; Fender and Guitar Center describe it as a 1965 Stratocaster, refinished in a dark natural finish with an inlay in the body behind the bridge, other accounts date it to 1963 or 1964, and its neck was a gift from ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons; Lenora remembers him writing the song on it that night and playing it to her the next morning, and Vaughan told Guitar Player in 1990 that Lenny and Riviera Paradise are both played on that guitar, which suits songs like that more than anything else; the song is in E, tuned down a half step, built on a movable major sixth chord that he shakes with the tremolo bar, with runs from the E major scale and the E minor pentatonic and blues scales; which amp carried it is not documented, as engineer Richard Mullen describes the album's setup as two Fender Vibroverbs and Jackson Browne's Dumble, recorded at Browne's Down Town studio in Los Angeles in November 1982; it closes Texas Flood, released in June 1983, and on stage Vaughan sat down to play it, always on the same guitar. Here the part stays clean and slow, so the vibrato from the bar, the touch of the picking hand and the space between phrases carry it more than any gain setting.
You do not need that exact gear to land in the same place. What carries this sound is the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup choice and the order of the effects, and all four can be rebuilt on equipment that costs a fraction of the original. The numbers change from amp to amp, because a clean channel on a modelling combo and a small practice amp reach the same voicing from different knob positions. That translation is what Tonelify works out for the rig you actually own.
Lenny amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 2, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3, with the neck pickup, tone control rolled back slightly.
- Gain 2
- Bass 5
- Middle 6
- Treble 6
- Presence 5
- Reverb 3
- Signal chain
- No pedal documented; the vibrato comes from the tremolo bar
- The control that matters most
- The tremolo bar and your touch. The main chord is a sixth chord that Vaughan shakes gently with the bar, so keep the amp clean with a little warmth, ease the guitar's volume back a touch, and let the vibrato and the space between phrases do the work. It is in E, tuned down a half step, and played slowly and freely rather than strictly in time.
These positions are free and they are a starting point. A Katana, a Spark and a valve head reach this voicing from different knob positions, so Tonelify rewrites every value above for the amp and guitar you own. Your first match is free with an account, and needs no card.
Adapt these to my amp- Pickup
- Neck pickup, tone control rolled back slightly
These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. If you tell Tonelify which amp you own, it rewrites every value above for the controls that amp actually has.
What gear did Stevie Ray Vaughan use on Lenny?
Lenny, the brown, maple-neck Fender Stratocaster named after his wife Lenora, who with several friends pooled the money to buy it for his birthday in 1980 after he found it in an Austin pawnshop and could not afford it; Fender and Guitar Center describe it as a 1965 Stratocaster, refinished in a dark natural finish with an inlay in the body behind the bridge, other accounts date it to 1963 or 1964, and its neck was a gift from ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons; Lenora remembers him writing the song on it that night and playing it to her the next morning, and Vaughan told Guitar Player in 1990 that Lenny and Riviera Paradise are both played on that guitar, which suits songs like that more than anything else; the song is in E, tuned down a half step, built on a movable major sixth chord that he shakes with the tremolo bar, with runs from the E major scale and the E minor pentatonic and blues scales; which amp carried it is not documented, as engineer Richard Mullen describes the album's setup as two Fender Vibroverbs and Jackson Browne's Dumble, recorded at Browne's Down Town studio in Los Angeles in November 1982; it closes Texas Flood, released in June 1983, and on stage Vaughan sat down to play it, always on the same guitar.
Sources: Wikipedia: Lenny (instrumental), Fender and Guitar Center: the Lenny Stratocaster tribute release, 2007, Line 6: Jas Obrecht on Stevie Ray Vaughan's Texas Flood sessions, Wikipedia: Stevie Ray Vaughan's musical instruments, Wikipedia: Texas Flood (album)
Tonelify reads that chain and translates it to the amp and guitar you already own, returning gain, bass, mids, treble and presence values along with a pickup position.
How do you get the Lenny tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Lenny
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Lenny tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Lenny?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 2, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3, with the neck pickup, tone control rolled back slightly. These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. Tonelify rewrites the same values for the specific amp and guitar you own, because a high-gain head and a small solid-state combo reach the same slow, freely played instrumental of jazz-inflected sixth chords, shaded with the tremolo bar, between soft solo runs from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Lenny tone?
The tremolo bar and your touch. The main chord is a sixth chord that Vaughan shakes gently with the bar, so keep the amp clean with a little warmth, ease the guitar's volume back a touch, and let the vibrato and the space between phrases do the work. It is in E, tuned down a half step, and played slowly and freely rather than strictly in time.
Can you get the Lenny tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with Lenny, the brown, maple-neck Fender Stratocaster named after his wife Lenora, who with several friends pooled the money to buy it for his birthday in 1980 after he found it in an Austin pawnshop and could not afford it; Fender and Guitar Center describe it as a 1965 Stratocaster, refinished in a dark natural finish with an inlay in the body behind the bridge, other accounts date it to 1963 or 1964, and its neck was a gift from ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons; Lenora remembers him writing the song on it that night and playing it to her the next morning, and Vaughan told Guitar Player in 1990 that Lenny and Riviera Paradise are both played on that guitar, which suits songs like that more than anything else; the song is in E, tuned down a half step, built on a movable major sixth chord that he shakes with the tremolo bar, with runs from the E major scale and the E minor pentatonic and blues scales; which amp carried it is not documented, as engineer Richard Mullen describes the album's setup as two Fender Vibroverbs and Jackson Browne's Dumble, recorded at Browne's Down Town studio in Los Angeles in November 1982; it closes Texas Flood, released in June 1983, and on stage Vaughan sat down to play it, always on the same guitar, but the parts that define the sound are the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup position and the effects order. Those translate to other equipment, which is what the adaptation step does.
Is Lenny a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a solo part with a clean character, from Stevie Ray Vaughan's 1980s blues rock catalogue.
Does Tonelify cost anything to try?
Your first match for your own gear is free with an account, and needs no card. After that both plans start with a 7-day free trial: Stage is $6.99 a month for 20 matches, Headliner is $10.99 a month for unlimited matching within a fair use limit of 150 new matches a day, and yearly billing works out cheaper on both. Reading this page and the rest of the library costs nothing and needs no account.
