Tone library / Stevie Ray Vaughan / The sky is crying

The sky is crying amp settings — Fender Champion 20

The Stevie Ray Vaughan guitar tone for “The sky is crying”, dialed in for a Fender Champion 20 with a Fender American Professional II Stratocaster. Studio version, The Sky Is Crying (recorded 1984, released 1991 posthumous album)

Original rig

Fender Stratocaster 'Number One' (neck pickup) → Ibanez Tube Screamer (TS808/TS9) → Dumble Steel String Singer (clean channel, loud)

Warm, vocal neck-pickup lead tone with singing sustain, clean amp pushed by Tube Screamer for smooth compression and midrange bloom

Amp settings — Fender Champion 20

CHANNELVoice selector: position 1 (cleanest Fender voicing)

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	3
Bass	6
Mid	7
Treble	5
Presence	0
Reverb	2
Master	7

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Guitar

PICKUPneck TONE7 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Tube Screamer (TS9/TS808)

SRV's signature setting — low drive for compression/mids, high level to push the amp's front end. This is your primary gain source.

Drive 2 · Tone 5 · Level 8

Why these settings

The Dumble SSS is a clean, loud, hi-fi platform amp — the Champion 20 can approximate this by staying on its cleanest voicing with minimal gain. The Tube Screamer does the work: high level slams the preamp for that compressed, singing sustain SRV is known for. Rolled tone knob to 7 tames the Strat's neck brightness and gets closer to SRV's slightly woolly lead sound. Mid boosted to 7 compensates for the Champion's inherent Fender scoop.

PRO TIPSRV used extremely heavy strings (.013-.058) which gave his neck pickup that thick, vocal quality. You won't match it with .009s — if you're serious, try at least .011s and raise your action slightly. Also, dig in hard with your pick right over the neck pickup for that aggressive-yet-warm attack he had.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Fender Champion 20. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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Song, artist and gear names are used to identify the tone being matched; ToneAdapt is not affiliated with or endorsed by the artists or manufacturers mentioned. Settings are AI-generated starting points — trust your ears.