Hello Jimmy,

If you want to get the “sound” and the “feel” of a Stevie Ray Vaughan guitar then your best bet is to get the Fender SRV signature guitar (around $1,400). But in my opinion you don’t have to spend that much to get what you want, because in order to get the “feel” while spending less money you can check the SRV model and try to purchase the guitar that matches most specs, like the deep oval neck and the left handed tremolo, which I think you will have to purchase separately then install in your new guitar.

On the other hand if you just want to get the “sound” of SRV guitar then get a Standard Strat and install a set of Fender Texas Special Strat pickups. This in combination with the right amp will probably give you what you want.

Here are some information about how SRV got his tone (from the Fender “Mr. Gearhead” website) :

Q. “What is the difference between “Texas Special” Stratocaster pickups and other Strat single coils?”
A. The “Texas Special” Strat pickups were designed by Fender and selected by Stevie Ray Vaughan for use in his Signature Series “SRV” Stratocaster. They are basically an “over-wound”, vintage style pickup. They have about 1,000 more wraps of plain enamel wire and staggered Alnico magnet pole pieces which gives them a hotter output with more mid-range. They are available in a calibrated set with the center pickup being reverse wound and having reverse polarity magnets. This feature creates the humbucking effect in positions 2 and 4 on your 5-way switch.
There is actually only one ’57/’62 “Vintage” pickup, and it is used for all three pickup positions. The ’57/’62 “Vintage” pickups have staggered magnetic pole pieces like the “Texas Specials”, but the center pickup is not reverse wound/reverse polarity, and therefore they will not be hum canceling in positions 2 and 4 of the standard 5-way switch.
The American Standard pickups are similar to the “Vintage” in output, but have level pole pieces, plastic bobbins and polysol wire.
Our Standard pickups, which are made in Mexico and used on our Standard Series guitars, are a bit hotter than the American Standard pickups and use ceramic magnets, steel pole pieces, polysol wire and plastic bobbins.

Q. “How did Stevie Ray Vaughan get his tone? How can I get that kind of clean distortion from my amp? Do I need a special pedal or preamp?”
A. The main source of lead guitar tone for Stevie Ray (and many other “Blues” and “Rock” players), is something called “output tube distortion”. Output tube distortion is what happens when a tube amplifier is turned up loud enough (or played hard enough) to distort the “power amp” section of the amplifier. This is the type of distortion which translates to the listener as harmonically rich, sweet, sustaining tone and can be heard on countless recordings.
While distortion pedals will add sustain and harmonics, they also tend to make all the different instruments played through them, sound the same or “faceless”. A pedal may be great when you’re a beginner with your first guitar,not so great if you’re a pro with an expensive, high quality guitar, and the “fuzz box” makes it sound just like just another $150.00 guitar. While Stevie did use a Tube Screamer pedal, he only used it as a boost. The foundation of his tone was an overdriven tube amp.

Good luck.