“The coach of the Dallas Mavericks came up to me after the show and said, ‘What’s your dream guitar?’ I said a 1960 Fender Stratocaster. A few days later one showed up at my house”: Tyler Bryant on his remarkable Strat stories

Tyler Bryant’s blues-rock credentials are impeccable. He was mentored by real-deal Texas bluesman Roosevelt Twitty, grew up playing sweaty Texas clubs, and collaborated with Robben Ford and Junior Wells. Along the way, his band has supported B.B. King, Jeff Beck, and Joe Bonamassa. His Strats have been in his hands for all of it.

What was it like being involved in the videos celebrating the Strat’s 70th Anniversary?

“It was so cool to be part of that with so many players that I respect. I was thrilled to get to be involved with anything Jimmie Vaughan is doing. There’s just such a deep respect for Jimmie where I come from. As a fellow Texan, just to stand on the same stage is pretty cool.”

How did you get into playing Strats?

“The first time I picked up a Stratocaster, I kept hitting the five way switch. I was like, ‘I’ll never play one of these guitars!’ Then I realised that I could actually use that to my advantage. 

“I got my first Strat when I was 10 or 11 years old, a Texas Special American Stratocaster. The guitar case was locked because my parents wanted to be there when I opened it, and it was under the Christmas tree.

“I woke up in the middle of the night and pried the locks open with a fork and knife because I couldn’t wait. It had to be a Strat because I’d been watching SRV’s Live At El Mocambo and Jimi Hendrix at the Isle of Wight and Woodstock, and I’d become like a broken record about wanting a Stratocaster. I still use it. Those Texas Special pickups are crazy.”

Your signature Strat has a humbucker. Why do you prefer that?

I started messing with humbuckers in about 2016. The Shakedown went on tour with AC/DC, and I was using a couple of 100-watt full stacks. It was amazing. The other guitarist in my band, Graham Whitford, was eating up a certain sonic space with his Les Paul. I wanted to be able to compete with anyone. 

“Even with a humbucker, the Strat doesn’t sound like a Les Paul. There’s this midrange thing that Graham doesn’t have that I can get. With the Shawbucker that I ended up with in the bridge, I can get just about any sound that I want, a really aggressive rock tone or a nice clean tone. 

“But my original pink Strat still has the single-coil in it. I couldn’t bring myself to change it. I love a single-coil and it just depends on the song.”

Your main Strats are two shell pink Custom Shop relics. What’s the story with them?

“Pinky One was stolen from me in Spokane, Washington, and missing for five and a half years. It was found in the trunk of a car. They had sanded a bunch of stuff off it. 

“When we inducted Steve Cropper into the Songwriting Hall of Fame, I’d written some of the lyrics for In The Midnight Hour [Wilson Pickett’s 1965 hit, co-written by Cropper] on the back because I didn’t want to mess up the lyrics in front of him. [Aerosmith singer] Steven Tyler had written ‘Pink, it’s like red, but not quite’ on the back. They sanded that off, too. 

“They went to all this trouble to make it look like it wasn’t mine, but they never changed the serial number plate. This is the one I’m most sentimental about. I took this on tour with Jeff Beck, got to play it on stage with him, and Jeff played it. 

“When it was stolen, it was devastating. When Pinky One was stolen, my family and my close friends pitched in and got me a Strat of the same specs. That’s the one – Pinky Two – that I play most of the time, and that’s what my signature model is based on. 

“It was with me the last night I saw Roosevelt Twitty, and he played it right before he passed. Then we got those AC/DC tours and got to go out with Guns N’ Roses. It just became like my right arm. Those two are closely tied in my heart.”

Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown - Snake Oil - YouTube

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Are there any mods to your Strats? 

“It’s so funny, because when I was working with Fender on the signature Strat, they were like, ‘So what modifications have you done?’ I said, ‘Man, it sounded great when I got it!’ I just put the humbucker in it. All my Strats since have had humbuckers. 

“I did one that had a coil split, so I could try and get the best of both worlds, but the truth is, if I want a Strat with a single coil, I’m just going to grab Pinky One, or my original 1960 Strat. I don’t do too many mods. 

“I always just put a longer screw in the strap pin because I tend to shake them out of the guitar. I have stainless steel frets. I always prefer the vintage saddles and vintage tuners. I know there’s like technology with locking tuners and all that, but it’s not for me. I’m used to the screws digging into my palm!”

Tell us about the 1960 Strat. 

“I used to play in this band called The Blues Buddies. We were opening for Dwight Yoakam at Gilley’s in Dallas, playing Freddie King songs. People were just like, ‘What is this band doing here?’ They wanted to line dance! 

“The coach of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, Don Nelson, came up to me after the show and said, ‘What’s your dream guitar?’ I said a 1960 Fender Stratocaster. He asked, ‘Why don’t you have one?’ I was like, ‘Oh, man, they’re like $20,000.’

Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown - Trick Up My Sleeve - YouTube

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“I was 13 at the time. A few days later, one showed up at my house. The reason my dream guitar was a 1960 Stratocaster was because of Alan Haynes. He was just mind-boggling to me, playing in clubs in Austin and Houston with a 1960 Strat straight into a Fender Vibro-King, no effects. 

“It was the most pristine, beautiful sound I’d ever heard. Even my signature models stick to that spec. I wish Fender would recreate Alan Haynes’s Strat, because it’s got a pretty cool history. 

“Stevie Ray owned it at one point, Johnny Weiner, and Eric Johnson owned it. The first time I saw Alan play, I was young, and they wouldn’t let me into the club on Sixth Street in Austin. He walked out onto the street because he saw they wouldn’t let me in. 

“I said, ‘Can I play your guitar?’ I wanted to feel it and see, what was different. How was he able to get that sound? He took his guitar off and let me play it. I realised in that moment, it’s him. The guitar has the potential but you have to fulfil it.”