INTERVIEW
Tyler Bryant is one of the hottest young exponents of Texas blues. So of course he plays Strats…
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, Je 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. Iwas thrilled to get to be involved with anything Jimmie Vaughan is doing. There’s just such a deep respect for Jimmie where Icome from. As a fellow Texan, just to stand on the same stage is pretty cool.
How did you get into playing Strats? The rst time I picked up a Stratocaster, I kept hitting the ve way switch. Iwas like, ‘I’ll never play one of these guitars!’ Then I realised that I could actually use that to my advantage. I got my rst Strat when Iwas 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. Iwoke 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 LiveAtElMocamboand Jimi Hendrix at the Isle of White 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 ahumbucker. 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 ve and a half years. It was found in the trunk of a car. They had sanded a bunch of stu o it. When we inducted Steve Cropper into the Songwr
