Charley

"Charley" was a Strat-style guitar assembled from spare parts by Charley Wirz in 1983. Charley Wirz was a close friend of Stevie's, and he regularly worked on Stevie's guitars in the early years. Charley owned Charley's Guitar Shop in northwest Dallas. "Charley" is an all white guitar, with a rosewood neck, and a white headstock imprinted with the "Charley's Guitar Shop" logo. Charley Wirz installed three Danelectro "lipstick tube" pickups, and wired it using his own custom, non-Fender configuration. The guitar had a tone similar to Number One, with a little more top end, and a slightly more "bell-like" quality. Stevie liked to play it rather clean, sometimes with an Echoplex and the Vibratone unit. You can hear it on the album versions of "Tin Pan Alley", "Life Without You" (which was written as a tribute to Charley), and "Couldn't Stand The Weather". "Charley" was a Stratocaster-style guitar that was assembled from spare parts by Charley Wirz, owner of Charley's Guitar Shop in Dallas. Charley Wirz often worked on Stevie's guitars and remained a close friend until he died in 1984. Charley is all-white with a rosewood neck. On the back is a girlie-style pinup caricature and carved into the neck's heel plate are the words "To Stevie Ray Vaughan, more in '84." Wirz installed three Danelectro pickups and rewired them to his own configuration. This gave Charley a dark tone like Number One, but with a clearer, bell-like "ringing" tone. Stevie used Charley for songs like "Couldn't Stand The Weather", "Tin Pan Alley", and "Life Without You" (which is actually a tribute to Charley Wirz). Charley was also given to Jimmie Vaughan following Stevie's death.





Images of Stevie with Charley:

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