It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 8:47 am

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 31 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
Author Message
Post subject: Re: Clapton mid boost in a masterbuilt 50th anniversary stra
Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2016 2:56 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2009 10:34 pm
Posts: 10760
Location: Athens, Greece
ZZDoc wrote:
The early one's were built in the nascent Custom Shop.


Yep, true!

Image


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: Clapton mid boost in a masterbuilt 50th anniversary stra
Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2016 4:44 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2007 1:10 pm
Posts: 13467
Location: Palm Beach County FL
YEP.....TRUE!!

For the benefit of Larry T and others who are not familiar with this guitar, it is a pre-production Clapton, built in '87 for the Winter '88 NAMM. My tech determined, through sources, that there were 12 units built. It has 21 frets and a micro-toggle switch to turn the MDX on and off. Both were eliminated in the final design. The neck went to 22 frets and a stereo jack replacing the switch. The back of the headstock as well as the neck pocket are stamped with the original Custom Shop logo, and the serial number is a #V series. Also note that the face of the headstock does not have a serial number

By the way....I had the glitch in the MDX circuit solved. The micro-toggle was defective and had to be replaced.

Guitar is a killer!!. 8)

Image

_________________
"Another day in paradise!"


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Clapton mid boost in a masterbuilt 50th anniversary stra
Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2016 2:27 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 10:27 am
Posts: 4473
Location: Paris France
" a stereo jack replacing the switch"
really ?

_________________
http://www.guitarmotel.com


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Clapton mid boost in a masterbuilt 50th anniversary stra
Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2016 5:22 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2007 1:10 pm
Posts: 13467
Location: Palm Beach County FL
alainlafrance wrote:
" a stereo jack replacing the switch"
really ?

Bon jour, mon ami! I've been under the impression that the output jack was a 'stereo jack' as opposed to a 'mono jack' due to the wiring necessary to activate the midboost when the output plug was inserted. If not, well then.......'never mind!" :wink:

_________________
"Another day in paradise!"


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Clapton mid boost in a masterbuilt 50th anniversary stra
Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2016 6:15 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2012 6:56 am
Posts: 1677
Location: Coastal Bend, Tx.
Quote:
Tighten the claw without springs ??
Sorry didn't see your question...So if you remove the claw and flip it upside down and tighten it, you have more space in the cavity. Its almost as if its not there in this position, but still provides for a grounding location.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Clapton mid boost in a masterbuilt 50th anniversary stra
Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2016 6:17 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 10:27 am
Posts: 4473
Location: Paris France
ZZDoc wrote:
alainlafrance wrote:
" a stereo jack replacing the switch"
really ?

Bon jour, mon ami! I've been under the impression that the output jack was a 'stereo jack' as opposed to a 'mono jack' due to the wiring necessary to activate the midboost when the output plug was inserted. If not, well then.......'never mind!" :wink:

Bonjour mon ami,
Let me check mine :wink:

_________________
http://www.guitarmotel.com


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Clapton mid boost in a masterbuilt 50th anniversary stra
Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2016 1:11 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2010 2:39 pm
Posts: 1339
I'm no expert but it is a common trick using a stereo jack to complete the battery circuit.
When the plug is not inserted the return of the battery is connected to the middle connection but goes nowhere and the battery is not depleted when the guitar is stored. The other method is a small tag on the jack that closes the circuit. When a mono plug is inserted the ring or tag then is connected to the the sleeve or earth and the circuit is complete turning the active electronics on.
Just look at the clapton pdf it is not a normal mono jack.
:D


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Clapton mid boost in a masterbuilt 50th anniversary stra
Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2016 6:21 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2007 1:10 pm
Posts: 13467
Location: Palm Beach County FL
jimmy_james wrote:
I'm no expert but it is a common trick using a stereo jack to complete the battery circuit.
When the plug is not inserted the return of the battery is connected to the middle connection but goes nowhere and the battery is not depleted when the guitar is stored. The other method is a small tag on the jack that closes the circuit. When a mono plug is inserted the ring or tag then is connected to the the sleeve or earth and the circuit is complete turning the active electronics on.
Just look at the clapton pdf it is not a normal mono jack.
:D

Precisely as I thought. Which is why the output plug should be removed from the guitar when idle. Even between sets. Thanks for the feedback.

_________________
"Another day in paradise!"


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Clapton mid boost in a masterbuilt 50th anniversary stra
Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2016 6:23 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2009 10:34 pm
Posts: 10760
Location: Athens, Greece
ZZDoc wrote:
Which is why the output plug should be removed from the guitar when idle. Even between sets.


Actually Eric wanted having an existing feature from the old Elites which turns off the MDX preamp once the instrument cable is removed from the guitar rather than using a mode switch.

Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Clapton mid boost in a masterbuilt 50th anniversary stra
Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2016 9:54 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2007 8:49 am
Posts: 361
Location: Cheshire, UK
chromeface wrote:
Actually Eric wanted having an existing feature from the old Elites which turns off the MDX preamp once the instrument cable is removed from the guitar rather than using a mode switch.


Actually what the good 'Doc said :D


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Clapton mid boost in a masterbuilt 50th anniversary stra
Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2016 12:58 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2007 1:10 pm
Posts: 13467
Location: Palm Beach County FL
LeftyElliot wrote:
chromeface wrote:
Actually Eric wanted having an existing feature from the old Elites which turns off the MDX preamp once the instrument cable is removed from the guitar rather than using a mode switch.


Actually what the good 'Doc said :D


Actually.......what I've done is a bit o'book'in and look'in. There's not much new in the yadayada in either Duchossoir or Wheeler beyond what we already know. The Elite schematic shows a stereo output jack in the active circuit. That guitar appeared in 1983. Paul Gagon was still with the company at the time. The schematic for the factory blueprint on my guitar is final dated 12/16/87 and shows the mode switch in the active circuit. Curiously, th neck date on my guitar is 12/18/87. Backing up a bit, according to Duchossoir, Clapton begins working with Dan Smith on the idea of a new guitar in early 1985. In May of 1986 they present him with two prototypes, one red, one pewter, meeting his specifications, and equipped with Lace Sensors. According to Duchossoir, he kept asking for 'more compression', beyond the 12db the Elite had to offer. They went with the new pickups which, I can only presume, were able to handle the boost circuit without the need for a dummy coil. On July 15, 1986 he plays the Birmingham N.E.C. which is video recorded and released as "Eric Clapton and Friends, Live 1986. He is using both of those guitars in concert. They both have 21 fret necks and no mode switch. Though not verbally documented, we have to presume that in the walk-up to the prototypes the idea of a mode switch was discarded. Why it appears in the NAMM pre-production guitars as well as the early adverts is never addressed in anything I have ever read. Duchossoir suggests that they eliminated the switch in the production version because Eric 'always plays active', which is obvious from the video. Duchossoir also observes that the guitar has an 8.5 radius and a 21db MDX. I can't comment as how and when this comes to pass because we know what the final design worked out to. The neck on the prototypes and the pre-production is a 21 fret, 4 bolt, whereas the guitars that went into production in May of 1988, and what Eric later played [e.g. the new Blackie] sported 22 frets and a biflex truss rod. The biflex had been standard on Strats from 1983. I would suggest that the neck, as described, was the neck on the Strat Plus and perhaps that had something to do with the change. Where Chromeface sourced the expression of Eric's wishes regarding the circuitry would be interesting to learn. Perhaps there are further details of the yadayada in the R&D of the guitar. Paul Gagon had left the company by then and had not been in on it at all, save for the fact that his earlier contributions to the circuitry made it happen. 8)

_________________
"Another day in paradise!"


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Clapton mid boost in a masterbuilt 50th anniversary stra
Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2016 3:54 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2009 10:34 pm
Posts: 10760
Location: Athens, Greece
Quote:
In May of 1986 they present him with two prototypes, one red, one pewter, meeting his specifications, and equipped with Lace Sensors.


There aren't just two but three.

2 Pewter and 1 Torino Red, with the latter being sold to sir Ian "Beefy" Botham as a gift in an exchange for his bat.

Our friend Todd has meticulously recreated the original pewter guitars giving them a NOS treatment just like the day they were presented to Eric himself in their final form.

Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Clapton mid boost in a masterbuilt 50th anniversary stra
Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2016 5:18 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2007 1:10 pm
Posts: 13467
Location: Palm Beach County FL
chromeface wrote:
Quote:
In May of 1986 they present him with two prototypes, one red, one pewter, meeting his specifications, and equipped with Lace Sensors.


There aren't just two but three.

2 Pewter and 1 Torino Red, with the latter being sold to sir Ian "Beefy" Botham as a gift in an exchange for his bat.

Our friend Todd has meticulously recreated the original pewter guitars giving them a NOS treatment just like the day they were presented to Eric himself in their final form.

Image


Don't know what our friend Todd had in mind but, as I noted in my comments, the prototypes had 21 fret necks and no mode switch, which was quite evident from the videos of the concert which was given just a couple of months after, it is said, Fender gave them to Eric. The above pictured lovely, in terms of appointments, is pretty much what I have sitting in my closet next to the pre-production red. 8)

_________________
"Another day in paradise!"


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Clapton mid boost in a masterbuilt 50th anniversary stra
Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2016 5:28 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2007 1:10 pm
Posts: 13467
Location: Palm Beach County FL
ZZDoc wrote:
chromeface wrote:
Quote:
In May of 1986 they present him with two prototypes, one red, one pewter, meeting his specifications, and equipped with Lace Sensors.


There aren't just two but three.

2 Pewter and 1 Torino Red, with the latter being sold to sir Ian "Beefy" Botham as a gift in an exchange for his bat.

Our friend Todd has meticulously recreated the original pewter guitars giving them a NOS treatment just like the day they were presented to Eric himself in their final form.

Image


Nice. For $6000 I'll keep the one in my closet, thank you. It's an '89/90 if you go by body/neck dates, in really great shape, and has the 'vintage charm' of nearly 30 years. As to the red..... that's original Custom Shop in terms of origins, logos and all.

_________________
"Another day in paradise!"


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Clapton mid boost in a masterbuilt 50th anniversary stra
Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2016 11:10 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2007 8:49 am
Posts: 361
Location: Cheshire, UK
chromeface wrote:
Our friend Todd has meticulously recreated the original pewter guitars giving them a NOS treatment just like the day they were presented to Eric himself in their final form.


Oh, come on! Surely we all know what Eric got is nothing like all this "NOS Finish" marketing stuff?
He was getting gluey necks and nitro body paint about a micron thick that would wear out and show grain/wood just by breathing on it.


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 31 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: