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Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 2:08 pm
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[quote="alainlafrance"]Here is an EC Strat without his signature:

There's a history on this, gleaned from the Christie's Auction Catalog of 2004 in which Eric and Lee speak about refinements to forthcoming guitars which Eric requested of the Custom Shop and they were addressed specifically to the neck. Eric requested that his signature not be on his stage guitars. It is not clear whether he also requested refinement of the contours which you have commented on as being slightly 'slimmer' than those found on the V-neck supplied with either the Artist or Custom Artist Clapton.

As to the comment elsewhere regarding ''vintage".... Fender necks were historically not as 'white' as they were becoming. (one of the recommendations cited for changes to the new American Standard). In fact, if you look at photos of Alain's '58, the finish on the neck is 'dimed'. Having owned and played an orignal for 10 years I can attest to that. Some of Fender's throw backs to 'vintage' '50's necks are way too yellow.

For me, against that black paint, I prefer the look of the neck as we see it in Alain's photos, and as it was on my '93, as well as the satin finish. I actually requested that on my CS but I they never did it and I was too exasperated to send the guitar back a second time for another neck.


Doc


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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 10:21 am
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Hi all

Been watching this thread for a while.


Picked up my New Teambuilt CS Clapton Strat on Fri.
It was built in 2008.
It has the TBX Tone control, the custom shop logo on the back of the head near the end. And Eric's sig Plus "BLACKIE" written on the back of the head nearer the Nut.

My Dealer (one of biggest CS dealers in UK and very knowledgable about the product lines) said TBX was on all models of Claton except Master built. which is consistant with what we are seeing here.

Someone asked the question what's the difference between Artist and CS here apart from the price. That's pretty simple. Better quality wood (see specs CS says "Selecrt Alder". and of course you are paying for the CS build quality.
Not convinced- go try one of each back to back. they feel and sound totally different - especially acoustically. this was also mentioned by someone on another thread who had owned both and said there was a massive difference in the CS version in terms of tone and playability/quality.
I think the CS's are a bit lighter as well.
I think this generally goes for CS guitars- I understand they have the pick of the best woods (after the masterbuiders).

Hope that helps

sparky


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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 11:11 am
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SparkyG wrote:
Hi all

Been watching this thread for a while.


Picked up my New Teambuilt CS Clapton Strat on Fri.
It was built in 2008.
It has the TBX Tone control, the custom shop logo on the back of the head near the end. And Eric's sig Plus "BLACKIE" written on the back of the head nearer the Nut.

My Dealer (one of biggest CS dealers in UK and very knowledgable about the product lines) said TBX was on all models of Claton except Master built. which is consistant with what we are seeing here.

Someone asked the question what's the difference between Artist and CS here apart from the price. That's pretty simple. Better quality wood (see specs CS says "Selecrt Alder". and of course you are paying for the CS build quality.
Not convinced- go try one of each back to back. they feel and sound totally different - especially acoustically. this was also mentioned by someone on another thread who had owned both and said there was a massive difference in the CS version in terms of tone and playability/quality.
I think the CS's are a bit lighter as well.
I think this generally goes for CS guitars- I understand they have the pick of the best woods (after the masterbuiders).

Hope that helps

sparky


Thanks for your input. The confusion arose from the catalog specs. Given your input, the catalog should change. Likely, Alain has the most accurate gujtar of them all. I wonder if Krause will do an "as built for" again?


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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 2:32 pm
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zzdoc wrote:
SparkyG wrote:
Hi all

Been watching this thread for a while.


Picked up my New Teambuilt CS Clapton Strat on Fri.
It was built in 2008.
It has the TBX Tone control, the custom shop logo on the back of the head near the end. And Eric's sig Plus "BLACKIE" written on the back of the head nearer the Nut.

My Dealer (one of biggest CS dealers in UK and very knowledgable about the product lines) said TBX was on all models of Claton except Master built. which is consistant with what we are seeing here.

Someone asked the question what's the difference between Artist and CS here apart from the price. That's pretty simple. Better quality wood (see specs CS says "Selecrt Alder". and of course you are paying for the CS build quality.
Not convinced- go try one of each back to back. they feel and sound totally different - especially acoustically. this was also mentioned by someone on another thread who had owned both and said there was a massive difference in the CS version in terms of tone and playability/quality.
I think the CS's are a bit lighter as well.
I think this generally goes for CS guitars- I understand they have the pick of the best woods (after the masterbuiders).

Hope that helps

sparky


Thanks for your input. The confusion arose from the catalog specs. Given your input, the catalog should change. Likely, Alain has the most accurate gujtar of them all. I wonder if Krause will do an "as built for" again?



It means a Masterbuilt with all the financial consequences...
But It was an order of three together, so I can't tell for just one.

Alain


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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 7:27 pm
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To make things even more complicated, I gave Fender Customer Service my serial number, and was told that on the build sheet, it just had a mid boost, and no TBX control(which mine has in reality, along with many other people, obviously). I have a feeling this situation with the tone controls is a factory error or something.


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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 8:24 pm
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lespaul666 wrote:
To make things even more complicated, I gave Fender Customer Service my serial number, and was told that on the build sheet, it just had a mid boost, and no TBX control(which mine has in reality, along with many other people, obviously). I have a feeling this situation with the tone controls is a factory error or something.


Team built or Master built, the catalog doesn't differentiate the specs on a CS Clapton. What's their take on this and how many have they done so?
Are they saying?

What really matters here is how close to 'as built for' electronically it this guitar supposed to be and, if the specs show a standard tone pot, why the TBX and should it be replaced by them??

Doc


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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 8:29 pm
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""It means a Masterbuilt with all the financial consequences...
But It was an order of three together, so I can't tell for just one.""

Alain

Are you at liberty to tell us how this order came about and if the cost exceeded the customary masterbuilt fee? Most of us have a feeling for what the shop charges, (Mine would have been an additional 2K masterbuilt.) allowing for the fact that this was an '03 order date.

Doc


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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 8:43 pm
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zzdoc wrote:
lespaul666 wrote:
To make things even more complicated, I gave Fender Customer Service my serial number, and was told that on the build sheet, it just had a mid boost, and no TBX control(which mine has in reality, along with many other people, obviously). I have a feeling this situation with the tone controls is a factory error or something.


Team built or Master built, the catalog doesn't differentiate the specs on a CS Clapton. What's their take on this and how many have they done so?
Are they saying?

What really matters here is how close to 'as built for' electronically it this guitar supposed to be and, if the specs show a standard tone pot, why the TBX and should it be replaced by them??

Doc



I really wish I knew. Hopefully they answer this question to me personally, and I'll post as soon as I find out. I have a very strong feeling that the only EC Custom Shops out there without a TBX control, are the MasterBuilts.


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Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 4:43 pm
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The official E-Mail response to me from the Fender Custom Shop:



"The US Custom Shop Clapton does come with a tbx tone control, so you have the right controls to the right guitar".


I guess that ends that one. 8)


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Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 4:56 pm
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lespaul666 wrote:
The official E-Mail response to me from the Fender Custom Shop:



"The US Custom Shop Clapton does come with a tbx tone control, so you have the right controls to the right guitar".


I guess that ends that one. 8)


....with no explanation as to why the specs on the web state otherwise. Small potatoes but.....veerrrry inteerrreesting!!

Make great music!

Doc

Doc


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Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 5:01 pm
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I had a feeling it was going to be short and sweet, with no explanation...Maybe we should send in a suggestion to change the specs page? :?:


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Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 8:33 pm
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lespaul666 wrote:
I had a feeling it was going to be short and sweet, with no explanation...Maybe we should send in a suggestion to change the specs page? :?:


Suppose you reply as such to the sender who answered you and suggest to them that the consensus of many on the Forum is that the specs are mis-represented in this case and should be corrected in kind.


Doc


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Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 10:23 am
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zzdoc wrote:
lespaul666 wrote:
I had a feeling it was going to be short and sweet, with no explanation...Maybe we should send in a suggestion to change the specs page? :?:


Suppose you reply as such to the sender who answered you and suggest to them that the consensus of many on the Forum is that the specs are mis-represented in this case and should be corrected in kind.


Doc


I did exactly that. The response I received was:

"The only Custom Shop Eric Clapton models without TBX are the Masterbuilts".


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Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 12:00 pm
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zzdoc wrote:
""It means a Masterbuilt with all the financial consequences...
But It was an order of three together, so I can't tell for just one.""

Alain

Are you at liberty to tell us how this order came about and if the cost exceeded the customary masterbuilt fee? Most of us have a feeling for what the shop charges, (Mine would have been an additional 2K masterbuilt.) allowing for the fact that this was an '03 order date.

Doc


Three participants of another Fender Forum ( from which I have been banned for not kowtowing to its despotic rules) agreed to order 3 similar EC Strats from Todd Krause, one of the main EC Strats Masterbuilders, so to get a better price, being agreed such trio would be 100% similar to the ones made for Eric himself: different neck shape, very light satin finish, no TBX, Mercedes Blue.no signature.
When delivered, one of the buyers was somewhat disturbed about the slim and narrow V neck of the guitar and decided to sell it at cost. Then it belonged to me.
The price was quite reasonable IMO.


Alain

http://community.webshots.com/user/alainlafrance


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Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 1:56 pm
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Roger on the other site! I've seen some scuttlebutt on that of no consequence here.

My guess is that the neck on your guitar is closer to the '57 Blackie. The Guitar Center person I deal with has handled "the' guitar and he say the neck is almost "U'' shaped, I suppose from all that wear over the years.


Last edited by ZZDoc on Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:20 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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