Nice Strat he's playing. What kind of pickups are those? N3s?

N3 Noiseless...

He put on a great show...

cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele

But what was the extra white knob on both guitars - the one off the pickguard and a little behind the bridge..??

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Dennis in CR
Rockin' since 1963

Volume control for the piezo pickup--he switches that on for "acoustic" parts of songs rather than fighting the feedback problems associated with playing an acoustic at such volumes...

He's basically playing an Eric Clapton Signature Strat with that piezo modification.

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

N3's have pole pieces. One of the two Strats he played definitely didn't have pole pieces, so those would be Lace Golds. He started using those piezo-equipped Clapton Strats back in '89, long before Fender made any Noiseless pickups of their own -- his earlier ones all had Lace Golds (I don't know if his newer ones have N3's).



At the Sandy concert he used the piezo setting for the acoustic parts of "Pinball Wizard". It doesn't sound exactly like an acoustic, just "close enough" so he doesn't have to switch guitars in the middle of songs.

So what's the red streaks on the pg? Does he use a magic marker for a pick, or does he bleed for his audience?
I missed all the good stuff. I tuned in to see Kenye West strut around in a leather skirt while he rapped about seriously important things, I guess.

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'12 Carvin CS424S
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'14 Warmouth Partscaster Daphne Blue

That pic is from a different show, and yes the streaks are his blood. Enthusiastic windmills can sometimes tear your fingers up during a 2~3 hour performance.

I thought they might be Laces but didn't see any writing on the covers. So either he has blank covers on them or the writing wore off?

If you look really carefully at the pickups, (under the bass strings on the neck side of the pickups), you can just barely see the oval indentations where it should say "Lace Sensor" in gold. (The dark lines are the shadows inside the indentations, not pickguard gaps around the pickups.)

While he plays vigorously and could have worn off the gold paint, I doubt he could have obliterated it entirely from all 3 pickups. My guess is he just likes the cleaner look of no logos and had the Custom Shop scrape off the logos or paint over them.

In my earlier post I said he started playing the piezo equipped Strats back in '89 -- that's wrong. He started playing regular Clapton Strats back then, the piezo mods were added in '97 or so.

He's got a bunch of those Lace & piezo Strats -- at least 4 red ones, a white one, and a shoreline gold one, some with Floyd Rose bridges & locking nuts.

Like I said in my earlier post, I'm only sure about one of the Strats he played at the Sandy concert -- when he switched Strats after the first song I got a very clear view that the second Strat didn't have pole pieces. He may have some newer ones that could have N3's (or other Fender Noiseless pickups, since Fender has severed their relationship with Lace).

Thanks man. I was digging the concert last night and had been reading the Strat Plus/Ultra thread on the Strat forum so I guess I've have Laces on the brain...

Hi guys: just for comparison, I've worn the Sensor logos almost completely off all three of my Lace pickups, and I'm a very gentle player - definitely no Townshend! Those logos are just applied quite lightly is all. I bet Pete's logos had disappeared inside a few months...

BTW:

One time in 1980 I spent a whole Who gig peeping over the edge of the stage with my nose between Townshend's monitors. I got the opportunity to study what we might understatedly call his "picking technique" at close quarters and I can tell you that by the end of the evening his right hand was smothered in blood, as was the front of the guitar.

That ain't no magic marker!

Imagine going out there night after night knowing you're going to carve yourself up that way - and that's not including the time he got his hand impaled so hard on his bridge he had to go to hospital to have it removed. No wonder he sometimes used to hit the bottle a bit heavily after the show...

Cheers - C

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Damn; and I was getting concerned because I've been cutting a U shaped groove in my right index fingernail because I hold the pick so close to the edge. I've got to quit being a wuss and toughen up, or drink more. Actually, I can't handle the booze, I better toughen up.
That really is kind of shocking that he beats himself up that much.

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'10 American Deluxe HSS Sunset Metallic
'10 JA-90 Thinline Telecaster
'15 Music Man JP-15 Blueberry Burst
'07 Les Paul Standard Faded LCPG #82
'14 Carvin ST300
'12 Carvin CS424S
'66 Guild Starfire IV w/Bigsby
'14 Warmouth Partscaster Daphne Blue

It's his passion.

He had calmed down for a while, but for much of his career he has bled. His white jumpsuit at Woodstock was smeared and splattered with it. It was a part of his performance signature. He is an Aries, the god of war demands blood, or at least something red.

Iggy Stooge didn't consider himself warmed up until he was bleeding. Rock and roll and blood are natural partners. The bleeder should always be a willing one.

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I have some Fender gear.
(Telecaster, Jaguar, Villager 12 String. Mustang l, Bronco, SCX2, Rumble 350, HRDIII, Rumble 2x8 Neo Cab)
http://www.reverbnation.com/modwiz

One of his Clapton Strats is fitted with a pair of P90s.