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Post subject: Current Clapton Sound help
Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 1:06 pm
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i am looking to achieve claptons current tone and i need help selecting pickups... i know his crash 1 and 2 strats had vintage noiseless and active mid-boost and was wondering if that would be enough.. the tone from crash 1 is the tone i am aiming for.

My Gear:
08 American Standard Strat black, maple fretboard
Epi Valve Jr. V3 (fender amp coming soon)
Digitech screamin blues OD pedal

thanks for the help


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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 1:17 pm
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I'm guessing it's a tricked out, tech or custom shop mod with his guitar's wiring. :?:

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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 1:18 pm
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The gentleman who can help you with that question better than anyone else has just arrived back on the Forum from his travels. Stay tuned...

- C


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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 1:20 pm
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Ceri wrote:
The gentleman who can help you with that question better than anyone else has just arrived back on the Forum from his travels. Stay tuned...

- C



The doc is in the building. :wink:

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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 1:30 pm
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Miami Mike wrote:
Ceri wrote:
The gentleman who can help you with that question better than anyone else has just arrived back on the Forum from his travels. Stay tuned...

- C



The doc is in the building. :wink:


Hahaha!! It wasn't difficult to work out, was it? :D

Cheers - C


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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:06 pm
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Hey,
Why do you want to sound just like Clapton anyways?

He probably has his performance and recording guitars made in a secret lab with dedicated Fender techs. Just play his stuff with your std setup and your feeling and call it a day. I like to play other folk's songs and put my own 'stank' on it.
Playing is too personal to try and sound just like somebody else.....

Just my opinion.


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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:44 pm
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I'm no Clapton expert, but from what I can tell he's always been a small amp guy. I believe he's using the '57 Twin RI these days. He doesn't seem to be moch for fx. His tone, like everyone elses, is in his hands. Get yerself a decent tube amp and a strat and you should be able to come close to his tone.

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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:07 pm
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cryingstrat wrote:
I'm no Clapton expert, but from what I can tell he's always been a small amp guy. I believe he's using the '57 Twin RI these days. He doesn't seem to be moch for fx. His tone, like everyone elses, is in his hands. Get yerself a decent tube amp and a strat and you should be able to come close to his tone.


when i saw him live earlier this month his rig was two 57' twin Reissues and a Leslie

and ofcourse assorted pedals and strats...

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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:20 pm
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I agree that the amp has a lot to do with it. IMO, if you want to sound like him you need a vintage type strat and a small tube amp and hours and hours and hours of practice.

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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:52 pm
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Bluegrass hit the nail on the head...practice. The gear is only half the battle when you're trying to achieve someone elses tone. It sound like you have some great gear so tune up that ear and start examining Clapton's sound and you may be surprised how quickly you can advance in his playing style.


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Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 7:46 am
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thanks for the help guys... im going to go with the vintage noiseless pups and active mid-boost and my Valve Jr is an amazing tube amp for the money so i think ill get pretty close to his current sound. And i try to practice everyday and watch lots of his performances so i can pick up his little nuances and the way he plays certain things that make his sound his sound. again thanks for the help and keep it coming!
-D


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Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 3:23 pm
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Blackie08 wrote:
thanks for the help guys... im going to go with the vintage noiseless pups and active mid-boost and my Valve Jr is an amazing tube amp for the money so i think ill get pretty close to his current sound. And i try to practice everyday and watch lots of his performances so i can pick up his little nuances and the way he plays certain things that make his sound his sound. again thanks for the help and keep it coming!
-D

I think you'll be happy with that combo. Good luck!

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Post subject: Re: Current Clapton Sound help
Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 4:08 pm
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Blackie08 wrote:
i am looking to achieve claptons current tone and i need help selecting pickups... i know his crash 1 and 2 strats had vintage noiseless and active mid-boost and was wondering if that would be enough.. the tone from crash 1 is the tone i am aiming for.

My Gear:
08 American Standard Strat black, maple fretboard
Epi Valve Jr. V3 (fender amp coming soon)
Digitech screamin blues OD pedal

thanks for the help



First, you begin with owning his hands!!

Then you spend nearly fifty years developing a vibrato technique which bends the string 90 degress to the long axis of the neck without the guitar body moving a millimeter.

Then you learn how play high speed pentatonic runs using your index and middle fingers only, above the 12th fret.

Then you have your guitar tech setup your axe so that your tuning and intonation is so dimed that when you fret the 1st string on the 22nd fret and pluck it, the note rings true.

You do all this through what is now the second generation Fender EC Signature Series Stratocaster which is what all his guitars are regardless of what paint it is dressed out in.

These have been mated, lately, to a variety of vintage tweed amplifiers, likely modded as suggested, and run through limited number of effects pedals, (If memory serves me, we had a question on this quite recently, and someone posted a URL which went directly to Eric'c current touring gear). By the way, pot settings and/or channel mixing on these amps have NEVER been made public.

Of course, if you happen to have some kind of monster house system and a board controlling all of this I'm sure the effect you seek will be something the neighbors will regard as less than welcome.

I understand well and internally, how that sound 'feels' to you and why you seek to approach it, but that's about as close as you're going to get.

One of our number just fitted out his guitar with a Clapton mid-boost which he's already tweaked. Perhaps we'll hear how close that mod gets to what you seek.

Both my Strats are Clapton based. I just acquired an '89 which is currently being set up. That guitar has Lace Sensors which I prefer. My Custom Shop Strat is built on a Clapton platform with SCN pickups. Some time this century I'll get around to posting pics. It is said that Eric went to the Vintage Noiseless because they give him more clarity in the high end. I tend to believe it was politics between Fender and Actodyne which makes Lace.

This quest for tone is something I've addressed before. The latest issue of Guitar Player has a great article on Sunny Landreth's new CD and how the recording were done. I suggest you all read it and stop knocking your brains out trying to sound like someone who tone is built on more variations of gear than most of us.....save AlainLaFrance.....have the money or time for.

Find your own lost chord.....but for Eric's.....start with the CS version of his guitar.

Good luck :wink:

Doc

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Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 4:55 pm
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cs= Custom Shop not GC or others!! :wink: :)


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Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 5:49 pm
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fhopkins wrote:
cs= Custom Shop not GC or others!! :wink: :)



Some additional ramblings in this arena....from prior discussions.

-the only one of us who owns exactly what Eric plays is AlainLaFrance who has a Custom Shop 'as built for' through a stroke of luck.

-they will not do such a guitar again. I know. I attempted to order one.

-it appears that Eric uses the mid-boost on full at all times.

-there is still some controversy as to whether or not his stage guitars have a TBX or a standard tone control. My last, most recent inquiry in that matter has not been answered by Fender. Variations in that setting will affect tone.

-though there is a 'core' tone, there will be variations depending on venue, micing, etc.

-by my obsevations, he generally uses the neck pickup, but will switch to the middle or bridge depending on the work being performed.

Anything else on your mind...feel free to ask.

Doc :wink:

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