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Post subject: Eric Clapton's Brownie Strat
Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 10:41 am
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If Clapton's original "BROWNIE" strat was '56. would it be safe to assume that the neck radius was 7.25? And I wonder when he made the switch to the 9.5 neck radius?

Anyone have any thoughts on this.

peace out.

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Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 3:26 am
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I would not think neck size means that much to him as before he made a Strat his main ax he played a Tele, Les Paul, SG, and 335. I would just guess when he put Blackie together it just felt right.


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Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 12:09 pm
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I think you're right, it probably doesn't matter at all, I'm sure he can play anything without a problem.

I guess my question then is, in '56, did Fender only make a 7.25 neck radius on a strat?

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Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 12:44 pm
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I believe so. I think the 9.5 came in the 70's? I could be wrong...


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Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 12:57 pm
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nicinflorida wrote:
I think you're right, it probably doesn't matter at all, I'm sure he can play anything without a problem.

I guess my question then is, in '56, did Fender only make a 7.25 neck radius on a strat?


Yep 7.25" in '56. Fender didn't change neck radius to 9.5" until sometime in the early 80's, but kept 7.25" for the reissues.

The Clapton Strat came out in 1988. So 1988 is my answer to when Clapton made the switch to 9.5" (although I heard in an interview with Clapton that Blackie had a fingerboard that was so worn and been refretted so many times that the radius was getting too flat so he decided to retire it because the old wood just couldn't handle another refret).

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Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 7:18 pm
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According to the Stratocaster Handbook, Blackie was a "hybrid of 3 different Strats, including a 1957 serial no. 20036"

"In 1970, Eric bought six then unfashionable Strats for $100.00 each at the Sho-Bud guitar shop in Nashville..."

"He took them back to England and gave one to Steve Winwood, another to George Harrison and one to Pete Townsend. From the remaining 3 he took the best components and assembled Blackie"

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Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 10:16 am
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metropolis74 wrote:
nicinflorida wrote:
I think you're right, it probably doesn't matter at all, I'm sure he can play anything without a problem.

I guess my question then is, in '56, did Fender only make a 7.25 neck radius on a strat?


Yep 7.25" in '56. Fender didn't change neck radius to 9.5" until sometime in the early 80's, but kept 7.25" for the reissues.

The Clapton Strat came out in 1988. So 1988 is my answer to when Clapton made the switch to 9.5" (although I heard in an interview with Clapton that Blackie had a fingerboard that was so worn and been refretted so many times that the radius was getting too flat so he decided to retire it because the old wood just couldn't handle another refret).


Cool, thanks for the info. I find that very interesting.

I am looking at a CS 56 Strat NOS, it has the 10/56 boat neck , but is a 9.5 neck radius. What's interesting to me is, if it's "new old stock", why would a 9.5 NR be on a 56 NOS? I would think it would be a 7.5 NR, staying true to a 56. So really the AVRI strat and teles are more accurate to the production year. So then, in my quest for another strat, I would have to wonder what makes the 56 CS NOS $500.00 more than the 62 or 57 AVRI Strat.

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Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 1:30 pm
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The big thing to note about that is that it is Custom Shop, with an emphasis on the custom part. The CS makes some straight reissues, but alot of their stuff the tweak the specs a bit to appeal to modern players. One of the things that a makes a CS more expensive is smaller production numbers and even more closer attention to details. I have a guitar made up of CS 65 parts and there are slight nuances of it that feel a bit more crafted than my production line John Mayer sig or 1981 Fender Bullet Deluxe.


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Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 9:31 am
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markara wrote:
According to the Stratocaster Handbook, Blackie was a "hybrid of 3 different Strats, including a 1957 serial no. 20036"

"In 1970, Eric bought six then unfashionable Strats for $100.00 each at the Sho-Bud guitar shop in Nashville..."

"He took them back to England and gave one to Steve Winwood, another to George Harrison and one to Pete Townsend. From the remaining 3 he took the best components and assembled Blackie"


Which is great information thanks, except we're talking about Brownie.. :wink:

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Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 1:22 pm
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:o I guess I am color word blind!

Sorry for that 8)

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Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 12:38 am
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bradjacob wrote:
I believe so. I think the 9.5 came in the 70's? I could be wrong...


My understanding is that Fender used 7.5" radius until the Elite Strats came out in 1983 with a 12" radius and the first use of the 9.5" radius was the American Standard three years later.

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Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 11:38 am
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Yogi wrote:
The big thing to note about that is that it is Custom Shop, with an emphasis on the custom part. The CS makes some straight reissues, but alot of their stuff the tweak the specs a bit to appeal to modern players. One of the things that a makes a CS more expensive is smaller production numbers and even more closer attention to details. I have a guitar made up of CS 65 parts and there are slight nuances of it that feel a bit more crafted than my production line John Mayer sig or 1981 Fender Bullet Deluxe.


I keep looking at the '56 CS NOS, it has the 9.5 radius and the 10/56 "boat neck" and a '62 AVRI Strat. I can try out a '62 AVRI but the '56 CS is going to be difficult if not impossible for me to try out. And I'll never be in a position to visually inspect both side-by-side.

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Post subject: Re: Eric Clapton's Brownie Strat
Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 12:33 pm
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nicinflorida wrote:
If Clapton's original "BROWNIE" strat was '56. would it be safe to assume that the neck radius was 7.25? And I wonder when he made the switch to the 9.5 neck radius?Anyone have any thoughts on this.
peace out.


The Clapton guitar grew out of active electronics research on the Elite. On retiring the old guitar, Eric was looking for more 'teeth' in a new instrument. The Plus Series was in development at the same time. The Clapton neck is said to have been generated from where the old guitar's was as the time of retirement. It is quite different from the other V-necks offered by Fender. All we can seem to glean from the most authoritative sources is that what came to production in 1988 was the end product of all the prototypes which were developed for him with respect to electronics and neck carve. The original color options of pewter, red, and green were his brainchild. Two years later, he agreed to add black and, it seems, he stayed with that as his choice for a stage guitar

Doc :wink:

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Post subject: Re: Eric Clapton's Brownie Strat
Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 12:53 pm
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nicinflorida wrote:
peace out.


Where are you located. I'm in Boca Raton 'til the 8th and there have been two occasions on which three of us have gotten together for lunch. I'll arranged to set up an internal email and perhaps you can join on the next occasion...likely late in the year, unless something changes in our schedules.

Doc :wink:

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Post subject: Re: Eric Clapton's Brownie Strat
Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 7:10 am
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zzdoc wrote:
nicinflorida wrote:
peace out.


Where are you located. I'm in Boca Raton 'til the 8th and there have been two occasions on which three of us have gotten together for lunch. I'll arranged to set up an internal email and perhaps you can join on the next occasion...likely late in the year, unless something changes in our schedules.

Doc :wink:


Doc,
Got your message and sent a reply. thanks!
Nic

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