[Not sure about the exact dates Drew Noll took the pictures shown below (maybe in the middle of 1990, perhaps? - not certain, IMO) but these BackstageGallery shots of 1989 clearly illustrate EC playing a signature "Blackie" onstage, although he didn't used black Strats until 1990!



[/quote]

......well....you have Phil Palmer on second guitar, and there's Ray
Cooper on percussion and if the wet look and the trousers strike my memory that's the tour during which they lost SRV. Find that photo of them playing Sweet Home Chicago, with all the prinicpals on stage and look at EC's hair. We've already kicked aroiund the evolution of the
Blackie prototype and likely that's the guitar he's playing. It's also what LD referred to as a cigarette guitar in the Christies Catalog.
All the dates are approximately correct.
Doc.

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Interesting topic! Well, I can toss in my two bits but really I think I will call Jeff Lace tomorrow and find out for sure. I know Jeff Lace from dealing with their company for some time now. I became friends with the former vice-president of marketing years ago.

Anyhow. Lace still has a contract with Fender for Fender Lace Sensors. The ones I get direct, as most everyone else are Lace Sensors (no Fender name). Some Fender dealers, I beleive, can buy the Fender Lace Sensors. They are exactly the same except for the wording on the covers (Oh, by the way, they just changed their design and now have a brass threaded hole molded into the plastic to mount the pickup. Much better that the aluminum plate where the holes would strip so easy!)

From what I remember, and it was touched on on this thread already, is that Fender came out with their own Noiseless pickups. So why market/promote Lace when it can be an in-house product? That happened around 1998-2000. I will call tomorrow, as I am still waiting for a shipment of pickups from Lace, and need to check on the order.

Personally I like the Blue/Silver/Red dually combo the best, as seen in the Ultra shown below. I like them in the Chrome Domes as well. Nice combo for my style. I can do country, blues, jazz, fusion, and even Gilmore tones with my old Fender Bassman amp and a Boss ME-50. That is all I use. Love it!

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Yet I saw two YouTube footages from that tour which showed SRV trading some tasty blues licks with Clapton and his band while performing "Before You Accuse Me", "Sweet Home Chicago" and "After Midnight". I'm afraid these vids were already censored by WMG (Reprise's parent company) and deleted.

Sounds interesting, but I recalled Clapton having that wet look on the "Pretending" video. I've also noticed that he looked pretty much like his Cream days in 1966/67 with his long hair and moustache (shown below) when "Bad Love" came out.

This video clearly shows Nathan East playing a Fender P-Bass, though his name is synonymous with Yamaha, Music Man and Fodera basses.

Hi - sorry if this is OT but I can't find any way to communicate with you. Was (or is) there anything like a Made in Japan strat plus? I thought that I came across something like that on the www and now can't find it.

Although Noiseless are good pickups, Laces are better IMO. Fender should have stuck with them instead of going in-house. N3 from what I hear, seem to be the most decent deluxe pickup made since Gold Laces were dropped when the plus was phased out

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I've just dug out the December 1990 issue of Guitar World which was an SRV tribute issue. Pg 57 shows a full color photo of that last go-round..left to right SRV, Palmer, JV, BG and EC wearing those stripes with his hair slicked back, Cooper on percussion and the amp backline just as the pics on your post. What you've likely postedabove are pics obtained at that August 26th, 1990 concert. Regret I can't scan that for you all.

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Yes, Fender Japan had a couple guitars that used Lace Sensors. There is a type of Clapton Strat with the 25DB boost, that was based on the 54 Strat reissue and had a little access door on the back for a 9-Volt battery (unlike the EC Strats). They also did not have EC on the headstock. Fender Japan also made the weird Dr. K Tele that was kind of like the Tele Plus but used 2 Lace Sensor pickups (N+M) and a JD bridge pickup. Ummmm, Also the Ventures Limited Edition Strat, in a cool transparent black, was made in Japan with 3 Gold Lace Senors. I have seen a couple standard Strats from Japan too, with with Lace Sensors.

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Thanks for the info! I'll try and check those out!

The color of my Eric Clapton Signature Strat is Pewter and it is a 1987 model which was when Fender introduced their first artist model. By the way, under Eric Clapton's contract agreement with Fender he receives $100 for each Strat that they produce. Not a bad deal!

Ok... Just got off the phone with Jeff Lace and had a nice visit. They have always been very helpful in answering questions. I asked several question about the Lace Sensor and Fender. here is what happened. Up until 1996 Fender had an exclusive contract with Lace (Actodyne General Inc., founded in 1979 by the late Don Lace Sr.) At that time (1996, when the contract ended) William (Bill) Schultz started pushing the idea of designing their own noiseless pickup, which ended up being designed by Bill Turner. Jeff told me that for a few years there was a kind of a running competition between Lace and Fender with Fender's Noiseless pickups verses Lace's Holy Grail. Of course, Fender won out for ..... Fender.

With this is the "common sense" idea of keeping Fender's pickups in-house and not promoting Lace pickups (a secondary vendor) on Fender's top line guitars (AKA, Custom Shop, Strat Plus Series and Signature series). So it was just a matter of time before Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton Signature guitars moved over to use Fender's new pickups. In fact, Lee Dixon, Clapton's guitar tech insisted on it for some reason.

But, Fender still has rights to the "Fender Lace Sensors" (ones with that kind of cover on it) made by Lace and offer them in special order situations. So you can still get a Beck Guitar with Laces if you special order it that way. When you buy Laces direct from resellers or from Lace that simply say Lace Sensor on the cover and not the trade marked name "Fender."

So that is the scoop.......

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Is your the very 1st generation EC Strat with the 21DB boost and the little mini-switch to turn off and on the active board? Or the first of the second generation EC Strats with the 25DB boost and no mini-switch???? Any picts?

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They weren't "1st" and "2nd" generation EC Strats.

The guitar you're talking about (the one with the 21-fret neck, 21dB boost and active/passive toggle) is a prototype built by George Blanda in 1986. Eric used it for nearly 2 years and in 1988 the active/passive switch has been removed and the boost increased to 25dB. It was around that time the original 21-fret neck has been replaced by a new 22-fret flamed maple neck crafted by Michael Stevens. This guitar would be the basis for the final production model, which officially debuted that year.

In 1989 the guitar has been refinished in Candy Green for a brief time and the following year Clapton requested to have his signature axe in black. Subsequently, the Stevens neck has been installed into a new black body made by Jay W. Black. Clapton used the "smoker's model" live and in the studio from 1988 to 1993.

I know what Wikipedia says about the guitar. But if you read A.R. Duchossoir's The Fender Stratocaster which has a forward by Eric Clapton, he says that the first production of the proto type went through several slight modifications by Clapton's request, and then they released the guitar in 3 colors, Pewter, Torino Red, and Candy Green and that "The earliest samples are characterized by a 21-fret vintage neck (8.5 radius) and a mini-switch to select active/passive electronics. In a matter of months, though, the model received a 22-fret neck with a Bi-flex truss rod, and the mode switch was deleted while the mid-range boost was increased to +25dB." I have seen a few of these on the web and for sale, so there were more of them produced than just 3 or 4. The book shows a picture of "Early production model of the Eric Clapton Stratocaster." ummmm I wonder if production model means, ah, production model.

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It's quite right, Jeff.

But if you look a bit further in the book, you'll discover another interesting fact: "although Black was not yet initially offered as a color option, it become a standard finish after 1991, followed by Olympic White in 1994."

Sounds a little weird, but Fender produced a batch of Black EC Strats during the first 2 years of production (1988/89).

The BackstageGallery photos showing Eric playing these signature "Blackies" were taken by Drew Noll in 1989, although he didn't used a "Blackie" until the middle of 1990!

Dear ChromeFace, I dug through my archive of stuff and found this fender Add from 1988. So I know they sold these on the open market and I have seen them around, one even on eBay a while back. Please note the Eric Clapton guitar. 1st Generation EC Strat right in this add. Note the mini-switch and 21-fret in Candy Green, the specs say 21dB boost. (aka 7-Up Green). The 2nd generation EC Strats were made with the 25dB boost and 22 fret plus a plug activated electronics. The 3rd generation EC Strat was the ones they sell today with the Fender Noiseless pickups....

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