Pete Townshend Stratocaster

chromeface · **Posted:** Sun Oct 23, 2011 1:08 am

ZZDoc wrote:

Clapton also pulled the TBX out of his guitar when the VN's were installed.

Despite the changes Clapton made to his own guitar in 2000, the regular Artist and Custom Teambuild versions of his updated signature model still had the TBX.

The main reason for which old slowhand got rid of the TBX was the mushy "honk" delivered by the circuit. Nonetheless he agreed to keep the TBX thing with the new pickup configuration on the regular Artist Series and the Teambuild versions (as of 2009).

For nearly 5 years both Teambuild and Masterbuild ECs shared the same features. The TBX didn't came into surface on the Teambuild Claptons until 2009!

Gorgon · **Posted:** Sun Oct 23, 2011 5:48 am

ZZDoc wrote:

We've developed a significant mutual admiration society around these parts since 2007 and fortune has seen to many of us coming face to face. Ceri's been here and I've supped with him and his wife. I endeavor to have lunch with some of the Florida members at the end of every year, and one of 'em was over there this past July. You UK guys ought to endeavor a once in a while pint or two. Ceri and Nick will definitely take you up on that in a blink. What you've yet to learn about these two, and Andy Bighair as well, is just going to definitely amaze you. IMHO, we're really good friends, whom I regret not being able to get together with often.

This is what i'm liking about this forum, so many positive people enjoying and being enriched by music plus i'm learning things i never knew and that's great for a player to keep the inspiration going!

ZZDoc wrote:

Couple of things I'd like to put my tuppence in about:
-I've always had the inner feeling that there was an issue between Actodyne Industries and Fender. Eldred claims that they sent the VN's to Clapton to try out, and he liked them better. I never pressed Eldred as to why. I sometimes pull my cynical side on him, but he's such a good bloke that I hate to bust his buns. I just let it go. Clapton also pulled the TBX out of his guitar when the VN's were installed. There's been some talk on another thread about this to the effect that the swap out brightened the tone all around.
I prefer the throaty sound of the Laces, but then, I didn't write 'Layla'. So what the hell do I know?
-Yes, the MIA Guy guitar and the first Clapton were exactly the same electronically, but the MIA version is no longer in the products section. The midboost was the same...25db. It was upped years ago when BG went to that blond guitar [no not the one he's playing now...Keep your eyes on that one, by the way :wink:

]The original BG signature Strat, which didn't last long, was what we came to know eventually as the Powerhouse, with a 12db boost.I purchased the BG MIM Polka Dot version the year it was issued, and dropped a set of DiMarzio Virtual Vintage Blues and Heavy Blues pickups in there. Got rid of the hum, and gave the guitar a great sound.

You guys across the pond should be ready for breakfast by now. I have yet to hit the pillow. Ciao!

^^^^ Case in point, i never knew there had been these changes surrounding the Clapton, after the move to Noiseless pickups! I thought the pickups had been changed and that was that, i never thought there had been any issue's with the TBX control. I thought it had been left the same as the way it was with the old Lace pickups.

My 88 Clapton has the Lace pickups and i love them, although i much prefer the look of the noiseless one's, much more traditional strat like.

One thing i've not heard addressed much is the difference in sound between the two pickups, from someone who has both in their Clapton's. What do they prefer and why?

Thanks ZZDoc nice post.

Ceri · **Posted:** Sun Oct 23, 2011 6:04 am

Gorgon wrote:

ZZDoc wrote:

We've developed a significant mutual admiration society around these parts since 2007 and fortune has seen to many of us coming face to face.

This is what i'm liking about this forum, so many positive people enjoying and being enriched by music plus i'm learning things i never knew and that's great for a player to keep the inspiration going!

This is the truth!

To answer a previous question, no, I didn't know Nikininja, nor the Doc, nor a bunch of others here before meeting them on the Forum. And now look: I find myself going to gigs with Nick and others, and then the next morning sitting in the garden in my night shirt carving bone nuts with him for hours while Mrs C ferries us out endless rounds of coffee.

This is what it's come to, Gorgan.

Get smart: run, while you can!

Cheers - C

PS, to Nick: as you know, the Missus and I went to the second of the two Bonamassa gigs again last night. Couple of differences: for the seated gig the volume level was set distinctly lower. Seems they felt a sitting audience was probably older and less volume friendly - haha! Made the sound quality better, though.

And this time Bernie Marsden came on to guest on a couple of numbers. Neat.

nikininja · **Posted:** Sun Oct 23, 2011 7:21 am

Wow that sounds idyllic, Bonamassa & Marsden. Without volume enough to deafen Lemmy. Did Rory's Strat make an appearance?

Hope you both enjoyed it, I really enjoyed Friday and Saturday. I've gone home smiling and am still grinning. The AxesRus bone nut lies redundantly on the table. Alycia is amazed and keeps returning to a certain object looking for invisible join lines.

All thanks to the man whose life motto is "We can do better than that".
An incredible mindset to be truly admired.

ZZDoc · **Posted:** Sun Oct 23, 2011 8:14 am

Gorgon: Chromeface cites the year 2009. I'm sure it was around that time that we entertained the TBX affair on one of our threads when it became apparent to one of us planning an order, that the specs on the Custom Shop website and the actual product were out of sync. In that time we ultimately learned that the Masterbuilt guitar now did not have it, and that's the way the artist had specified it. We also came to learn, via the second Christies auction catalog, that he has not allowed his signature on the headstock of any of his personal Fender guitars since about 1996. I've dubbed Chromeface the official Eric Clapton photojournalist for the Forum. He comes up with material for us which never ceases to amaze. I sometimes wonder what he's got in his EC archives that can't be published. :oops:

Ceri: In the matter of the JB concert, I saw him in a small venue [~1800]last March. There's never been standup in that theatre and yes, the audience was much older, but I believe that's his following in general. We were fourth row from the stage, awesome seats. I can't comment on the volume level in comparison to a space like the RAH. It wasn't exactly quiet, but we did not leave with ours ears stuffed, either.

I just viewed an hours worth of 'Black Country's' new DVD covering their European tour. Quite impressive. Might be worth owning.

Ceri · **Posted:** Sun Oct 23, 2011 8:19 am

nikininja wrote:

Wow that sounds idyllic, Bonamassa & Marsden. Without volume enough to deafen Lemmy. Did Rory's Strat make an appearance?

Ah-ha! Yes, indeed it did.

Not entirely inappropriate to mention it on a thread about replicas of artists' guitars. Here is Joe Bonamassa last night playing Rory Gallagher's very famous Strat. But this is no Signature model: this is Rory's actual guitar, lent to Bonamassa by Dan Gallagher to play at the Hammersmith Apollo in London at the end of the current tour. He opened the show with it for three numbers both nights. Kinda cool...:

I was there both nights, Friday with Nikininja and last night with Mrs C. That was kinda cool too.

Cheers - C

nikininja · **Posted:** Sun Oct 23, 2011 8:30 am

One hell of a player. I was thoroughly impressed and count myself amongst the new converts.
Itunes has never been so busy in this house.

ZZDoc · **Posted:** Sun Oct 23, 2011 8:31 am

This is an excellent photo of what we were treated to in March. Our fourth row seating was to the right in the picture with our stage view to Carmine's 3/4 back and , owing to the fact that the venue is laid out in a mild amphitheatre effect due to its stage in the round configuration, we were high enough to see well over his backline. Every time Joe soloed he'd turn to his left facing Carmine and us. I would say conservatively that, 90% of the time he was soloing right in our faces. Not too shabby for $130 US.

ZZDoc · **Posted:** Sun Oct 23, 2011 8:33 am

nikininja wrote:

One hell of a player. I was thoroughly impressed and count myself amongst the new converts. Itunes has never been so busy in this house.

I own everthing this kid has produced and intend to support him until................
You can see why I was getting on the case about Mayer on that Tribute guitar forum, feeling that Fender had bet on the wrong horse.
I've always been convinced that Mayer took the wrong road. IMHO Mayer's fanbase will eventually mature and find Bonamassa's music more to their liking. It's more aggressive and rock oriented and appealing to a wider range of tastes. Only time will be able to bear me out right or wrong.

Miami Mike · **Posted:** Sun Oct 23, 2011 8:40 am

Joe1988 wrote:

Come on Fender! When are you going to start making these?

I'm not being funny, but in my eyes Mr. Townshend has done his fair share for the world of music in his lifetime. He has also played Fender guitars for a large percentage of his career.

It just seems strange when I look at the other artists Fender has paid tribute to e.g. SRV, John Mayer, Eric Johnson, Yngwie Malmsteen, Dave Murray etc.

I appreciate that not everybody will be a fan of Townshend or The Who, but in my opinion, the type of Strat that Townshend uses nowadays (with a Piezo etc) would be a practical bit of kit!

What does everybody else think?

Gibby just did a tribute SG :

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ ... 4AodqBGHjg

nikininja · **Posted:** Sun Oct 23, 2011 2:23 pm

Thats coming in at £1K for a SG Special.

Or there's this for near £400 cheaper which is far more attractive in my opinion. Though it lacks the Fleur de lys on the headstock.

http://www.guitarvillage.co.uk/productdetail.aspx?pid=10946&c=120

How much for a tin of white spray? £10?

Ceri · **Posted:** Mon Oct 24, 2011 2:58 am

nikininja wrote:

Or there's this for near £400 cheaper which is far more attractive in my opinion. Though it lacks the Fleur de lys on the headstock.

http://www.guitarvillage.co.uk/productdetail.aspx?pid=10946&c=120

Ha. That's quite interesting. Never owned an SG but everytime I've played one I've been surprised just how much I like it. And that price for a natural finish and two P90s. Hmmm - something to think about.

Meanwhile. Townshend and Fender, then and now:

Pete's played Strats for more years than Jimi Hendrix and SRV put together. And for that matter he's probably paid for more Fenders than most people who play them... given how many he seems to get through.

Cheers - C

nikininja · **Posted:** Mon Oct 24, 2011 4:07 am

There was an interview with his assistant on this Fender site some time back. He said he'd got pretty adept at glueing the things back together for him.

Here it is though not on this site but Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts2g3mCxB3M&feature=related

Alan Rogan stood with Jeff Beck's tech who now works for Clapton.

ZZDoc · **Posted:** Mon Oct 24, 2011 4:09 am

nikininja wrote:

There was an interview with his assistant on this Fender site some time back. He said he'd got pretty adept at glueing the things back together for him.

Here it is though not on this site but Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts2g3mCxB3M&feature=related

Alan Rogan stood with Jeff Beck's tech who now works for Clapton.

Had that one in mind myself. Good that you posted it. Showstagoya that great minds think alike :wink:

nikininja · **Posted:** Mon Oct 24, 2011 4:13 am

Or that old fools rarely differ!

Better off just saying birds of a feather flock together. Because I find being likened to your great mind a bit daunting.

Arne note the part where Mr Rogan says Pete usually just throws the guitar at him. I wonder if Mr Rogan gets paid danger money?

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