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Post subject: Clapton Guitar & Amp Settings
Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:39 pm
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Can anyone help me out here? I'm just messing around, and would love to know if anyone can tell me the amp settings and guitar settings (tone pots, pups) that would HELP (I say HELP not RECREATE) my guitar sound like him?

Thanks brethren!

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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 1:19 pm
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Clapton had dozens if not hundreds different of guitars, his autobiography said he sold off 100 of them for the first crossroads auction.

He also played Strats and Gibsons at various times :)
Often seen playing through a pair of 100 watt Marshal stacks.

Never looked at any instrument settings,, too many variables to get the same sound by just copying the pot settings.

You would also need to discover what pedals if any he was using.

This site might help you get started
http://www.whereseric.com/ecfaq/guitars ... drive.html

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Last edited by peterp on Wed Apr 09, 2008 1:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 1:22 pm
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peterp wrote:
Clapton had dozens if not hundreds different of guitars, his autobiography said he sold off 100 of them for the first crossroads auction.

He also played Strats and Gibsons at various times :)
Often seen playing through a pair of 100 watt Marshal stacks.

Never looked at any instrument settings,, too many variables to get the same sound by just copying the pot settings.


Yeaahhh but I'm posting the strat forum so I'm asking about strats.. and like I said, HELP to sound LIKE him.

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"It was right from the start" - John Mayer

I'm just happy to be a Guitar player!
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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 1:31 pm
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Check the link I added to my previous post.

Seems he does use some pedals for his sound, and a leslie.
Also his current signature strat has a built in 25db boost, instead of using an overdrive.

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Post subject: Re: Clapton Guitar & Amp Settings
Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 2:02 pm
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EdMardell wrote:
Can anyone help me out here? I'm just messing around, and would love to know if anyone can tell me the amp settings and guitar settings (tone pots, pups) that would HELP (I say HELP not RECREATE) my guitar sound like him?

Thanks brethren!



Ed: I've been searching for this holy grail for years and been listening to him carefully. I've heard the sound evolve as his equipment has. It's maddening. How the hell does he do it??????

Since the introduction of the new guitar he's used modded Fender amplifiers, the settings of which I do not know. There's a Leslie speaker as part of his stage setup as well as his wha pedal and another pedal on stage which he goes to from time to time, Who knows what else they do as the signal goes through the board....wireless.

The guitars have a remarkable setup and I doubt Dickson's going to let you in on that one despite the fact that it's been published that he like's them 1/8 of an inch from the frets the entire length of the neck. If that is so it means a custom cut nut, (as one would need for slide),and that's Lee Dickson's bailywick. Eric isalways right on the note way up on the neck, and that vertical vibrato technique which he uses gets those strings to sing and sustain in combination with whatever is modding the signal.

Another thing you cannot reproduce is his fretting style and his attack. Many self-taught players do not use the fifth finger on their fretting hand. Eric often does not us the fourth finger on his fretting hand, and particularly when he's well up above the 18th fret.

You have to watch his fingers carefully Ed. Be aware of the size of his hand, the geometric relationships of his fingers to the neck and the fretting angle.

All of these intangibles brought together is why Eric sounds like Eric. If you log into the Bryant Park NY Crossroads segment with Eric and John Mayer, you will hear a close similarity to Eric's tone coming from John.
Thats likely from the amp. But Eric is Eric.

I expect that you can tweak your brains out and get close, but you'll just have to be satisfied being Ed, and from what we've seen, that ain't half bad.

Doc.


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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:02 pm
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Hey Ed,

I have a clapton strat and play through a hot rod deluxe. I like you, are in search of "the sound"... I bought (used) the digitech crossroads pedel. It helps a little.
all in all I can get good genral Clapton like sounds but still...its hard to get it right on. check out the Fender players club. there you will find a little insight as to how He set up his stuff. Anyway good luck in your quest...

Bill


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Post subject: Re: Clapton Guitar & Amp Settings
Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 8:32 pm
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EdMardell wrote:
Can anyone help me out here? I'm just messing around, and would love to know if anyone can tell me the amp settings and guitar settings (tone pots, pups) that would HELP (I say HELP not RECREATE) my guitar sound like him?

Thanks brethren!



If you follow that link to the pages in "Where's Eric?" you're gonna see an awful lot of tech in his history. Even the question of the Custom Shop Modded Amps hasn't been answered with respect to settings. They talk about the Soldanos and that should give you an idea that the lows and mids are pushed at the expense of the highs.

For a history of tone listen to "Ramblin' On My Mind" from "EC Was Here". Its likely my favorite live guitar solo of his. That's the '57 Blackie. Note the year of the recording and contrast that period with the present.

On ''One More Car, One More Driver'', there's a live version of 'Layla' This release has been available on CD, CD-ROM video, and DVD video. The second guitar is played by the keyboardist. One helluva musician, You have to listen to it, as well as watch it carefully to appreciate the exchange of the lead voices of guitar between him and Eric, and also appreciate the tonal quality of the guitar voices we have come to know as 'Layla'. These have likely been 'sound-checked' to the nines and the settings set in stone because where ever it's played it has the same vocal flavor.

The kicker of it all is the well documented fact that the studio amp for that historic session was a Fender Champ. By today's standards, a 'toy' among amps, but when miked by an expert into the board it's a Marshall stack!

Good hunting and let us know what you put together and You Tube it.

Doc


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Post subject: Re: Clapton Guitar & Amp Settings
Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 8:33 pm
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EdMardell wrote:
Can anyone help me out here? I'm just messing around, and would love to know if anyone can tell me the amp settings and guitar settings (tone pots, pups) that would HELP (I say HELP not RECREATE) my guitar sound like him?

Thanks brethren!



If you follow that link to the pages in "Where's Eric?" you're gonna see an awful lot of tech in his history. Even the question of the Custom Shop Modded Amps hasn't been answered with respect to settings. They talk about the Soldanos and that should give you an idea that the lows and mids are pushed at the expense of the highs.

For a history of tone listen to "Ramblin' On My Mind" from "EC Was Here". It is likely my favorite live guitar solo of his. That's the '57 Blackie. Note the year of the recording and contrast that period with the present.

On ''One More Car, One More Driver'', there's a live version of 'Layla' This release has been available on CD, CD-ROM video, and DVD video. The second guitar is played by the keyboardist. One helluva musician, You have to listen to it, as well as watch it carefully to appreciate the exchange of the lead voices of guitar between him and Eric, and also appreciate the tonal quality of the guitar voices we have come to know as 'Layla'. These have likely been 'sound-checked' to the nines and the settings set in stone because where ever played it has the same tonal quality and flavor.

The kicker of it all is the well documented fact that the studio amp for that historic session was a Fender Champ. By today's standards, a 'toy' among amps, but when miked by an expert into the board becomes a Marshall stack!

Good hunting and let us know what you put together and You Tube it.

Doc


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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 8:44 pm
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Hi Ed....i hope this helps:

- his setup on stage with Cream ->CLICKY

- his setup with the Bluesbreaker ->CLICKY


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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 8:51 pm
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belphedeus wrote:
Hi Ed....i hope this helps:

- his setup on stage with Cream ->CLICKY

- his setup with the Bluesbreaker ->CLICKY


Roger that. There's a lot of this out there. The most recent (2007) is in the "Where's Eric'' link. I'm for thinking that part of it is in those amps, in the same fashion as the mods that Rivera did for SRV.


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