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Post subject: 1989 Eric Clapton Strat Question....About 25 years Overdue!
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 10:59 am
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First off, I am brand new to board and several rungs up the latter from a newbie, but not many.
Back in 1990, I purchased a 1989 Silver Eric Clapton Strat with the lace sensor pickups.
I bought it on impulse, got a great price from Guitar Center and really never played it much.
I know the tremolo system is blocked of with a piece of wood, no biggie. And hence, no whammy bar was attached.
Except one thing I never really thought of is there was NO whammy that came with the guitar in the first place.
I just cracked it out of its case for the first time in years and the question hit me.
Was the original 1989 Clapton model supposed to come with an uninstalled whammy bar? If so, obviously it is too late for me to expect one from Fender, but how can I get one for that specific model? Do I even want to?
Thanks for any help or advice,
Mike


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Post subject: Re: 1989 Eric Clapton Strat Question....About 25 years Overd
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 11:55 am
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Your bridge is the vintage-spec tremolo with steel block. The correct Fender trem arm for it is P/N 0992039000.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: 1989 Eric Clapton Strat Question....About 25 years Overd
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 12:42 pm
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Mike, welcome to the Forum. Nice you received an answer so quickly! Anyhow, just wanted to mention I have just like yours and also ZZDoc on the Forum has one too. Mine is nearly mint. Would love to see picts of yours as well. Here is mine and BTW i love the V neck on these. What a treasure to have one that has been tucked away most of its life. Time for a battery change you think? LOL!

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Post subject: Re: 1989 Eric Clapton Strat Question....About 25 years Overd
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 2:36 pm
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Well Xhefri, If I took pictures of mine on a grey/silver blanket, it would look exactly like yours! A few skuffs on the case is all I have. I actually took the plate off back and checked the battery. When I yanked out my Rockman x100 from years back, the batteries had slightly corroded inside rendering battery use worthless (still worked with adapter though). I was worried about the same with my Clapton, so I got the sucker out. Luckily all was well. That is when I began wondering about the tremolo arm.
So from what I gather, the guitar did NOT come with one originally?
Thanks for the help and quick reply.
Mike


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Post subject: Re: 1989 Eric Clapton Strat Question....About 25 years Overd
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 3:29 pm
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Um...Mine came with one! Although it has never been attached, but it was in the bag of goodies that came with it and the tweed case, and I got it new.

FWIW...here is mine...the EC's Autograph came with it (I won it) and I love the Anthracite color as they used to call it. This is my desert island guitar.

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T2

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Post subject: Re: 1989 Eric Clapton Strat Question....About 25 years Overd
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 4:00 pm
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T2Stratman wrote:
Um...Mine came with one! Although it has never been attached, but it was in the bag of goodies that came with it and the tweed case, and I got it new.

FWIW...here is mine...the EC's Autograph came with it (I won it) and I love the Anthracite color as they used to call it. This is my desert island guitar.

Image

T2

Nice, and cool you got the sig! Wow! The color is called Pewter as far as I know. mine did not come with a trem bar and it had a green sticker over the hole on the bridge, I assume to keep that small spring in there that came in the vintage bridges. If there was a spring, it is long gone as I did not like the sticker! Hey ZZ, picts of yours???? Nice amp collection. I have owned a few of those. In the 70s (ok I gave away my age) I dumped my big amp, got a Fender Princeton like the one in the picture and then had a good mike which I just popped into the mixer board. I could blow everyone away and I was the first one packed up and ready to go with a gig was over! :lol:

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Post subject: Re: 1989 Eric Clapton Strat Question....About 25 years Overd
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 5:26 pm
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Looks like if you got Eric's signature, he threw in the whammy bar personally. Yeah, super amp collection!


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Post subject: Re: 1989 Eric Clapton Strat Question....About 25 years Overd
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 6:23 pm
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Xhefri wrote:
T2Stratman wrote:
Um...Mine came with one! Although it has never been attached, but it was in the bag of goodies that came with it and the tweed case, and I got it new.

FWIW...here is mine...the EC's Autograph came with it (I won it) and I love the Anthracite color as they used to call it. This is my desert island guitar.

Image

T2

Nice, and cool you got the sig! Wow! The color is called Pewter as far as I know. mine did not come with a trem bar and it had a green sticker over the hole on the bridge, I assume to keep that small spring in there that came in the vintage bridges. If there was a spring, it is long gone as I did not like the sticker! Hey ZZ, picts of yours???? Nice amp collection. I have owned a few of those. In the 70s (ok I gave away my age) I dumped my big amp, got a Fender Princeton like the one in the picture and then had a good mike which I just popped into the mixer board. I could blow everyone away and I was the first one packed up and ready to go with a gig was over! :lol:


+1 for ZZ to slap a pic up!

X believe it or not it is was called "Anthracite" when that color came out on the EC's, but they always put the word "pewter" in parentheses next to it. Sometime through the production cycle it just became Pewter. I still have the ad they sent to the music store I worked in when these came out and it only showed Anthracite (543 which is Pewter), Torino Red (558), and Candy Green (571).

And you just can't beat a Princeton for great tone and ease of use...great little porch weasels!

T2

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Post subject: Re: 1989 Eric Clapton Strat Question....About 25 years Overd
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 7:00 pm
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I'm embarassed to say that I still haven't set myself up to post pics. But 'things equal to the same thing are equal to each other' according to my high school geometry teacher. If you are on Facebook you can find me as Arnold Rosenstock and you'll find my Clapton and my Les Paul on my timeline.[FYI: With one exception, I only friend Forum members.] I cannot say with certainty that the guitar was not supplied with a trem arm, but I see no reason why it should have been. It would have been presumptuous not to offer the purchaser the option of floating the bridge. My Gilmour was supplied with a complete set of springs even though it was set up with three. My guitar has an '89 low number serial number on the headstock but an early '90's date on the neck end. The neck pocket is illegible. We take it for granted that it those years Fender's serial numbering could not be relied upon for accuracy. They never wasted anything and I couldn't tell you if my guitar was actually built before the guitar carrying the serial number with the next numeral. I take the batteries out of my active circuit guitars when not in regular use.

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Post subject: Re: 1989 Eric Clapton Strat Question....About 25 years Overd
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 10:16 pm
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Those late 80's/early 90's Claptons are highly collectable, especially the Pewter and Blackie models! :D

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Personally I dig an EC Grey built to the specs from that era with Lace Sensors and a cigarette holder on the peghead.

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Post subject: Re: 1989 Eric Clapton Strat Question....About 25 years Overd
Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 2:52 am
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chromeface wrote:
Those late 80's/early 90's Claptons are highly collectable, especially the Pewter and Blackie models!

I haven't been impressed by any significantly high numbers for these guitars.

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Post subject: Re: 1989 Eric Clapton Strat Question....About 25 years Overd
Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 1:04 pm
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chromeface wrote:
Those late 80's/early 90's Claptons are highly collectable, especially the Pewter and Blackie models! :D

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I wonder who EC had to chase to get those pants! Yikes, I hope he didn't actually pay any money for them. :lol:

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Post subject: Re: 1989 Eric Clapton Strat Question....About 25 years Overd
Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 1:57 pm
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ZZDoc wrote:
chromeface wrote:
Those late 80's/early 90's Claptons are highly collectable, especially the Pewter and Blackie models!

I haven't been impressed by any significantly high numbers for these guitars.


Nor I......they certainly don't hold a higher percentage of their original retail value when compared to the AVRI's or even some MIM Classic Series re-issues.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: 1989 Eric Clapton Strat Question....About 25 years Overd
Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 4:24 pm
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Ok this is for ZZDoc. His guitar presented below. (Yes we have hackers world wide Doc!):

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I just learned something. Anthracite! Guess a Clapton Signature Strat could not be a plain old Pewter. That sounds kind of puny, or punky, or phewie, or pinky or some something pe...... Serious, thanks for sharing that and the color code to boot. I cut and pasted it to my guitars files! Regarding value, they have remained the same over the last 4 to 5 years it seems. While the older Strat Plus guitars in vintage colors have nearly doubled. And those striped pants Clapton is wearing? I saw those at Wallmart, and they were not for sale, but instead they were being worn. I can't post the pict as it would get taken off the Forum!!!!! :shock: :shock: :shock:

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Post subject: Re: 1989 Eric Clapton Strat Question....About 25 years Overd
Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 5:46 pm
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Thank you Mr.Bond. 'Easy Hacker' is why I'm extremely judicious about what I post on Facebook and whom I friend.

Now to the subject at hand.....

I purchased the guitar on eBay from a seller in Texas, five years ago this past August. I paid $1850 for it. You may think 'ouch!', but the detailed photos revealed a guitar which was essentially blemish and oxide free. That I really wanted this guitar made the juice worth the squeeze. I had no intentions of going through a bidding war and playing that stupid game with anyone. I purchased it out right.

That case is a '97 Strat Plus case. It was given to me in lieu of a standard Fender case when I purchased a '97 American Standard ,that year, from Allegro Music in Middletown NY. It once carried my '93 TelePlus as well. The cover is embossed with a guitar neck and headstock and has an aluminum label which reads "Plus Series." I'm of the opinion that SKB built this.

The little plastic box under the headstock is perforated and contains a sponge which I moisten on a regular schedule. All my guitar cases contain one.

What you can't see is that the original plastic covering still remains on the back plate.

Some may differ in opinion, but I feel the neck on this guitar is the best neck Fender builds.

Value notwithstanding, and because of its age, the guitar has the vibe of the Signature Guitar project and the first of its kind which Clapton used professionally. As to its finish, A.R.Duchossoir's text makes reference to the word 'anthracite'. That's a type of coal and is essentially black, or blue/black in color. We know they weren't going there yet, in terms of the finishes which Eric chose for that guitar. There's little more on the matter other than there was a change in choice of description, but not if the actual finish.

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