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Post subject: Re: Clapton Fender Stratocaster's Tone knob
Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2014 6:26 am
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[/quote]
They've certainly made creative use of that body routing in their guitar line from the time they conceived the Elite. Though the Powerhouse guitar's trem cavity was not routed for the battery, the tops of all the guitars were routed for the preamp circuit board. I'd like this guitar as a hardtail. I'm not a fan of those Floyd/Kahler locking type trems. I suppose I could say that I've got a lot of that vibe in my DLX VG Strat, including the finish. 8) No stars, though. :lol:

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Post subject: Re: Clapton Fender Stratocaster's Tone knob
Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2014 11:14 am
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ZZDoc wrote:
You, in prior comments, over the years, have often provided the date when the 22 fret neck went on the guitar.


#V000009 got the 22-fret flame maple neck a couple of weeks after the South Bank show in 1987. I've recently posted this photo showing Eric cradling that Pewter prototype with the new neck while jamming with Buddy Guy lately that year. It was during this time he and Mark Knopfler ordered their super lead overdrive amps from Soldano Amplification.

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As our good old friend LeftyElliot stated long time ago Clapton showed #V000009 with its updated neck into the public in February of 1988.

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#V000009 became Black during the 2nd half of 1990.

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The other Pewter prototype, #V000008, was given a 22-fret birdseye maple neck a couple of days before the Shoreline concert in September 21st. Both guitars were slowhand's favorite stage and studio axes from 1988 to 1994.

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Clapton gave the Torino Red prototype #V000007 to cricketer Ian Botham as a gift in an exchange for his bat.

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Last edited by chromeface on Sat Dec 20, 2014 10:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Clapton Fender Stratocaster's Tone knob
Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2014 9:48 pm
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[img][[IMG]http://i1328.photobucket.com/albums/w535/zzdoc/ClaptonPrototype_zpsce30518f.jpg[/img]/img]

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Post subject: Re: Clapton Fender Stratocaster's Tone knob
Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2014 9:50 pm
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Thanks ZZDoc, and thanks to all of you guys :-) I have been to other forums for my job and a couple of other things I do, but I have never seen such a thorough response and an in-depth explanation for my questions. You guys have responded to me from a functional and historical perspective as well! If I am not satisfied doing my homework on Google for future questions, I am sure this forum will be my next stop. Thanks again. If you celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas! else Happy Holidays and have a great New Year!


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Post subject: Re: Clapton Fender Stratocaster's Tone knob
Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2014 9:55 pm
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Ditto, ST.....and have a look at that prototype if not done so yet. :idea: :wink:

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Post subject: Re: Clapton Fender Stratocaster's Tone knob
Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2014 10:32 pm
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Speaking of routing, I recently changed the pickguard on my Clapton and snapped this picture.

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Post subject: Re: Clapton Fender Stratocaster's Tone knob
Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2014 1:51 am
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ZZDoc, you've misstyped your URL!

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Post subject: Re: Clapton Fender Stratocaster's Tone knob
Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2014 8:15 am
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chromeface wrote:
ZZDoc, you've misstyped your URL!

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Thanks for the update. To reitterate for ST's benefit, this was one of a group of guitars built for the winter NAMM [National Assn of Music Manufacturer's.....or.....as we like to interpret it....'not available, maybe May'] convention in 1987 in anticipation of the release of the Signature Series Stratocasters later that year.
As said before, the final tweaks came in the ultimate change in the circuitry and the neck design. The neck on this guitar has a slightly less marked taper down the spine than my '89 pewter model.

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Post subject: Re: Clapton Fender Stratocaster's Tone knob
Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2014 8:37 pm
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FYI Fender made a Custom Shop 35th Anniversary Strat in 1990 with the TBX and MDX circuits. This guitar - the precursor to the Strat Ultra - had the mode switch from the early Clapton prototypes except the pickups were Silver Lace Sensors instead of Golds. A select solid alder body with quilted & flamed maple tops and a maple neck with an ebony fretboard, 22 medium-jumbo frets, abalone dots & Sperzel lockers rounded out the package.

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Post subject: Re: Clapton Fender Stratocaster's Tone knob
Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2014 6:58 am
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Image[/quote]
First time I ever saw this guitar it was sitting in the storefront window of Manny's on 48th Street in Manhattan with the COA threaded through the strings. It was a time in my life when I didn't have two serious nickels to rub together. Were it today, I'd be walking out the front door with it.

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Post subject: Re: Clapton Fender Stratocaster's Tone knob
Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 6:15 pm
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ZZDoc wrote:
chromeface wrote:
Bear in mind the early Clapton prototypes sported a "mode" switch to turn off the Elite preamp.

Though my prototype has the mini-toggle mode switch, we've really never determined how many, if any, were actually shipped to dealers unmodified, i.e. with the switch and a 21 fret neck. We've seen early ads for the Clapton guitars portaying same, but nothing more. We've also recognized that the photos of Eric's 1986 pewter prototype serial #V00009 which A.R. Duchossoir features on the front and back covers and the foreward of the first edition of his Stratocaster paperback [pub 1988] show it with a 21 fret neck, cigarette burns and all, but no mini-toggle. Based upon my prior conversations with FMC regarding this guitar model, their records dating back to that period are extremely poor, and have been of no value in many of our queries. The best the company could do for me in that regard was to confirm that one set of initials on the neck end of my guitar did, indeed, belong to an employee of the Custom Shop in 1986. There is also a forum member in Europe who has a Clapton neck of the same vintage, the old Custom Shop logo on the headstock rear, and with the sames sets of initials on it. It suggests to me that they possibly had made run of Clapton necks with 21 frets and chucked the lot when Eric opted for a 22 fret board. You, in prior comments, over the years, have often provided the date when the 22 fret neck went on the guitar.

Any additional questions from 'ST' certainly will be welcome. :wink:

You hit the nail on the head here ZZ. I have watched the markets for these EC Strats for years and I have only seen 3 of what I call the Version 1 EC Strats = 21 frets, usually in Torino Red, 21db boost, and the little on/off mini-switch. One you own, as you know! :mrgreen: And two others on eBay over the years. One sold for like $1000 back in 2005 and I should have grabbed it. I do not think the seller really knew what he had.

Regarding the TBX. There is a bit of controversy on these. The article that was referred too by Chromeface calls the TBX a "Treble Bass Expander." From my digging around the TBX, being an inactive set of stacked pots, is really "Treble Bass Cut" as the design of the TBX does not add anything (thus it does not "expand" like on an active system such as the EMG Expander pot) but rather "takes away" frequencies. 1-5 cuts the treble like a standard tone control and then 5-10 uses the resistor to filter out (cuts) low frequencies making a brighter high end. On the Clapton Strat the lower tone control is the boost and the TBX is working just like I described above.

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Post subject: Re: Clapton Fender Stratocaster's Tone knob
Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 2:56 am
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When he made the switch to the Noiseless pickups in March 2000 Eric found them bright enough for his ears, hence's one of the reasons he asked FMIC to swap the TBX for a regular 250K tone pot.

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His personal guitars are wired in a such way since then and I wonder why the post-2001 EC Strats didn't reflect the changes made by the artist on his personal axes. Even the teambuilt EC Customs employed the same 250K pot as the masterbuilts until 2009 when the TBX was added.


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