Don't know about you but I prefer EC with a Les Paul

[eddie101]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ITrQXES8kU&feature=related

I am sure this has been posted before but here goes...

I guess I'm, uh, BIASED, if that is the word.... A strat is great for rhythm and for blues but that is pretty much it as, IMNSHO, it is not as versatile as, say, a Les Paul, especially when you want that THICK lead tone. I'm ducking as I speak.. :hide:

[Suproman77]

Haha, yeah, I've seen a post or two about people preferring Clapton with a Les Paul pop up now and again.

No need to duck 'cause you're in good company.

:D

[shngn7]

I agree.

[KBR]

For sure, but it is more comfortable playing a Strat, I just hate pedals, and my Strats, have a PAF in them, or a good Lollar P90 or Don Mare tele bridge pup.

Eric sounds way better in the old days, but can play well to this day, not easy in the 60's.
Hands take a beating, I have been at it 47 years, my self, and have hand troubles.

[mitch236]

Yea, I prefer EC with the LP too but I don't think Harrison is a good example of what a strat can sound like.

[Alvis]

A strat is great for rhythm and for blues but that is pretty much it as, IMNSHO, it is not as versatile as, say, a Les Paul, especially when you want that THICK lead tone.

That's why Jimi Hendrix :roll:rollinvented :roll:rollthe fuzz face

[Don L]

Eric was at his best when he played his '64 335... dem's some THICK lead tone there!!! :banana

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3wX1wn-0go&feature=related

[PAF]

Yup, EC with LP is some tasty schtuff

[eddie101]

For sure, but it is more comfortable playing a Strat, I just hate pedals, and my Strats, have a PAF in them, or a good Lollar P90 or Don Mare tele bridge pup.

Eric sounds way better in the old days, but can play well to this day, not easy in the 60's.
Hands take a beating, I have been at it 47 years, my self, and have hand troubles.
Yes, no doubt about the "comfort" factor.

Btw, Ken, do you have any pictures of your strat w/PAFs(real ones?) that you can post? I'd love to see them, if you would please.

[JohnK24]

I'm glad they had Phil Collins on the drums..had to have someone who was a REAL drummer on the skins. Such a waste to have Mark King on bass on that song.

Personally, I like EC on a strat into a tweed twin.

[eddie101]

Eric was at his best when he played his '64 335... dem's some THICK lead tone there!!! :banana

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3wX1wn-0go&feature=related

And you JUST happen to have a '64 335, too.....How ironic, indeed :D

[Don L]

And you JUST happen to have a '64 335, too.....How ironic, indeed :D

that don't suck fo sho... ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djRAF_ph3TQ&feature=related

[jgyn]

I liked EC when he played Gibsons, but it's mostly because he played more aggressively back in the day.

[jay42]

I think any guitar sounds pretty neutered when run through that Leslie, but we do know that his Leslie is somehow run off of a JCM800 model 1987, instead of a piddly Leslie power amp. Maybe you're hearing that.

One of the comments in the RAH Cream reunion set is that they spent at least a day playing Gibsons into Marshalls and both guys didn't feel it worked. Since wherever EC goes, there seem to be film crews, I wonder if that day is on film or tape somewhere in EC's archives.

[franksguitar]

Even seeing Clapton on his last tour he pulled out an ES335 on a couple tunes. Sure Clapton had more fire in his youth he's in his 60's now. I still like his Bluesbreakers Beano tone.

[eddie101]

... I still like his Bluesbreakers Beano tone.

+1. He set the "tone standard" which others followed and still following.....

[Steve73]

No argument here. I think his best tone ever recorded was the LP/Marshall combo on 'Steppin' out' off the Bluebreakers CD.

[KBR]

I sent a lot of Guitar pix to you Ed,
& Myspace has some good pix of my Guitars I have made/ and used on 42 cds.
I like EC on Have You Heard, and Peter Green on The Super Natural...Those 2 Cats had the TONE.
I don't know how to post pix on the gear page.

[Willie Johnson]

I like EC no matter what he's using (although I do prefer the Strat.) Obviously, so does he. I seem to remember him being quoted as saying that the Stratocaster was the best Rock & Roll guitar ever created (or something to that effect.)

[Mark Robinson]

It's the way Eric runs his amps. The idea that a Strat is intrisically or irrevocably thin is nonsense. Listen to any Jeff Beck of the last ten years, start with "Space for the Pappa".

I saw the ARMs concert tour, caught two nights of it at the Forum in Inglewood CA and for that tour, Eric was using Blackie, Brownie and two half stack Marshalls and it was really great sounding. Beck's sound was much more gained up, but Eric's was ultra warm, deep, rich and marvelous. I'm not talking about Page's tone for that tour, cause mamma said, if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all.

On the Albert Hall DVD, Sleepy Time Time, Eric gets it going pretty well with whatever the heck those tweed things he plays are. I think that these days, he's not going for the classic rock sustained sound, he's all mids, shelved out bottom, not too bright, and he really likes the damn 2-4 postions on the Strat.

For dirty playing I really think that's a bad tactic. Who ever invented the five way switch, I'm not a fan, sorry. It's candy assed weak sound. Good for a clean intro and maybe messing around on the couch without a drummer, but yuuuuuuuck otherwise.

I'm not that crazy about the "Beano" tone myself, I think the Cream or even Blind Faith sounds appeal to me more. Beano to me sounds light weight and sort of fizzy. Not particularly "grailish" so to speak.

I have Les Pauls of all types, Junior, Special, Standard, Custom, and like them a lot, use them often, but I prefer Fender scale instruments for the most part, because of the stringy rowdy snaggley sounds that want to feed back and go wild. The P-90 Pauls wild up for me too, but a great electric guitar sound is a partnership between the instrument, the amp, the player, and the possibilities change depending on the volume and how well the player understands his rig. I would be really surprized if at this point Eric Clapton isn't sounding pretty much exactly how he wants to sound. It is up to him after all.

[karmadave]

Clapton pretty much invented the Les Paul through cranked Marshall sound on the 'Beano' LP. The story is that he cranked his JTM45 combo, to gig volume, much to the chagrin of the Decca engineers.

EC's switch, to Fender guitars, coincide with his stylistic move towards a more laid-back country-ish sound in the early 70's. At this point, I think he's just more comfortable playing his signature Strats while pulling the Gibson out for the occasional song or two. Clapton's phrasing and timing are what appeals most to me these days. His tone is OK, in my opinion, but nothing compared to his earlier days.

-KD

[eddie101]

EC likes use a high powered - at times low powered - tweed twin and with a strat, you can't get cleaner tone than that. Beck uses, what, a Marshall JCM2000(?) these days and those two amps are, well, two different beasts. It's NOT just the way he runs his amps as you can't Marshall tone out of a Tweed Twin and vise versa. It is as simple as that. In his "Soldano phase", EC sounded thicker but still lacked, in comparison to his early works using a Les Paul, in tone department.

As far as those two (2 and 4) "weak sounding" positions are concerned; tell that to Mark Knopfler as he made his living off of those positions early in his career although he is playing mostly a vintage Les Paul these days and I am thinking he wants a thicker tone. Don't you think?? :)

A strat - ANY strat for that matter - sounds like a strat should and it sounds tinny/weak in comparison to Tele/Les Paul and that is a Gospel truth.

[KBR]

He sounds good with this 335

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djRAF_ph3TQ&NR=1

[Willie Johnson]

Seems to be quite a split between people who like Les Pauls and people who like Strats. Here's my theory.....The people who love Les Pauls drive General Motors; the people who love Strats drive Fords and the people who love boutique guitars drive Mercedes, BMW's and Porsches!

[LavaMan]

Eric was at his best when he played his '64 335... dem's some THICK lead tone there!!! :banana

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3wX1wn-0go&feature=related


That was killer!

[bluesjunior]

I've followed Eric since the 60's, seen him in Concert through all of his bands except Blind Faith and can't understand the Les Paul / Strat argument. I have seen him enough times to know the simple fact is that Eric sounds like Eric regardless of what he is playing.

[r-dub]

I read through most of this thread. And, no doubt EC sounded great back in the day through a 335 and may have had a bit more fire in his youth.
But, I've nver heard him sound better or play with more muster than on this occasion. Sig Strat through a tweed twin. Give it a full listen....thick and thin and everything in between.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VukiMyI45sA

[eddie101]

I read through most of this thread. And, no doubt EC sounded great back in the day through a 335 and may have had a bit more fire in his youth.
But, I've nver heard him sound better or play with more muster than on this occasion. Sig Strat through a tweed twin. Give it a full listen....thick and thin and everything in between.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VukiMyI45sA


I prefer this version......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUpc0YNkkJ0&feature=related

[Dana Olsen]

He sounds good with this 335

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djRAF_ph3TQ&NR=1WOW!

Thanks Ken, Dana O.

[rmconner80]

Of course Beano is a benchmark of tone no matter what. But Clapton's strat tone on London Sessions with Howlin' Wolf sounds really great to me, and I don't like strats. Totally different approach from Beano.

[frank62]

No, I liked the 335 much better and he gets the tone from his Strat.

[r-dub]

Well, it's that subjective tone thing again. One thing is certain......EC prefers EC on a Strat.

[sanhozay]

he sounds the same with a strat. It's him for xmassake; it's in his matter.

[eddie101]

For the love of God, all I'm sayin' is that *I* prefer his Gibby tone. :BITCHThey may sound the same - sure, same notes from a blues scale - but the TONE is not. If you prefer his strat tone, hey, by all means but it just doesn't float my boat and that is all I'm sayin'. YMMV, apparently...

[frank62]

^I think we all agree he sounds good with just about anything.

[AC30LP]

I just think he played better back when he was young...he's a clean player now...just too in control.

[eddie101]

I just think he played better back when he was young...he's a clean player now...just too in control.

He WAS a clean player back then as well. Mr. Slow hand?? Come on.. :)

[AC30LP]

true...but less in control...of the notes he choose...you know what I mean?

you play best when you don't think- at least from my personal experience

[eddie101]

true...but less in control...of the notes he choose...you know what I mean?


Yes, I agree on that front.


....

you play best when you don't think- at least from my personal experience

I suck when I think and when I don't, I wank and I can't tell you which is worse..... :D

[monstermike]

Clapton didn't start to get interesting until he ditched the Gibsons and started hanging around people from Tulsa.

Well, he was pretty interesting before that, too, but man, do I love the first solo record and Layla...

[BigJamesyBoy]

As a Strat player, I gotta admit that the gibsons fit his style better.

[heavysoul]

not too crazy about his compressed strat midboost. his live at the fillmore east tone with brownie sounds great to me—cranked showmans maybe?

but this is tone i gravitate towards

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4vxOoSS5RY

[jgyn]

true...but less in control...of the notes he choose...you know what I mean?

you play best when you don't think- at least from my personal experience

I remember reading that EC says something similar in his autobiography- that he 'thinks' when he plays, whereas Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn seem to play from a blank state.

[AlChuck]

Of course Beano is a benchmark of tone no matter what. But Clapton's strat tone on London Sessions with Howlin' Wolf sounds really great to me, and I don't like strats. Totally different approach from Beano.

I agree about that Howling Wolf album, that is one of th greatest Strat sounds ever committed to tape, IMO. From around the same period of time, while most of his stuff on George Harrison's All Things Must Pass is swathed in layers and layers of Phil Spector production, the first song, "I'd Have You Anytime," features a very clear, drop-dead gorgeous Strat tone playing drop-dead gorgeous fills over a (comparitively) restrained production... ahhh, EC at the height of his powers... others from that time period - the great solos on Steve Still's "Guess I'll Go Back Home" from Stills' first sollo album and "Fishes and Scorpions" from his second... and a couple of tracks on Mayall's Back To the Roots...

[r-dub]

As a Strat player, I gotta admit that the gibsons fit his style better.
Good that you feel this way....But, he would disagree with you.
He's interviewed and written about the subject at great length. He likes both makers and many different models, but feels the strat suits his style of play best.