The Guitars of Eric Clapton: A Short History
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Eric Clapton established himself as a guitar hero long, long ago. The only musician to be inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame in three separate bands, he's changed styles and guitars repeatedly throughout his career. Whether your favorite Clapton is with Cream, Blind Faith, Derek and the Dominos or Unplugged, there's a lot to learn from this man's catalog and his legacy.
So this was a logical next chapter in the "Guitars of our Heroes" series. I hope you enjoy it.
All the best,
Keith
ERIC CLAPTON TONES: Stomp/Helix and Pod Go presets from Jeff McErlain and me: jmguitarlessons.com/p/clapton... - เพลง
5WW, please look at amplification at big rock concerts. Legend has it that The Beatles' break out (1965?) concert at Shea Stadium is said to have been terrible if you attended - the screaming drowned out the songs - the amplification was under-powered. The Grateful Dead was said (by my mates) to have the most powerful speakers set-up then known to man. I attended a The Who concert at Wembley Arena in the mid 1970s and the volume hurt, it was on the pain threshold. Townsend said everyone in The Who suffered hearing damage from their many concert tours. How did these mega touring rock bands amplify sound in a 150,000 seater stadium in say, Wichita (spelling?) ?
I also would like to see how big shows are put together.
I love this. I’d love to hear a rundown of the (scientifically) loudest bands in rock history and how they got there.
They always said The Who were the loudest but an outdoor reunion gig by Madness at Finsbury Park in the early 90's actually registered as an earthquake lol (True story)
Loudest show I ever saw was Neil Young and Crazy Horse, and I saw the Who in 1975 with Keith.
P.S. In the 1974, the Dead built the "Wall of Sound." Each string on the guitar/bass, every drum, every keyboard had it's own speaker and amplifier.
It wasn't only that for Shea. There was NO centralized speaker location. The band literally plugged into the Stadium's PA that just had those shitty vocal-only focused bullhorn looking speakers. There was no time aligning back in the day. That's where that "classic Stadium" reverb/echo comes from. All of those speakers being out of time-alignment, the metal bowl of bleachers, etc.
So not only did the Beatles still have no monitors on stage to produce any sound back at them, they didn't even have the speakers near the stage facing out to an audience like they were used to. There were no walls for the sound of these missing front stage speakers to bounce back at the Beatles off of. It's basically the pinnacle of rock music at its absolute worst of huge crowd + terrible sound equipment. They were hearing a cascading slap of echoes of every single thing they were doing back at them the whole show. By the time the slowest and latest ones were echoing the previous word, the fastest responding speakers were already pushing the next one out as well.
21:30 - I have a classical guitar made by the same luthier, Lorenzo Alvarez, who made the Clapton 'Tears in Heaven' guitar shown here. Mine was made in Madrid in 1966, and it's breathtakingly beautiful.
Reminder to protect your hearing - if it's too loud it's too loud. You only have one set of eardrums, look after them. Chronic tinnitus and pain hyperacusis is no joke.
Keeping count of the actual guitars he played is almost impossible but you covered pretty much the most important ones that shaped today's music.
I'm giving "thumbs up" even before I start watching - I'm a huge fan. I love your dedication and I can only imagine how much time and effort it takes to prepare each of the videos. Thank you!
Like how you ended this. When I was young I got a Cream record for Christmas. I fell in love with it and took a particular liking to Spoonful. I looked on the label and it said W. Dixon. Who’s that? Thus began a lifetime journey where I applied my history and research education to learning more and more about the music. So now I live in Vicksburg, the birthplace of Willie Dixon, I head to festivals and concerts at places like the Blue Front Cafe and up in the Delta whenever I can, and I get to see new young talent develop, like Christone Kingfish Ingram, who was a student and now has a Grammy and just opened for the Stones. I see old talent like T Model Ford and Kenny Brown, RL Burnside’s side man. I’ve learned from the scholars of the musicology and ethnography of blues. But nothing compares to just sitting in with the folks who play. It’s been a wild journey that started with a Cream album.
When I was younger, I was obsessed with getting a Candy Green Clapton Strat. I was lucking enough to order and received a Candy Green Clapton Strat with Lace Sensors in February 2001, just before Fender switched over to Vintage Noiseless pickups in the Clapton model.
That would also be my first choice,
Cheers!
But do you have a purple suit to wear when you play it? Seriously though, I’m a little jealous. The green strat is sweet.
@@thaddeusfields4360 for a second, I had no idea what you were talking about. I have no idea what Clapton was thinking. It's a great duet.
@@thaddeusfields4360 the funny thing is, the green Clapton Strat is the rarest of colors Clapton Strat colors.
When I ordered it thru a dealer in January 2001, the dealer called me up and told me that I could have any other color in a week, but green would take a month, because they didn't have any.
I'm a Clapton devotee for life and my favorite tone he ever got was from his 335. Holy crap that guitar just brought out an absolute animal from him. The tones he was getting during the From The Cradle era are absolutely out of this world. I saw him back last September from 14 rows back and he has still got it. Dude has absolutely given his life to his guitar for sure.
From the Cradle is a ridiculously underrated album. Every track is dripping with soul.
It doesn’t bother you: his racism, anti-immigrant sentiment for decades? Or recently his anti-vaxx/mandate nonsense? I don’t understand how this man gets a pass on his repeated disgusting behavior.
@@winstonsmith8236 No it literally doesn't bother me that idiots say that Clapton has been "racist" for decades. Especially considering he has toured for years with multiple black musicians and literally he got vaccinated. Twice. It was the Astra Zeneca vaccine and no it doesn't bother me that Clapton doesn't want people to get forced to do something that doesn't even work anyway against their will. I actually celebrate him for that but it's totally irrelevant to his actual music. Did you know that if you like a Woody Allen movie you support pedophilia or if you like a Tarantino movie you support rape since Harvey Weinstein produced a lot of his movies? Do you renounce Quentin Tarantino for collaborating with a known sexual predator? You should never watch another Tarantino film ever again in order to be consistent.
It’s called freedom of speech. You don’t want to silence people, especially if you disagree with them.
@@fivewattworld Thank you. This should be fairly simple but apparently it's really complicated. On an actually related note, have you heard the new Clapton song? I really like it and his tone is absolutely on point. It was a stealth release the other day and it's called Pompous Fool.
Great video on EC. I saw him last year here in Nashville. He was amazing and played the same Strat all night.
Yet again, a fantastic, informative and super-entertaining history, and Jeff McErlaine’s incredible playing added another dimension! Thank you so much.
There's a good video clip up from The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus of the supergroup, The Dirty Mac, performing the song Yer Blues. Eric is playing his 335 in it along with John Lennon on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Mitch Mitchell of the Hendrix Exp on drums, and Keith Richard's on bass. Out of all Eric's bands and supergroups it would've been amazing to see how far that group of talented musicians could've gone and what type of music they would've composed. It's amazing how many iconic, awesome guitars Eric has played over the years and each guitar you see you automatically know what era and period of his music it's associated with.
Any particular link - or should we just guess within the 2 billions online videos---??
There's also a giant mountain of gold ingots -- free for the taking. Help yourself to as many as you like,,.
This was a WONDERFUL watch. Thanks for posting!
Now, there's a name I've not heard in a long time: Paul Kossoff. Died of a drug over-dose. The title of his greatest record is on his gravestone, 'All Right Now'. Great tune. Part of a very gifted family. Broke his father's (David Kossoff) heart when he passed
Free is a really underrated band, really great musicians especially Kossoff
@@vladertx43 - Sadly, a lot of the greatest musicians at that time took Class-A Drugs.
I went to see David Kossoff talk about his son in Prestwich in the mid '70s. Of course we all went to hear about his son. It was not that.
best vibrato in the game no cap
@@Jamzamurai I was gigging in Italy pre-Covid and took my iPod with me. The other guitarist in the band knew Free but I had a Kossoff compilation that included an extended studio edit of 'The Stealer'. The expression on his face when Koss started playing some big bends with vibrato was something to behold. Pure awe!
The way you described how Clapton "translated" the Mississippi blues reminds me of a story here in Japan about the woman who translated LM Mongomery's Anne of Green Gables into Japanese. It became a huge hit in Japan not only for the original story but because the translator was an awesome talent in her own right. In fact, they made a TV drama here in Japan about this translator.
Terrific job as usual, Keith - no matter the subject, I always learn something from your videos. Very grateful to have you around! Cheers - ❤🔥👍
We all like different sounds etc. so each to their own. That being said, I love the Clapton Gibson sound. When he went Fender I thought his stuff was good but not enough bite to it which is what got my adrenaline going. People I know who are into "pop" like his Fender years which go on and on.... I still bring out the old Clapton Gibson music and wish he stayed with it....
brilliant as always Keith. simple direct and clear. accuracy and well documented. Keep with the great job.
Keith, your passion is so contagious. Your video tells such a great story.
Great video Keith! Always enjoy watching these guitar and amp history videos!
Keith, these just keep getting better and better. Bravo!
Knocked it out of the park again, Keith!
I read Clapton's autobiography this week so this was a great video to come across. This was a fascinating watch! I love the content you put up! It's always so informative and interesting to watch. Plus it is presented in a way that is accessible to all people and not gear heads. Please do keep it up! ✌🏼
Excellent video! Eric Clapton and Cream got me started playing guitar back in 1967 and I've been playing (and collecting vintage guitars) ever since. I've owned quite a few "Fool" replica's simply to stare at them and get transformed back into the best years of rock, blues, etc. Note: Cream performed two shows at the Royal Albert Hall final concert and he used his Firebird for one show and his 335 for the other. Lots of photos show this.
Pete "Guitar" Lewis taught me the basic rudiments of blues guitar in Bakersfield, CA when I was a young kid when we both lived there in the early 1960s. But Mike Bloomfield and later on Eric Clapton, were my idols. I still play their music every day to this very day and I'm now 76. I feel blessed to have lived through the musical trends of the late 1940s, '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, and the 2000s up to this point in time. I was fortunate enough to attend many of Eric's Crossroad concerts and to have purchased three of the guitars for sale while there, and no, I'm not talking about his personal guitars, only millionaires could afford them. At all Crossroad concerts there are countless guitar vendors who also sell their guitars too, but at affordable prices, and of course EC's company renting them the space and collecting a percentage of the sales, as any good business people/person would do. Yes, I truly have been blessed and I ain't even religious.
I’ll bet the lions share went to the crossroads charity . Artists are given a plane ticket & hotel room. That’s it.
Eric sounded best on the SG through the Bluesbreaker combo. I just can't get beyond that tone. This is not to say he didn't sound great on other instruments, but the SG tone was something special with his style. I feel that moving to the strat made his tone too thin at times. There's a time for a thin tone, and a time for a thicker tone. I just prefer how he sounds through humbucking guitars, particularly the SG.
Hi Angus Clapton never used his SG through a Bluesbreaker he used JTM 45’s with double stacked 4 12’s because Jack Bruce used the same thing. A Bluesbreaker combo is only 22 Watts like a Fender Deluxe reverb. They came with either 2 12’s or 4 10’s I have all three along with a few other nice amps. Clapton used a Bluesbreaker on the Beano album.
Yep, only the first Les Paul went through a bluesbreaker. The start of Cream and the switch marshall stacks were almost simultaneous.
For most of the Cream studio work, it was a marshall head and a single 4x12.
Hi The Nameless I know I’ll never be able to play like Clapton but his tone of the Les Paul through a Marshall has been so emulated by other greats. The Woman tone is my favorite, and so many greats built off of it! Mind boggling.
There's a video of Eric at Hyde Park in the '90s, I think, playing Have You Ever Loved a Woman with his ES-335, and it's among his best tones. I really wish he would play more guitars with humbuckers, but I get that he's been associated with Strats for over 50 years now.
I said basically the same thing in another post. Agreed!
That was a fun cruise through history. Thanks 5WW!
Hey Kieth,
Another fantastic feed here and so interesting! I really dig the guitars used by such & such uploads too since I’m a complete guitar geek ahah! Hoping you do more of these 🤙
Thanks for all the research you do to create these.
As always outstanding story. Thank you so much!
I thought I knew Clapton's guitar history pretty well but learning that he played the Firebird and the SG is a big surprise.
I will never get tired of hearing the story of how 'Blackie' came to be.
Thanks Keith and Jeff for covering my favorite electric guitar player, can never get enough of this kind of stuff and I appreciate the time and care that you put into it!
Sir, my apologies if, when rewinding certain sections, I somehow inadvertently bypassed your segment on this guitar. But, I don't recall coverage by you of Eric's mid '60s Fender Electric XII, which I believe he recorded only one song with, the dazzling exotic sounding "Dance The Night Away" on Cream's Disraeli Gears album!
Great video Keith. You've done EC's rich instrument history justice in a mere 25 minutes. Well done!
Excellent video as always Keith. I've mentioned this before, your presentation style is spot on. Concise and precise without any fanboy gushing or bias. Top stuff man. 👏
Love these short history videos!! Keep it up Keith :)
Another amazing video! Thank you Keith.
Another fantastic short history Keith (and Jeff) ! Covered the key guitars and eras there for sure. Am now on my way to go check out the HX preset.
Excellent work as always.
Hey Keith, great video. I can think of only one guitar Eric Clapton owned that was missed. An early '80's Red Fender Lead ii... I don't know if it played much of a role if any in his career. I believe he played it live a few times. I don't think he even had it that long. He did donate it to the London Hard Rock Cafe.
Thanks for all the hard work you do in producing your channel it shows in the quality of the videos 😎👍
Another great video. Can't get enough of these👍👍👍👍👍
Saw Clapton play in San Diego quite a few years ago. They had video footage of him up on the big screens. Think he played majority of the show on a strat. I noticed from watching the video that he played almost all of the songs entirely in the middle position.
Great show as always !
Great history, thank you very much. I always enjoy these videos.
I'm an electric guitar person, but I severely loved that Martin acoustic at the end. Only Kieth could know that would be awesome to include that for a perfect ending to a great awesome video.
I seen to recall that Martin Guitar's documentary 'The Story of the Dreadnought' claimed that Clapton's 'MTV Un-Plugged' Concert helped to save a financially floundering company. Suddenly, Martin Guitars sold like hot cakes. Although I might have mis-remembered that. They still sell a Clapton Signature 000-28 for about $4,000.
Nice work Keith. Keep the videos coming.
Excellent video. Much apreciated.
Beautifully done, thank you!!!
Yay! A new Short History! And about one of my favorite players! Nice job, Keith!
Great video Keith! Thank you for your research and presentation! 🔥🎸
Thanks again, Keith. Great episode!
I remember first hearing "White Room" on my local classic rock station (TEN O SEVEN POINT THREE THE EAGLE TAMPA BAY) and goddamn it took me a few months to figure out who it was because I was driving and didn't have the magical Shazam app available to me... I've started listening to more Cream and now I understand why it's such a huge influence on so many people today, gear, music, and musicans and all.
Great video once again!
Luv it!
Another great video! I was fortunate enough to see Clapton live in either 1977 or 1978 in Knoxville, Tennessee, on the Slow Hand tour. I just stood there at the edge of the stage for two hours, in awe. The opening act? Muddy Waters….
Saw the same tour in Johnson City Tn. Amazing .
You missed One of his Favourite models….a full bodied single P90 pickup Gibson es 125…good video…
Been looking forward to this one . Thanks from oz mate
aw poop i just missed the premiere
oh well, i'll just listen to this with a nice icy drink
I LOVE these concise history videos!
Yet another stellar video!🎸
Great as always man! Thanks
Awesome, as always. Thanks!
Thanks for another great one!
Thanks for a great run-through of Eric’s guitars, Keith! He’s a true master, always with a strong sense of melody at the core. (More so than many of his contemporary peers if I may say..)
I like all your videos. You do them so well. Thanks
Excellent as always. I get so much pleasure from your videos, Thank You!
Keith as usual very well done. What drives you drives me, but not in the same way. You are so polished and prepared. I on the other hand am a see what it do. I have no playing talent, but can help others find it. I love this channel!
Another wonderful video history. So good, I'll be watching it again. Thanks 👍😎
Another great video with a complete historical view os Eric’s tools! Thanks for sharing with us!!!!
Another great video Keith. Thanks.
Nobody does this sort of deep dive documentary like at all Keith. This video is stellar.👍🏻
I can't get enough my brother.. appreciate you and All your knowledge ❤❤❤
Your send off was beautifully put!!
Thanks Alex. I worried that haiku in translation might be a bit of a stretch. :)
Thanks for this Keith - for those of us born-late-50's kids who grew up listening to the first and second British Invasion bands, Clapton was omnipresent - played with the Beatles & the Plastic Ono Band, first of the Golden Trilogy of lead guitarists in the Yardbirds, recorded THE quintessential British Blues album with John Mayall (Beano album), formed Cream, Blind Faith, Derek & the Dominoes, played with Delaney & Bonnie and Friends - and that was just the first 8 years of his career! You've done an excellent job of connecting his various bands and incarnations to his choice of guitars. And Jeff McErlain doesn't just play guitar, he embodies it - just sublime. The deep research and attention to detail is, as always, mightily impressive. Took me back to my roots - thanks!
Great as always!!!!
Keith great video. I'm really glad you showed and detailed the difference between the slab board tele's and the veneer rosewood fretboard models. I've often wondered how to tell the difference...🎸😎
great job, Keith!
So cool! Thanks Keith! 🎸🎸🎸🎸
Always great! Thank you
Beautiful synopsis at the end!
I was waiting for that one for a long time ! Excellent vid ! cheers from France
Salut! Thanks for watching.
Blackie: in 2003-2004. I worked for Christie’s in New York City. I was computer support for them. One day I get a call.. Kerry Keane down in musical instruments needs to see you. I had just helped him the week before with a printer issue. I get down there thinking the printer was acting up again. Kerry said come with me. I was like ok and we went into this vault. He reached in a bin and pulled out a guitar case and said open it. In it was Blackie. He said enjoy it and come get me when you are done. I spent about 15-20 mins with that guitar. It is a very cool guitar. I am so grateful for that moment that he thought enough of me to do that. There are moments in your life you never forget. This was one of them. 😊
Great story!
A very classy channel. Appreciate your style and attention to detail 😊
Love this series! EC is my absolute favourite guitarists and a major influence on my playing.
Thanks. Enjoyed the history
Another fantastic History! Thank you!
Awesome as always.
You should do a history video on Lawsuit Era guitars from Ibanez. If love to know more about these instruments!
Keep up the great work, I love the Five Watt World channel!
keith you do unbelievably great work
Eric’s duaghter bought him a sky blue Mexican strat and you can see him play it during a live performance of I Shot the Sheriff.
Keith, another wonderful video. I’ve been a Clapton fan for years….until I discovered Richard Thompson, EC was my favorite British guitarist of the lot. I really like the way you get the full sweep of his career here without it feeling rushed. And I would welcome a companion video about EC’s acoustic guitars; it would likely get tons of views as well!
I was a fan until I found out he's a racist.
Now… there’s a guitar hero worthy of a 5 Watt World short history…Richard Thompson. One of the best…& has impeccable songwriting chops too.
Gotta go listen th “Liege and Leaf”…
@@stevewitten I agree; Keith, what do you think?
Absolutely brilliant. Eric Clapton is a absolute legend . Thank you
Great Video, your always spot on with wonderful information AND History...
Thank You.
Randy, Great North Woods Michigan
Great docu-viddy Keith. My wife caught me watching it shook her head: "More toys?!?" Haha! Speaking of records, back in my formative years I joined one of those Columbia Records clubs where you get 5 albums for a nickel at an introductory price. I clearly remember two Polydor double albums: "Heavy Cream" and "Eric Clapton at His Best". Wore out the grooves on those two.
Wow Keith. Your Aunty was a deadset legend! What great albums to pass on to you young 'uns. An older friend who started teaching me guitar in the 80's got me hooked on Cream. So that was an enjoyable overview of Clapton's guitars too. Thank you 😁
Love it Keith!!
Another Great video!
This is my new favorite TH-cam channel
Great job Keith 👌
I first heard the Beano record in highschool back in 1967.....that tone and Duane Allmans Live at the Fillmore East tone is all I have in my brain when I go for a sound out of a guitar and an amp.....
Although I first heard both of those tones 45 years after you did I feel that same way. A Les Paul into a Marshall will always be the guitar I hear in my head.
Well done, thanks.
In addition to the obligatory black, the original signature Strat production run had some of the coolest Fender colors ever: Pewter, Torino Red and, especially, 7-UP Green!
You should also mention Olympic White - a colour option first introduced in 1994, made famous by Martin Scorcese's «Nothing but the Blues» movie filmed at the Fillmore.
Candy Green has been discontinued since 2010.
Hello Keith. In '68 after a Cream concert I did my usual thing to go back stage. The trick is to hide in plain site, or in short walk around as if you are part of the crew. Anyhow I asked Eric if I could play his Firebird. He said ..."Yes" ...then said ...."when your'e done" ...and then pointed at a roadie and then left. The thing that blew me away was if the action was any lower the strings would have been under the frets, LOL. In those days no one even heard of a 'set up' and repairs were sent to be done by the distributors so to us if the action was really bad it was a repair. I just assumed the Firebird was some special guitar that came that way.
Oh to have been a bird on your shoulder Paul.
@@fivewattworld You would have been with me to meet Hendrix who wouldn't let me play his guitar. He gave me a good natured laugh and said the last guy he let stole it, lol. I was back stage with the Doors and another time Janis Joplin alone and she shared her whisky with me. There were many others but they were crowed with hangers on, drug dealers and the music press. They weren't as much fun. You would have enjoyed Cheech & Chong before they even had a record deal. We played the same tiny club. It was different time if you had a band and did your own tunes you got treated as a peer by other player big or small. No one had a nickel until there 3rd LP came out. I met Ron Wood and he lived with his Mom. He set me up to get a 50 watt Marshall cheap. I nearly forgot all this stuff because years ago if I shared it I got the vibe they thought I was lying.I am 75 so know when I say I don't give a sh@t I actually don't, LOL My best advice is that if you want to be a big time rock guitarist there is only one single thing that can stop you. Death, and I'm not dead yet.
@@Paul_Lenard_Ewing much harder to walk backstage now my friend. 9-11 changed the world. But I used to , yes.
Same here, why tell my stories to those who think I’m lying?
Yay another 5 Watt World short story!
I absolutely love these videos