Over 70 Clapton Guitars To Be Auctioned

Bonhams to sell Eric Clapton's guitars and amps in aid of the Crossroads Centre 17-Dec-10

Bonhams has announced a landmark auction, which includes more than 150 lots from Eric Clapton's personal collection. The sale will feature over 70 guitars and 70 amps which have helped create Clapton's legendary sound. The auction is being held to benefit The Crossroads Centre, Antigua. A spokesman for the Centre says, "The Crossroads Centre is very excited to be the beneficiary of Eric Clapton's guitar and amp auction at Bonhams which will directly assist those who are in need of addiction treatment. The auction is being held in association with Wallace & Hodgson, who worked on the two previous record breaking Clapton/ Crossroads Guitar auctions in 1999 and 2004.

    * London: 101 New Bond Street, London, W1S 1SR: Sunday 23rd Jan - Wednesday 26th Jan 2011

    * Los Angeles: 7601 West Sunset Boulevard, CA 90046, USA: Friday 18th Feb - Sunday 20th Feb 2011

    * New York: 580 Madison Avenue, NY 10022: Saturday 5th March - Wednesday 9th March 2011

Source: Bonham

fender eric johnson

fender eric Johnson – How Is it Unique ?

By R. S. Rasnick

Stories about Eric Johnson's ear for details are legendary. Since Johnson prefers a 1957 Fender Stratocaster as his main guitar, the company used that as the basis for the Eric Johnson Stratocaster, where the talented Mr. Johnson would have ultimate say on everything from the screws to the pickguard.

The Fender team (with Johnson's input) previewed nineteen kinds of pickups before settling on the final model. Traditionally, Stratocaster wiring has the tone control affecting only the neck and middle pickups. Johnson's taste is to have the tone wired to affect the neck and bridge pickups, so his signature guitar reflects that preference.

While it has a vintage vibe, the Eric Johnson Stratocaster is well-suited for a wide variety of genres.

The Eric Johnson Stratocaster is an unbeatable instrument at an attainable price. Well done, Fender!

clapton strat

strat eric Clapton (Review)

Features: The model I baught was a 2005 and was in a satin black which looks quite impressive. It has 22 frets which were set very well with no protruding parts or glue. The body is made of Alder making it light but gives it great tone. It has a one piece maple neck with the classic 50s soft "V" shape. It has three "noiseless" pickups which give it no feedback which is great. // 10

Sound: I play mostly blues and rock but do play some hard rock. The EC Strat plays all three genres perfectly. The thing sounds like a classic Strat. Until you slip into mid-range boost mode. Then the guitar takes on new dimensions. Particularly when using a good tube/valve amp. The mid-range boost is controlled from the second tone knob and provides gradual increments in mid-range boost. For example, roll the knob to 3 and the boost just starts, crank it to full and the Strat takes on Les Paul like tones and makes your tube amp thicken and fatten. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: The action can be set very low without buzzes, which indicates the quality of the fretwork and the neck alignment. It just feels great to play. You’ll notice a difference if you have always played ’62 style rosewood necks, which are flatter across the back and more, curved across the front. Like everything, its what you get used to, but this EC neck is smooth and full of big bends and quick passes. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This guitar is defently built to last. when I braught it home I played it for 5 hours straight and when I stopped it didnt look like I touched it. I haven't had to tune it since I first did. The strap buttons are solid but I still use strap locks just incase. I would bring this to a show without a backup its just so vercitile. The hasn't chipped and I've abused it. Overall I think this is the best guitar I have ever baught. // 10

Impression: For the style of music I play being blues and classic style rock I found this guitar to be excellent. Its classic V shaped neck goes perfectly well with its low action playability. I've been playing for 5 years and this is easly the best guitar I have baught in my 5 years of playing. If this guitar was ever lost or stolen I would buy a new one without thinking about it. I love the tone this guitar gets making it go from a classic strat to a les paul in tone. If I could change anything about this guitar id change the pick guard because its only single ply and it tends to lift up which gets annoying when playing. My favorite feature of this guitar is the pick ups they give it a vintage sound which you can't find much anymore. When I went to buy a new guitar I tried out a les paul standard, Gibson ES335 and this Stratocaster and the Strat out played out sounded and just out classed the other two and also was about 1300 dollars cheaper. I recommend this guitar to anyone who wants to have a guitar that sounds like liquid gold.

stratocaster clapton

Eric Clapton Guitar Settings - The Woman Sound

Eric Clapton has used many guitar

settings in a career that goes across several decades but people are still fascinated by the sound that people call the "woman" tone.

Eric Clapton always played with the volume at full tilt and the tone was at a very low setting. The use of the wah-wah pedal and heavy gauge strings also contributed alot to the sound.

Eric Clapton emerged with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in the sixties playing a 1960 Les Paul Standard guitar. His amp was 1962 Marshall forty-five watt 2x12 combination. He fought with producers and engineers to be allowed to play at concert volume in the studio. It was with this guitar and amp that he produced his famous "woman" tone. Do not forget Eric's Marshall amps were extremely overdriven and this was another major contributor to his sound.

You can buy pedals that are supposed to duplicate Eric Clapton's guitar settings but you can be more "authentic" by setting the guitar and amp yourself. Because Eric has mostly been seen playing Fender Stratocasters for some years, we will stick with setting a Strat to try to get that "woman tone". But remember that Eric was not playing a Strat when he was with Cream so you will need to be creative to get the sound out of your guitar.

From here you need to use your ear to compare your sound with one of Eric Clapton's records.

By: Ricky Sharples

stratocaster eric clapton

Beauty and Versatility, An Eric Clapton Series Fender Stratocaster

Fender has vvseveral different neck shapes and that is particularly cool of Fender to try to make a guitar neck size that will fit for every shape of hand.

The guitars body is Alder-wood and that is a relatively light weight wood and has great tonal qualities. Personally, I like white guitars although I recommend getting the color you like. The head of the guitar or top of the neck where you would tune your guitar has genuine Fender/Gotoh Vintage Style Tuning Machines. A conventional tone control only cuts the high end of your guitar's signal.

Bridge Pickup Position 2. Middle Pickup Position 4. Middle and Neck Pickup Position 5. Neck Pickup

Claptons personal choice for pickups were Vintage Noiseless Pickups (Neck, Middle, Bridge) and I like them too! Fender delivers single coil tone without the hum! You get cutting edge technology without sacrificing that great Fender sound. Eric Clapton is a bonified living Guitar God and when he designed this guitar he took his time and used his favorite components which turned out to be a real score for himself . The sweet sounds this guitar makes are unreal.

eric johnson strat

The Eric Johnson Strat is an American made guitar and is one of Fender’s Artist Series. The body is made of two pieces of Alder and is a ’57 style body which has a thin nitrocellulose lacquer finish. In 1956 the Strat body’s wood type was changed from Ash to Alder on the 2-tone sunburst finished versions.

 The bridge is a vintage tremolo with the floating fulcrum. The 25.5 inch scale length neck is made from a single piece of quarter sawn maple. Quarter Sawn wood is wood that has been cut in such a way that allows you to see more of the grain of the wood. The finish of the neck is tinted nitrocellulose lacquer (gloss) which really brings out the wood grain as well. The Fender/Gotoh tuners are height staggered which creates more of an angle between the tuners from the bone nut.

The string trees have been removed. Most strats have two tone controls for the neck and middle pickups, but this one has tone controls for the neck and bridge pickups. The pickups however are specially designed single coils.

The guitar is available in White Blonde, 2-Color Sunburst, Black, and Candy Apple Red. It uses a thin-skinned nitrocellulose lacquer on the both the body and the neck. The guitar comes with a deluxe blonde hardshell case, strap, and cable.

Features

Fender Artist Series Guitar

2-Piece Deep Countoured Body

'57 Alder Body

Nitro-Cellulose Lacquer Finish

25.5" Scale Maple Neck

21 Medium Jumbo Frets

vintage machine heads

'57-style string recess

Custom single-coil pickups

Vintage tremolo

Includes Fender hardshell case

joe strummer telecaster

joe strummer telecaster

From what I can tell it's a replica of a Standard '60s tele, alder body, 21-fret rosewood fretboard, C shaped neck, Vintage Tele pickups, Vintage Fender tuning heads and road worn finish on hardware and body, all the borin stuff! Mint!

Sound: This guitar is perfect for the music that I play, punk. The frets are chunky so they are perfect for playing chords but it's a bit difficult for playing lead style (but I'm shit at that anyway). It also plays well on a clean setting but I don't play it clean often.

The wear on the neck is fantastic! If you've ever seen pics of Joes actual guitar you'll know that this is just the basic guitar without any stickers or stencils, that's where the customisation kit comes in.

Reliability & Durability: I'd use this guitar Live without a backup any day. I've been playing guitar/bass for bout 4 years and I also own a Fender Mike Dirnt P-Bass, a Fender Standard Telecaster (my baby and backup), an old Court acoustic and the before mentioned amp.

Model Name Joe Strummer Telecaster®

Model Number 013-3900-(750)

Series Artist Series

Colors (750) Custom Road Worn,

(Urethane Finish)

Body Alder

Neck Maple, “C” Shape,

(Gloss Urethane Finish)

Fingerboard Rosewood, 7.25" Radius (184 mm)

No. of Frets 21 Vintage Style Frets

Pickups 2 Vintage Style Single-Coil Tele® Pickups with Alnico Magnets (Neck & Bridge)

Controls Master Volume, Master Tone

Pickup Switching 3-Position Blade:

Position 1. Bridge Pickup

Position 2. Bridge and Neck Pickups

Position 3. Strings Fender Super 250R, Nickel Plated Steel,

Gauges: (.010, .013, .017, .026, .036, .046),

p/n 073-0250-006

Accessories Deluxe Black Hardshell Case

Case Deluxe Black Hardshell Case

Introduced 7/2007