Call me a purist but my favorite tones from Eric are his early ones. Disraeli gears album and the Beano album. Pure unadulterated tube sound. Thank you for all the information.
i saw EC in 84 with roger waters . his playing on that pros and cons album is really spectacular . the slide work and he is very emotive / expressive on this lp . if you never checked that one out its really something worth your time . i strongly feel its his best playing of his career . thanks for the ul enjoying it so far .
The “strat through a fender champ amp” tone he got for the Eric Clapton- Derek and the dominos era, with him playing the “brownie” strat, is one of my favorites… class a amps have a sweet spot where you get great definition but some compression at the high end… a very elusive tone very sparkly! Clapton’s ear is really what separates him from his peers and it all starts there for all you young players… develop your ear! Have a hero play everything he played, but more importantly, try and understand why he played what he did… the notes you don’t play are as important as the notes you do play… then play tribute to him don’t copy him! That’s really what Eric did.. seems to have worked out pretty well
Eric and Duane's guitar playing on Layla and other assorted love songs is some of the best electric and slide guitar playing I've ever heard and will ever hear. It's raw and beautiful and honest. I still get chills listening to it today....
If I had a gun to my head I'd say the guitarist that influenced me the most is Clapton. He is just so tasteful, soulful, and prolific. My favorite tones of his through the decade are as follows. 60's: Badge (my favorite Clapton solo ever) 70's: Bell Bottom Blues 80's: Forever Man 90's: I'm Tore Down 00's: Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight 10's: The Christmas Album 20's: Pompous Fool That's 7 DECADES of tone. Seven. Decades. Let that sink in...
@@derekclacton I agree totally. He has never topped that original recording. It's a magnum opus of tone, phrasing, and note selection. I think it's their best song by far and that's saying something.
FYI Eric wrote Badge with George Harrison and he said in more than one interview, that George was a key influence on him, as a song writer AND a guitar player including slide. This is not often mentioned as we all assume Buddy Guy, Freddie and Albert King, Jimi etc because of the Bluesbreakers 'sound' and Cream. George was already successful when Eric was a teenager, he looked up to him and not least the fact that George was one of the key British people importing and re-processing US music at the time - country, blues influences like Chet Atkins, Luther Perkins (Johnny Cash's lead - early recorded use of Esquire/Tele), Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry and wider jazz artistes like Django Reinhardt. Listen to those early pop records of the Beatles for the licks, fills and runs that were included over John and Paul's chords - that was mostly George whipping them out of fresh air like the solo break on All My Loving. Some of these are subtle and difficult to play, introducing notes and chords that other 'pop groups' were not even aware of but they are a key element of why the songs were hooky and successful and the experimentation contributed in time to the revelation of Rubber Soul and Revolver. George was doing this from 15 years old which is incredible when you analyse those songs as Eric was doing - he caught the influence right away. It's further evidenced I would suggest by Eric's decade post Cream, his contribution to George's triple album All Things Must Pass in 1970 and then the hook up in America with Duane Allman and Delaney & Bonnie. During that period, those early influences promoted by George first in The Beatles, later to Eric directly came forward and he appeared on stage with many of them including Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins. Just my opinion but it's based on Eric's interviews, their working relation ship and clear links in their catalogue. And oh yes, they shared a wife and a guitar :) the LP used on While My Guitar Gently Weeps.
Hi, Ramon. Thank you for all your hard work in compiling and presenting this wealth of information about effects equipment associated with Eric Clapton. Over the years in the guitar world, Eric had been noted for achieving many excellent guitar tones using rather simple setups of mostly just whatever electric guitar model he was working with at the time, his amplifier, and of course his playing touch. -And that's it! I recall so many aspiring guitarists taking note of this, being impressed by this, & ultimately embracing & trying to adopt this same pure & simple approach to how they themselves achieved their own guitar tones. Eric significantly impacted the habits of many of his fellow guitarists in this way. Of course, as many of us guitarists also witnessed, Eric would occasionally dabble in the use of a wah wah pedal, leslie speaker, univibe, or chorus effect. But none of those were a big part of Eric's sound. But over the years, I began noticing a number of articles referring to Eric's use of a fuzz pedal, which I had never heard of before. As I read such things, it occurred to me that writers may have formed such conclusions, simply based on their knowledge that there are fuzz pedals that can produce such tones, but without these writers having further supporting evidence of Eric's using fuzz pedals. So, with your excellent research and presentation, Ramon, I feel that you have helped to clear up such myths. However, it was also very interesting to note from your video that, in the 1980's, Eric had worked closely with Steve Lukather, and had been impressed by one of Steve's pedals, the BOSS / HEAVY METAL HM-2, and liked it! Very interesting!
This was awesome!!! Just finished a book about Leo Fender and Les Paul and I’m hooked on the guitars and the equipment used on everything I’ve ever listened to!
Thanks! I knew Clapton never used many pedals, though looks like in the 80’s he used a complicated rack system like everyone else lol. Thanks for the documentation, and love the rare pics of his many setups, I’ve never seen most of them!
Being a Leslie fan I love the fact you show how he mic'd the top rotating horn and bottom end...great job on documenting a living legend!! Johnne in Clallam Bay WA.
Nice one Ramon. I've always been chasing EC's Dominoes wah wah tone, especially Filmore era and post Layla. I've always wondered what exact model that was.
years as go my 2nd wha a was a Dunlap Jimi Hendrix wha and I called Dunlap and told them this pedal doesn't sound like Hendrix at all and it was very noisy I was mad, the gal I spoke to, was Great, She said calm down sir and we talked and I asked don't you make Clapton's pedal? she said yes but he wants to much money to put his name on that model. anyhow i sent back my pedal and they put the Clapton mod in it. all the parts were now unlabeled and the jacks were hermetically sealed. it SOUINDS EXACTLY LIKE THE DOMINOS SOUND from the Fillmore period and the Layla album era and 461 ocean blvd. period etc. Just one night as well. and the Dual showman period. when I use my 1969 Dual Showman with JBL D- 140's or 130's with my wha I nail the White room wha sound. they did all this for me back in 1996. S. Mcray approved the mod.. it says it in the pedal in 2 places under the cover..
I'll bet that must have been mind blowing to be there in the room for those beano album recordings, it must have been loud for one thing, he knew what he wanted, I still can't believe what I hear on that album, he drove it to an insanely intense level, musical, lyrical, beautiful
Your video is the most in depth review and archived report about Clapton Ive ever seen or heard. Great job and thanks for Not showing your guitar skills and fake facial grimaces like all the rest on RUclips. Cheers..
There is an interesting clip from Joe Bonamassa which forms a funny counter this if you do a search on YT. I think it was the first time they played together at the RAH and although it had been arranged and discussed ahead of the time, they hadn't had a rehearsal as such - it was joe's gig, Eric coming up to guest. Eric turned up with his roadie with what looked like a new Strat and a new amp... that was it, taking Joe by surprise. He believed it was a new Eric Clapton signature (so it had the mods, mid boost etc) and a new Fender Tweed twin of some kind. Eric plugged them in and sounded like... Eric Clapton. No pedals or Leslie at all. Which is not to knock this video at all, just that Joe was amazed that Eric could do his thing on stage with the absolute minimum of kit. I've heard people say the same thing about Robben Ford if he is travelling and doesn't take his expensive Dumble rig. He will use his original beat up Tele, a Zen drive (Dumble emulator) and go into something descent and clean like a Fender Twin on hire. WOW.
I think it’s amazing how much influence Clapton had on everything! I’m a huge Clapton fan but he’s not my #1. But it’s just so weird how fast things moved then and how new electric guitar was. Clapton is actually a year younger than Beck and Page and a few years younger than Hendrix yet because he broke out first those people and Peter Green etc site him as an influence. I don’t know if I believe this tale or not but supposedly that’s how Chas Chandler convinced Jimi to go to England with him was that he would introduce him to Clapton. Jimi was sleeping in between two tenament buildings in Harlem at the time so I don’t really think he drove a hard bargain but that’s how the story goes.
I read that Jimi asked Chas if he could introduce him to Eric, and if he could swing that he would be inclined to go- in fact excited! They were all each other's heroes! (Eric, Jimi, Jeff Beck, Pete Townsend) so cool 😎 (Then Eric got his hair permed into an "afro")👍
Excellent as always Ramon 👍🏻 I appreciate the work you put into your videos. A lot of research here - You can’t get more historically accurate than this. Keep it coming. Cheers
Another tremendous video.i was 12 when Desreili Gears came out...had just gotten my first guitar ...an acoustic and I got the record the day it hit my local record shop.already a big fan of EC I was dazzled by the record and the guitar work was tremendous.im still a huge fan of this record. Tha k you for your detailed research and your amazing detailed voice breaking down everything clearly and distinctly and NO MUSIC BACKGROUND ! I especially appreciate that.Happy healthy holidays to you and your family and all your followers and best luck in your endeavors.
hey great stuff Ramon, appreciate all the effort. without wanting to gild the lily, IMHO Clapton really created blues rock guitar by cranking the Gibson into the Marshall and refusing to back down from 10 on the dial. He did it first and influenced Beck and Page and Jimi and Greeny and all the rest with that rock and roll attitude. of course BB and the boys would crank the tweed amps up in the 50's but Eric took it to a different level. He was shown using a Rangemaster? in the famous Cream at RAH farewell concert video. that reedy, sax like breakup tone will always be my favorite but he just had a special touch and made solos into melodies, "Sittin on Top of the World" always stopped me in my tracks and in later years, i thought he blew the roof off MSG doing "Don't Think Twice" at Dylan's 30th anniversary concert.
Great thanks. Enjoyed the insight. There was clearly experimentation going on for Eric in the studio during the late 60's period as Cream broke up and an influence on this was George Harrison and the Beatles. Rubber Soul / Revolver in 1965/66 (which George suggested was considered a double album in the band) were ground breaking in this respect as we all know (recorded guitar added backwards ???) although George had been slipping country, jazz, flamenco, blues and Luther Perkins rockabilly licks into British 2 minute pop songs from the start with All My Loving. He was also an early UK adopter of Gretsch guitars which promoted these 'sounds' and differences like his Chet Atkins Country Gentleman and his 1957 Gretsch Duo Jet. And Eric has said in interview that he looked up to George including as a guitar and slide player. In terms of getting away from the 'bluesbreaker' overdrive tone specifically, again, I am sure that on Badge George would have said I don't want that - it's been done, thanks (by you, smiling). And they didn't use it on While My Guitar Gently Weeps either. George would later do this again with Gary Moore who lived close by and they formed a friendship. George told Gary to leave the Les Paul and Marshall stack at home - we all know you can do that brilliantly (he did on stage with George) but you are capable of so much more and its a shame the world doesn't get to hear it. He had Gary playing on acoustic and on a clean channel with a Tele / Strat. And we all know that George 'could' do that OD thing himself - arguably he helped to promote it with his solo on Heh Bulldog playing a Gibson SG. I've read that the tone is almost impossible to replicate though as they were doing so many things in the studio from using a reverb room to overloading the recording desk rather than at the amp stage.
I love that chorus tone from the bridge of badge. I always wondered if he was running the univibe through the Leslie to get that overdriven organ sound, or if that’s just how the Leslie cab sounds
That's a cool guitar, Ramon. Good video as always, i knew or strongly suspected that Clapton never used any dirt pedals, at least early on. God bless you, man.
@@pabloperez4063 Besides a few pedals, there wasn't much to choose from. Maestro Fuzztone was around (1962), then the treble boosters, and finally Tonebenders and fuzz faces (1965), etc. I wish i could hear Clapton using a fuzz pedal though.
On 'Disraeli Gears' he also plays the wah-wah pedal on the lesser-known track "World Of Pain". On the final album 'Goodbye' he uses the wah-wah (and it sounds like with the Leslie too) on last track "What A Bringdown".
Pretty cool. Never thought of EC using much beyond a wah and a univibe. HM2 ? wow.' Hot pedal for about a minute. I traded a Distortion + towards one in the late '80s. Gave it away. I don't miss it. Did buy another MXR, tho ;)
Ramon, another extraordinary History. Well done. No matter the topic, there is never a shortage of history I did not know previously or that I knew, but that was not so. For ec fan’s here, I suggest checking out 5 Watt world who recently did “the guitars of ec”. I was considering doing the “Plectrums and Cables of god” but thought the topic was not rich enough.:) Again, looking forward to my second watch. Best, rikko
I have a Boss DSD-2 delay that sounds fantastic. It’s the DD-2 with a sampler. I’ve had it for about 25yrs, the only pedal I’ve owned for that long. Pretty cool to know that Eric was using something very similar at one point.
Amazing video man!! But the early wahwah model is v846 rather than v847a( which is the model name for current Made In China vox wah model) and that pedal in the Johnny cash picture can’t be a vox because the casing is not the same ( curious about what that is though 🤔）
The main guitar in Sunshine of your Love sounds like a Tonebender is being used as it has so much sustain. I have heard videos of Cream doing it live into the amp and EC doesn’t have the sustain. In one version he chooses to play a trill rather than do the semitone vibrato, I understand him doing this as the vibrato needs the sustain not to be lost in the song.
Great video, I'd love to see a video on David Gilmour and Daron Malakian from System of a Down, I'm sure he'd would be a bit of a departure from the guitarists you've done but I've always loved Daron's playing and would love to learn more about his gear
Yeah funny all those who bought the Beano Boost pedal to try and emulate Eric sound. Being a newcomer to using Plexis, my 2nd year going, all I can say is the Holy Grail of hi gain is a late '60's plexi full up, whichever channel... Not only was Eric a badasssss accurate player back in 60's, he was the first one to use a full up Marshall with no need for pedals/boosts. I 'was' a Hendrix fan, but once I got into my Germino Lead 55LV ['68 JMP Super Lead clone] I listened to all these bootlegs of Cream before Hendrix came out and during. I am still blown away how clean and accurate he played. When I listen to Hendrix now, its great, but the cringe factor happens more. Listening to Eric, is like hearing the best of the best, who used a full blast Marshall properly. No wonder Edward Van considered Eric is greatest influence.
Every Angus Young solo is basically vibing off the Badge solo. Virtually Every Eddie Van Halen references the final outro lick on the live Cream Goodbye Sittin On Top Of The World. John Mayer's vibrato and bending is all Clapton.
@@garthkolbeck8674 Yes, of course, we can keep going back through Lonnie Johnson, Muddy and Django etc endlessly but I think you've somewhat missed the point. Angus Young actually sounds more like Clapton '68 than Clapton sounds like BB King '65. And Angus never moved beyond that for 50 years in terms of gear, sound and approach. And why not, if it ain't broke don't fix it. EC invented it i.e the supercharged rock/blues template Gibson+cranked Marshall but had cast it aside by '70.
@@lightningstrikes7314 wait a min .. you're giving Clapton complete credit for the Marshall cranked sound? You never heard of Pete Townshend and The High Numbers at the Railway Tavern? Look, I'm a fan of the Yardbirds, of the Beano era of cream of blind faith and domino's and Delaney Bonnie... But I've got to tell my side of the story... I believe that Pete Townshend was the power and volume and feedback guy... The first one in that English beat band era ... he's using distortion and feedback because he was trying to do something other than his jazzy lead guitar which I think sounds great to me but I can see why he went to the use of noise and distortion and feedback because he didn't feel like he was really good at solos... But I hear Pete Townshend as a great solist... Clapton, Hendrix, page beck.... Well Beck is probably the best of all of them because he is a playerq
I wonder what Eric thought of the Digitech Eric Clapton signature modeling pedal they came out with about 20 years ago. He endorsed it at the time, I think.
Didn't know about the Roland guitar synth stuff or the expanse of the 80s rack. I thought this would be a pretty simple video of basic wahs and stuff, but that was a nice surprise. Be interesting with that huge rack to know how much was he actually using of it and how much was just the expectation to have a rack in the 80s.
can you tell me what year that Special is from? I'm thinking about a new guitar. even if I had the money I wouldn't pay 15 grand for a 1958/59 Special. I'd like to know what you think about the one you're using. thanks
@@TheGuitarShow ya know man, don't waste your money on something like that. i almost bought a 58 in 1990 in NY for $1400 instead, i went uptown and bought a really nice 1970 Custom. of course, that one got away.
Finally, i always knew he didnt use a treble booster, its the les paul and the amp he uses and the controls he uses on the les paul that makes the "beano" sound
@@TheGuitarShow thank you ramon, i even tried doing that too, i got a British pedal company treble booster rigged to my les paul straight from my marshall origin amp, i felt like the sound wasnt close to the beano tone.
@@Alan-su5bg yes people think you need a pedal to achieve this. But back in the 60s it was just guitar cable amp and everything on 10. We can't do that nowadays so a small amp.ot pedal is necessary. Wish I was in the 60s!!!!
Look at the pictures of the wah pedal used in CREAM era it doesn't have the VOX logo on the front face of the wah pedal so it looks like Clapton might have used a Thomas Organ Cry Baby Wah, NOT a VOX wah pedal? Look at Claptons foot on the wah pedal pictures you have in the video its BLANK NOT LOGO, so what wah pedal is this?
So I don't know how true it is, but I've read that during Cream's second album Eric was often actually going through the board, which was tube driven. And when those tubes were pushed, you get more of this fuzzy type sound. And to me anyway, it does seem like a lot of the lead guitar on that album is more of a direct sound, and does sound like a fuzzed out preamp tube just based on my own experiences with amps and tube preamps. But there is some stuff that does sound like an amp, mostly rhythm parts though. I feel like they probably recorded the rhythm tracks live in the studio with their amps, and then did vocals and lead guitar and whatever else after, which was common back then.
Nice one, Ramon! Must take a lot of time and effort to make these videos - incredibly well researched and a great historical resource for fans. 3:07 Just for info - Eric also used a Cry Baby Classic wah :)
well researched video...cheers mate.....BUT as Eric spend tons ofmoney on amps and Effects racks in later life....his best sound and music came from guitar into amp in the mid to late 60s....yep...after that Eric went down "the middle of the road"...(not to mention his change to Fender).but hey....it's his decissions and life...cheers.
Didn't Bob say that when he was doing the tech work for the Crossroards fest that Clapton's guitar went into a Wah-wah and then into the amp, that's it?
Great video! But the most long lasting sought after Clapton tone, yet the most elusive, that has hundreds of RUclips tutorials, is the “Beano” tone from the Bluesbreaker album: a Les Paul straight into a Marshall. A few tutorials are very close, most are “meh”
I watched another RUclips video of a guy using the crossroads pedal to get hard rock and metal tones recorded direct. I was pleasantly surprised how good it sounded and that someone was using that pedal for those sounds!
@@honkytonkinson9787 Yes, it's not that it's totally bad . The best approach when using the pedal is to take the name Eric Clapton out of the equation and play with it until you find something useable that you like .
I bought a Crossroads pedal from Soho Soundhouse on Charing Cross Road when they first came out. The pedal was the biggest load of junk I've ever bought and how Clapton could put his name to it is beyond me.The latest gimmick is the Woman Tone pedal which has a ridiculous high price and sounds way too fuzzy and fizzy
@@colinmcnab6145 I got off lightly, bought mine a few years later second hand . I tend to think Eric's only involvement in this pedal was promoting his Crossroads Centre in Antigua.
Even with today's modulation effects, you'll never reproduce the great sound of a Leslie speaker cabinate. Peter Frampton used one when i saw Framptons Camel supporting Humbel Pie, his previous band.
Nice video. Everything chronological. I must say I'm not that fond if his latest sound (I'm sorry). I didn't like the sound of the Lace Sensors he used during the late 80s and 90s, nor the Vintage Noiseless pickups he is using nowadays. I've been to one of his latest concerts and, though he is stil Clapton, I found his sound quite harsh. But this is, of course, absolutely subjective. His 70s, 80s and blues sound though is great, but will be very hard to copy. First, we're spoiled with too much high tech equipment, second, we're not allowed to play with everything full open anymore and third (probably the most important), we're just not Eric Clapton... Conclusion: he still is one of the most inspiring guitarists to me...
BTW My brother ended up buying Felix Pappolardi's Fender Rohdes electric piano from a studio we were reordering at, which it was being stored in during the time. Back Street Recording Studio, White Plains Rd + Nerid Ave, Bx NY. from our engineer Ed Solan who was also engineering for Ace Freely's solo lp being recorded there "Back In The New York Groove" Rocklove ArtyThan ☆♡☆
I appreciate your research very much. I didn't think he used that many effects. I thought he was a so-called "purist". Performing live, I see nothing wrong with having effects, as long as you don't over use them, and you do use a straight sound as an effect. I get bored by guys who refuse to use effects. They tend to be a bit snobbish against players who use effects and call effects "crutches" that players use to compensate for talent. Studio work is different. It IS better to record without ANY effects and add it in later, but sometimes you get better performances from guitarists by letting them record with their effects. It takes a talented guitarist who can play just as well without any effects if they are used to them. I know I tend to play better if I enjoy my sound. Many studios want to RIP my distortion out and tell me to play clean and they will add it back in later. Sorry, I'm not that good.
Ramon I have enjoyed your show very very much and look forward to each new installment hence I thought I should reply personally to you my Friend. I am 70 years old and living on social security...so I can't send you any cash. I regret that I can not offer you any support at this time.i hope you will keep me on your subscription list....I promise to send something as soon as I can. Thanks Jim
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Call me a purist but my favorite tones from Eric are his early ones. Disraeli gears album and the Beano album. Pure unadulterated tube sound. Thank you for all the information.
Not neccesarily, distortion and a good amount of compression was also added on those Disraeli songs in the studio.
I was curious about E. C.'s pedals and found this well-made video. Thanks for sharing!
i saw EC in 84 with roger waters . his playing on that pros and cons album is really spectacular . the slide work and he is very emotive / expressive on this lp . if you never checked that one out its really something worth your time . i strongly feel its his best playing of his career . thanks for the ul enjoying it so far .
I did too! It was my first ever concert as well. I was impressed.
Yeah, that was great tone & playing. Saw the tour, later leg without Eric, didn't sound right.
Cheers mate. Thank you.
My pleasure
The “strat through a fender champ amp” tone he got for the Eric Clapton- Derek and the dominos era, with him playing the “brownie” strat, is one of my favorites… class a amps have a sweet spot where you get great definition but some compression at the high end… a very elusive tone very sparkly! Clapton’s ear is really what separates him from his peers and it all starts there for all you young players… develop your ear! Have a hero play everything he played, but more importantly, try and understand why he played what he did… the notes you don’t play are as important as the notes you do play… then play tribute to him don’t copy him! That’s really what Eric did.. seems to have worked out pretty well
Great comment, thanks.
Eric and Duane's guitar playing on Layla and other assorted love songs is some of the best electric and slide guitar playing I've ever heard and will ever hear. It's raw and beautiful and honest. I still get chills listening to it today....
If I had a gun to my head I'd say the guitarist that influenced me the most is Clapton. He is just so tasteful, soulful, and prolific. My favorite tones of his through the decade are as follows.
60's: Badge (my favorite Clapton solo ever)
70's: Bell Bottom Blues
80's: Forever Man
90's: I'm Tore Down
00's: Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight
10's: The Christmas Album
20's: Pompous Fool
That's 7 DECADES of tone. Seven. Decades. Let that sink in...
Badge has Clapton’s most finely crafted solo imho - pure perfection!
@@derekclacton I agree totally. He has never topped that original recording. It's a magnum opus of tone, phrasing, and note selection. I think it's their best song by far and that's saying something.
@@SimpleManGuitars1973 Absolutely - and Eric’s vibrato and slides, everything about the solo is perfect👍My favourite Cream song too and album.
FYI Eric wrote Badge with George Harrison and he said in more than one interview, that George was a key influence on him, as a song writer AND a guitar player including slide. This is not often mentioned as we all assume Buddy Guy, Freddie and Albert King, Jimi etc because of the Bluesbreakers 'sound' and Cream. George was already successful when Eric was a teenager, he looked up to him and not least the fact that George was one of the key British people importing and re-processing US music at the time - country, blues influences like Chet Atkins, Luther Perkins (Johnny Cash's lead - early recorded use of Esquire/Tele), Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry and wider jazz artistes like Django Reinhardt.
Listen to those early pop records of the Beatles for the licks, fills and runs that were included over John and Paul's chords - that was mostly George whipping them out of fresh air like the solo break on All My Loving. Some of these are subtle and difficult to play, introducing notes and chords that other 'pop groups' were not even aware of but they are a key element of why the songs were hooky and successful and the experimentation contributed in time to the revelation of Rubber Soul and Revolver. George was doing this from 15 years old which is incredible when you analyse those songs as Eric was doing - he caught the influence right away.
It's further evidenced I would suggest by Eric's decade post Cream, his contribution to George's triple album All Things Must Pass in 1970 and then the hook up in America with Duane Allman and Delaney & Bonnie. During that period, those early influences promoted by George first in The Beatles, later to Eric directly came forward and he appeared on stage with many of them including Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins.
Just my opinion but it's based on Eric's interviews, their working relation ship and clear links in their catalogue. And oh yes, they shared a wife and a guitar :) the LP used on While My Guitar Gently Weeps.
Hi, Ramon. Thank you for all your hard work in compiling and presenting this wealth of information about effects equipment associated with Eric Clapton. Over the years in the guitar world, Eric had been noted for achieving many excellent guitar tones using rather simple setups of mostly just whatever electric guitar model he was working with at the time, his amplifier, and of course his playing touch. -And that's it! I recall so many aspiring guitarists taking note of this, being impressed by this, & ultimately embracing & trying to adopt this same pure & simple approach to how they themselves achieved their own guitar tones. Eric significantly impacted the habits of many of his fellow guitarists in this way. Of course, as many of us guitarists also witnessed, Eric would occasionally dabble in the use of a wah wah pedal, leslie speaker, univibe, or chorus effect. But none of those were a big part of Eric's sound. But over the years, I began noticing a number of articles referring to Eric's use of a fuzz pedal, which I had never heard of before. As I read such things, it occurred to me that writers may have formed such conclusions, simply based on their knowledge that there are fuzz pedals that can produce such tones, but without these writers having further supporting evidence of Eric's using fuzz pedals. So, with your excellent research and presentation, Ramon, I feel that you have helped to clear up such myths. However, it was also very interesting to note from your video that, in the 1980's, Eric had worked closely with Steve Lukather, and had been impressed by one of Steve's pedals, the BOSS / HEAVY METAL HM-2, and liked it! Very interesting!
This was awesome!!! Just finished a book about Leo Fender and Les Paul and I’m hooked on the guitars and the equipment used on everything I’ve ever listened to!
Thank you!
What an awesome job Ramon, many many thanks from France !
pleasure, thanks for watching.
Thanks! I knew Clapton never used many pedals, though looks like in the 80’s he used a complicated rack system like everyone else lol. Thanks for the documentation, and love the rare pics of his many setups, I’ve never seen most of them!
Being a Leslie fan I love the fact you show how he mic'd the top rotating horn and bottom end...great job on documenting a living legend!! Johnne in Clallam Bay WA.
Nice and consistent knowlegment ! Thank you !
Thanks you Andre
Thanks so much man for this outstanding video! 🙏
Nice one Ramon. I've always been chasing EC's Dominoes wah wah tone, especially Filmore era and post Layla. I've always wondered what exact model that was.
Pleasure Bro! Great to hear from you
Maestro boomerang
ruclips.net/video/Ph90LfooPZI/видео.html
years as go my 2nd wha a was a Dunlap Jimi Hendrix wha and I called Dunlap and told them this pedal doesn't sound like Hendrix at all and it was very noisy I was mad, the gal I spoke to, was Great, She said calm down sir and we talked and I asked don't you make Clapton's pedal? she said yes but he wants to much money to put his name on that model. anyhow i sent back my pedal and they put the Clapton mod in it. all the parts were now unlabeled and the jacks were hermetically sealed. it SOUINDS EXACTLY LIKE THE DOMINOS SOUND from the Fillmore period and the Layla album era and 461 ocean blvd. period etc. Just one night as well. and the Dual showman period. when I use my 1969 Dual Showman with JBL D- 140's or 130's with my wha I nail the White room wha sound. they did all this for me back in 1996. S. Mcray approved the mod.. it says it in the pedal in 2 places under the cover..
Really Great Job Man.!!
God Bless You.!! ❤❤
I'll bet that must have been mind blowing to be there in the room for those beano album recordings, it must have been loud for one thing, he knew what he wanted, I still can't believe what I hear on that album, he drove it to an insanely intense level, musical, lyrical, beautiful
Very nice inspiring Eric's effects video. Being a lifelong fan its really appreciated. 👌
Cheers 🍻
Thank you so much for this!
Great video and very informative. Some classic shots of E.C. as well. Thank you Ramon
Your video is the most in depth review and archived report about Clapton Ive ever seen or heard. Great job and thanks for Not showing your guitar skills and fake facial grimaces like all the rest on RUclips.
Cheers..
There is an interesting clip from Joe Bonamassa which forms a funny counter this if you do a search on YT. I think it was the first time they played together at the RAH and although it had been arranged and discussed ahead of the time, they hadn't had a rehearsal as such - it was joe's gig, Eric coming up to guest. Eric turned up with his roadie with what looked like a new Strat and a new amp... that was it, taking Joe by surprise. He believed it was a new Eric Clapton signature (so it had the mods, mid boost etc) and a new Fender Tweed twin of some kind. Eric plugged them in and sounded like... Eric Clapton. No pedals or Leslie at all. Which is not to knock this video at all, just that Joe was amazed that Eric could do his thing on stage with the absolute minimum of kit.
I've heard people say the same thing about Robben Ford if he is travelling and doesn't take his expensive Dumble rig. He will use his original beat up Tele, a Zen drive (Dumble emulator) and go into something descent and clean like a Fender Twin on hire. WOW.
Who is Bonamassa?
I think it’s amazing how much influence Clapton had on everything! I’m a huge Clapton fan but he’s not my #1. But it’s just so weird how fast things moved then and how new electric guitar was. Clapton is actually a year younger than Beck and Page and a few years younger than Hendrix yet because he broke out first those people and Peter Green etc site him as an influence. I don’t know if I believe this tale or not but supposedly that’s how Chas Chandler convinced Jimi to go to England with him was that he would introduce him to Clapton. Jimi was sleeping in between two tenament buildings in Harlem at the time so I don’t really think he drove a hard bargain but that’s how the story goes.
Thanks right about Chas...I real it in Charles Shaar Murreys book on Hendrix
I read that Jimi asked Chas if he could introduce him to Eric, and if he could swing that he would be inclined to go- in fact excited!
They were all each other's heroes! (Eric, Jimi, Jeff Beck, Pete Townsend) so cool 😎
(Then Eric got his hair permed into an "afro")👍
Thank you so much for these videos; could you make one for Mike Campbell please?
Great choice I'll look into that
@@TheGuitarShow I really appreciate you!
Excellent as always Ramon 👍🏻 I appreciate the work you put into your videos. A lot of research here - You can’t get more historically accurate than this. Keep it coming. Cheers
Another tremendous video.i was 12 when Desreili Gears came out...had just gotten my first guitar ...an acoustic and I got the record the day it hit my local record shop.already a big fan of EC I was dazzled by the record and the guitar work was tremendous.im still a huge fan of this record. Tha k you for your detailed research and your amazing detailed voice breaking down everything clearly and distinctly and NO MUSIC BACKGROUND ! I especially appreciate that.Happy healthy holidays to you and your family and all your followers and best luck in your endeavors.
As always, loads of great info. Love these deep dives so thanks and keep 'em coming.
At 75, you can imagine I know a lot since I have been playing for 67 years. I am very impressed with your "getting it right" homework!
Thanks 🙏 for Posting - WOW !
Excellent research & presentation !!
hey great stuff Ramon, appreciate all the effort. without wanting to gild the lily, IMHO Clapton really created blues rock guitar by cranking the Gibson into the Marshall and refusing to back down from 10 on the dial. He did it first and influenced Beck and Page and Jimi and Greeny and all the rest with that rock and roll attitude. of course BB and the boys would crank the tweed amps up in the 50's but Eric took it to a different level. He was shown using a Rangemaster? in the famous Cream at RAH farewell concert video. that reedy, sax like breakup tone will always be my favorite but he just had a special touch and made solos into melodies, "Sittin on Top of the World" always stopped me in my tracks and in later years, i thought he blew the roof off MSG doing "Don't Think Twice" at Dylan's 30th anniversary concert.
Great thanks. Enjoyed the insight. There was clearly experimentation going on for Eric in the studio during the late 60's period as Cream broke up and an influence on this was George Harrison and the Beatles. Rubber Soul / Revolver in 1965/66 (which George suggested was considered a double album in the band) were ground breaking in this respect as we all know (recorded guitar added backwards ???) although George had been slipping country, jazz, flamenco, blues and Luther Perkins rockabilly licks into British 2 minute pop songs from the start with All My Loving. He was also an early UK adopter of Gretsch guitars which promoted these 'sounds' and differences like his Chet Atkins Country Gentleman and his 1957 Gretsch Duo Jet. And Eric has said in interview that he looked up to George including as a guitar and slide player.
In terms of getting away from the 'bluesbreaker' overdrive tone specifically, again, I am sure that on Badge George would have said I don't want that - it's been done, thanks (by you, smiling). And they didn't use it on While My Guitar Gently Weeps either. George would later do this again with Gary Moore who lived close by and they formed a friendship. George told Gary to leave the Les Paul and Marshall stack at home - we all know you can do that brilliantly (he did on stage with George) but you are capable of so much more and its a shame the world doesn't get to hear it. He had Gary playing on acoustic and on a clean channel with a Tele / Strat.
And we all know that George 'could' do that OD thing himself - arguably he helped to promote it with his solo on Heh Bulldog playing a Gibson SG. I've read that the tone is almost impossible to replicate though as they were doing so many things in the studio from using a reverb room to overloading the recording desk rather than at the amp stage.
Thanks
Amazing video Ramon!!!
I love that chorus tone from the bridge of badge.
I always wondered if he was running the univibe through the Leslie to get that overdriven organ sound, or if that’s just how the Leslie cab sounds
It's indeed the leslie, driven by a marshall head. He used the 335 for it as well.
That's a cool guitar, Ramon. Good video as always, i knew or strongly suspected that Clapton never used any dirt pedals, at least early on. God bless you, man.
Thanks a million Ben!
Becuase they had not been invented
@@pabloperez4063 Besides a few pedals, there wasn't much to choose from. Maestro Fuzztone was around (1962), then the treble boosters, and finally Tonebenders and fuzz faces (1965), etc. I wish i could hear Clapton using a fuzz pedal though.
Great stuff ! Gracious
Thanks Ben
On 'Disraeli Gears' he also plays the wah-wah pedal on the lesser-known track "World Of Pain". On the final album 'Goodbye' he uses the wah-wah (and it sounds like with the Leslie too) on last track "What A Bringdown".
Pretty cool. Never thought of EC using much beyond a wah and a univibe.
HM2 ? wow.'
Hot pedal for about a minute.
I traded a Distortion + towards one in the late '80s.
Gave it away. I don't miss it.
Did buy another MXR, tho ;)
Thank you ❤️
Great job ! Really enjoyed the video.
Thank you
Well done and interesting video.
I've waiting for This
Thanks bro
Very Cool Video and Series. Thankyou
2:05 I’ve read that they were having a meal in a restaurant and he wrote the lyrics on a napkin 🤔
That's correct Derek
Ramon, another extraordinary History. Well done. No matter the topic, there is never a shortage of history I did not know previously or that I knew, but that was not so. For ec fan’s here, I suggest checking out 5 Watt world who recently did “the guitars of ec”. I was considering doing the “Plectrums and Cables of god” but thought the topic was not rich enough.:) Again, looking forward to my second watch. Best, rikko
Pleasure Rikko thanks for watching!
Great work!!!
Great video ! Man I can only imagine what that rack set up cost back in the day .
Top run down bud. Enjoyed it very interesting. 👍🥃Respect to you mate.
Excellent video, thank you!
I have a Boss DSD-2 delay that sounds fantastic. It’s the DD-2 with a sampler. I’ve had it for about 25yrs, the only pedal I’ve owned for that long. Pretty cool to know that Eric was using something very similar at one point.
Great information, man. Thank you so much!
Thanks for sharing. Best regards.
Pleasure 🎸🙏
Amazing video man!! But the early wahwah model is v846 rather than v847a( which is the model name for current Made In China vox wah model) and that pedal in the Johnny cash picture can’t be a vox because the casing is not the same ( curious about what that is though 🤔）
Thanks Jerry
Clapton's early Vox wah's would have been Clyde Mccoy's.
@@thepirhomancer9745 yeah ik but def not 847s 😂
Very well done mate.......
Great video
Thank you
Much research. Thank you.
Great job
Thank you 🎸🙏
The main guitar in Sunshine of your Love sounds like a Tonebender is being used as it has so much sustain. I have heard videos of Cream doing it live into the amp and EC doesn’t have the sustain. In one version he chooses to play a trill rather than do the semitone vibrato, I understand him doing this as the vibrato needs the sustain not to be lost in the song.
If you're talking about the intro (and later parts where that sounds shows up), it's all layered feedback guitar tracks.
Great video, I'd love to see a video on David Gilmour and Daron Malakian from System of a Down, I'm sure he'd would be a bit of a departure from the guitarists you've done but I've always loved Daron's playing and would love to learn more about his gear
Superb video. Thanks for the info.
Yeah funny all those who bought the Beano Boost pedal to try and emulate Eric sound. Being a newcomer to using Plexis, my 2nd year going, all I can say is the Holy Grail of hi gain is a late '60's plexi full up, whichever channel... Not only was Eric a badasssss accurate player back in 60's, he was the first one to use a full up Marshall with no need for pedals/boosts. I 'was' a Hendrix fan, but once I got into my Germino Lead 55LV ['68 JMP Super Lead clone] I listened to all these bootlegs of Cream before Hendrix came out and during. I am still blown away how clean and accurate he played. When I listen to Hendrix now, its great, but the cringe factor happens more. Listening to Eric, is like hearing the best of the best, who used a full blast Marshall properly.
No wonder Edward Van considered Eric is greatest influence.
Simply mah-velous (!) ...and I so love them shots of 'is "sensible shoes" without which
he'd be just another mother plunker 🥸
Every Angus Young solo is basically vibing off the Badge solo. Virtually Every Eddie Van Halen references the final outro lick on the live Cream Goodbye Sittin On Top Of The World. John Mayer's vibrato and bending is all Clapton.
I guess you've never heard of B.B.King?
@@garthkolbeck8674 Yes, of course, we can keep going back through Lonnie Johnson, Muddy and Django etc endlessly but I think you've somewhat missed the point. Angus Young actually sounds more like Clapton '68 than Clapton sounds like BB King '65. And Angus never moved beyond that for 50 years in terms of gear, sound and approach. And why not, if it ain't broke don't fix it. EC invented it i.e the supercharged rock/blues template Gibson+cranked Marshall but had cast it aside by '70.
@@lightningstrikes7314 wait a min .. you're giving Clapton complete credit for the Marshall cranked sound? You never heard of Pete Townshend and The High Numbers at the Railway Tavern? Look, I'm a fan of the Yardbirds, of the Beano era of cream of blind faith and domino's and Delaney Bonnie... But I've got to tell my side of the story... I believe that Pete Townshend was the power and volume and feedback guy... The first one in that English beat band era ... he's using distortion and feedback because he was trying to do something other than his jazzy lead guitar which I think sounds great to me but I can see why he went to the use of noise and distortion and feedback because he didn't feel like he was really good at solos... But I hear Pete Townshend as a great solist... Clapton, Hendrix, page beck.... Well Beck is probably the best of all of them because he is a playerq
John Entwistle has been credited as the first guy to "stack" speaker cabinets, back in the day.
Ramon, dude you’re the keeper of the flame! I’m gonna tell Eric
I wonder what Eric thought of the Digitech Eric Clapton signature modeling pedal they came out with about 20 years ago. He endorsed it at the time, I think.
Does anyone else use the digitech crossroads pedal?
Good stuff. Thank you!
Didn't know about the Roland guitar synth stuff or the expanse of the 80s rack. I thought this would be a pretty simple video of basic wahs and stuff, but that was a nice surprise. Be interesting with that huge rack to know how much was he actually using of it and how much was just the expectation to have a rack in the 80s.
can you tell me what year that Special is from? I'm thinking about a new guitar. even if I had the money I wouldn't pay 15 grand for a 1958/59 Special. I'd like to know what you think about the one you're using. thanks
Hi Joey - it's an ESP Navigator Special - I really want an orginal '58 but I dont think thats going to happen anytime soon!!!!
@@TheGuitarShow ya know man, don't waste your money on something like that. i almost bought a 58 in 1990 in NY for $1400 instead, i went uptown and bought a really nice 1970 Custom. of course, that one got away.
THANKS!
Pleasure
Can you do a history of Rich Robinson’s guitars?
Finally, i always knew he didnt use a treble booster, its the les paul and the amp he uses and the controls he uses on the les paul that makes the "beano" sound
You got it Alan!
@@TheGuitarShow thank you ramon, i even tried doing that too, i got a British pedal company treble booster rigged to my les paul straight from my marshall origin amp, i felt like the sound wasnt close to the beano tone.
@@Alan-su5bg yes people think you need a pedal to achieve this. But back in the 60s it was just guitar cable amp and everything on 10. We can't do that nowadays so a small amp.ot pedal is necessary. Wish I was in the 60s!!!!
Great
Look at the pictures of the wah pedal used in CREAM era it doesn't have the VOX logo on the front face of the wah pedal so it looks like Clapton might have used a Thomas Organ Cry Baby Wah, NOT a VOX wah pedal? Look at Claptons foot on the wah pedal pictures you have in the video its BLANK NOT LOGO, so what wah pedal is this?
So I don't know how true it is, but I've read that during Cream's second album Eric was often actually going through the board, which was tube driven. And when those tubes were pushed, you get more of this fuzzy type sound. And to me anyway, it does seem like a lot of the lead guitar on that album is more of a direct sound, and does sound like a fuzzed out preamp tube just based on my own experiences with amps and tube preamps. But there is some stuff that does sound like an amp, mostly rhythm parts though. I feel like they probably recorded the rhythm tracks live in the studio with their amps, and then did vocals and lead guitar and whatever else after, which was common back then.
Nice one, Ramon! Must take a lot of time and effort to make these videos - incredibly well researched and a great historical resource for fans.
3:07 Just for info - Eric also used a Cry Baby Classic wah :)
well researched video...cheers mate.....BUT as Eric spend tons ofmoney on amps and Effects racks in later life....his best sound and music came from guitar into amp in the mid to late 60s....yep...after that Eric went down "the middle of the road"...(not to mention his change to Fender).but hey....it's his decissions and life...cheers.
Eric used also DOD tube classic during his days in CREAM
Absolutely
Legend Clapton
Didn't Bob say that when he was doing the tech work for the Crossroards fest that Clapton's guitar went into a Wah-wah and then into the amp, that's it?
I loved his Journeyman / 24 Nights era tones. That rig was monstrous though - I wonder if it could be replicated somewhat just using pedals?
Better make it through today....There's one in every crowd.
Tone to cry for.
Does it seem the more he added the less he was inspired to maintain what was his pinnacle Les Paul into the Marshal.?
👏👏👏👏👏
❤️❤️
Great video! But the most long lasting sought after Clapton tone, yet the most elusive, that has hundreds of RUclips tutorials, is the “Beano” tone from the Bluesbreaker album: a Les Paul straight into a Marshall. A few tutorials are very close, most are “meh”
Thanks Mike - I agree that Marshall has to be full up and then recorded with an old school microphone and preamp.
Excellent Ramon, although you didn't mention the Crossroads pedal.
Only kidding. I own one . Not the best lol.
Damn! hah Thanks Shuan
I watched another RUclips video of a guy using the crossroads pedal to get hard rock and metal tones recorded direct. I was pleasantly surprised how good it sounded and that someone was using that pedal for those sounds!
@@honkytonkinson9787 Yes, it's not that it's totally bad . The best approach when using the pedal is to take the name Eric Clapton out of the equation and play with it until you find something useable that you like .
I bought a Crossroads pedal from Soho Soundhouse on Charing Cross Road when they first came out. The pedal was the biggest load of junk I've ever bought and how Clapton could put his name to it is beyond me.The latest gimmick is the Woman Tone pedal which has a ridiculous high price and sounds way too fuzzy and fizzy
@@colinmcnab6145 I got off lightly, bought mine a few years later second hand . I tend to think Eric's only involvement in this pedal was promoting his Crossroads Centre in Antigua.
Even with today's modulation effects, you'll never reproduce the great sound of a Leslie speaker cabinate. Peter Frampton used one when i saw Framptons Camel supporting Humbel Pie, his previous band.
Time to do a "Shoes of Eric Clapton" video.
My girlfriend would definitely watch that one
50 years playing and all I need is a wah.
That's true🎸🙏
A Vox wah is my desert island pedal.
1974? 1975?
I like how his set up has gone simple again.
Mr. Eric "Clapton is God" Patrick Clapton 🔥🎸🤘
V846 wah not v847 v847 came out in 1989 1990
Nice video. Everything chronological. I must say I'm not that fond if his latest sound (I'm sorry). I didn't like the sound of the Lace Sensors he used during the late 80s and 90s, nor the Vintage Noiseless pickups he is using nowadays. I've been to one of his latest concerts and, though he is stil Clapton, I found his sound quite harsh. But this is, of course, absolutely subjective.
His 70s, 80s and blues sound though is great, but will be very hard to copy. First, we're spoiled with too much high tech equipment, second, we're not allowed to play with everything full open anymore and third (probably the most important), we're just not Eric Clapton... Conclusion: he still is one of the most inspiring guitarists to me...
Cool information, thank you
Rock on ! Arty Than ☆♡☆
BTW My brother ended up buying Felix Pappolardi's Fender Rohdes electric piano from a studio we were reordering at, which it was being stored in during the time.
Back Street Recording Studio, White Plains Rd + Nerid Ave, Bx
NY. from our engineer Ed Solan who was also engineering for Ace Freely's solo lp being recorded there "Back In The New York Groove" Rocklove ArtyThan ☆♡☆
Clapton is God
Amen
Dyno mypiano trisorus chorus. Try saying that when you're pissed.
I appreciate your research very much. I didn't think he used that many effects. I thought he was a so-called "purist". Performing live, I see nothing wrong with having effects, as long as you don't over use them, and you do use a straight sound as an effect. I get bored by guys who refuse to use effects. They tend to be a bit snobbish against players who use effects and call effects "crutches" that players use to compensate for talent.
Studio work is different. It IS better to record without ANY effects and add it in later, but sometimes you get better performances from guitarists by letting them record with their effects. It takes a talented guitarist who can play just as well without any effects if they are used to them. I know I tend to play better if I enjoy my sound. Many studios want to RIP my distortion out and tell me to play clean and they will add it back in later. Sorry, I'm not that good.
Many thanks for the great comment
Hendrix also dimed his amps, using the guitars volume as a master volume..
He used a Octavia, Fuzz Face, a wah pedal, and a univibe. It think if there were more effects he would have used them.
I defy anyone to try and unearth a David Crosby rig-rundown. 😆
no wonder his hearing is knackered 🤐
His volumes in the 60s must have damaged his hearing for sure
Ramon I have enjoyed your show very very much and look forward to each new installment hence I thought I should reply personally to you my Friend. I am 70 years old and living on social security...so I can't send you any cash. I regret that I can not offer you any support at this time.i hope you will keep me on your subscription list....I promise to send something as soon as I can. Thanks Jim