I had my "Clapton" Strat modified!......

When I bought my "Blackie" Strat I thought I'd just keep it the way it came from the factory so it would be maybe a little collectable in years to come. It's a 2000 model with Lace Sensor pups and in almost perfect condition.

I've played a few gigs with it since I aquired it a couple of months ago but I was missing one sound so I usually took my Tele along for that. Last week I dropped it off at GC to the repairman and had him install the mod so that I could play the neck and bridge pickups together. I had him install a mini toggle switch between the top volume and tone controls which when activated turns on the bridge pickup when the toggle switch is in the neck only slot or the neck/middle slot. Now I can get all seven combinations and I'm loving it. Tommorrow night I have my first gig of the week and I'll be taking it along and leaving my trusty old Tele at home.

I think later on I might have to add a McEwan "Slingshot" B-bender just for kicks.........JH in Va.

With the mod I had done with the mini switch, this guitar covers all the sounds I'll ever need for a gig. I had the block removed in the tremolo cavity so I could use that but opted to put it back in. Now that I've had the switching mod done I think I'll take the block out and get the tremolo in good working order so I can use it on some ballads my band is doing....

It's strange but when I use this guitar with a compressor it seems make the compression more intense than when I use it with my Tele. Would the Lace Sensor pickups be responsible for that? I have to kick the compressor intensity back about 25% to get the same feel as with my Tele. Also when I add the mid control, the volume comes up quite a bit and it's slightly distorted. It's really one helluva sound and I'm lovin' it........JH in Va.

Well I guess that as long as you're happy with what the guitar gives you then it doesn't matter any more about the collectability of an original Clapton model any more!

You should remove the Clapton signature on the headstock and do your own signature in its place!

As for your comment about the compressor settings, I find that I don't use a compressor with my EC strat (with Vintage Noiseless pups) so maybe it's the active electronics in the EC that eliminate the need for a comp. The volume does go up when you dial in the mid boost - it's supposed to add up to 25db to the output.