Observation on Clapton's tone circa 1971

I just dug out a vinyl copy of "Derek & The Dominoes In Concert" and as I was recording it to my hard drive I was struck by how similar his tone on the LP is to his current tone. The studio LP is classic Strat tone, but the live LP sounds very little like the studio LP, in fact it almost sounds as if he's using one of his signature model Strats, processed however he does these days. If anyone has the LP, or the CD version called "Live At The Fillmore", I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Clapton used Brownie his 56 Stratocaster with a Fender Tweed Champs for recording. Live he used Fender Dual Showman or Marshall amps for live performances.

I'd heard that Layla was recorded with a couple of new (ie SF) Champs(?) I think I read that the live album is Dual Showman & Marshall together. I love the tones he was getting in that period.

... despite a difference of 25-30 years. All through the `70's his tone and approach were different. I think around the time "Journeyman" came out, the Clapton Strat was introduced, and his tone from then on has been pretty much the same. I found it interesting that some of his playing on the Dominoes live set sounds more like current EC than you'd think, along the lines of "No Alibis", more "sustainy" and less Strat-like if you know what I mean. In the mid to late `70's he sounded crisper and more staccato, think "Lay Down Sally", even live, when I saw him numerous times. Amps notwithstanding, that's the comparison/contrast I was going for, although I know the amplification makes a huge difference.

I read that it was tweed Champs, but I could be wrong.

I've had that in my car CD player for several weeks.. one thing about his tone on that record is that he uses the wah a lot. It seems that he almost leaves it on in a fixed position when he's not rocking the pedal - his tone seems very narrowly focused. I do like his playing on that record, he doesn't have the Cream tone so he has to play more double stops and chords to keep the tunes full. Of course, he has one of the best rhythm sections in rock in roll playing with him though.