TheCheapGuitarist
Tele-Afflicted
Sometimes it is, albeit partially. Imagine if Metallica recorded "And Justice For All" with strats and Music Man combos.
Should Clapton have really played a strat for this?
- Thread starter TheCheapGuitarist
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loopfinding
Poster Extraordinaire
i don't think it makes zero sense. every generation usually ends up disliking stuff that comes after them, that's a given.
but the boomers were the only gen who constantly threw out everything that came before them (anything that was considered "old people” stuff). it isn’t entirely their gen’s fault, that’s also when media/advertisement also decided that youth culture and the disposable income around it was the only thing that mattered.
the Xers and millennials haven't really been like that (except maybe some disdain for boomer rock being put on a pedestal), though curiously the boomers automatically assumed that in our youthful ignorance we held the same scorn for the past that they did.
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jwsamuel
Friend of Leo's
Go back and look at the bios of the blues artists they followed: Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Bessie Smith, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Big Bill Broonzy and others. All Black. All born in the south before WWII. None of them had it easier than Clapton had it in post-war Britain.
How about Billie Holliday? Sent to prison at age 10 for causing a man to sexually attack her. Became a prostitute at 13.
One big difference...All the Black musicians were subjected to racism. Eric Clapton is a racist.
I’ve never heard it but I suppose they could find a way.
TheCheapGuitarist
Tele-Afflicted
Okay, I'll flip it around. Imagine if Clapton played "Wonderful Tonight" with an Explorer through a Mesa Boogie MK III.
aging_rocker
Poster Extraordinaire
Personally, I think it would have improved it.
They have volume and tone controls.
Back to the song. I wish he’d played the same solo as on Fresh Cream.
rand z
Friend of Leo's
Interestingly, EC rarely uses vibrato.
He stopped using it somewhere in the 70's, early 80's.
It was a major component in his "style", back in the 60's, and I miss it.
He still (of course) bends notes, but the wavering (and very obvious) vibrato at the end of notes, is gone.
Sad, as his "vibrato" was pronounced and wonderful!
And, for some reason, it's pretty much gone.
My guess...and, I never heard it addressed in any interview with him, is that he didn't like it.
Is it because he switched from Gibson to Fender (it disappeared about the same time)?
Anyone, have any insight to this???
imo.
He stopped using it somewhere in the 70's, early 80's.
It was a major component in his "style", back in the 60's, and I miss it.
He still (of course) bends notes, but the wavering (and very obvious) vibrato at the end of notes, is gone.
Sad, as his "vibrato" was pronounced and wonderful!
And, for some reason, it's pretty much gone.
My guess...and, I never heard it addressed in any interview with him, is that he didn't like it.
Is it because he switched from Gibson to Fender (it disappeared about the same time)?
Anyone, have any insight to this???
imo.
Indeed!
Almost ever new thread on the man descends into a bash-EC fest.
The man isn’t perfect, but who is?
Is there anyone of his era still touring (besides former fellow Yardbird Jeff Beck), and releasing new music besides Derek?
I think Mr. Clapton is an inspiration, and an incredibly talented artist.
Thanks for listening.
Just my own small sampling, but I play 4 electrics with 3 different scale lengths ( gig with, I just pick whatever I feel):
Strat and Tele - 25.5"
Danelectro - 25"
Epi SG- 24.75"
That 1/2" to 3/4" scale difference between Dano/SG seems to completely change how I bend strings and do vibrato vs. on the Fender.
It is easier to manipulate strings more 'give' and even the string sound/tone is different because of the shorter scale length.
I have always struggled with vibrato ( on me, just maybe from playing so much acoustic?) but sure is easier to execute for me on the SG
> Back to the Clapton/Cream largument ( and I love his Layla/early solo albums Strat tone)
iMO, that scale length of EC playing a Strat on Cream songs can't sound the same! As in Cream Reunion show.
( plus let's be honest,
he may think so, but that mid-boosted EC Strat does not sound like an LP/SG> Marshall.
And I'm not just talking the 'Woman tone' which was more an 'effect', a small part, not the raw power tone we love about Bluesbreaker's or live Cream)
deytookerjaabs
Friend of Leo's
I don't know about using a Gibson per se, but yeah, there's a difference between just using some random gear versus "nailing it" when you're playing music of a certain time. Yanni playing the trumpet preset on his digisynths will not sound like Miles circa '58, no way no how. As much as this board bashes tone, tone is a real thing.
I would have preferred Clapton used a more organic sounding rig regardless of the guitar choice. You look at what his peer Page did during their one off reunion and in the 90's stuff, Page did a much better job getting a certain tone/feel from his setup and that came through well IMO.
SPUDCASTER
Doctor of Teleocity
If it hasn't been covered.
Jerry Donohue sold him the 335 he played on the farewell concert.
Jerry Donohue sold him the 335 he played on the farewell concert.
Yes but how it's perceived by a listener isn't so much. What's an organic sounding electric guitar and amp? If you mean minimal processing he used 4 Strats a Fender Custom Shop Tweed Twin Amp, a Leslie, Samson wireless pack, and some switching between for the Leslie. Hardly anything.
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deytookerjaabs
Friend of Leo's
Been there many times...
If you have a rig full of compression, preamp OD, etc, and we trade licks..... If we play the same rig I'm going to sound very close if not identical to you if we play the same licks.
If we have just a Les Paul Jr and a Deluxe reverb and we trade licks? Unless I completely nail your technique we're going to sound a bit different because those nuances in our pick attack, where we hold the pick/finger, and our left hand fluidity etc are going to become more illuminating than before.
I've done this exercise many times with guitar students. Even strumming a D chord somehow if we both do it through a cranked twin with a guitar we're going to sound more identifiable than if we both played through a signal chain defined rig. That's the beauty of the guitar!
Even the most basic comparison of a digital piano versus an upright piano in real life illuminates these little differences. And, I'd say that if your argument is "oh well but the listener doesn't....." I'd argue back: Does the listener hear sound better? Or do they analyze notes/harmony more than sound?
I'd say the average listener hears sound first, and if they even can notes/harmony/time second.
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So are you saying amp, cord and guitar is "organic?
Ha! I hope you don't! Where in MD are you?
deytookerjaabs
Friend of Leo's
Lol, on the Eastern Shore, just moved here from Nashville.
I don't know how to describe it with words? It's like if I play a Hot Rod Deluxe on "3" with the master down it will get a buzzy/feedback marshall-like sound in a certain way. But, if I crank the ole late 60's half stack I sold with the guitar straight in-ish something completely different happens, I'm reacting to the sound more versus just attacking the board. And, the tone is less forgiving and less compressed. Something happens, it's part the player, part the volume, part the gear, but I'd say that something that happens is very real.
Clapton's playing on that Cream reunion is great, so is Bruce's. Yet, there is absolutely this bit of energy and attack in the instrumental part of the music that is absent versus the old days.
Les H
Tele-Holic
I remember anxiously awaiting this performance back then as I was on a deep dive of Cream at that time. There was a fair amount of speculation and excitement if Clapton was going to break out the Gibsons and Marshalls for the show. I remember thinking how could he not play a Gibson and a Marshall? Then when the performance aired and despite watching I was greatly disappointed. Other than watching a few tid bits here and the there on YouTube I never watched the whole performance again.
