Should Clapton have really played a strat for this?

[421JAM]

Should have played a Strat? Yes. Absolutely. That's what he does.

If you want to hear all that music played on the original gear, then go spin one of the albums or watch one of the many videos available.
If you want to hear what these players have evolved into, and hear them play their old music in that vein, then listen to the excellent recordings/videos of what they did more recently. Take it as served.
Isn't it a little odd to have a famous group play something, and then be told by others how they should have done it?

You know, when people go see Paul McCartney, they like seeing the Hofner. It's a visual cue that has incalculable value and meaning.

Nobody is suggesting how Clapton should have played. Rather, they are saying they'd like a closer approximation in sound to the band that is being advertised, and they'd like to see some of the really cool old gear, which, for many, adds to the authenticity of the experience. What Cream fan wouldn't want to see Clapton play The Fool?

 

[TheFuzzDog]

Side note: I watched an Eric Clapton Rig Rundown and his strats now have a 3-way switch, which I find wildly ironic and y'all know why....

We don’t all know why.

 

[Telenator]

I see your point, but just talking about this ONE moment...
If you are gonna do a Cream reunion show, why wouldn't you present what you know, folks wanted to hear and see? Even if just a one-off show.

Bring out 'The Fool' Guitars, get the hippie clothes and afros, and go for it- have fun!

Folks would have gone nuts, maybe lightened up, what seemed like a tense show.
Or just not do it if everyone ( Cream) were miserable
Just my opinion

Because they're better than that.

It's like seeing Marlo Thomas, "That Girl" at 83 years old with the same haircut she had on her old TV show. It reeks of sadness and clinging to a memory that she will not be recognized without it. Same goes Barbra Eden, "I Dream of Jeannie."

Cream made a conscious decision to not masquerade as caricatures of themselves. It was not a self-tribute show. They were Cream as they stood and performed in that moment. I thoroughly respect that.

There will always be naysayers on one side or the other of any given situation. But ultimately, Cream chose to do what they did and "I'm So Glad" they did.

I love the way Cream did their reunion performance. Proud and present. I think they sounded better in many ways than they did back in the day. We really have no right to tell them "how to be Cream." Their legacy lives on regardless of what they were wearing or playing.

(Edited for spelling)

 

[fenderchamp]

Clapton's life was a lot harder than most of the bluesmen he admired. I'm not sure it's fair to compare his playing from before the heroin and the loss of his son to afterwards.

I'm not saying EC hasn't had some tribulations in his life but really?

I dunno about this.

 

[TheCheapGuitarist]

We don’t all know why.

He spent decades in either of the two "in-between" positions.

 

[TheCheapGuitarist]

Cream made a conscious decision to not masquerade as caricatures of themselves. It was not a self-tribute show. They were Cream as they stood and performed in that moment. I thoroughly respect that.

Okay, let's play make-believe for a moment: suppose Van Halen did that last tour with Eddie playing a S-S-S strat through low-gain Music Man amps, and thousands of people paid $$ for tickets.

 

[421JAM]

Perhaps you aren't aware that in the fifties, young Black men in Chicago had better prospects than young men in London. The losses from the bombings were unspeakable; they had no way to vent their rage. They were still rebuilding, and there were no production jobs, yet. Just the dole.

But first they had to get to Chicago, which involved uprooting their lives in the south, leaving their families behind, and moving to Chicago with little to no money, where they knew nobody and had to hustle on the streets until they found a job.

That's an awful lot of life changing tradeoffs and risks for a "prospect."

If London was too tough for Clapton, he could have done what his heroes did and moved somewhere with better prospects. But he didn't because he, like many of his peers, was comfortably enrolled in art college. A pretty good prospect, I'd say. A prospect which his heroes didn't have access to.

 

[Telenator]

I'm trying to address what is real here. A bunch of guys known as Cream got together and played a reunion gig.
They chose to do it as they did. A lot of people, myself included, salute that choice. Others don't. So?

No matter what a group does, there will be those who like it and others who don't. We can't control that. We can only choose to accept it, or not. I think enough people seriously enjoyed it to call it "a success."

Eddie Van Halen Played a Peavey guitar on tour and I don't remember anyone complaining, but I'm sure they were some.

(edited for spelling)

 

[TheCheapGuitarist]

I'm trying to address what is real here. A bunch of guys known as Cream got together and played a reunion gig.
They chose to do it as they did. A lot of people, myself included, salute that choice. Others don't. So?

No matter what a group does, there will be those who like it and others who don't. We can't control that. We can only choose to accept it, or not. I think enough people seriously enjoyed it to call it "a success."

Eddie Van Halen Played a Peavey guitar on tour and I don't remember anyone complaining, but I'm sure they were some.

(edited for spelling)

That Peavey guitar had humbuckers, didn't it?

 

[fender4life]

I believe Clapton's Strat works for some songs... but, others fall a little short of "girth."

As we know, humbuckers have a "Creamier" (pun intended) and naturally thicker tone to em.

A single coil, Strat, neck pu, is just going to fall short of that hb tone.

Even with the mid boost.

Especially, at achieving the "woman tone" he was noted for, at that time.

Some of those Cream classics require that "woman tone."

I dont believe a Strat is capable of getting that exact tone.


imo.

Exactly, and I don't understand why he used a strat for that. Even with a mid boost strats and gibsons are light years apart, and cream stuff NEEDS the gibson because that was a huge part of why it sounded the way it did. Old man or not, what does that matter? I guess he just doesn't care about capturing what those songs were. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but if it were me i'd feel wrong about it.

 

[Chiogtr4x]

Okay, let's play make-believe for a moment: suppose Van Halen did that last tour with Eddie playing a S-S-S strat through low-gain Music Man amps, and thousands of people paid $$ for tickets.

Th

Okay, let's play make-believe for a moment: suppose Van Halen did that last tour with Eddie playing a S-S-S strat through low-gain Music Man amps, and thousands of people paid $$ for tickets.

This was kind of my point about my last post about Cream, going ahead doing reunion show with old gear, and maybe even get with clothing/lights -just embrace the moment

It would have been different or acceptable if Cream had ( hypothetical) been playing all along, and the reunion show sound was what they had evolved into.
So for me, it would NOT have been a caricature-
Just putting on the Cream show we were hoping for- OK if it were one-time performance art

 

[rand z]

Exactly, and I don't understand why he used a strat for that. Even with a mid boost strats and gibsons are light years apart, and cream stuff NEEDS the gibson because that was a huge part of why it sounded the way it did. Old man or not, what does that matter? I guess he just doesn't care about capturing what those songs were. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but if it were me i'd feel wrong about it.

Actually, I believe he's comfortable with the Strat and "that's... that."

............................................................................................

Additionally:

With Cream he used a lot of vibrato.

It was a "beautiful thing!"

And, I miss it in his playing from the 80's to present.

The flatter radius of Gibson's fretboard would have made it easier to achieve that vibrato.

Fender's old 9.5 radius would make it a bit harder, but not a style changer!

Whatever, he has chosen not to use it playing mostly Strats.

It would be one of the first things that I would ask him... if we met.

"Why no vibrato, Eric?"

Kinda strange?

imo.

 

[Telenator]

That Peavey guitar had humbuckers, didn't it?

All gather round for the "splitting of the hairs."
I understand that, to you, these things are important. On the other hand, it seems that these details were not important to so many fans of both bands.

 

[421JAM]

If Clapton had played Gibsons, many people would have thought it made the show better, and virtually nobody would have thought it made the show worse. Clapton knows that.

 

[421JAM]

So this thread has me thinking...

The core group that played on Beano is still alive. If there was a Bluesbreakers reunion specifically for that album/lineup, and Clapton played a Strat through a Fender amp, would that be more, less, or equally bad/good as Clapton playing a Strat with Cream?

I suspect most people in the guitar world would think Clapton was being a t-word if he did that.

 

[Swirling Snow]

So this thread has me thinking...

The core group that played on Beano is still alive. If there was a Bluesbreakers reunion specifically for that album/lineup, and Clapton played a Strat through a Fender amp, would that be more, less, or equally bad/good as Clapton playing a Strat with Cream?

I suspect most people in the guitar world would think Clapton was being a t-word if he did that.

 

[brookdalebill]

Yeah!
Buddy Whittington, on guitar, too.
Yeah!

 

[black_doug]

Bottom line is that a song done in concert will never match the recording. The video above in post #116 by @Swirling Snow proves it.

The sound on the recording is a combination, not only of guitar and amp model and the settings, but it’s also the microphone, mic placement, number of mics, and the room where the recording was made. Then we have whatever effects were added, in addition to the amount of compression, and so on.

 

[getbent]

we often hear with our eyes, think with our heart, feel with our expectations, and fill the blanks with our presumptions.

 

[elihu]

Actually, I believe he's comfortable with the Strat and "that's... that."

............................................................................................

Additionally:

With Cream he used a lot of vibrato.

It was a "beautiful thing!"

And, I miss it in his playing from the 80's to present.

The flatter radius of Gibson's fretboard would have made it easier to achieve that vibrato.

Fender's old 9.5 radius would make it a bit harder, but not a style changer!

Whatever, he has chosen not to use it playing mostly Strats.

It would be one of the first things that I would ask him... if we met.

"Why no vibrato, Eric?"

Kinda strange?

imo.

His solo starts about 3:35...lots of vibrato.

we often hear with our eyes, think with our heart, feel with our expectations, and fill the blanks with our presumptions.

I think you're screwing with my mind....

wait...