Comments on: Did Eric Clapton sound better on a Gibson Guitar?

By: Peter

Peter — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 03:35:46 +0000

I much prefer Clapton’s Gibson to his Fender tone, mainly because I prefer Eric’s 60′s music to his solo stuff, and I believe his tone was spot on for it

By: Ray

Ray — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 20:43:39 +0000

As far as my opinion is concerned . I like the tone of the Gibson & SG

His latest tone that he has been using on all his Strats sound flat and like a whistle. Every time he hits a string to achieve a certain tone they all sound the same . A very mid range flat whistle sound . All his strats sound the same .
He always said he does not like a country high pitch thin twangy tone . Like a Rockabilly style . ( Telecaster ) . He appears to like a loud flat Bravado style from what I can see . But who am I Right .

I like the Joe Bonamassa Gibson tone . This guy has brought back Blues Rock to its fullest , Thank God.

Well thats my take

By: Andrés Pugliese

Andrés Pugliese — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 19:56:47 +0000

I guess Clapton can sound good in any guitar. But maybe that thick tone with the SG was just a phase in his life, the time of long hair and the time of doing crazy things (look at the colours of that SG!). And maybe he fell in love with the Strat sound when he played it… nobody knows. What I know for sure is that no matter what guitar he plugs in, he will always sound like himself and that’s what it’s all about.

By: dan w.

dan w. — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 22:15:28 +0000

the gibson always sounds better, much smoother. i grew up in daytona beachshores in the early 60s. duane& graig allman lived on the same street. vann ave. there band was called the allman joys at that time, and played at a small teen club called the wedge on main street. i was 15. there was a lot of garage band in daytona back then. duane used a gibson then. when they became the allman brothers band they played at the main street peir. duane could really play that les paul. he always had a cigarette stuck between the head and strings. i had a good freind pete carr i went through school with that played in the hour glass band with duane& graig.

By: Slug

Slug — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 20:48:40 +0000

Clapton may have played Gibsons early in his career but when he discovered the beauty of tone and practicality of the Strat design there was never going to be another guitar.

Once you’ve had Strat, you’ll never go back.

By: Jeffro

Jeffro — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 14:14:10 +0000

I’ve always been of the mind that with today’s tech, any quality guitar can sound pretty close to any other – the depth of the player’s emotion and sincerity, which will necessarily color his phrasing and intensity – really tell the tale. I think what EC said about the bridge on the Strat being more flush with the face of the guitar, thus allowing him to (almost inadvertantly) develop more fingerstyle-isms is really interesting. I’m not a Strat player, but it appears that players who use the thumb of their fretting hand lean toward Strats – To me, the neck of the Gibsons are more similar to the acoustics I grew up with, and still play most of the time.

On a psycho note – the shapes of the instruments – SG and the 335 guitars are symmetrical and the Strat is not – what would some guitar player psychoanalyst have to say about that? I mean, guitars are lovers of a sort – I know I love ‘em. Time to play!

By: John Tuggle

John Tuggle — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:22:02 +0000

One of my favorite solos of his is “Hard Times”. He blends the major and minor together great on that one.

When I was referring to chops, I was kinda referring to the Vai, Satriani style of chops. He does have great chops though!

By: John Tuggle

John Tuggle — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:17:42 +0000

Thanks for the comment. Yeah I agree, I would like to hear him play the Cream classics on a Gibson. They just kinda sound different when played on a strat. Still good though.

By: RICHARD CARBAJAL

RICHARD CARBAJAL — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:45:19 +0000

I remember back in the seventies the cool thing to do was to put Gibson frets on a strat. This made the guitar play smoother and easier like my gibson es335. The issue with me is playability. Any guitar will set limits on your playing ability due to its physical nature. Once you dial a strat and gibson in to maximum playability it get’s down to the sound differences of the two guitars. Eric sounded like a monster with his Gibson through a Marshall amp! That sound is the one I prefer and that was the one that made him famous. The eric clapton model strat has a circuit that allows the pickups to sound thicker like a humbucker. Now isn’t that interesting? So “let’s try to make the strat sound like a les paul”. The thing about it is that Eric plays the same chops regardless of what guitar he plays. He plays fast, he plays slow, he screams, he sounds sweet. Strat pickups are thinner sounding than humbuckers. I just wish he would pick up the gibson when he plays Crossroads,Whiteroom, sunshine of your love.. It just doesn’t sound the same on the strat.. Regardless of the circuit. Let it rain, after midnight sound great with the strat. Check this out. On ebay if you can find it. BBM cd. Bruce Baker and Moore.. moore uses a Paul through a marshall amp just like the old days. Buy it and listen. I think this will tell it all. Let me know what you think.

By: RICHARD CARBAJAL

RICHARD CARBAJAL — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:17:15 +0000

I am aproaching 60 years and have listened to and emulated Eric’s style all of my playing career.. I agree the Gibson humbucker guitars just sound better for playing Crossroads, sunshiine of your love, and Whiteroom. You can’t get that tone out of a strat with the same chunk and thickness.

On the other hand you can’t get the Let it rain, After midnight tones) out of a gibson humbucker guitar. Crossroads is all humbucker and mahogany.Let it rai is single coil and ash. What we have to understand is that Eric found sweet spots in all his guitars in given times and made history with the sounds in song.

Also I’d like to say that (aside from his sounds) he DOES have a lot of chops!

But what Sets Eric apart from Hendrix and Stevie is his incredible ability to play Major Minor intervals. in other words he jumps back and forth from that country scale to the blues scale and combines them to make phrases. He is the master of this!
Listen to him play Bottle of red wine on the derrick and domino’s live album or crossroads for that matter. It take’s a while to learn to play this way. I would still love to hear him waile on a Gibson! For chopping down tree’s there is no comparison.