the_dude1829 Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 ceart go leor, ive got a mexican strat and i want to customise the electronics. im a big fan of eric clapton and muse, and i would liek to add some stuff to get some of their effects. i already have decided on getting a mid booster circuit with a tbx tone control on it, as thats is how clapton gets his amazing distortion live, no amps or nothing, just the mid boost distrtion circuit. as well as that, i sometimes use an ebow to get infinite sustain and mess with melodys. so i want to integrate some sort of a sustainer unit. as well as that i want to change teh pickups, clapton has used lace sensors in the past, and ive been thinking about getting them for it. as for the pickups i want to possibly get rid of the selector switch and have a buttong beside each pickup so i can turn them on as i please and have any possibility i want. so as i know what i want, i just dont know how to get it, how would i go about ding all this, is it even possible, has anybody done anything simpler, can anybody think of anything else i could do to the guitar to make it better? ive been thinking about blocking teh tremeleo bridge and changing the saddles to some of those graphtech ones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 Clapton runs hot amps and quiet pickups. The MDX system helps contour the signal and provides a nice boost for solos, but the amps are running pretty flat out at 7-9, too. The guitar master volume is set to 1-3. Lace Sensors are nice pickups, but they're not vintage Clapton. They're more "Forever Man" than "Layla". He doesn't even use 'em anymore. Any quality single-coil pickup or noiseless pickup will work fine, though. Unless you're having problems breaking strings, I'd stay away from GraphTech unless you just want to kill your tone, too. They take away that nice Stratty, bell-like chime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 Clapton runs hot amps and quiet pickups. The MDX system helps contour the signal and provides a nice boost for solos, but the amps are running pretty flat out at 7-9, too. The guitar master volume is set to 1-3. You can get the same effect with a decent OD pedal, keeping the guitar volume rolled back until solo time. You'll have to experiment a bit to get a nice balance between the rhythm and lead, but it's doable. With the MDX you have to turn a knob anyway ... Lace Sensors are nice pickups, but they're not vintage Clapton. They're more "Forever Man" than "Layla". He doesn't even use 'em anymore. Any quality single-coil pickup or noiseless pickup will work fine, though. That's a great way to describe the difference. Good job. Unless you're having problems breaking strings, I'd stay away from GraphTech unless you just want to kill your tone, too. They take away that nice Stratty, bell-like chime. +1. Use real bent steel saddles to get that vintage tone. A genuine bone nut will help too. One more thing: Clapton uses the middle pickup a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samba Pa Ti Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 its strange ive got a lot of lace sensors and they all seem to have that classic single coil sound, ive heard people call them sterile and overrated but ive also seen a lot of people using them (amatures and pro's) pete townshend and clapton to name 2, i think clapton used lace pickups (a set of 3 gold sensors) to perform layla live many times thru the 80's and 90's and i think i remember him using them on a guitar at that recent (last couple of years) cream concert at the royal albert hall. that said ive also seen him use the fender vintage noiseless pickups (which i dont know anything about) i havent tried them so couldnt say if they were any good, but the same tones (old songs dont seem to change much live even though the hardware does) seem to be achievable with both types of pickup. maybe it comes down to effects, theres a few songs (shes waiting/white room) on the live aid concert (disk 3) that seem to be flooded with effects (chorus/wah) maybe thats where the 'sound' comes from.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 the sound comes from Clapton that's why he can use an SG, Strat, Martin with any kind of pickup & still sound like Clapton. I've got a strat with the Clapton mods & to be honest, I hate the mid-boost. The Fender Gold Lace's are ok but I'd prefer the red-silver-blue set as the current ones are a little too clean & transparent for my tastes. Apart from the strat my only other onboard effect is an MXR EQ built into a custom build. I find the EQ much more versatile & can be used as a boost just like the Clapton mod but does so much more. I'd personally go for an EQ pedal or even a DOD OD250 or similar...at least then you can use it with any guitar, not just the one that has the effect built in. [EDIT]...& another thing...The Clapton mid boost needs a battery to be put somewhere. I've blocked off the trem as I never use it & put the battery in the spring cavity but the battery is actually too thick so I can only fit the four corner screws onto the cover. Most people just stick it under the scratchplate but you can only access it by removing the strings & taking the plate off...not very good if the battery dies mid-set as the guitar won't work at all. If you have an external box at least you can bypass it, fit a new battery or hook it up to the mains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samba Pa Ti Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 the sound comes from Clapton that's why he can use an SG, Strat, Martin with any kind of pickup & still sound like Clapton. I've got a strat with the Clapton mods & to be honest, I hate the mid-boost. The Fender Gold Lace's are ok but I'd prefer the red-silver-blue set as the current ones are a little too clean & transparent for my tastes. Apart from the strat my only other onboard effect is an MXR EQ built into a custom build. I find the EQ much more versatile & can be used as a boost just like the Clapton mod but does so much more. I'd personally go for an EQ pedal or even a DOD OD250 or similar...at least then you can use it with any guitar, not just the one that has the effect built in. [EDIT]...& another thing...The Clapton mid boost needs a battery to be put somewhere. I've blocked off the trem as I never use it & put the battery in the spring cavity but the battery is actually too thick so I can only fit the four corner screws onto the cover. Most people just stick it under the scratchplate but you can only access it by removing the strings & taking the plate off...not very good if the battery dies mid-set as the guitar won't work at all. If you have an external box at least you can bypass it, fit a new battery or hook it up to the mains. i cut the bottom off my pickguard (the bottom 2 tones) so i could change the battery on my internal fuzzface, its a bit like a duo sonic with the metal part of the scratchplate and imo a defect in the strat design... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 Funny, in my 50 Years of the Fender Strat book, it shows one of George Fullerton's personal Strats. He used a metal control panel much like the Jag and mounted the volume and tone control out of the way of his hands. Keep in mind that Leo designed the guitar around his test players of the day--and most of them were chickin' pickers, not windmill artists! I actually routed a small cavity for a pop-up battery box in the back of my Strat for my EMGs. I think you could probably nail most of Clapton's and Gilmour's tones with the EMG-DG pro series setup, but you gotta have those hands... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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