Description
Player’s Perspective
We’re stoked to present this beautiful Eric Clapton Signature Stratocaster from the Fender Custom Shop! This one’s in a classy Mercedes Blue finish. Here’s a fun fact: the Eric Clapton Stratocaster was the Fender Custom Shop’s first Fender artist signature guitar, and the non-Custom Shop version was the first Fender artist signature production line guitar!
It all starts with the model. Eric Clapton’s original Blackie was a bit of a cobbled-together Fender “partscaster” from the 1950s – a ’56 body, and a ’57 neck. This strong late-’50s influence definitely came through in all of his subsequent signature models years later – the v-shape neck and one-piece maple construction makes this a classic ’50s-style Strat, through and through.
From there, though, the modern enhancements that “Slowhand” himself prefers shine brightly. The Vintage Noiseless pickups that have all the amazing vintage Strat tone you could ever want without the annoying 60-cycle hum will help you a lot on stage and in the studio. In addition to sounding just as good as any classic Strat out there, these pickups make this Strat an excellent rock guitar, allowing you to play higher-octane riffs and soaring solos using high-gain settings with zero noise – which is something Clapton did a lot of himself while riffing on power ballads through Soldano amps in the 1980s. And speaking of high gain, the onboard active mid-boost circuit allows you to punch through a crowded mix on demand, or simply drive your amp extra hard for some searing distortion.
Lastly, this guitar features a blocked/decked vintage tremolo as per Clapton’s preference. Forgoing a floating trem, this essentially makes the guitar a hardtail, giving you rock-solid tuning stability and increased resonance and sustain.
You know you’re getting a special instrument in your hands any time you pick up something built by Fender’s Custom Shop team, and this guitar is sure to not only meet but exceed your expectations!
Details
Built to Clapton’s specs, the Custom Shop Eric Clapton Signature Stratocaster® guitar features an alder body, special soft V-shaped maple neck, three Vintage Noiseless™ pickups, blocked tremolo and Clapton’s signature on the headstock.
Features
- Select alder body; Black, Mercedes Blue or Midnight Blue finish
- Three Vintage Noiseless™ single-coil Strat® pickups
- “Soft V”-shaped neck; 9.5″-radius maple fingerboard with 22 vintage-style frets
- Five-position blade pickup switch; TBX™ tone control; active mid boost
- Blocked tremolo; Eric Clapton signature on headsotck
- Includes deluxe hardshell case, strap and Certificate of Authenticity
Fender®, Squier®, Stratocaster®, Telecaster®, Precision Bass®, Jazz Bass® and the distinctive headstock designs commonly found on the Strat®, Tele® & P Bass® guitars are registered trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation
