Jimi Mac Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Never seen this footage before... I was shocked to see him playing an Explorer! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lVCYaKxCrw Neat footage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Neat footage indeed, Jimi. I've seen him quite a few times but only once did he pick up an Explorer. It might have been the same tour - it was certainly back around that time ('83). But he's been associated with his famous 'Clapton-Cut' '58 Explorer for at least the last 30 years. Here's the (un-cropped) snap from the back of his 1975 'There's One in Every Crowd' album; I believe Gibson put out an extremely small (3? 5?) number of official replicas of this guitar; one of which is owned by our very own AXE®. I think Clapton also has a non-cut-down '58 as well but others will know better than me on that score. P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimi Mac Posted July 4, 2014 Author Share Posted July 4, 2014 I totally prefer him on a Gibson! Blues-Breakers Beano album says it all and was the first Les Paul Holy Grail tone... I like The Fool SG with Cream, and if I'm not mistaken his original recording of Crossroads was on an ES335 from Cream days, and we've also seen the footage of him noodling on a reverse Firebird... Of course in more contemporary times, including since I've seen him in Y2K, and before, he pulls out a myriad of vintage Gibsons and other guitars doing perfect renditions of original blues tunes like Freddie King's "Tore Down" and Elmore James' "It Hurts Me Too." But to my recollection he really doesn't pull out a Les Paul any more, at least not in recent times... Although I do recall him playing one off and on in the 80's with Mark Knopfler... I'd just never seen the Explorere in his hands before and now that you mention it I can see that the body is more diminutive than normal... I didn't realize they made a "Clapton Cut" Explorer... THAT needs to be reissued!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 I totally prefer him on a Gibson!..... I'd just never seen the Explorer in his hands before and now that you mention it I can see that the body is more diminutive than normal... I didn't realize they made a "Clapton Cut" Explorer... THAT needs to be reissued!!! I like EC when he was playing his 'Beano', 'Brownie' and 'Blackie' in equal measure, I suppose. It would be nice if they were to offer it to the public. I remember the last time I saw one of the 'Cut' R-I's up for sale the owner was asking $10,000. There are quite a few folks who have made their own copy, though. Type 'Clapton Cut Explorer' into google and you'll see lots of home-made versions. Whilst we're on the subject; Here's the ad. featuring EC with his newly-acquired Music Man backline. It was running in the guitar mags in the late '70s just before I picked up my own M-M 2x12 65. P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Just for fun here's a link to a post by Rabs with another guitarist not normally associated with the Explorer. http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/113589-gary-moore-with-an-explorer/ P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimi Mac Posted July 4, 2014 Author Share Posted July 4, 2014 I like EC when he was playing his 'Beano', 'Brownie' and 'Blackie' in equal measure, I suppose. It would be nice if they were to offer it to the public. I remember the last time I saw one of the 'Cut' R-I's up for sale the owner was asking $10,000. There are quite a few folks who have made their own copy, though. Type 'Clapton Cut Explorer' into google and you'll see lots of home-made versions. Whilst we're on the subject; Here's the ad. featuring EC with his newly-acquired Music Man backline. It was running in the guitar mags in the late '70s just before I picked up my own M-M 2x12 65. P. Considering the era, and this Explorer discovery I've finally caught wind-of, I've been morally convinced as of late that EC was playing a Gibson on at least parts of his "EC Was Here" album... I have no confirmation of this, but it sounds so un-Strat-like that I'm convinced portions were recorded of him playing a Gibson but I just can't confirm it from anything I've seen... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1us48o7Ids I'd almost be willing to bet this was played on his Explorer... Having said that, his "Strat" tone is so un-Strat-like in itself that I suppose it could be Blackie or a subsequent replacement too... I think it's what defines his Strat tone; that it was so unique and unlike any other Strat tone ever... Which leads full circle back to the simple truism that; TONE IS IN THE HANDS! I find this rather self-evident because listening to Peter Green I am hard pressed often to discern when he was playing a Strat on his recordings and we all know he did with a fair amount of consistency... I can't say I'm not a fan, especially since he's what was responsible for my own entire Strat era in my youth where that's all I ever wanted or cared about for a guitar, but I think I've found I simply preferred his work on Gibsons thru the years and it solidifies my own contemporary guitar preferences now that I've "grown up." Having said that, I wouldn't want to see anything different in the hands of say SRV, , (Whom I never realized was originally from my home state in Boston/Quincy MA, as he's so associated w/California & surf music. I guess I did things backard; I was born in Southern CA and spent my first year of life in Los Angeles where my father was stationed in the US Air Force, before moving back to his home town in Western MA) Hank Marvin, Don Wilson or Nokie Edwards, or even Buddy Guy, than the Strats that inspired them to play the way they did! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 I saw him back then, he used the Explorer and the black Strat. George Terry, Carl Radle, Oldaker on drums, Marcy Levy, Yvonne Eliman, the whole bunch from those three records One in Every, ECWasHere(best record EVER)and 461. Awesome. Pippy and I have passed the Music Man ad back and forth a lot! rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 Just wonder if EC's Explorer was worth more in its original shape... If it had been the guitar of the average owner through all these years, it had to be as original as can be, but as an EC customized object? Probably it wouldn't make any difference. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimi Mac Posted July 5, 2014 Author Share Posted July 5, 2014 I saw him back then, he used the Explorer and the black Strat. George Terry, Carl Radle, Oldaker on drums, Marcy Levy, Yvonne Eliman, the whole bunch from those three records One in Every, ECWasHere(best record EVER)and 461. Awesome. Pippy and I have passed the Music Man ad back and forth a lot! rct "EC was here" is my favorite Clapton album for sure! It is one of my favorite versions of "Have You Ever Loved A Woman." (even over Freddy King & Peter Green) I'm hard-pressed to let it knock the original Derek & The Dominoes version with Duane Allman out of the top spot, but I'll put it right up there with it! I could tell George Terry was playing a Strat, but sometimes can't put my finger on whether Eric was using that Explorer or Blackie from song to song... But I do detect that Explorer's tones in alot of that era's work... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu-bud Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Just for fun here's a link to a post by Rabs with another guitarist not normally associated with the Explorer. http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/113589-gary-moore-with-an-explorer/ P. I've been playing around with this instructional by Andy Aledort, speaking of Mr. Moore. . . . http://www.guitarworld.com/deep-gary-moore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPARKLEJET Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 The Clapton that captured my attention played Gibsons. Never connected to him with a strat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailjunkie Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 I have read in a couple of places that, in fact, "EC Was Here" was performed on a Korina Explorer. I like the sound on that live album so much, for the longest time, I have been looking for a Korina Explorer (but, as most Explorers are relatively inexpensive, Korinas aint cheap). I actually prefer "EC Was Here" over the "Budakon" live collection, AND, on the remixed CD, they play ALL of "Driftin Blues" (featuring some very rare but tasty slide playing by Mr. Clapton)...on the album, the song fades out after about 5 minutes. On the CD, it is over 11 minutes long! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 I have read in a couple of places that, in fact, "EC Was Here" was performed on a Korina Explorer. I like the sound on that live album so much, for the longest time, I have been looking for a Korina Explorer (but, as most Explorers are relatively inexpensive, Korinas aint cheap). I actually prefer "EC Was Here" over the "Budakon" live collection, AND, on the remixed CD, they play ALL of "Driftin Blues" (featuring some very rare but tasty slide playing by Mr. Clapton)...on the album, the song fades out after about 5 minutes. On the CD, it is over 11 minutes long! I think the original faded after five because his slide playing was pretty awful. I never listen to it past the original fade out from back then. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailjunkie Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 I think the original faded after five because his slide playing was pretty awful. I never listen to it past the original fade out from back then. rct Hmm. Didn't think the slide solo was so bad. I figured they faded it after 5 min to fit in on vinyl. I could be wrong though.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjsinla Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 That video seems to have been lifted from the ARMS benefit concert for Ronnie Laine, London, 1983. You can find that complete video on YouTube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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