Eric Clapton’s Woman Tone

[Larsongs]

On another Thread someone thought I was being rude to a new Guy that was trying to learn Slide on a Clapton song from his Teacher.. I asked if he was trying for the Woman Tone? It was a serious question & I wasn’t being rude..

Anyhow for those who may not be aware of Clapton’s Woman Tone here are a couple You Tubes.. 

There’s even a Woman Tone Pedal

 

Edited December 26, 2022 by Larsongs

[Whitefang]

I guess my question now would be....

WHY is it called a "woman" tone?  It doesn't really sound  all that feminine.   Several of us could tell it was a fairly unique tone compared to what most other guitarists were using back then.  Both Clapton's and Jimi's tones, though far different from each other's, were unique and probably for different reasons.  I was always told(by some who I realized knew more about this sort of thing) that Hendrix achieved his tone unwittingly, by having his Strat's body turned upside down. And that for left-handed play he had the 1st string over the pick-ups where the 6th would ordinarily be and on and on and so forth with all the remaining strings. And that the pick-ups were attuned to each string in the proper order for right-handed play.   And to think they acquired all this without the need to clutter the stage with a few dozen stomp boxes and crap.  And still managing to sound good without monitors or earpods.  

Whitefang

[RBSinTo]

11 hours ago, Larsongs said:

On another Thread someone thought I was being rude to a new Guy that was trying to learn Slide on a Clapton song from his Teacher.. I asked if he was trying for the Woman Tone? It was a serious question & I wasn’t being rude..

Anyhow for those who may not be aware of Clapton’s Woman Tone here are a couple You Tubes.. 

There’s even a Woman Tone Pedal

 

".....a new Guy....." ?????????

I've been posting here for at least four or five years, or at least long enough for many people to really dislike me, so where have you been?

RBSinTo

 

[badbluesplayer]

Roight!

 

[Dub-T-123]

2 hours ago, Whitefang said:

I guess my question now would be....

WHY is it called a "woman" tone?  It doesn't really sound  all that feminine.   Several of us could tell it was a fairly unique tone compared to what most other guitarists were using back then.  Both Clapton's and Jimi's tones, though far different from each other's, were unique and probably for different reasons.  I was always told(by some who I realized knew more about this sort of thing) that Hendrix achieved his tone unwittingly, by having his Strat's body turned upside down. And that for left-handed play he had the 1st string over the pick-ups where the 6th would ordinarily be and on and on and so forth with all the remaining strings. And that the pick-ups were attuned to each string in the proper order for right-handed play.   And to think they acquired all this without the need to clutter the stage with a few dozen stomp boxes and crap.  And still managing to sound good without monitors or earpods.  

Whitefang

That is a thoroughly incorrect assessment of Jimi’s sound if I’ve ever read one 

[RBSinTo]

All this by simply mentioning that I bought a slide to help learn a song.

RBSinTo

[Larsongs]

45 minutes ago, RBSinTo said:

All this by simply mentioning that I bought a slide to help learn a song.

RBSinTo

Whitefang thought I was insulting you.. He is or was unfamiliar with Clapton’s Woman Tone.. Honest mistake.. Lots of things I’ve never heard of…

Personally I loved the Sound Clapton had with Cream.. And I love his Acoustic Playing…

[RBSinTo]

3 minutes ago, Larsongs said:

Whitefang thought I was insulting you.. He is or was unfamiliar with Clapton’s Woman Tone.. Honest mistake.. Lots of things I’ve never heard of…

Personally I loved the Sound Clapton had with Cream.. And I love his Acoustic Playing…

Larsongs,

I didn't think you were insulting, so no problem.

As for Clapton's tone, I wouldn't know it if it bit me on the a$$.

Or care.

 My musical knowledge is very limited, and my taste in music very pedestrian.

I heard " Give me strength", liked it, mentioned it to my teacher who decided to push me to both learn the lead part, and as a consequence learn how to play with a slide.

End of the tale.

RBSinTo

 

[Whitefang]

21 hours ago, Tman said:

I thought Clap Tone is that caused by venereal disease on wood?

Could be wrong though.

Really, you can't get ANY clap or other venereal disease without "wood".     At least to make it worthwhile catching it.

19 hours ago, Larsongs said:

Whitefang thought I was insulting you.. He is or was unfamiliar with Clapton’s Woman Tone.. Honest mistake.. Lots of things I’ve never heard of…

Personally I loved the Sound Clapton had with Cream.. And I love his Acoustic Playing…

Actually, it turns out I WAS familiar with the tone.  Just until now never heard it called that.  And still no explanation for the name.

And I did mention me and all my guitar playing compatriots liked Clapton's tone with Cream too.

21 hours ago, Dub-T-123 said:

That is a thoroughly incorrect assessment of Jimi’s sound if I’ve ever read one 

Just passing on what I've heard and read over the years.  And it did sort of make sense to me as back in times when stomp boxes and pedals weren't an industry in itself the reason for Jimi's Strat's tone being different from other guitarists playing Strats needed some kind of explanation.  And when seeing him live with nothing on the stage in front of him but the mic stand and his guitar sounding so different in tone from the opening band's guitarist also playing a Strat through a Marshall stack, well, gotta wonder.

 

Whitefang

Edited December 27, 2022 by Whitefang

[Pinch]

Here's a golden retriever:

[Pinch]

1 minute ago, Whitefang said:

   Your attempt to change the subject?  Or what.............

It's my pointing out we're waaay off topic. 

Or something. 

I threw in a dog to lighten moods further. 

Now off to play guitar. 

[Pinch]

Did jvi pass out? 

[jvi]

pass out what ? whine ?  ( thats a joke )

[SteveFord]

I have no idea what any of this has to do with somebody rolling off the tone knob but I hear this is the latest craze:

 

[Dub-T-123]

11 hours ago, Whitefang said:Just passing on what I've heard and read over the years.  And it did sort of make sense to me as back in times when stomp boxes and pedals weren't an industry in itself the reason for Jimi's Strat's tone being different from other guitarists playing Strats needed some kind of explanation.  And when seeing him live with nothing on the stage in front of him but the mic stand and his guitar sounding so different in tone from the opening band's guitarist also playing a Strat through a Marshall stack, well, gotta wonder.

 

Whitefang

The bridge pickup angle is one of the least significant parts of the whole thing but Jimi is THE pioneer of using multiple effects pedals at once. He was all about pedals and it’s really hard not to notice them 

[Larsongs]

I read or heard in one of Clapton’s interviews a long time ago… That he thought it reminded him of a Woman moaning in ecstasy.. Hence the term, Woman Tone..

Although my original point was not about origins. It was to set it straight that I was not insulting the OP of that Thread as suggested… That’s all.

While I may not agree with someone’s view I do my best not to insult anyone.. 

BTW, this Thread was supposed to be about Woman Tone.. Not Politics… 

Edited December 28, 2022 by Larsongs

[duane v]

This is getting old taking threads and going completely off topic.

I'm going to make an attempt at trying to clean this one up, but if this continues I'm going to hand out vacations. 

[Whitefang]

12 hours ago, Dub-T-123 said:

The bridge pickup angle is one of the least significant parts of the whole thing but Jimi is THE pioneer of using multiple effects pedals at once. He was all about pedals and it’s really hard not to notice them 

I'd say a pioneer of using multiple effects, but usually probably in the studio as the three times I saw him in concert(from '68 to late '69) there were NO  pedals (as really back then the pedals available were a fuzz box and a cry baby)  cluttering up the stage at his feet.  

Whitefang

[Whitefang]

1 hour ago, Larsongs said:

I read or heard in one of Clapton’s interviews a long time ago… That he thought it reminded him of a Woman moaning in ecstasy.. Hence the term, Woman Tone..

Although my original point was not about origins. It was to set it straight that I was not insulting the OP of that Thread as suggested… That’s all.

While I may not agree with someone’s view I do my best not to insult anyone.. 

BTW, this Thread was supposed to be about Woman Tone.. Not Politics… 

Thanks for that info.  But I'd have to now wonder which particular woman's ecstasy moan he refers to.   I'm not nor ever have been a "Don Juan", but I doubt EVERY woman sounds the same in that situation.    And as he wasn't with Pattie back then it needs more research, eh?  

Whitefang

[Larsongs]

10 minutes ago, Whitefang said:

Thanks for that info.  But I'd have to now wonder which particular woman's ecstasy moan he refers to.   I'm not nor ever have been a "Don Juan", but I doubt EVERY woman sounds the same in that situation.    And as he wasn't with Pattie back then it needs more research, eh?  

Whitefang

I’m sure there were no shortage of women in his life.. Plenty of Woman Tone to inspire his Sound… LOL.. 

[kidblast]

So I just asked google, cuz that dude seems ta know everything.

In the late 60s, guitarists had sworn allegiance to the bright, clean tones and twangy distortion – the sonic zeitgeist of the era. Not Eric Clapton. The world took note of Clapton’s uncanny and high-voiced guitar tone first heard on the opening riff of the track “Sunshine of Your Love”.

In an interview with Beat Instrumental in August ’67, Clapton called it the Woman Tone. Some felt that was a gimmicky name for a tone that is honky, tough, and snarling. Others argued that it was harmonically rich, buttery-smooth, and had the lingering, spectral sustain one would imagine in a Siren’s voice.

To Eric, it was a vox humana, akin to a sultry feminine ooooh with a generous dose of vibrato. Either way, it’s a radically different tone from anything the world was used to at that point. It remains, even to this day, one of the most sought after tones that guitarists try to recreate.

for more gripping and fascinating facts, go here:  What is the Woman Tone? How to recreate it on the guitar? - Killer Guitar Rigs

 

Edited December 28, 2022 by kidblast

[Mr. Gibson]

I can’t see why a thread that goes off topic is a bad thing that deserves a vacation for a poster. Unless it’s a nasty thing they said, then ya they should take a leave of absence for awhile. 

[Sgt. Pepper]

Maybe he called it woman tone cause he thought it was b-itchy.

For that tone, don't you just use the neck pup and turn the tone way down and turn the volume way up. You can achieve it but your not gonna sound like Eric. I think it also helps if your guitar is painted by some Dutch guys.

Edited December 29, 2022 by Sgt. Pepper

[Whitefang]

Lemme throw in another wrench.  🥴

I'd say the only other unique tone in that time period was Randy California's.

                             

Randy too, was pretty unique for his time.

Whitefang

[IanHenry]

I always thought the Woman tone was a reference specifically  to Eric's tone on "We're Going Wrong" from the Disraeli Gears album.