This will take the speaker breakup out of the equation. If need be, you could use an amp attenuator like the Weber MASS 200. It’s a combination of power tube saturation, preamp saturation and speaker breakup. Sorry, but you just have to push some air. Early Marshall amps were based on Fender tweed amps - in particular, the tweed Bassman, which the first Marshalls were based on. As much as I like pedals and the many options of overdrive that exist, they just don’t fully nail this tone.Īs nice as it is to use a Marshall JTM-45 or Plexi, we can approximate that sound using a tweed amp. I do think the relationship between the guitar and amp must remain the same as Clapton’s. That being said, let’s run through some combinations to get you in the ballpark. Because no matter what, you’ll always be missing one element: the original player. As with recreating any tone, you can only come so close. You don’t need to own all vintage gear to recreate Clapton’s tone of this period. Make sure to place your wah before any drive pedals. This is worth noting when using pedals to achieve gain. Since Clapton played straight into the amp, we know the wah came before any gain staging. Its throw range is a little wider than the Dunlop Cry Baby. The Vox wah sounds a bit different from the Dunlop (inventor of the wah-wah, in 1966). PedalsĬlapton’s only pedal during this period was a Vox Clyde McCoy Wah - often referred to as an Italian wah (Vox by then had moved production from California to Italy). It’s a simple chain, but every element is extremely important. Lower-output humbuckers have a sweeter tone. Higher-output humbuckers not only result in more gain but also create a harsher tone. This interaction of lower-output humbuckers into a Bluesbreaker is very important. There are a few differences in the models from those two years, but one common thread is that the pickups were lower-output than are a lot of modern humbuckers. As I’ve said, Clapton’s Les Paul was either a ’59 or ’60. Pickups play a big role in the tone of this period. It not only cuts some of the highs, but also adds some honk. Not all the way, but maybe three quarters back. One important component in this tone is the Les Paul tone knob. So, in short, a modern Les Paul wired to modern specs run into an old-school Marshall isn’t gonna get you the woman tone. I believe it also played a role in the gain staging of Clapton’s Marshalls. The side effect is that you lose a little volume. With ’50s wiring, you can roll back the tone knob and get more of that “honk”. Modern wiring sounds more like a bass boost to me. I also find that when you roll back the tone knob, these guitars sound more natural and less hyped. With ’50s wiring on Gibson guitars, you retain more high-end as you roll back the volume. I find this to be really important to getting his “woman tone”. See a trend here? I mentioned ’50s wiring. Both of these guitars also have humbucker pickups. During the Cream era, he also used a ’64 SG and a ’64 ES-335. GuitarĬlapton’s guitar on the Beano record was a ’59 or ’60 Les Paul Standard. A Les Paul with ’50s wiring played straight into a Marshall 1962 model amp turned all the way up will deliver what many consider the elusive Clapton tone. There is also no sign of one in any of the photos of the sessions. This is confirmed by the recording engineer. Despite rumors on the internet about Clapton using a Rangemaster, he says that he never did. This particular overdrive from the Bluesbreaker combo is often mistakenly attributed to a Dallas Arbiter Rangemaster treble booster. The humbuckers on the various Gibson guitars he used in the Bluesbreakers/Cream era pushed the amp harder than single coils could - pushing it into more overdrive. The distortion you hear on the “ Beano” record and Clapton’s other 1960s recordings is from the amp being cranked. Open-back cabs have a little more high-end. The combo version of the JTM-45 (Bluesbreaker) had an open-back cab with two 12” speakers. The JTM-45 uses KT66 output tubes and a GZ34 rectifier tube, giving the amp about 35 watts of power. In John Mayall & the Blues Breakers, he was using a Marshall Bluesbreaker - a JTM-45 combo amp. AmpsĬlapton worked his amps by pushing them to their limits. He rarely used much more than a wah, and contrary to speculation, he never used a treble booster or a fuzz. Clapton’s tone is simpler than you may think. Many rumors have circulated over the years, especially concerning the early Blues Breaker records. There’s been a lot of discussion about Eric Clapton’s tone.
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