Eric Clapton Stratocaster - Background

Background

In 1981, Fender had informally discussed the idea of a signature model Telecaster with the legendary James Burton; however, this would not come to be until 1990. Jeff Beck had also been offered a signature model Stratocaster, but he rejected the idea until 1991, when he opted for an Artist Series signature guitar based on the Fender Stratocaster Plus Series models of 1987.

Eric Clapton, though he had played Fender Telecasters and Jazzmasters in his brief career with The Yardbirds, would attain "guitar god" status while playing models such as the Gibson Les Paul, Firebird, ES-335 and SG whilst a member of Cream. However, in 1970, for his landmark Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs with a new band, Derek and the Dominos, Clapton switched to a tobacco sunburst Stratocaster from 1956, nicknamed "Brownie". This was in part due to the influence of his former Blind Faith bandmate Steve Winwood. He later assembled the best parts of three mid-'50s Strats to create his favorite guitar, the famous "Blackie", a black composite Stratocaster which he played for many years. Both guitars would later sell for record prices at auction. When Blackie finally wore out, Eric and the Fender Custom Shop began to work on a signature guitar modeled after the artist's original instrument.

In 1985, Dan Smith approached Clapton to discuss a plan to create a signature guitar built to his own specifications and market it under his name. Clapton told them to make an exact copy of Blackie, his favorite stage guitar at the time. Clapton's personal preference for the neck shape was the soft "V" of the early Martins. Fender made up a neck and put it on an Elite Stratocaster body. In the meantime, another prototype has been made with a softer V neck that Clapton liked even more. Among the Elite's features was a 12dB MDX mid-boost circuit (developed and designed by Paul Gagon, James Demeter and John Carruthers) which makes the single-coils sounding like a humbucker. Clapton liked the boost (which he called a "compressor") and told Fender to keep it, but wanted more "compression", prompting Fender to replace the "Elite" pickups with Gold Lace Sensor pickups and an updated MDX circuit that had been tweaked up to 25dB boost in the midrange at around 500 Hz.

Clapton first used Gold Lace Sensors on three prototype signature models built by George Blanda - one was finished in Torino Red and the other two in Pewter Grey Metallic - in the "Prince Trust Live Aid", "Live in Montreux" and "Eric Clapton and friends Live 1986" DVDs from 1986. The two Pewter guitars had been refitted with 22-fret necks made from birdseye and flame maple built by Texas luthier Michael Stevens two years later (the flame neck was installed in February 1988; the birdseye neck went on the other guitar in early September of that year), with the body of the latter refinished in Candy Green for a short time in 1989.

At Clapton's personal request, the flame maple neck has been removed from one of his two Pewter Stratocasters and put into a new black alder body built by master builder Jay W. Black in 1990. The "smoker's models" (nicknamed for their cigarette holder placed on the back of the headstock) would become the basis for the final production version (which was initially offered in Torino Red, Candy Green and Pewter, followed by Black in 1991 and Olympic White in 1994) and were Clapton's main instruments of choice for live and studio use from 1988 to 1993.