Eric Clapton's Gibson ES-335 "Cream" Tone Settings

[LesterPaul01]

No pedal, but you are using the gain channel. That's not natural ovedrive. Crank a fender super reverb past 8, then you would be on to something. rock on.

[finndigg]

Too tinny. Lacks warmth.

[Carthsgtr]

Completely out. I haven't even bothered to look at the amps or settings you used, but this sounds like a badly miked solid state amplifier with the volume on both the guitar and amp set at 2. Mediocre playing doesn't help, but honestly it just lacks that vintage warmth.

Pretty lazy stuff considering you could have atleast kicked up the bass on your amp and lowered the treble.

[KaptainKwasnik]

i couldn't help myself, I started to sing after he played Crossroads!

[robiandolo]

First the sounds are pretty close, at least close enough. My question is since the tone controls on most of the sounds are at zero what setting for EQ are on the amp?

I play a 335 through a Fender Custom Vibrolux [not vintage its a year old - LOL] anyway I usually play treble on 9 and bass on 6 and believe it or not volume on 3 [which for that amp is 2! 1 is totally off].

[kemotox]

oh, this video is really helped me, thank you!

[awsomewengo15]

what do you sat the gain on your amp to?

[Glassandcandy]

these all sound the same...............

[ErsiNur1]

You were pretty dam close i really liked your sunshine of your love tone it was very good.

[McKeee0326]

Way to fuzzy this nowhere close to Clapton's sweat touch and slight crunch form a distorted Marshall. And plus Clapton never played a solid state. Waste of a vintage ES-335

[dannyman60001]

Harsh solid state sound--Eric had a robust tone with edge.

[bluewaterpig]

Did you do any research at all? It's a well known fact that Clapton set his bridge tone to 0 and his neck tone to 10. It was this unusual setting that he was famous for. Are you just guessing here?

[GHGuitar123]

@bluewaterpig you are wrong...maybe you should do a little research before you make asinine comments like this...the sound or setting that he was famous for is called woman tone and "the woman tone is produced by using either the bass pickup or the lead pickup...turn it down to 1 or 0 on the tone controls" as described by eric clapton himself in the farewell cream interview...good try though dipshit

[jmibelltone]

Your playing is ok,but crappy tone! Sorry but its very cold,and fuzzy.

[Rich6Brew]

Correction- typo: "Beano" was recorded on a 1960 Les Paul.

[Rich6Brew]

"Beano" was played on a 1961 Les Paul Standard, which was stolen during initial rehearsals with Cream.

There is no photographic, or anecdotal, evidence that Clapton used the 335 on any live performances other than the farewell show at the Albert Hall. During the last US tour he alternated between a Les Paul and a Firebird I. Prior to that, he used a 1964 SG. Fresh Cream was recorded on a borrowed Lester. EC also used Fender amps in Cream, but not exclusively.

[Bilco1949]

Ain't nothin wrong wit dat. Nice.

[ToothyGus]

clapton used only a little amount of fuzz and relied on the amp to overdrive it. Sounds like you are using a lot of fuzz. Very undesirable tone after 3:00

[GuitarPhi1]

thxs bro

[danakerman]

Great stuff! You get very close to his tones -- impressive, considering you're using totally the wrong kind of amp! Add in a cranked vintage Marshall and I reckon you'd be spot on.

[Rich6Brew]

@danakerman

EC also used Fender amplifiers, both live and in the studio. There is photographic evidence to support this. There is far too much distortion, here. Listen to the originals - don't just assume they are saturated with harsh distortion - they're not.

[danakerman]

@Rich6Brew not really sure what you're getting at. It's true EC is known for playing Fender amps, but that is mostly in recent years, or at least post-Cream. It's well established that Beano was cut using a Marshall JTM45 combo with all the settings dimed. And it's been well established by EC himself that during the Cream days he played a 335 and an SG through a Marshall stack with the volume and tone pots dimed.

[Teelux]

Too much "cold" fuzz.

Clapton's overdriven tone was achieved by pushing the amp to it's max volume. Modern amps use attenuated gain that doesn't sound the same.

[Meckipsychman]

@Teelux finally someone gets it!

[LesterPaul01]

@Teelux your take on this is spot on.

[bigmarty56]

My own view---and I'm an old guy----is that with the FX deals these days, any decent guitar can sound like any other. Playability is the key, in my view. There are "oscilliscope" (old guy) differences---p/u output. etc. But it's all nonesense, in my opinion. Incidentally, I'm a Gretsch guy. These axes seem to be making a comeback (they never should have gone, in my opinion).

Martin

[AaronBaker12345]

the sunshine of your love tone actually sounds better if you put the pickup switch in the middle position,turn the tones almost half the way up and the neck volume half way up and keep the neck volume on 10.....thats where i read another way to do it, but its hard to get to sound exactly the way you want it.

[Taygoo15]

Vintage fenders arent solid state

[Grinch89]

@Taygoo15 That depends what you call "vintage." Fender started producing solid-state amps in 1969, my dad bought the one you hear in the late seventies. It's 2010, if 30+ years doesn't make something "vintage" anymore than I don't know what to think!

BTW people, I don't have a Marshall and this was made a long time ago. I don't have special "guitar pedals", don't comment on the video if you're just going to say I used the wrong amplifier or too much distortion. I did the best with what I had.

[Taygoo15]

He said in his book he turned everything full up

[hendrix950]

dude there is way too mutch distortion especially for steppin out

[terrytickler]

all you need is a crossroads pedal it has all clapton tone in 1 pedal

why did he put his name to that pedal

[sensai61]

for the woman tone he used a wah wah pedal o:

[Shaun7189]

hey i have an Epiphone Tony Iomi's Sig SG G-400. Do you think I can get a cool women tone? Any tips to getting the closest thing? I play through a roland micro cube and ive got a lil big muff and blues driver 2 monty allen mod. Helpppp needed. =)

[thetyleranasaurus]

@Shaun7189 i mean this in the most helpful way possible, save up and get some better gear. these guys have invested in that tone you hear on records. your first step is a good amp, look into a tube amp like a jcm 900 or a bluesbreaker both by marshall.

[eggymoo]

A passable attempt, and I know Clapton was playing a 335 during latter Cream period, but surely a Les Paul would be better for Stepping Out and SG for the Cream stuff? And a Fender tranny amp is never going to sound like a Marshall Bluesbreaker or stack. Either way he always sounded best on Gibson guitars. His Fender mid-boost strat tone sucks big time.

[wordhurler]

What amp/fx are you using to get of these sounds?

[Grinch89]

it's just a solid state Fender Stage Lead II. No effects, just the guitar through the amp with reverb. It's the 40 year old Gibson PAFs that give it the sound.

[wordhurler]

Amazing. I gotta get me one of those guitars. :)

[taariqtaariq]

@Grinch89

get a valve amp, a JCM 900  and then you'll be in business!

[evanfrmheaven]

got to love Vintage tone!

[AirHendrix91]

Gotta love the Sunshine tone. That's the only fuzz for me hehe.

[EricCirca6566]

You nailed the "Sunshine Of Your Love / woman tone! One of my all time favorites. And I also prefer Clapton's Gibson days (hence my you tube moniker).

[snubbs741]

on outside woman blues, im pretty sure clapton uses his bridge pickup for the main riff and the woman tone for that bit that blind joe reynolds plays with a slide

[ksjdhg]

These are the sounds Eric played that are my faves. Loved his Gibson days. Nice tone hunting on this! Very cool.

[GuitarandGolf95]

the sunshine of your love and woman are way off =\ it sounds a lil like it, but its def not how he got it.

he played bridge pickup ALWAYS, and tht comes from clapton himself.

For sunshine of your love, he puts on bridge

Bass full

Treble full

bridge pickup tone at 7-8

bridge pickup volume 7-8

[sgtpepr65]

Nice man....really nice.

[arg425]

I'm confused about something. Does bridge pickup volume/tone set-up affect output when neck pickup alone is selected? I thought it only had an effect when use in combined mode (bridge+neck). Can someone please clarify? Thanks.

[samthegreat4]

Its really too much gain.

Too thick and distorting tone.

Only the SWLABR tone is kinda good.

[Scearus]

Whats that song at 1:16?

[Grinch89]

"Politician"

[tatrankar]

very good work..my friend

[LSGoCards7]

Actually Crossroads setting is:

Neck Volume- 10

Bridge Volume- 7-6.5

Neck Tone- 8

Bridge Tone- 8

[zonedout245]

yeah a little too much gain in sunshine of your love the chords break up too much and its hard to hear the harmonies and dynamics in your playing but still good video and tone's pretty accurate considering no effects. i like how you took a picture of your settings people don't usually do that.

[carlosserralde]

Hi there, I was told that Clapton always uses the amp settings at 50% (mid, low, treb). Did you use these settings when playing?

[Grinch89]

I haven't heard that, I used my amp to boost what sounded right. From what I've heard, Clapton had everything 100% full because he needed to have everything LOUD for Cream concerts.

Jack Bruce, however, boosted the mids on his bass and turned the treble and bass way down.

[CodyzGuitar]

On Crossroads i heard he used 2 roll the treble and bass to 0 and put the mid on 10...I tried it and it seems 2 be about spot on.

[DeltaGaryGordon]

@Grinch89 I dont think there was much bass to start as it was a Marshall guitar amp that he played through

[Theloniousfunkk]

Cream era Clapton played into 2 "Jtm 45" stacks that were in actually modded to be 100 watt Plexis with El34 output tubes. He used a Y cable split into both amps, plugged into one of the lower inputs. The pre and power amps were up full, and he used his volume and tone knobs were used to control sound. For women tone he had full volume and tone rolled off but most of the time he kept the volume lower to avoid some gain. He used various Les Pauls, an SG, an Es 335 and a Firebird with a Wah pedal.

[stratocastervox]

didn't he use the jtm45/100 with kt66's power tubes?

[Theloniousfunkk]

you might be right. Ive collected so much different information from Clapton that I'm still not completely sure about what he used. But consider this; the JTM 45/100 is very similar to the Bluesbreaker he used with John Mayall but a quick listen to certain Cream songs (Strange Brew comes to mind) reveal that the "Cream amp" had a much "harder" distortion, much different from the Beano tone. Could it be just a simple change in EQ that allowed a Jtm45 to sound this way? Maybe.

[coder63]

My fav the first section (bridge) tone, like Blackmore's early era.

Thanks for share!

[filerocktheworld]

Very very cool. I agree on the gain add. Maybe a bit too much indeed. IF you're able to play trough a bluesbreaker, i would really like to know what that would be like :-) Great playing also.

[JamieMarshall92]

well done this is really good, It sounds like you have really cranked it up the gain, what kind of amp are you using? and is it all tube? it sounds really good even though its cranked high.

[Grinch89]

I agree, the gain is too high. The amp is a Fender Stage Lead II, solid state. It's over 20 years old.

[joebrassmonkey]

beano tone was a bit too bright imo, but it's probably the fender amp. I've got an old 86' concert series fender and it's extremly bright, but I love none the less.

[theBHURD]

cool tone, but are you alternate picking? The rhythm of the notes in most of your picking is off.

[wizhack]

GREAT VIDEO!!!*****