
Many say that Cream was Clapton's peak. Here's a quick guide to how to get some of Slowhand's most esteemed licks under your hands.
Intermediate
Intermediate
● Discover blues rock rhythms and how to get a huge sound even when you're in a trio.
● Unlock some of Clapton's signature lead guitar techniques.
● Learn to use a wah pedal to get psychedelic sounds.
When it comes to Eric Clapton's guitar style, there is no shortage of masterful guitar techniques to dive into and study. In this article we'll focus specifically on his guitar style during the mid- to late-'60s around the formation of the band Cream.
At this point in the '60s, Clapton had just left his earlier band, the Yardbirds, and was moving on to change the course of his career forever. Cream was founded in London in 1966, and this was where they sparked a sound rooted in rock, blues, and psychedelia. While Clapton was adept at playing many styles of music at this time, the core of his playing was deeply rooted in the blues.
Clapton has always been passionate about incorporating the blues into whatever he is creating. His style is an evolution influenced by some of the greatest blues musicians of all time. His top influences are artists like the three Kings of the blues: Albert, B.B., and Freddie King, as well as Robert Johnson, Hubert Sumlin, Muddy Waters, Big Bill Broonzy, T-Bone Walker, Chuck Berry, Jimmy Reed, Otis Rush and more.
Clapton’s Blues-Rock Rhythms
Let's dive into Ex. 1 where we'll look at a 12-bar blues in the key of A. We are going to use a bass-note chord stab combined with single-note pentatonic playing and hammer-ons.
Ex. 1
Right away you'll notice the use of a "quick IV" chord in the second measure. This is a staple of the blues. A quick four is where you immediately change to the IV chord in the second measure of the chord progression. Here, Clapton would typically play a dominant 9 chord shape. Using the dominant 9 conveys a "Stormy Monday" Walker-style guitar influence.
However, in contrast to Walker's guitar style, Cream-era Clapton would be using much more distortion on his guitar tone.After the initial two eighth-notes played as a bass part, you have the chord stab on beat 2. This short staccato hit creates a backbeat feel like a snare drum hit. From there, Clapton would often continue with a repetitive riff similar to the one played in beats 3 and 4 of every measure of this example.
This type of guitar part is ideal for playing in a trio with just one guitarist. Flipping between chords and single-note lines creates the illusion of two guitar players. Clapton employed this concept extensively, and it was an underlying element to Cream's full band sound, despite it only being a trio. Examples of this style of playing can be heard in tunes like "Badge," "Lawdy Mama," and "World of Pain," among others. Clapton would often add a little bit more bite to the progression with the altered dominant E7#9 and D7#9 chord shapes. This is a sound Hendrix was also very well known for.
Ex. 2 doesn't follow the standard 12-bar blues chord progression. Instead, we are playing a vamp. Often, Cream would create these short sequences of chords. In this example, we are moving from the I chord to the IV chord in the key of A.
Cream's vamps created a hypnotic quality to their sound and gave the musicians a platform to solo over, and perform extended versions live when the studio versions just faded out. Notice the same use of the short staccato backbeat hit, but now it also incorporates hammer-ons and double-stops. This type of guitar part showcases Clapton's seamless ability to blend rhythm and lead styles.
Ex. 2
Unison String Bends
Ex 3 and Ex. 4 explore the concept of unison string bends. This is a sound used extensively by countless blues greats. It started with players like Walker, Berry, and Rush. Later, this technique continued its path straight into rock music. In contrast to those earlier players, Clapton would use more distortion and evoke a much more searing aggression to his sound with Cream.
Ex. 3
Ex. 4
In Ex. 5 we'll play the same thing as Ex. 4, but this time add in a wah pedal. By combining the use of the wah pedal and techniques like unison string bends, Clapton created a signature vocal quality to his guitar sound. This made his solos really stand out.
Ex. 5
Clapton used a wah pedal extensively with Cream, however he didn't just reserve it for lead guitar parts. There are many examples of chordal and rhythm guitar parts he played with the wah pedal too. For these types of guitar parts, Clapton would use the wah pedal in more of a fluttering style to achieve psychedelic sounds.
Ex. 6 showcases a Cream-style psychedelic chord progression with the wah pedal sweeping back and forth. Also note the subtle time signature change. Cream had many songs that had more complex time signatures and rhythmic variations. For example, have a listen to the opening section of "White Room" for a taste of some classic rock in 5/4.
Ex. 6
Double-Stops
Another essential technique for Clapton in his lead and rhythm styles is the use of double-stops. Ex. 2 demonstrated how Clapton might play double-stops combined in a rhythm guitar part. Next, we'll explore how he would use those same techniques for soloing.
Ex. 7 shows a double-stop technique like the unison string bends, but this time we'll be bending both notes of the double-stop.
To do this, Clapton would typically use his fretting hand third finger to bar down and cover the notes on the 3rd and 2nd strings. With this technique he would bend them up and then release them back down. A great example of this can be heard in the solo for "Sunshine of Your Love."
Ex. 7
Ex. 8 shows a way Clapton would use a partial double-stop in a solo to build energy and excitement through a repetitive figure. Here this riff is played on the higher strings, but Clapton would also use similar phrases on the middle strings as well. You can hear examples of this type of lick in the live version of "Crossroads," and also in the ending solo for "White Room."
Ex. 8
Ex. 9 demonstrates Clapton's blending of blues and rock while using double-stops. This type of triplet phrase combined with the double-stops is a staple for many blues musicians. They'll often use this as a turnaround lick. Clapton continued to play this type of phrase in many of his popular tunes and solos throughout his career.
Ex. 9
Arpeggios
Another must-know Clapton technique that he employed throughout Cream's catalogue is arpeggio picking. Ex. 10 demonstrates a descending Clapton-style chord progression with arpeggio picking. This type of guitar part can be heard in tunes like "Dance the Night Away," which was played on a 12-string. Clapton continued to develop this style throughout his career, and this type of picking through chord changes is prevalent in some of his most famous guitar parts.
Ex. 10
Often Clapton would use this type of playing for descending chord progressions. Ex. 11 shows another use of this style with a very common classic-rock chord progression.
Ex. 11
These influential techniques have paved the way for generations of new musicians. Whether you're just starting out in this style, or you've been playing it for years, returning to some of these core concepts and applying them in your own music will surely pay off in years to come.
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Fabulous neck with just-right fatness. Distinctive tone profile. Smooth, stable vibrato. Ice blue metallic and aluminum look delish together.
Higher output pickups could turn off Fender-geared traditionalists.
$939
Eastman FullerTone DC’62
An affordable version of Eastman’s U.S.-made solidbody rolls with unique, well-executed features—at a price and quality level that rivals very tough competition.
Eastman’s instruments regularly impress in terms ofquality and performance. A few left my PG colleagues downright smitten. But if Eastman isn’t a household name among guitarists, it might be a case of consumer psychology: Relative to most instruments built in China, Eastmans are expensive. So, if you spend your life longing for a Gibson 335 and a comparable (if superficially fancier) Eastman costs just 20 percent less than the least expensive version of the real deal, why not save up for a bit longer and get the guitar of your dreams?
For some players, though, such brand-devotional hang ups are obstacles to getting the best instrument for the best price. Some just like having an alternative to legacy brands and models that live as dreams in a zillion other heads. As Eastman evolved as a company, they’ve paid close attention to both of those market segments—creating refined original designs like the El Rey and Romeo while keeping quality, execution, and playability at an exceptional standard. With the introduction of the FullerTone instruments, a series of Beijing-built guitars modeled after Eastman’s California-built, Otto D’Ambrosio-designed solidbodies, Eastman’s price/performance goals reach a kind of apex. Because the FullerTone guitars aren’t archtops or thinlines and use bolt-on necks, they range from just $799 (for the simpler SC’52) to $899 (for the more full-featured DC’62 reviewed here). That’s a competitive market bracket, to say the least, but Fullertone delivers the goods in ways that count to players.
Somewhere in an Alternate O.C….
You don’t need to be a certified Mensa member to suss the FullerTone’s design benchmarks. The name’s likeness to that of an Orange County locale where historically important electric guitar design took place is a less-than-covert tip of the hat. More tangible evidence of the DC’62’s Stratocaster inspirations exist in the shape of a bolt-on, 25.5"-scale neck, six-on-a-side headstock, a curvaceous double-cut body, and vibrato. (The more Telecaster-like DC’52 uses a T-style bridge and comes sans vibrato).
Many of these design nods, however, are distinguished by Eastman’s refinements. The patented neck joint, for instance, mimics that of the upmarket, U.S.-built Eastman D’Ambrosio. It employs just two screws, bolted into steel anchors in the neck itself. It’s a robust, clever design. The joint, which works in part like a long tenon, provides extra neck-to-body contact, making the effortless access to all 24 medium-jumbo frets all the more remarkable. (The fretwork, by the way, is impeccable).
“The neck’s profile will pique the interest of anyone bored with the sameness of generic, modern C-profiles.”
The neck itself—roasted maple, satin-finished, and capped with a 12"-radius Indian rosewood fretboard—uses an angled headstock design that differs from Fender convention, but the break angle is much shallower than a Gibson, which aids tuning stability. The neck’s profile, though, will pique the interest of anyone bored with the sameness of generic, modern C-profiles. Eastman calls it a medium-round profile, but that doesn’t do justice to its substance, which calls to mind Fender’s chunkier 1960s necks. It’s not a shape for everyone, and shredders and players with really petite hands might be less enthused, but it’s exceptionally comfortable, fills the palm naturally, and, at least for me, induces less fatigue than slimmer necks.
The Strat-style vibrato is a smart, functional evolution of a classic form. The arm sits securely in a rubber sleeve that keeps it precisely where you want, and the bridge itself is fixed to a substantial brass block and features individually intonatable saddles. The vibrato is so smooth and tuning stable that you will want to use it often. Really aggressive, twitchy vibrato technique can produce knocking against the body as you pitch up—at least as it’s set up at the factory. Otherwise, it’s fun and forgiving to use.
I would be remiss, by the way, if I didn’t mention how good the black limba body looks in satin ice blue metallic with a brushed aluminum pickguard. Though the DC’62 is available in black and desert sand (the latter with gold anodized pickguard), this particular combination is beautiful, elegant, and tasteful in a way that accentuates D’Ambrosio’s timeless lines.
Substantially Yours
The DC’62’s pickups are produced by Tonerider, and they include two stacked noiseless alnico 5 single-coils in the center and neck positions (measuring 7.9 ohms) as well as an alnico 2 unit, also measuring 7.9 ohms, that Eastman calls a “soapbar humbucker with gold-foil cover.” That’s a curious mash up of nomenclature. Traditionally, “soapbar” pickups are P-90s, which are single-coils, and though the gold-foil-style cover looks cool, it doesn’t lend any gold-foil-ness in terms of construction. Tone-wise it inhabits a unique place. Some aspects of its response evoke a Stratocaster bridge pickup rendered large. There are also hints of a Telecaster bridge unit’s meatiness. But of all the pickups I compared it to (at one point there was an SG, Telecaster, Wide Range-equipped Telecaster Deluxe, Stratocaster, and J Mascis Jazzmaster strewn about the room), it sounds most like a Rickenbacker Hi-Gain in an ’80s 330. That’s cool. I think Hi-Gains are underrated and sound fabulous. But the Tonerider unit is definitely not an S-type pickup in any traditional sense. The stacked single-coils, too, deviate significantly from the Stratocaster’s sonic mold. They are noiseless, as advertised, but have heat and push that make a vintage S-style pickup sound glassy and comparatively thin.
The Verdict
With a fantastic neck, smooth playability, and tuning stability that keep you glued to the instrument, the top-quality DC’62 is flat-out fun to play, which is good, given that at $899 it’s in a price class with Fender’s excellent Mexico-made Player II guitars and PRS’s superlative SE series, to name a few. But the DC’62 offers a unique palette of tones that don’t fit neatly into any box, and with a shape that breaks from tradition, it’s a competitively priced way to take sonic and stylistic paths much less trodden
An easy guide to re-anchoring a loose tuning machine, restoring a “lost” input jack, refinishing dinged frets, and staunching a dinged surface. Result: no repair fees!
This late-’90s Masterbilt was made to mimic the feeling and look of vintage luxury.
This collaborative effort between Japanese and American guitar builders aimed for old-school quality without breaking the bank.
I recently called a rideshare to pick me up from the airport and was surprised when the driver pulled up in a Jaguar. I’d never been in one and was stunned at how quiet it was, and how the backseat was as comfortable as a living room couch, but retained a refined look. This 1998 Masterbilt prototype reminds me of that airport ride.
Some guitars just feel expensive. Not in an “I shouldn't be touching this, lest I scratch it” way so much as simply exuding luxury. Maybe it’s the flawless ebony fretboard, making gliding up and down the neck feel like ice skating. Or perhaps it’s the slim, ’60s-style neck shape which felt instantly comfortable in my small hands. It may have something to do with the sumptuously low 2/32" action at the 12th fret, requiring hardly any effort to play.
Makes sense, considering this guitar’s origin story. Mac Yasuda was born in Nishinomiya, Japan. At 15, he discovered the music of Hank Snow and fell in love with country music and the guitar itself. He stole a classical guitar from his cousin (“He never played it,” said Yasuda) and started a band with his friends. Yasuda traveled to the States in the ’70s and after picking up his first vintage guitar from a pawn shop, he was hooked. He began scoping out gear for his friends, which eventually grew into a shop called Mac’s Guitar Gallery in Kobe, Japan. By the ’90s, he estimated he had owned between 4,000 and 5,000 instruments, and his collection was valued at $3 million. He has authored several books about vintage guitars and is widely considered one of the world's preeminent authorities on the subject.
Yasuda is also an accomplished musician. While in Nashville in the ’80s—perhaps for one of the half-dozen times he’s performed on theGrand Ole Opry—he met Greg Rich, an instrument designer who was then head of Gibson’s banjo division. Yasuda enlisted Greg Rich and another guitar maker named Mark Taylor to produce a line of high-quality, vintage-style instruments under the name Masterbilt. “Vintage guitars are fine, but they're limited,” said Yasuda at the time. His Masterbilt guitars would give us mere mortals the chance to get a taste of the luxurious feel of a fine vintage instrument. Masterbilt debuted at NAMM in 1997, and it’s still unknown how many guitars were actually produced. The trademark of the Masterbilt name was cancelled in 2005 and has since been used by other brands, like Epiphone.
“Some folks think anything from the ’80s or before is vintage, but perhaps the fact that time has continued to march on should be factored in.”
Fanny's House of Music believes this guitar to be an early prototype, one of six ever made. Three were sunburst and three were natural. Playing it feels like playing any fine vintage 335; funny when you consider that at 27 years old, some would consider this Masterbilt vintage itself. The notion of what is considered truly “vintage” is hotly debated on Reddit every few months. Some folks think anything from the ’80s or before is vintage, but perhaps the fact that time has continued to march on should be factored in. Some guitars from the ’80s are now 45 years old! We consider guitars from the ’90s to be vintage at this point, so this 1998 Masterbilt prototype fits right in.
This Masterbilt is now 27 years old. In your books, does that make it a “vintage” guitar?
Photo by Madison Thorn
It’s a good example of how history and passion can intersect to create something special. This guitar tells a story of dedication to quality and an appreciation for the feel of a well-made instrument. Whether or not a 27-year-old guitar qualifies as “vintage” may be up for debate, but the magic in this guitar definitely isn’t. If you’re ever in Nashville, stop by Fanny’s and take it for a spin. You might find yourself feeling a bit like I felt after my unexpected ride in a Jaguar: getting a glimpse into the world of understated elegance, where refinement isn't about flash but about experiencing something crafted to near perfection.
SOURCES: namm.com, Los Angeles Times, Blue Book of Guitar Values, Vintage Guitar, Guitar-List.
Unleash your inner metal icon with the Jackson Lee Malia LM-87, a high-performance shred-ready axe designed in collaboration with Bring Me The Horizon guitarist Lee Malia. Featuring custom Jackson signature pickups, a fast D-profile neck, and a TOM-style bridge for rock-solid stability, this signature model is a must-have for commanding metal tone and smooth playability.
British metal icon and Bring Me The Horizon guitarist Lee Malia has partnered with Jackson to create his signature LM-87, a shred-ready axe built for heavy riffing and alternative modern metal. As a founding member and lead guitarist of the Grammy-nominated band, Malia is renowned for his aggressive playing style and intricate solos. This high-performance guitar matches his demanding musicality.
With its offset Surfcaster™ body shape and vintage appeal, the LM-87 melds classic design with modern appointments. The thin open pore finish on the bound Okoume body and neck exudes organic style, while the unique 3-ply pickguard and chrome hardware add striking accents. The fast D-profile 3- piece okoume neck allows smooth riffing across the bound amaranth fingerboard.
Custom Jackson signature pickups, including a bridge humbucker with push-pull coil-split, equip the LM-87 with versatile tone-shaping options to fulfill Malia's sonic vision. The TOM-style bridge with anchored tailpiece and fine tuners provides rock-solid stability for low tunings and heavy picking.
Designed in close collaboration with the legendary guitarist, the Jackson Lee Malia LM-87 is built for shredding. Its blend of vintage vibe and high-performance features make this signature model a must-have for players who value commanding metal tone and smooth playability.
The Tune-o-matic bridge with an anchored tailpiece and fine tuners offers enhanced tuning stability and precise, incremental adjustments. This setup ensures consistent pitch control, improved sustain, and easier fine-tuning without affecting overall string tension.
The guitar’s three-piece set-neck guitar with graphite reinforcement offers exceptional strength, stability, and resistance to warping. The multi-piece construction enhances sustain and tonal clarity, while the graphite reinforcement adds extra durability and prevents neck shifting due to humidity or temperature changes. This design ensures a solid, reliable performance with improved resonance and longevity.
Features Include:
- Okoume body
- Three-piece okoume set neck construction with graphite reinforcement
- 12"-16" compound radius amaranth fingerboard
- 3-ply pickguard
- Chrome hardware
- Custom wound Jackson LM-87 pickups
- Volume with push-pull coil-split and tone control
- TOM-style bridge with anchored tailpiece and fine tuners
- Gig bag included
The Jackson LM-87 carries a street price of $899.99.
For more information, please visit jacksonguitars.com.