Described as a "rich antique-white finish with halo-mist shading",[attribution needed] it became highly prized among collectors around the world. Master TBX™ Tone Control, Tone 2. In 1985, Dan Smith approached Clapton to discuss a plan to create a signature guitar built to his own specifications. Fender's Eric Clapton Signature model The EC Signature features Fender Vintage Noiseless Pickups. In 1991 Clapton agreed to have his signature model with a rosewood fretboard as well to suit the needs of players disliking the feel of maple-neck models. Limited Edition Crossroads Signature Guitar and Amp Set, 2009 Limited Edition Daphne Blue & EC Grey Stratocasters, 10th Anniversary Crossroads Antigua Stratocaster, https://reverb.com/news/the-origins-of-fender-signature-guitars, "Fender Custom Shop Eric Clapton 'Brownie' Stratocaster", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fender_Eric_Clapton_Stratocaster&oldid=970261319, Articles with dead external links from March 2014, Articles needing additional references from March 2014, All articles needing additional references, All Wikipedia articles needing words, phrases or quotes attributed, Wikipedia articles needing words, phrases or quotes attributed from April 2018, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 30 July 2020, at 07:46. Each guitar is crafted to Clapton's exacting specifications and bear a unique "Crossroads Antigua" smiling sun graphic designed and originally hand-drawn by Eric Clapton himself. [1], Eric Clapton played a range of different Fender and Gibson models while playing in The Yardbirds and Cream. The Eric Clapton Custom Journeyman Relic Stratocaster, introduced in 2017, features a 2-piece select ash body, available in 2-Colour Sunburst and Aged White Blonde. They include the Gold Leaf Stratocaster of 1996 (used during the Legends and Montserrat concerts in 1997) and the Crashocasters (signature model Stratocasters hand-painted by New York-based street artist John Matos, better known as Crash), used by Clapton from 2001 to 2004.[4]. The first Antigua prototype model was awarded to its creator Martin DeCasas who worked on color schemes for Fender from July 1964 till its closing in Fullerton, California in February 1985. In 1970, for his landmark Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs with Derek and the Dominos, Clapton started using a sunburst 1956 Stratocaster which he later nicknamed Brownie that he had bought in May 1967 while in Cream. It's ironic that Clapton is the world's most famous living Fender Stratocaster player, since he made his name playing Gibsons and was rarely seen with a Strat until after the death of Hendrix. The project, which Matos began in late 2004, was inspired by the graffiti-style Stratocaster bodies he had painted for Eric Clapton, one of which, known as Crash-3, was sold in the 2004 Christie's Eric Clapton Crossroads Auction for $321,000. Mid boost and TBX tone controls. The Custom Shop version (introduced in 2004) is available in Midnight Blue, Mercedes Blue, Black and Gold Leaf with gold-plated hardware (also available with a "Thinskin" nitrocellulose lacquer finish in Olympic White, Torino Red and Pewter, as well as a left-handed version). It was the first signature model guitar released by Fender. Bearing in mind the number of changes he makes with regards to neck dimensions, Clapton fans purchasing this will be getting an exact replica as used at the Crossroads Guitar Festivals 2007, 2010, 2013 & 2019. Features include an alder body, three Vintage Noiseless pickups, active mid-boost (25 db.) I understand that my information will be shared with the dealer and may be used by the dealer to facilitate this contact. Both prototypes featured electronics based on the Elite Stratocaster including its 12 dB MDX mid-boost circuit intended to make the Stratocaster's single-coils sound more like a humbucker. In November of 1970 Eric Clapton, who the previous year had cast aside the psychedelic Gibson SG he played with Cream in favor of a Fender Stratocaster, was touring America with Derek and the Dominoes.