Dinosaur PAF tone

[David Schwab]

Well here's something I wasn't expecting... I happened to be at the library with my wife and saw the DVD for the Cream Farewell Concert, November 26th 1968 at the Royal Albert Hall. I remember seeing this on TV when I was young.

So here's the part I wasn't expecting.. what was Eric playing?

This was during Sunshine... I haven't watched the whole thing yet...

That's a well worn pickup cover there! This wasn't a new guitar... He'd been playing this for a while I bet. Sounded like Eric too.

[edit] Oh and one other guitar too...

[RedHouse]

...Oh and one other guitar too...

I love that simplistic interview, "this one ...is for this pickup, this one ...is for that pickup". They way he (Eric) talks, sounding nearly nieve about his stuff, one has to keep in mind that this is the guy who was pioneering the removing the covers off the pickups thing, and building Blackie out 3 other guitars parts etc.

Also, ever notice how much crunch he has comming through the Marshall when demo'ing things to the inteviewer?, that's a sound I try to get into some of my amp builds, very hard to get that just right.

IMHO that amp (or setup) has some sweet non-full-blast tone to it. Seems IIRC they never show the pedals on the floor (do they?) if one can see if he has the rangemaster in the effects chain, he never used a fuzz but did use a rangemaster to drive the front end of his rig's for some years, and would explain why he liked turing down the tone knobs so much.

[David Schwab]

The REALLY funny part is the oh so serious announcer throughout the film. He says "electronic guitar"... heh. And controls for "volume and tone quality"...

Eric gets that great woman tone with both pickups on and the tones rolled off in that clip. During parts of the show it really sounds like he kicks in something fuzzy. His tone is bright, and then just gets crazy bright and has a lot of intermodulation going on. Maybe he has a Range master on all the time and he's just turning up the tone controls, or he's stepping on the wah?

He does get a great crunch at a volume that doesn't seem to be killing the interviewer! Look at the wall of Marshalls in the back.

I only watched Sunshine and Eric's interview. I haven't seen this film since it was shown on TV, and I don't remember when that was... '69 or '70? Long long time ago (even longer in dog years). They are so young.

I'm looking forward to sitting down and watching it today. I remember that Jack plays 'cello during his part. I've never seen Cream (a buddy of mine saw the recent tour) but I have seen Jack a couple of times.

Does anyone know who painted the SG? It looks like Gail Collins' work. My brother knew her. That's before she killed my other favorite bass player.

[greenfingers]

His SG was painted by two Dutch guys. Marijke Koger & Simon Posthuma. They also painted a Bass for Jack Bruce around the same time i think

[David Schwab]

I wonder if they did George Harrison's guitar? Him and Eric being so close... (even after who stole Harrison's wife!)

[greenfingers]

Funny you should say that, They did actually do some art work for ths Beatles, but Rocky was done by George him self.
Maybe he had nothing better to do that night while Patty was round at Eric's

[David Schwab]

Maybe he had nothing better to do that night while Patty was round at Eric's

Umm, you mean Layla.. right?

I'm dying to make an SG and paint it like Clapton's guitar now.

[greenfingers]

I wonder if all that paint on the body changes the sound? It looks like enamel paint on the original, I have a bare wood body that i want to paint, but i like the sound after i striped of the finish,

Good luck if you are gona have a go and paint one....... I bet it would look cool

[salvarsan]

It looks like Gail Collins' work. My brother knew her. That's before she killed my other favorite bass player.

Note to self:
Do not give handgun as birthday present to nutcase wife
if involved in 3-ways and doing drummer's wife on the side.

-drh

[EFK]

It's my understanding that the SG was painted with standard artists oil paint which was likely linseed oil based. I would bet the guitar was simply sanded down at little and then painted right over the lacquer, hence a lot of the paint wearing fairly quickly. I don;t know how much it would have actually affected the sound - he didn't sound too bad did he?!!! - but I can't imagine 'soft' finishes like linseed or walnut oils would resonate better than a hard 'shell' of lacquer. Look at violin finishes for example - the goal is to get a very thin, hard finish with out gunking it up or applying an overly thick film. But I suppose how much the actual body wood and finish affects the sound going to the amp is always a subject for much debate.

David interesting note about the middle position woman tone. I've been looking at some pics and it seems he stuck w/ the middle position a LOT. I've been working with the sound which I mentioned at the start of this thread from 'Sitting on top...' and if I run the bridge pu at 10 vol and @ 6-7 tone, and then run the neck pu at 5 vol and @ 9 tone, in the mid position I can pretty much nail that weird honky nasal sound. On my SG anyway w/ patents and old style wiring. I'll bet that's exactly what he was doing, and if you listen really closely to the recording, at about 2:10/2:11 as a single note is briefly sustaining, you can hear him switch to the bridge pu alone and sharpen it up a bit for most of the rest of the song.

[Ruel]

I wonder if they did George Harrison's guitar? Him and Eric being so close... (even after who stole Harrison's wife!)

I don't think George minded that Ericd stole Patti from him. Their music and friendship were far more important than her.