How to Sound Like Eric Clapton?
After Eric Clapton left the Yardbirds in 1966 he joined John Mayalls Bluesbreakers for a single album release on Decca. Clapton had already become a “phenomenon” and Mayall’s original idea to record the album at the Flamingo Club, to capture Clapton’s incendiary guitar solos, was hindered by poor quality results.
Clapton’s “beano” Guitar and Amplification
In the studio Eric Clapton used a 1960 Gibson ‘sunburst’ Les Paul with two PAF humbucker pickups and (allegedly) a Dallas Rangemaster pedal into a Marshall JTM45 model 1962 2×12. This amplifier’s output tubes were KT66′s. Clapton achieved his, now legendary, tone by turning the amplifier’s volume up as high as possible. We have Eric Clapton’s rare 1962 Gibson Les Paul in our collection here.
Expensive Guitar Sound
Replicating this classic guitar tone is an ambitious and very expensive ideal: recently Vintage and Rare have had the equipment available and listed as follows:
1966 JTM45 2×12 at around $18,300 USD
ORIGINAL DALLAS RANGEMASTER EBAY buy now $5,000 USD – click here
1960 Gibson Les Paul “Burst” at around $255,000 USD
[the JMI Mullard replica Dallas Rangemaster can be bought at around $475 USD]
TOTAL = $533, 300
This is where Louis Electric enter the equation. Louis Electric have a rich history of amp design catering for players like Hubert Sumlin, Danny Gatton and Keith Richards, and their amplifier catalogue puts the vintage and rare tones of historic amps such as the Marshall JTM45 within reach – Louis Electric Amplifiers do not cost the earth!
The Louis Electric Baby Bluesbreaker
This is a 1x 12 combo weighs 48lbs but still features a full 45 watts of sweet KT66 guitar tone
- Custom Hand Wound Output Transformers to original Radiospares specifications
- Cap added in the bright channel to simulate Eric Clapton’s Dallas rangemaster pedal.
- Original Pererated circuit boards used [Made In England]
- Military 2 watt Potentiometers [Original specifications]
- Output Power: 45 Watts
- Output Stage: 2 HP KT66s
- Preamp Stage: 3 12AX7s
- Rectifier: 1 GZ34
- 4 Inputs, 2 Channels
- Controls: 2 Volumes, Treble, Middle, Bass, Presence
- Speaker: Celestion G12H
Get the Clapton sound
The Louis Electric Amps website is here.
Our list of very afforable Rangemaster clone pedals is here.
Gibson have recently offered the base model 1960 Gibson Les Paul Burst model built to Eric Clapton’s vintage original specification at a much more affordable price than the original, here.
Sure, thanks for pointing that out – the use of this pedal is speculative, but he hasn’t yet said that he did not use the pedal either. Either way, this pedal has become inextricably woven into the mythical fabric of the Beano L.P., so we felt compelled to mention it.
We have added the word “allegedly” to this article.
There is no evidence whatsoever — not one photograph, not one interview with Clapton or anyone associated with him — that Clapton used a Dallas Rangemaster; this is an urban myth begun on the Internet.