Artist 117602843 Eric Clapton Stratocaster Electric Guitar (Pewter)

*IMPORTANT* This guitar has a small spring in the hole where the tremolo goes. The hole is covered with a sticker. Be very careful when removing this or you will lose the spring - which is important. It's no where in the directions about it.I'll update this as time goes on, but for now my first impressions are that is a comfortable guitar that sounds incredible. It sounds like you think a strat should.I live in a rural area so I'm not running out to my local G.C., trying out a guitar, and then buying it on line to save on taxes. I was buying this based on the strength of reviews I found. My main concern is what the "soft v" neck was and how it would fit my "smaller" hands (I'm a 5'8" 163# male). I have a tele with a "modern C" neck and I find it tiring to play if I'm doing alot of barre chords. This neck is very comfortable, fast, and easy to play. If you had concerns it was going to big - it's not. If you have big hands you might reconsider. I like a maple neck. It seems fast to me. The action is low so it's easy to fret and bend.The body is the lighter weight alder. Comfortable to stand with for long sessions. The body is slightly heavier than the neck so it feels balanced. It comes with a fender strap. I bought the pewter (the exact same guitar Eric plays in the latest Crossroads Festival when he plays with Steve Winwood). I like the color as it's a subtle metallic flake pewter. No flaws in the paint, finish, or neck.Now let's talk electronics. The noiseless pickups are perfect - no hum. Classic strat sounding. The onboard electronics are what sold me on this model. Check out the video on the TBX to see how that works. I especially like the "trebley" tone which sounds chimey. The midboost is great, instead of a pedal, to bring out the mids and lows and add a crunchy texture to your sound. Good for solos.Is this guitar expensive? Yes! Is it worth it? So far, I think it is. Will I tire of it in a year? Maybe, we'll see.Stay tuned...UPDATE: The tremolo comes "blocked" with a piece of wood between the bridge and the body. Apparently this is what Eric does. No instructions come with this on how to set up the tremolo so I had to watch some videos on You Tube. The guides on Fender.com were not helpful as I didn't know the terminology. Not that setting it up is hard, but it does take a little time and tinkering around to get it just right. I set it up so I could push down on the arm, not floating.

Tissues was a gift for my husband he absolutely loves it and the sound quality is amazing! Our shipment was missing the cable, strap and bar. I also had to use a kitchen steak knife to open the tweed case picking the lock. There was I key and I'm pretty certain there should have been a key with it. I contacted AMAZON the day it arrived after realizing the items were missing they handled the problem for me and are shipping out a new one with a pre paid return label for the old set. I asked if they wanted me to put the new guitar in the old case being that my husband had already removed the protective wrap from the guitar to play it. I was told it was no problem and to please return the old guitar. The new one will arrive Friday upon receiving it I will then ship the old one back. Very pleased with the customer service and with the guitar! You can't go wrong for the money it is beautiful and the sound is beyond great!!!!

This is a super quality Erin Clapton model Stratocaster guitar. It has a great neck that is easy to hold and move around the fret board. I love the active electronics that give a mid-range boost on the tone control. It sounds great. I do not use a tremolo, so I am happy it has been "blocked" off (although that can be removed). I recommend Ernie Ball Paradigm Super Slinky Electric Guitar Strings - 9-42 Gauge and having the guitar professionally set-up with these strings.

My Clapton Signature Strat, which I waited 5 1/2 months for (because it was backordered), came with some significant manufacturing defects. When I removed the tremolo cover to replace the battery for the first time, I found double-drilled holes (12 holes instead of 6, one of which was put right through the edge of the body), as well as a battery cavity full of white battery acid (despite the fact that the battery inside was not leaking, meaning, a leaky battery was swapped out BEFORE it shipped, and they didn't bother to clean it out?). Upon arrival, it also had an intermittent pick-up switch which shorted out (in the bridge pickup position) unless you jiggled it, though this issue seems to have worked itself out since. Unfortunately I didn't discover the worst of these defects (the 6 extra holes and battery acid) until I needed to replace the battery, so the online store I purchased it through (not Amazon) wants nothing to do with it. After bringing it to a Fender authorized service center, Fender has agreed to replace the body under warranty. But this part alone is going to take 90-120 days to arrive, and then my new $2,000 guitar will have to be completely disassembled and reassembled, all because Fender either failed to inspect it properly, or chose to try and sneak it through the channel despite the defects. Now I, the customer, has to deal with the consequences of THEIR quality issues. I would expect MUCH more from Fender, especially on a $2,000 guitar endorsed by Eric Clapton. Needless to say, I am extremely frustrated about this entire experience. If you buy this guitar, inspect it thoroughly (including under the tremolo cavity cover).Quality and service issues aside, this is an amazing guitar! It looks beautiful and sounds incredible. The TBX tone control sounds great. I do wish the battery was easier to get to, however. You shouldn't need to remove 6 screws just to replace the battery.