Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster - Torino Red with Maple Fingerboard Reviews

I love my new Eric Clapton strat. I can only say great things about Sweetwater it's always great dealing with the sales personnel I love it and my guitar arrived quick and set up great

Eric Clapton, one of the best older blues players left, and if you like playing Sweet Home Chicago, Further on up the Road and many other songs this guitar you have to have, the soft-v neck feels great in the hands. The TBX control is awesome to give that extra boost to soloing....This guitar is everything you read and listen to Eric's review of it....For me the Torino Red is my favorite!

This guitar is just awesome! It's the best guitar I own or have ever owned. It looks gorgeous, feels amazing, and sounds even better! I was not sure how I would adapt to the neck shape and vintage frets, but they have been great. I have no problem playing this guitar. Many people say they can't do bends on vintage frets, but I think they are either not trying, or they are just set in their ways of using larger frets and don't want to admit they like something else. Bending is no problem on these vintage frets at all.

I own this guitar for over 10 years and it is a joy to play. Sounds incredible through a tube amp, mid boost can send a clean channel into overdrive. I modified mine though and have a humbucker in the bridge. I own several guitars and this is one I will not part with and the only strat I own. If you have never played one you owe it to yourself to try one.

My guitar arrived on Friday, and as always from Sweetwater, played perfectly right out of the case. This guitar filled the void of a pewter Clapton model I foolishly traded in on an amp years ago. I always missed that guitar and when I saw this was now available in red- I had to grab it! Thanks to Josh Dillon for helping me get this- and so quickly! The tone of this guitar is to die for- so many great sounding settings. I know a little about Strats- I have two others and none are stock. This new Clapton may sound even better than the one I had previously, and the neck is definitely better and faster. This guitar has that "something special" in the way it sounds that makes you not want to put it down. The TBX control, combined with the onboard mid boost- yield a number of state of the art guitar tones. These new noiseless pickups also play into the awesome sounds this guitar has. I will keep my '86 & '97 American Standards as they are still viable instruments. But I can say with certainty that my new Clapton is my #1 stage guitar now, Anybody looking for a new Strat needs to give this model- in any color- VERY serious consideration!

I have owned four Strats, including a Strat Plus Deluxe back in the 90's. This one is by far the nicest playing one I have ever had.

Beautiful looking, and beautiful sounding, love my Clapton Torino Red.

Amazing guitar - The vintage noiseless pickups are awesome. I've seen some less than stellar reviews of them elsewhere, but I love their tone. I listened to a side by side comparison of standard single coils and the noiseless, and the noiseless were more warm and rounded off the sharp bite and pick attack. For me, that's a bonus. You can always brighten up the tone with the TBX knob - just roll it to 7 or so if that's your thing. I've also found that the VN PUPS really give a nice controlled feedback from the amp when close - they are very responsive and have a very nice lower end. When pushed, they give a very nice deep growl.

the 25 db preamp is just an awesome idea. Definitely gives a fat tone when dimed.

The V neck and vintage frets, and satin maple make this strat a VERY fast player. Superb playability. The strings bend very nicely with great sustain. So, no issues with the smaller frets IMO - I prefer them vs the medium jumbos. I'd rather have a lower action.

The folks at Sweetwater are awesome - i had a bone nut installed, and the frets Plek'd prior to shipping and those mods really gave a nice punch to this guitar vs the ones i played at Guitar Center.

Buy this guitar - you'll never need another one unless you're obsessed with finding a vintage model. Fender doesn't make a better guitar than the Clapton strat - it's top of the line. I think the Jeff Beck is probably on the same level though. Maybe the Elite series but i'm not much of a fan of the S1 - i'd rather have the 25 db preamp boost. But what i love about the Clapton strat is the vintage tones you can get and the vintage style neck / frets / and PUPs vs the modern stuff on the elite. Really boils down to personal preference.

But you can't beat the price of this guitar either vs the value you get. Fender could easily sell it for $2,000 +

Owned 1 for 4 years now and has been my main guitar since the case was opened. Cant find a back up for it so I'm just going to have to buy another one.

These Strats are the best you will ever play! The soft v neck is modeled after a Martin and is extremely comfortable. I like the Lace pickups better, but the Fender Noiseless one are almost as good. P/u height is the key. Now... the TBX and 25 db mid-boost are GREAT. The boost does NOT have an off/on switch. Just roll it up or down as needed. No tone bleed caps, the TBX has a notch in the middle. It actually adds treble and reduces bass or vice versa. You can dial in any sound, plus great playability = great guitar!

Oh my God, this EC Strat is superb, I just love this guitar , I can't put it down!!

This is my 2nd Clapton Strat, and I'm just as happy with this one as I was 5 yrs ago with the first one.
The db boost makes it so simple when it's time for some lead. The neck is fast and comfortable, and tone is just what you'd expect.
Buy It !!

This is the only Fender I own, but it earns equal playing time with the Gibson Les Paul, the PRS CE24, and the Gibson SG when I'm playing one of my solid body electrics. The guitar is fairly simple, without much bling, but is quite striking and elegant in its own way. In my view, its most outstanding feature is that it simply feels great and plays beautifully all up and down the neck. The action is terrific and between the weight of the guitar, the balance, the feel of the body and the neck, and the incredibly smooth action, this axe is just flat-out playable. The pickups are very responsive, producing a sharp and crisp sound, with plenty of treble bite, and the controls permit some growling as well. The intonation is perfect, the factory set up required no tweaks for my style of playing, and the instrument stays in tune extremely well. I spend more money on guitars than any sane person should, and I can (and did, and will again) spend a lot more money on other guitars, but I'm hard pressed to find a better playing instrument than this Strat. The value for the money is unequivocally five stars. Sometimes simple is all you really need...

For a note on the Sweetwater folks, when this instrument arrived, the guitar was absolutely perfect but one of the latches on the case was defective, so I called my SW rep (John Short) and he immediately arranged for a replacement case to be sent. No hassle at all. Since then I have purchased three more guitars and other miscellaneous gear from SW and those folks have been great to work with. So five stars to the SW team as well as this instrument.

First off, let me say that Sweetwater is a great company to buy from. They have outstanding customer service, ultra-fast shipping, and financing options that are very helpful to persons like myself who are on a budget. As for this guitar, it has made me so happy! I am a longtime Stratocaster enthusiast, and I have been obsessed with the idea of owning a red Clapton model for sometime. The soft V-shaped neck is extremely comfortable to hold and play, and the appearance of the light-colored maple fretboard looks absolutely stunning next to the cherry-red finish and bright white pickguard. Best of all, the noiseless pickups and TBX tone controls allow you to really push your tone into the realm of humbucker-ish sounds. You can play heavy metal on this guitar just as easily as you can get silky, clean traditional Strat tones. This guitar is amazing and I am delighted to have it! Thanks Sweetwater!

This is an excellent guitar. The soft 'V' neck and midrange boost control make this Strat one of a kind. Extremely fun to play and very comfortable.Looks great too!And as always you will not find a better place to get your gear than Sweetwater. My salesman Geoff Allen is great and I'm sure all of the sales people at Sweetwater are the same.Rock on!

The neck shape, the vintage frets and the TBX combine for a singular, even unique Strat. From a Twin, a Hot Rod, a Vox AC15 - does not matter, it just sounds great. Vintage frets need work more often than medium jumbos, but are effortless and worth the extra attention.

Not my only Strat, but it always makes the trip.

One of the best sounding electrics I have ever had.
I am a Tele tone player for years. Rich sounds are rich sounds.

For the rear pickup up I dial in a very small amount of mid boost and snap those strings for the Tele zone.

I am not a small fret guy but the 9.5" radius helps any bending issues there.

RE set-up from Sweetwater: The neck tilt is not necessary when there is ample saddle height, whether for low or hi action.

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