Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster  The Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster is the signature model electric guitar of English guitarist Eric Clapton. It was the first signature model guitar released by Fender. Eric Clapton played a range of different Fender and Gibson models while playing in The Yardbirds and Cream. 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. While on tour with the Dominos, Clapton visited Sho-Bud Music in Nashville where he bought a further six mid-50s Stratocasters for around $100 each. On his return to the UK he gave one to George Harrison, one to Pete Townshend and a third to Steve Winwood. The remaining three each had attractive qualities that Clapton combined in a single instrument. He took the body from a black 1956 Stratocaster he liked the look of, the neck from a 1957 Stratocaster he liked the feel of and the electronics loaded pickguard from another Stratocaster that sounded better than the others, constructing "Blackie" that was to be his main instrument from 1970 until its retirement from active service in 1985. In 1985, Dan Smith approached Clapton to discuss a plan to create a signature guitar built to his own specifications. Clapton asked Fender to make a guitar with the distinctive V-shape neck of his Martin acoustic as well as a "compressed" pickup sound. Based on Clapton's brief, Fender made two early prototypes: one with a neck based on measurements taken from Blackie and one with a slightly softer V shape which Clapton ultimately deemed preferable. 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. Clapton liked the boost circuit but asked for more dynamic range, prompting Fender to replace the "Elite" pickups with Gold Lace Sensor pickups and an updated MDX circuit that had been tweaked up to deliver 25 dB of boost in the midrange at around 500 Hz. Clapton first used Gold Lace Sensors on three prototype signature models built by George Blanda and Michael Stevens – one was finished in Torino Red and the other two in Pewter Grey Metallic – in the "Prince's Trust Concert", in June 1986.