A gear Nerd's thoughts on Cream.
At the risk of starting a war
here's my two cents. First of all, it's kind of amazing that these guys are still alive with the decent health and the ability to enjoy playing and entertaining, so three cheers for 'em, I say. I remember the excitement when Wheels of Fire came out - I'm that old, I guess.
But maybe the reason two immortal British players (Beck and Clapton, not to mention Peter Green) have switched to Strats is that the single coil sound is more transparent and requires careful playing but also contains the potential possibility of creating a more natural tone that aims for subtlety and not pure sonic slam (ie., with a single coil there's no massive, lardacious humbucker sound to hide behind). I know, I know already that Carlos can make his PRS sigh or scream and I'm aware that there are some very emotive humbucker players out there (the amazing Phil Keaggy comes to mind, and I ain't fit to carry his guitar case on the nest playing day of my life), but it's the Strat sound for me, fellas. Just trying to be honest, not trying to be judgemental.
I know it's all a matter of taste but I honestly don't care about woman tone or the Beano album or whether he used a marshall or not. If I want to cop a great tone, I shoot for Hubert Sumlin's goldtop sound on "300 pounds of heavenly joy," not "White Room" or "Badge" or even "Crossroads." Or the clean toned genius of Jimi's "The Wind Cries Mary." Or the tone of Pee Wee Creighton or Guitar Slim. Or the amazing orchestral tones of Terje Rypdal or Eric Johnson.
Don't get me wrong. I'll take out the Les Paul and crunch it up good when the missus is out, so I'm not trying to be anal. I have a Tele with a set of EVH Wolfgang pickups that can really honk and I enjoy terrorizing the hounds and neighbors with it from time to time. And I'm still hoping to get a Love Rock some day because they are great guitars.
No offense meant, but for me the ultimate is trying to get a great tone with a Strat (Silverstar) with a good tube amp and trying to keep the silly pedals to a minimum. It's the interaction of a good fundamental guitar tone and the effects of overloading the tubes (valves) without rattling the windows or blowing out the last hair cells in my poor old decrepit ear canals. At least for me
My single coil bias aside, what I'm really ranting on about is that is shouldn't matter what you play on because the goal is to please yourself or others who listen to you, and to connect with your inner self or others' external selves in an artistic, esthetic, emotive way so that well, ... beauty of some sort can be created and shared. Or maybe just to make some noise. 8)
Sorry if I've attacked a sacred cow here - not intended, really. :wink: