FULL-FAT TONE

The history of Eric Clapton's guitars during Cream's brief but influential existence - from Fresh Cream to Goodbye - reveals an intriguing mix of instruments but also offers up a mystery or two

- Words Neville Marten

We know the guitars Eric Clapton played in Cream. All of them Gibson: the 'Beano' Les Paul, the 'Fool' SG, the cherry red ES-335 and the sunburst Firebird I. While that list is, of course, correct, dig a little deeper and a few oddities and anomalies poke their heads above the parapet. But as with anything musically historical, evidence is often vague or contradictory, so what follows here is as close as we can get with the sources available.

The 'Beano' Les Paul was used at the band's initial get-together at Ginger Baker's flat in Neasden, Northwest London, July 1966

With Clapton only just having left John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, the 'Beano' Les Paul was predictably his instrument of choice in early Cream rehearsals. It was used at the band's initial get-together at Ginger Baker's flat in Neasden, Northwest London in mid-July 1966, and the 'secret' two-set gig at the Twisted Wheel in Manchester, over the evening and early hours of 29 and 30 July respectively. Sadly, though this guitar, with its recognisable double-cream open-topped neck humbucker and all-black bridge pickup, was stolen soon after.

Eric then played some early Cream shows, including the Windsor Jazz and Blues Festival on 31 July, on a Bigsby-equipped '59 Les Paul. From what we can gather, The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards loaned his Satisfaction Les Paul to Eric for some gigs and recording, then in 1967 Keith (or some say the band's keyboard player, Ian Stewart) sold it to Mick Taylor. Taylor used it during his tenure with The Bluesbreakers and, somewhat ironically, when he was conscripted into The Stones in 1969. It's almost certain that the guitar also appeared on Cream's debut album, Fresh Cream.