Riff Tone

Wonderful Tonight

Eric Clapton

Guitarrock1970s

Original Gear

GuitarFender Stratocaster 'Blackie'

AmpFender Custom Series '57 Bandmaster combo

PickupsFender single-coil pickups (vintage spec, 1970s)

Amp Settings

gain0

bass6.5

mid6.5

treble6.5

reverb3.5

presence5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1977. Guitar is Clapton's 'Blackie' Stratocaster with stock single-coil pickups. Amp is a Fender Bandmaster combo, no evidence of pedals in the clean riff section. Some sources mention Leslie speaker for chorus effect live, but not confirmed on studio recording. Chorus effect is audible in the studio version, likely added via Leslie or studio processing.

Tone Character(10)

warm and smoothglassy cleanslight chorus shimmerrounded highstouch-sensitivemellow attackclear note separationgentle compressionsubtle amp reverbno audible overdrive

Difficulty

The riff is technically simple but demands expressive phrasing, clean execution, and subtle dynamic control to capture the song's iconic feel.

Sources

Eric Clapton's Guitar Rig, Gear & Pedalboard | Equipboard Clapton's Blackie Fender Strat: Specs, History and Legacy | Equipboard Learn the playing styles of every Eric Clapton era with this epic lesson | Guitar World Eric Clapton's late 80's - early 90's Tone - The Gear Page

This tone has been researched 4 times by the community

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