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Gear Avail

Blues rock

Eric Clapton

Cream, 1966 to 1968

The Cream-era rig is almost nothing: a Les Paul, a cranked Marshall, and a wah used as a vocal effect rather than a funk rhythm tool. That restraint is exactly why the tone still gets chased.

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The chain

Shown in conventional signal order rather than the order the sources list them, so it reads the way it would be wired: guitar on the left, amp on the right.

  1. 1
    Wah / filterNo photo available

    Vox V846 Wah

    Wah / filter

    Played slowly and expressively, closer to a singer's phrasing than to a rhythmic effect.

    Not stocked by any store we track

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  2. 2
    Drive / fuzzNo photo available

    Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster

    Drive / fuzz

    From the Bluesbreakers period, pushing the amp rather than generating distortion itself.

    Not stocked by any store we track

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Documented on

  • Disraeli Gears

    album · 1967

    • Sunshine of Your Love
    • Tales of Brave Ulysses

    Tales of Brave Ulysses is one of the first widely heard wah performances on a rock record.

  • Wheels of Fire

    album · 1968

    • White Room

Editorial gear history, assembled from interviews, rig rundowns, live photography and liner notes. Eric Clapton is not affiliated with Gear Avail and nothing here is an endorsement. Rigs change between tours and between takes, so this one is scoped to 1966 to 1968 rather than presented as a career-long setup. In most cases what is documented is that a pedal was on the board during those sessions or that tour, not that it is audible on a specific bar of a specific take.