Eric Clapton

• For "woman tone": neck pickup, guitar tone knob rolled to 1–2, cranked amp
• The tone knob is your most important control — experiment with different positions
• Clapton's vibrato is slow and wide; practise uniform bends to a target pitch
• Blues Driver on low gain (around 9 o'clock) acts as a clean boost for solos
• Mid-forward amp EQ (bass 5, mid 7, treble 5) — never scooped
• Roll guitar volume to 7 for rhythm, open it fully for lead breakup
• Light pick attack for Strat-era tones; the dynamics come entirely from your hands
• Let single notes sustain and sing — Clapton leaves space between phrases
• For Cream tones, aim for natural amp saturation rather than stacking drive pedals

Eric Clapton defined the British blues-rock vocabulary across two distinct tonal eras — Cream's searing Gibson-through-Marshall crunch, and his later warm, singing Strat tone through clean Fender amps. Precision string bends and a vocal vibrato tie both periods together.