John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers & Eric Clapton – Blues Breakers album cover

John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers & Eric Clapton – Blues Breakers

Album 1966

The music gear and equipment used by the artists, producers, engineers, and more involved in the making of the 1966 album Blues Breakers.

Music from Blues Breakers

Gear Used On Blues Breakers

Explore the instruments, equipment, software, and production tools used in the making of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers & Eric Clapton – Blues Breakers (1966). Click more on each item to see exactly how it was used.

Amplifiers used by Eric Clapton on Blues Breakers

Combo Guitar Amplifiers

Marshall 1962 Bluesbreaker 30-watt 2x12" Combo

Avg price: $2,326.30

The 1962, 2 x 12” combo was called the ‘Bluesbreaker’ because it was famously used by Eric Clapton with the influential British blues rockers, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, in 1966. It was this heady, ‘high in the mix’ sound that made the legend of the 1962.

Guitars used by Eric Clapton on Blues Breakers

Solid Body Electric Guitars

Gibson Les Paul Standard

Avg price: $2,582.33

One was used with John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, while another one from 1999 was auctioned via Christie's on June 23, 1999.

Details

A 1999 Gibson Les Paul Standard

Serial No. 9 9272, in sunburst finish, mahogany body, with single cutaway maple top, mahogany neck, twenty-two fret bound rosewood fingerboard with crown inlays, headstock face with Les Paul MODEL, two humbucking pickups, four rotary controls, selector switch, metal bridge, stud tailpiece and cream pickguard; and a black hardshell contour case Gibson Les Paul Standard/Sunburst

Literature

FORTE, Dan, interview Out From Behind The Sun Interview in Guitar Player, GPI Publications, July, 1985 and Tribute To Slowhand Interview in Guitar World, Harris Publications Inc., December, 1989

(...) Lot Essay

In an interview with Dan Forte in 1985, Clapton remembers: "The best Les Paul that I ever had was stolen during rehearsals for Cream's first gig. It was the one I had with John Mayall, just a regular sunburst Les Paul that I bought in one of the shops in London right after I'd seen Freddie King's album cover of 'Let's Hide Away And Dance Away', where he's playing a gold top. It had humbuckers and was almost brand new - original case with that lovely purple velvet lining. Just magnificent. I never really found one as good as that. I do miss that one. And in the 1989 interview, Clapton reiterates: "All during Cream, I never really had a favourite guitar because I never really replaced the Les Paul and I was constantly looking for something to come up to scratch - I'd play the ES-335 or the SG or the Firebird. I don't think I had a Fender - I think it was only Gibsons - but I may have toyed with it..."

The stage-shot illustrated shows Eric Clapton playing a Les Paul Standard with Cream at The Marquee, London, September 27, 1966.