While My Guitar Gently Weeps- The Beatles (Guitar Cover)

This is for George Harrison on what would’ve been his 80th birthday
Thanks to Peter Siegel for lending me this original 1966 Guild Starfire XII !

Eric Clapton famously played lead guitar on this song. After recording an acoustic version, then a rock take with a backwards guitar solo, George decided to bring in his friend Eric for a third version of Gently Weeps. This made the other Beatles, notably Paul and John become more invested in the song. Eric used a 1957 Gibson Les Paul Standard, nicknamed Lucy because it was refinished in cherry red and he thought of Lucille Ball's fiery red hair. Eric gave this guitar to George, who used it for the rest of his career

The backing track (September 5th, 1968) consisted of George on Gibson J-200 acoustic and vocals, Paul on piano, Ringo on drums, Eric on lead guitar, and John on organ. You can hear an outtake on the 2018 White Album box set. Afterwards, many overdubs were recorded onto the track the following day, Sept 6th

There is some discussion about who overdubbed bass on this song, and which guitars are played during the bridge. My theory is that Paul played Fender Jazz Bass for the entire song, and either John or George played a Fender Bass VI (six string bass), only on the bridge. I believe John played a Guild Starfire XII 12-string electric on the bridge as well. George and John no longer used their Rickenbackers, and there are pictures from the White Album sessions of John with his Guild 12-string

Some fan theories say that John played Bass VI for the entire song, or that Paul and him played two basses in unison for the whole song. Listening to the isolated tracks, I only hear one main bass on this song and the six string bass ONLY on the bridge. Some people also argue that there is no 12 string electric, just two six string guitars playing in unison. It was hard to decipher, but I guessed that the main bass, 12 string and six string bass played the same line in different octaves

I'm playing my 1956 Gibson J-45 Acoustic instead of a J-200. My Les Paul is a 2005 Gibson Les Paul Standard. The 12 string guitar is a real 1966 Guild Starfire XII, just like John's except with humbucking pickups instead of single coils. My six string bass is a Squier Bass VI with LaBella flatwound strings

I'm plugging all my electrics into my 1965 Fender Blackface Bassman amp. The Beatles used Fender blackface deluxes, a showman, and a Blonde Bassman during the 1968 sessions. Eric likely plugged his Les Paul into one of these (I think the deluxe reverb) and cranked the amp. You can hear him turning up his volume knob before the outro solo to get more crunch

Eric's guitar also had a tape flanging/ADT effect added onto it after recording. This is an effect that was invented at EMI, where the engineer doubles the signal onto another tape reel, and then delays the second reel slightly. That small delay creates the wobbly sound. I'm replicating this with my Strymon Deco ADT/Tape pedal. I'm getting Eric's crunch by using JHS Morning Glory and Klon KTR overdrive pedals

At 3:02 the tape flanging on his Les Paul becomes a faster wobble. I replicated this in Pro Tools with my J-37 Abbey Road Tape plug-in

My Gear:
2005 Gibson Les Paul Standard (OX4 Low Wind pickups)
1956 Gibson J-45
1966 Guild Starfire XII
2022 Squier Bass VI
1965 Fender Bassman
Analogman King of Tone (Squier Bass)
JHS Morning Glory v4 into...
Klon KTR into...
Strymon Deco (Les Paul)
AKG 414
Neumann TLM-103

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#thebeatles #ericclapton #lespaul

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