Cornell Custom 80 - Clapton! - Tweed

This amp was hand built by Eric Clapton’s very own amp builder, Dennis Cornel in England.   It is the same amp built for SlowHand himself. Based on a high power Fender Tweed Twin, it is an 80 watt aged Tweed amp with two 40 watt Red Tone Tubby speakers. The Cornell Custom 80 can be heard and seen being played by Eric on Concert for George, Crossroads Festival in Dallas 2004 and much much more.

After working on Clapton's Vibro King amps, Lots 95 and 96, in 2001, an English amplifier technician Dennis Cornell was asked to build a custom amp for him using the shape of the Tweed Twin cabinet but adding his own circuitry incorporating Clapton's tonal requirements.

In his interview with Tonequest Report, March 2003, Cornell stated:
"Out of the blue, I received a telephone call. A man...said he was the guitar tech for Eric Clapton. "I have a letter for you – Eric has a problem with his sound and has been told that you can sort it out for him.... The mods helped, but I was pleased when he decided to have a custom amp built..

We ended up with something that looks like Eric's old Twin, but sounds bluer, with lots of middle. The speakers are the Tone Tubby speakers from A Brown Soun in San Rafael, CA with the hemp cones. We must have tested 10 different types of speakers, but ended up with the Tone Tubby speakers because we thought they were the closest to what Eric was looking for.

We made a decision to have two channels...However, since then, Eric has decided that he would like the amp to be as simple as possible, and therefore we have now deleted channel two...

The output stage has 4 6L6-output valves running in class A/B, giving a comfortable 80 watts. There is also a power switch to reduce the output to 20 watts. The cabinet is made from Birch ply and covered in Fender Tweed that we have treated to look old and dated."