WELCOME to our latest issue of Guitar Techniques. Do you like the cover for our Eric Clapton feature? I hope so as we spent a few weeks figuring out how best to present him. Eric has been a guitar hero for many decades so his appeal evokes different things to different people. For some, he is the shining light of the British blues scene because of his playing on John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers ‘Beano’ album. His tone and technique right from the arresting opener (All Your Love) reset the electric guitar for British players and countless others around the world. For others, he never bested his time with Cream, the Clapton-Bruce-Baker ‘super group’ (before the term was really in use) that featured Eric’s wonderful solos. One only needs to hear, say, the band’s final live album, Goodbye Cream to appreciate his tone, phrasing and how far he could push himself for those long improvisations. There are many though that will think of Eric through one famous song -Layla. That riff, the unique key change step up into the verse and the lush Major outro are outstanding indeed. For sure, his career in the 70s was very fruitful.