Eric Clapton Reacts to his First Look at the Fender Blind Faith Telecaster

In this exclusive Guitar Center video, Michael Doyle reunites with longtime friend Eric Clapton to unveil a new production reissue inspired by the vintage Telecaster he used while performing and recording with Blind Faith.

Part of the Eric Clapton Crossroads 2026 Collection, the new Blind Faith Tele was manufactured in Fender’s Corona, California, factory and recreates the distinctive details of the original hybrid guitar—the early ’60s Telecaster body, the 1956 Stratocaster neck that belonged to “Brownie” (and was eventually reunited with the Strat) and a darker than normal neck single-coil.

A Time-Traveling Neck Pickup

The Blind Faith Telecaster leaves the Fender factory with a contemporary neck pickup, although the early ’60s model used by Clapton had one of the original neck single-coils that produced a dark and bassy tone.

“That was the way they were up until about 1966 or 1967,” says Doyle.

However, for vintage buffs, the Blind Faith Tele includes “Woof Tone Wiring” instructions and all the parts needed to transform the neck pickup to original ’50s spec.

“I never used the neck pickup because it was just purely like [jazz guitarist] Barney Kessel,” says Clapton, “but, you know, that’s a nice idea.”

A Hybrid Telecaster

One of the defining looks of the Blind Faith Tele is that it was modded with a Stratocaster neck.

“I have visions of you with all these guitars and parts, sitting in your kitchen and swapping them all around,” says Doyle.

The vintage Telecaster Clapton used with Blind Faith had a double-bound, early ’60s body and a maple neck taken from “Brownie,” his 1956 Fender Stratocaster.

“Good fun,” remembers Clapton. “That was the thing about Fender. Like Lego [blocks], you could make your own guitar from parts.”

Doyle explains the neck swap a little further.

“The thing with a Stratocaster neck is you can put a Strat neck on a Telecaster, but you can’t put a Tele neck on a Strat because the Tele has a different heel size,” he explains. “The Strat neck isn’t actually a perfect fit. There’s a gap —which a Tele neck would fill. So, we replicated that imperfection on the new Blind Faith Telecaster.”

The Long and Winding Roads of the Tele and Strat

If the story of the Blind Faith Telecaster has you intrigued about additional Fender lore, don’t miss our article on The History of the Fender Telecaster and The History of the Fender Stratocaster.