What’s it like to hold the instruments of “God” in your hands? Lee Dickson might be able to tell you.
For 21 years, he has been guitar tech for Eric Clapton (whose enthusiastic fans daubed London with “Clapton is God” graffiti in the ’60s).
What, exactly, does a guitar tech do? In Dickson’s case, he’s part roadie, part security guard, part technological guru. When the18-wheelers carting Clapton’s show gear rolled into the United Center on July 24 at 8 a.m., Dickson was there as the crates were hoisted to the stage and their contents unloaded. In the center of the stage, Dickson unrolled an Oriental carpet and placed a chair on it. “This is where Eric will be,” he says, though the man himself wouldn’t be onstage until about 9 p.m. that night, and it would be hours until his guitars are even unpacked.
One of the crates un-loaded from the trucks opens to reveal Dickson’s workshop, with racks holding the 12 guitars that Clapton travels with. Each guitar is re-strung, checked and re-checked and plugged in for the sound check, then Dickson carefully secures them back in the racks until the concert begins. During the show, Dickson hands Clapton the guitar he needs and makes sure the sound is correct.
The guitar tech himself has acquired some 50 guitars over the last 20 years. “They’re just guitars I liked or bought on the road over the years,” he says. “I’m not a collector, I just like them. When I’m on the road and have a day off I’m usually so tired I just like to stay in the hotel and play.”
