Eric Clapton is auctioning off a Fender "Blind Faith" Telecaster and Gibson Firebird 1 1964 from his personal collection to raise money for the Crossroads Centre Antigua.
The Crossroads Centre Antigua offers 12-step treatment for those with addiction, and, as patron, Clapton supports its operations through a variety of fund-raising activities, including the Crossroads Guitar Festival, which this year saw Clapton share the stage with Peter Frampton for the first time as they covered the Beatles' While My Guitar Gently Weeps.
This year, both Gibson and Fender came through with high-end and strictly limited edition signature models for the 2019 Crossroads Collection, with a "significant portion" of proceeds from their sale going to the centre, and now Clapton is auctioning one of each from his own collection.
The Gibson Custom Eric Clapton 1964 Firebird I is a reproduction of his famous reverse-headstock model. Limited to 100 models worldwide, it comes equipped with a newly designed Alnico-V mini-humbucker, and has a neck-through construction with a nine-ply mahogany walnut neck affixed to two solid mahogany wings with hide glue. It has a lightning bar wraparound bridge, Kluson tuners, and a nitro finish so it’ll age beautifully.
Clapton is selling off Prototype #3 of this rare 'bird and the bidding is currently at $26,200.
The "Blind Faith" Telecaster comes via the Fender Custom Shop in Corona, California, and is a master-build by Todd Krause that reproduces the storied 1964 Telecaster that Clapton played in front of 100,000 people at Hyde Park, London.
Clapton had originally modded this with a '60s Strat neck and rosewood fretboard before modding it again by taking the neck from his 1956 “Brownie” Stratocaster and bolting it on to the Tele for the Hyde Park show. It gives it a real hybrid vibe.
From Guitar Center, this would set you back $11,999, but Clapton's own guitar is bidding at $22,800.
Both guitars come with all kinds of case candy and a signed certificate from Clapton to say they were from his collection. The auction closes on Monday 6 October.
Check out the auction here.
