Lot 4067
An Eric Clapton Gibson ES-335 Crossroads Model electric guitar
5 May 2014, 10:00 PDT
Los AngelesUS$9,000 - US$12,000
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An Eric Clapton Gibson ES-335 Crossroads Model electric guitar
Cherry red finish, thinline laminate body with double cutaways, laminate maple top with f-holes, mahogany neck, twenty-two fret bound rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays, headstock facing with crown motif inlay, serial number 67473 and a Hare Krishna sticker on headstock rear, two humbucking pickups, four rotary controls, selector switch, metal bridge, stud tailpiece and black pickguard; and a black Cream replica hardshell contour case stencilled on the lid in white "CREAM / DELICATE / HANDLE WITH CARE," with gold plush lining. Number 23 of 250 guitars, with label in the Gibson Custom Shop ma F-hole signed by Clapton himself. Gibson Custom Shop made this edition of guitars to the exact specifications of Clapton's original guitar, even including the Hare Krishna sticker on the headstock given to Clapton by George Harrison.
Clapton bought the original guitar in London in 1964 and played it with the Yardbirds in 1964-65. He continued to play the guitar once he joined Cream, playing it on their Goodbye album as well as their farewell tour. Clapton once said of the guitar, "Though we weren't yet in the big-money league, we were making enough for me to buy the instrument of my dreams. Throughout my life I chose a lot of my guitars because of other people who played them, and this was like the one Freddy King played. It was a rock guitar, a blues guitar...the real thing" (Clapton, Eric, "I choked up as my guitars were sold," The Daily Mail, June 15, 2013, accessed March 23, 2014). Clapton's original guitar was sold for $847,500 in the Crossroads Guitar Auction at Christie's in 2004.
Clapton bought the original guitar in London in 1964 and played it with the Yardbirds in 1964-65. He continued to play the guitar once he joined Cream, playing it on their Goodbye album as well as their farewell tour. Clapton once said of the guitar, "Though we weren't yet in the big-money league, we were making enough for me to buy the instrument of my dreams. Throughout my life I chose a lot of my guitars because of other people who played them, and this was like the one Freddy King played. It was a rock guitar, a blues guitar...the real thing" (Clapton, Eric, "I choked up as my guitars were sold," The Daily Mail, June 15, 2013, accessed March 23, 2014). Clapton's original guitar was sold for $847,500 in the Crossroads Guitar Auction at Christie's in 2004.