NEWS
Eric Clapton’s Gear
Pulls $2.15 Million
at Bonhams Auction
for Crossroads
BY REBECCA DIRKS
New York, NY – Collectors,
fans, and musicians alike gathered on March 11 at Bonhams
New York to celebrate the rock
icon, Eric Clapton, whose personal collection of 75 guitars
and 55 amps were auctioned off
to benefit the Crossroads Centre
in Antigua. With 100 percent of
the lots sold, the final auction
total more than tripled pre-sale
expectations, with proceeds
going to the drug-and-alcohol
rehabilitation center founded by
Clapton in 1998.
Guitar highlights included
a 1948 Gibson L-5P, estimated
at $20,000-$30,000, that sold
for a staggering $82,960, and
a 2005 Zemaitis S22BP 3S,
Some of the Clapton auction items on display at a pre-auction gala. Photo: Ben Friedman.
estimated at $12,000-18,000,
that sold for $75,640. A pair
of 1997 Fender Twin Amps
were the top amps of the sale.
Estimated at $9,000-12,000,
they sold for $42,700.
Bidders from all over the world
took home Clapton-used gear,
with many of the items going to
a Russian player named Vladimir
Avetisyan in the Clapton tribute
band, D’Black.
premierguitar.com
PREMIER GUITAR MAY 2011 25
