In 1998 Clapton, himself a recovering addict, founded the Crossroads Centre charity to help others. Since then, he has had three auctions of his guitars-
"When I was 16, I really tried to nail it, and I felt I was making progress at that point," he says. What does he look for in a good acoustic? "The guitar has to be friendly. It has to give me a little bit of assistance – otherwise I'll put it down. My kids listen to classic rock, but that may only be because of me, because that’s what I’ve played to them. I mean, from the time of their conception, they’ve been listening to music through the womb. I played them playlists, just brainwashed my kids, and at the back of it was always the guitar or some kind of solo instrument or a singer. My belief in music is it’s all good. It’s all good. Even stuff that doesn’t appear to be so, it’s all good.”
This is a rare video of Clapton using a Gibson – he mainly uses Strats on tour. Here he even turns up the gain a bit for some fuzzed-out noodling. "It became part of my body – it was just part of my existence," he says of the Les Paul, which he played in the Sixties.
Eric Clapton built his reputation as a guitarist playing Gibson electric guitars. He played them almost exclusively between June 1965 up until about 1970.Eric Clapton purchased his first Gibson guitar in 1964. It was a 1964 Cherry Red Gibson ES-335 (a.k.a the Cream Guitar) which he would use for the next forty years. He sold it at auction in June 2004.In June 1965, Clapton bought a second-hand, Cherry Sunburst 1960 Gibson Les Paul. (whereseric.com)
At his Toronto International Film Festival press conference for the Lili Fini Zanuck documentary, Eric Clapton: A Life in 12 Bars, Billboard told Clapton that guitar sales are down, teens are flocking to EDM and music education charities for schools, such as America’s Mr. Holland’s Opus and Canada’s MusiCounts, typically lean toward brass, woodwinds and strings these days. He quipped, “I didn't realize it was that bad,” laughing.
As the 1970s began, Eric Clapton abandoned the Gibson Les Paul in favor of the Fender Stratocaster. However, he never completely abandoned the brand. Today, Eric Clapton uses a Gibson L5 for select numbers in concert and from time to time, he's played a Gibson Chet Atkins acoustic on stage. He also uses various other Gibson models in his studio work.
These guitars were chapters of my life.They have been really good tools – they’re not just museum pieces.They all have a soul and they all come alive. They’re to be played.
Point the mouse on the pic to know the guitar model
Guitar pics from equipboard.com / google/ Guitarplayer/
Each had a huge effect on my life and I was having to let them go – and not just one of them, but all of them. I’d be talking to people while part of me was beginning a mourning process.
The guitars are things of great beauty and some were incredibly important, and they were the ones that did the best in the auctions because they had known provenance to fans and collectors.The first guitar I ever had I bought in a market in Kingston for two quid. Then I was off. My collection had started. (MailOnline)
