Anyone buy one of these?

[enr1co]

WOW :)

Clapton guitar brings record $959,500 at auction

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Eric Clapton's favorite guitar for 15 years fetched $959,500 at auction Thursday, easily eclipsing the record set by the sale of another guitar by the legendary rock musician five years ago.

The Fender Stratocaster, nicknamed "Blackie," was one of 88 guitars and other items Clapton and other musicians donated to raise money for Crossroads Centre Antigua, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in the West Indies.

Christie's, the New York auction house handling the sale, had estimated Blackie's price at $100,000 to $150,000

The auction brought in a total of $7,438,624. That's nearly half again the $5 million generated at Christie's 1999 sale, which also benefited Crossroads.

At the 1999 auction, an anonymous bidder paid what was then a record $497,500 for "Brownie," a 1956 Fender Stratocaster that Clapton used on the Derek and the Dominos hit "Layla."

"Blackie" was practically the only guitar Clapton used on stage and in the studio from late 1970 to 1985. A composite of three guitars made in 1956 and 1957, it is on the cover of Clapton's 1977 album "Slowhand," which includes such hits as "Cocaine" and "Wonderful Tonight."

Christie's said it sold all 88 of the selections, most of which were donated by Clapton, 59.

Three other guitars also brought more than $500,000 each.

A Gibson ES-335 that Clapton bought in 1964 and used through stints with The Yardbirds, Cream, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and Blind Faith as well as his solo career sold for $847,500 -- more than 10 times the high end of an estimate of $60,000 to $80,000.

The 1939 C.F. Martin & Co. acoustic guitar that Clapton played during his famous MTV "Unplugged" appearance in 1992 sold for $791,500. It also had been expected to sell for between $60,000 and $80,000.

A composite Fender Stratocaster, circa 1965, the late Stevie Ray Vaughan used throughout his career sold for $623,500, well above the estimated range of $15,000 to $20,000. It was donated by his brother, Jimmie Vaughan.

Clapton, a longtime Antigua resident who has spoken openly about his recovery from drug and alcohol abuse, founded Crossroads in 1998 and is its chairman of the board.

:)

[killerburst]

Blackie, the 335 and Lenny were bought by GC.

[Scott Peterson]

Originally posted by killerburst
Blackie, the 335 and Lenny were bought by GC.

"It's the end of the world as we know it...."

Ugg.

[pcbb]

yep, unreal man.

[bruce]

Forgive me for not knowing this, but which one is Lenny? Is it SRV's?

I'm scratching my head here... SRV's main guitar that he played for practically all of his career sold for $336,000 LESS than Blackie? And, that the "estimated range" was expecting to fetch $15,000 to $20,000. That's nuts. Who is the one giving out the estimated range? GC in Hollywood probably has a few on their wall for that price that are in questionable condition.

What the heck?

[pcbb]

do any of you know why they would "sand bag" the estimate prices? Because I agree with Bruce, those estimated prices were low.

[spanky]

Lenny was Stevies guitar he used for the more jazzy tunes such as Lenny (go figure) and Riviera Paradise. Deffiently one of his more popular ones. I think the low estimates are just to attract bidders giving them the comfort of having a better chance of winning.

[oscar100]

sorry to sound dumb

but who are GC and why is it so bad they got teh gts?

Never heard of them over here in blighty

:(

[Scott Peterson]

Originally posted by oscar100
sorry to sound dumb

but who are GC and why is it so bad they got teh gts?

Never heard of them over here in blighty

:(

GC = Guitar Center

They are the blight on the retail scene in the USA that have taken over the MI trade. They are the 400 lb. Gorilla that shakes the industry as it sees fit. In essence the Wal Mart of music retail. Mom and Pop shops - with real knowledge, experience and integrity - killed where ever they put GC.

Don't get me started.

[BrianH]

Scott, please continue......You are hitting the nail on the head; don't stop.

[Stys]

I agree with Scott. GC in Michigan is the worse.

[Jack Gretz]

Scott please continue to let everybody know about this company.

Customers should not even buy a pick from them. They have ruined a great industry by preying on the uninformed customer. I wil stop now because it bothers me that anybody would want to be taken advantage of but that is what they do.

[oscar100]

we have a couple of similar box shifters over here - and they are prob just as bad

impartial advice ?

b*llo*cks!

;)

[dkaplowitz]

Don't you guys love it when someone dredges up an ancient post? ;)

Anyway, I liked Scott's comments about GC. I've never liked the place, nor most of the attitudes of the standard sales people at these stores. Basically I avoid them like the plague. However, as a consumer with relatively limited funds (O niggling obligations, how you plague me!), I have trouble paying so much more for certain things from smaller local, independent dealers. I love the idea that these small shops exist, and would probably not mind paying up to 10% more for most things (plus tax), but when an item is at least 30-40% more at the smaller independents, then my dollar will almost always go to the conglomerates. And maybe I'm just a mindless consumer for saying that, but it's just my own economic sensibility telling me to spend my hard earned cash in the best way possible.

Anway, I didn't want to open up a can of worms here, but I'd like to hear people's ideas about this...how do the people who want to support the independent shops face this dilemma? Do you just pay what they ask b/c of the quality of the service? Do you refuse to buy things from places like GC or musiciansfriend no matter how cheap they are? Since this board is hosted by an indie shop, what do you guys think about this subject?

Thanks for any input.

Dave

[pluto]

Don't you guys love it when someone dredges up an ancient post? ;)

Anyway, I liked Scott's comments about GC. I've never liked the place, nor most of the attitudes of the standard sales people at these stores. Basically I avoid them like the plague. However, as a consumer with relatively limited funds (O niggling obligations, how you plague me!), I have trouble paying so much more for certain things from smaller local, independent dealers. I love the idea that these small shops exist, and would probably not mind paying up to 10% more for most things (plus tax), but when an item is at least 30-40% more at the smaller independents, then my dollar will almost always go to the conglomerates. And maybe I'm just a mindless consumer for saying that, but it's just my own economic sensibility telling me to spend my hard earned cash in the best way possible.

Anway, I didn't want to open up a can of worms here, but I'd like to hear people's ideas about this...how do the people who want to support the independent shops face this dilemma? Do you just pay what they ask b/c of the quality of the service? Do you refuse to buy things from places like GC or musiciansfriend no matter how cheap they are? Since this board is hosted by an indie shop, what do you guys think about this subject?

Thanks for any input.

Dave

Yeah, I thought I saw this post before. Going to your questions, I try my best to support one particular local dealer, Dan at Dan's Guitars (an Anderson dealer) because: 1) he has always been very generous; 2) his normal street prices are NOT off the wall crazy (close to internet prices) and he usually offers stuff cheaper; 3) he has a very small store; 4) he lets you take gear home to try out and play before buying; 5) Above all, he really is a good person. You can see it by just observing the way he interacts with customers, that he's a very kind human being that you want to support. Sure, I'm not a fool-If I can get something extra super duper cheap, I'll take that route, but it better be significantly lower than what he can offer me and it has to be something that he can't get right away (or of course, a line he doesn't carry).

[dpeterson]

Anway, I didn't want to open up a can of worms here, but I'd like to hear people's ideas about this...how do the people who want to support the independent shops face this dilemma? Do you just pay what they ask b/c of the quality of the service? Do you refuse to buy things from places like GC or musiciansfriend no matter how cheap they are? Since this board is hosted by an indie shop, what do you guys think about this subject?

Thanks for any input.

Dave

Well i became friends with the local shop here, and he treats me well, he doesnt rake me like he does some people. But at GC in cinci its' a joke. Those guys are 1 iq point from being goofy. The selection is horrible in guitars, and tons of mexi strats. But keep in mind they cater to beginner to mid player. I usually get strings there, when the local shop doesnt have what i want.

The small shops have to make a living, since they dont have the traffic GC does, nor the buying power. I like to give my money to the small guy when i can.

Dave

[Stan Malinowski]

I order pretty much everything I need from my friend's store via email/phone order. It's a medium sized store with a pretty good inventory. The store policy there is to mark down items to match Musician's Friend's prices. UPS gets my order to me the next business day.

My personal philiosophy is I would rather pay even a bit more to an independent dealer than to shop at GC, MF or Sam Ash.