'The Heir To Blackie' Eric Clapton Guitar Sale

San Francisco Art Exchange

The sale of Eric Clapton’s beloved Blackie in 2004 caused a stir for more than just the then-world-record $959,500 it fetched at his second Christie’s guitar auction. For 15 years it was a huge part of slow hand’s legacy and to give it up in aid of his Crossroads charity seemed a significant step. But there was another of his mainstay Strats sold at the same auction; Blackie’s heir. And now it’s up for sale again.

This 1990 Strat was very much created under the influence of Blackie, taking the baton of Clapton’s famed 50s ‘partsocaster’ after its retirement. Another black Strat with white scratch plate, the icon’s collaboration on the guitar with Fender makes it, in essence, the very first signature Clapton Strat and would become his main guitar between 1990 and 1993, seeing some significant action during that period.