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eric clapton is selling blackie


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i see the auction is set for 6/24 at christie's new york. the est'd price is $100-$150k. i am the owner of the original blackie guitar case. it has the stencils still on it. he gave it to my brother when he worked on the neck about 15 years ago.

 

i think i'll contact these guys and try to get in on some of this action. wish me luck

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I was at the Clapton Crossroads event a week or so ago. They had all of the Christie's Auction guitars on display in a cool room with track lighting highlighting each guitar and plaques telling the story behind each guitar.

 

Also for sale is "Lenny" the natural brown Strat of Stevie Ray, also a Zematis acoustic that Harrison wrote "my sweet lord" on.

 

That $100K for "Blackie" is just a starting point, it will go for a lot higher than that. "Brownie" sold for $450K a few years ago.

 

They did have a well used flight case with stensil on it for "Blackie"

overheard street personality on Venice Beach "Man, that Bullshit is Bulllshhittt...."
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Originally posted by dougsthang':

...That $100K for "Blackie" is just a starting point, it will go for a lot higher than that. "Brownie" sold for $450K a few years ago...

Wouldn't be surprised if Blackie went for a million or more. :freak:

Mudcat's music on Soundclick

 

"Work hard. Rock hard. Eat hard. Sleep hard. Grow big. Wear glasses if you need 'em."-The Webb Wilder Credo-

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Originally posted by Ruff Ruff Dog:

yep - it's the blackie case for sure. i just got off the phone w/ John carruthers who is the top guitar tech in LA. John says it was brought in after the '85 duck bros tour. that was blackie's last gig.

 

christie's new york asked me to send a photo

Cereal...photos please...before it disappears from the mortal coil! ;)
Lynn G
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dougsthang, are you talking about THE Stevie Ray Strat? His number ONE?

 

MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek::eek::eek:

...touched down in the land of the Delta Blues.....in the middle of the pouring rain....
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Originally posted by tiger85:

dougsthang, are you talking about THE Stevie Ray Strat? His number ONE?

 

MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek::eek::eek:

NO NO NO...Brother Jimmie has number One. This is Lenny..the brown one...named after his wife...errrr ex/wife ;) Ill see if I can find a pic.
Lynn G
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http://comp.uark.edu/~scherry/images/srv_lenny.jpg

Another of Stevie's well-known guitars was "Lenny". Lenny was an brownish-orange 1963 maple-neck Stratocaster. Its tone was brighter than Number One's and more jazz-like in feel. The guitar is named after Lenora "Lenny" Bailey, Stevie's wife from 1979 to 1988. Supposedly, Stevie found this guitar in a pawnshop, but couldn't afford to buy it. One of Stevie's roadies, Byron Barr, bought it and he and Lenora presented it to Stevie for his birthday in 1976. According to the story, Lenora was supposed to pay Byron for the guitar;she started a pool with her friends to collect the money, but it was Stevie who eventually settled the debt, with cash and a leather jacket.

 

Lenny was spared much of the conversion that Number One endured. Its neck was originally a thin rosewood, but Stevie replaced it with a thicker non-Fender maple neck (which was better suited to his large hands). This neck was given to him by ZZ Tops' Billy Gibbons. Stevie kept the tremelo arm, pickups and frets in their original condition. He did add a filigree-style decal to the bridge and put his "SRV" initials to the pickguard sometime in 1986. Rene Martinez also modified the tremelo unit to be "floating" (so Stevie could either pull up or push down on the bar to bend the strings).

 

Stevie used lighter gauge strings for Lenny than he did with most of his other guitars. This, combined with the pickups and the maple neck, gave Lenny a bright, sweet, clear tone that is the trademark of Stratocasters. Stevie used Lenny for his slower, mellower songs, such as "Lenny" and "Riviera Paradise". He would often finger-pick these songs instead of using a plectrum (pick) for an even softer tone.

 

I don't know what became of Lenny after Stevie's death, although I suspect Jimmie Vaughan has it.

Lynn G
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That would be "Lenny"...Number One did come back into public view for Fender to create the knock off model. It's pretty cool when you see one of those up close. They've got it stone cold, right down to the dowell plug under the tremelo where the tech messed up when working on the guitar.

 

The knock off Rory Gallagher guitar is also pretty cool.

 

The other cool Clapton guitar there was his red Gibson 335 that he played in Derek and the Domino's and I believe he also played it in Blind Faith.

overheard street personality on Venice Beach "Man, that Bullshit is Bulllshhittt...."
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Speaking of SRV and "Lenny", I always especially liked the tunes and tones he got outta that axe. "Lenny" and "Riviera Paradise" were two of my all-time favorites, and probably filtered more of an influence into my own playing that much of his other music and "tone". (Especially evident when I get my hands on a good Strat-ish guitar with a well set-up whammy!)

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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