OK! As promised, I popped along to Bonhams Auction House in London today to catch the preview of the Clapton gear sale. Warning: these posts are going to contain A LOT of photos...

Shall we start with some Marshall cabs? Also a couple of black Custom Shop Strats, a VG on the left and a Roland Ready on the right. Both by Todd Krauss. I tell you what, I've seen more black Strats today than you could shake a stick at!



Some more Marshalls:



A custom Marshall amp. Plus a Beano Les Paul:



A Marshall Bluesbreaker in custom white Jaguar Cars leather (Forum user AlainLaFrance has one of these, if memory serves). This one is yours for $3000 - 5000:



Now this gets more interesting. After taking a turn playing through Mark Knopfler's custom Soldanos Eric had Pete Cornish build him this rig. Two customised Soldanos, a very serious set of rack effects and accessories all pumped through two Marshall cabs. This is Clapton's full stage rig from the late '80s to early '90s and (so the info card said) allowed him to recreate his studio sound of the period complete on stage without need of extra FX added at the desk:



Controlled from this Pete Cornish built pedal unit:



A closeup of the SFX, for those who miss the days of racks:



There were more Marshalls but lets stroll past a few Fender amps for a change:



Some more:



Some more:



Some more (ew, red knobs!):



Some more - an ex-Clapton Blues Junior and a Pro Junior, each estimated at a mere $1200 - 1800:



Some of you recognise that Gold Sparkle Strat. More on that... later.

Plenty more Fender amps, but let's leave them for now, just pausing for this tasty little babe:



That's a 1998 Fender Woody Junior, estimated to fetch $2200 - 2800. Am I wrong, that sounds an amazingly reasonable price for that amp, especially as its one previous owner is Eric Clapton? Who cares what it sounds like - it's flippin' gorgeous!

I'll save some more unusual and interesting amps for later. I have loads of guitars to show, but it's the middle of the night where I am right now, so I'll just give you a little sample of good things to come in the next post.

Some cases full of acoustics:



Martins, Takemines and many more off-beat offerings in those and others cases.

Or how does this grab you?



Or this:



That's just a taster. I have more goodies for you tomorrow, when I've sorted some more of the photos (and slept). Including some quite strange things...

For now, I'll leave you with this:



One of a row of such certificates, awarded by the BMI for six million broadcasts of Layla. And that's just in my country! How much does Eric get paid per air play?

...I believe I actually heard the majority of those six million plays. Feels like it, anyhow.

Plenty more tomorrow. Tune in, same time, same place...

Cheers - C

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No no and no

I would think that Woody Jr would go for a lot more than that.

You understand, we've only just started.

And bear in mind, this is just the crap that Eric has had lying around and wants to be rid of.

Feeling GAS-y?

Tomorrow... - C

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you didnt show us what you were bidding on yet ceri.
thank you for posting up these pics for all of us clapton fans
(i was converted by this forum) to enjoy. im suprised to see clapton used the red knob amps. honestly, i liked those amps, well some of them. i think a few of them were fenders attempt at the heavy metal crowd. i need to get one in my collection one day.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

One of the best amps I've ever heard bar non was a red knobed twin with Oxford speakers.
I'm more suprised to see the JCM800's.

Wonder what the guide price on that rack was?

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No no and no

Awesome pics! Thanks Ceri!!!

niki i promise you this, the twin was what i had in mind when i mentioned them above.
that twin was amazing and could get down right nasty for the metal crowd if it needed to. maybe not the groan or screamer metal guys but the 80s metal stuff.
they had what ya needed for whatever back in those days.
im feeling a rumblin in my gut now, its...... i gotta.......yep its G.A.S lol. maybe this summer i will put the look on for one. i gotta hault all spendings for now as my
g.friend told her boss where to go yesterday. well she had good reasons for doing so. send her some mojo guys, she needs it.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Well tell her Lincolnshire wishes her all the best and congratulates her on telling her boss to eff off. To stand up for yourself and say "I'm not tolerating your poopoo to get your coin" is often a good thing.
Then send her off to London to buy you a Clapton Strat and a Soldano Head.
She's got all the time in the world now.
Don't you worry about a thing WCJ, you can tell lady WCJ that the brits will look after her. Or rather for the sake of fair play we'll have to get our partners to look after her.

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No no and no

she would love the opportunity trust me. niki you wouldnt believe what she had to put up with bro. i would post it just to vent but it might start something on the forum. it was crazy, a true nightmare. its sad that people are treated that way still.
the things i could tell you would blow your mind niki, about these two doctors, and i
am sure your mind can handle a lot.
(i just found something on a local advertise list im sweating on right now. OMG if i can get it bro. i'll be flippin my lid with pics and a killer story to boot too. please send me any extra mojo you guys have over the next few hours. PLEASE)

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Ya...I'm with Drew....what's a napkin going for?

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I Can't Explain

What a cool thread !!!! (be interesting to see what the Bonamassa strat goes for) Ive got the rockplast DVD with him playing it on that (2002 maby) never been see since (something to do with him getting offended by a fan telling him he sounded like SRV, didn't appreciate the comment an hasn't played a Stratocaster since!!) or so the story goes !
Thanks for the pics an will tune in again tomorrow !!

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Dan...

Fender 1987 MIJ Stratocaster, Texas Special Loaded.
Fender 2007 MIA Jazz Deluxe.

Thanks Ceri!!! Just have all of that delivered to my house

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Hey, Boy Blue is back!

The guitar, owned by Paul Allen, can be seen at the Experience Music Project in Seattle. It used to be in rather handsome display case the first time I saw it. Less so now. It's in this big guitar room with some other icons in cases, and an every running video of the artists who played them. With Eric, it's the Carl Perkins segment. Very disappointing. The guitar looks like hell IMHO.

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"Another day in paradise!"

Now this gets more interesting. After taking a turn playing through Mark Knopfler's custom Soldanos Eric had Pete Cornish build him this rig. Two customised Soldanos, a very serious set of rack effects and accessories all pumped through two Marshall cabs. This is Clapton's full stage rig from the late '80s to early '90s and (so the info card said) allowed him to recreate his studio sound of the period complete on stage without need of extra FX added at the desk:



Controlled from this Pete Cornish built pedal unit:



A closeup of the SFX, for those who miss the days of racks:



Let's see now....wasn't the great unanswered question with respect to Clapton's tone, a matter of how his amps were EQ'd. After looking at this, is all still really in the hands?????........is it .....Bunkie

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"Another day in paradise!"