Eric Clapton's 1999 Gibson Les Paul Standard

In May of 1999, Christie's conducted a landmark auction featuring Eric Clapton's personal Guitar Collection. The proceeds of the sale benefitted the Clapton's Crossroads Centre in Antigua. This instrument, Serial No. 9 9272, was Lot No. 16 in that auction and appeared as a full page in Christie's auction catalogue at the time.

The guitar is described as having a sunburst finish, mahogany body with a single cutaway, maple top, mahogany neck, twenty-two fret bound rosewood fingerboard with crown inlays, headstock face with Les Paul MODEL, two humbucking pickups, four rotary controls, selector switch, cream pickguard, and hardshell contour case.

In an interview Clapton had given in the 1980s, he relates his great fondness for the Les Paul Standard model he used throughout his extraordinary career. Indeed, an instrument he played as a member of Cream in the mid-1960s appears virtually identical to this one. The Christie's description goes on to point out that Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, George Harrison, and Keith Richards all have played similar guitars.

Provenance:Christie's documentation from 1999 Eric Clapton Auction.

Condition: More detailed condition reports and additional photographs are available by request. The absence of a condition report does not imply that the lot is in very fine condition. Please message us through the online bidding platform or email Guernsey's at auctions@guernseys.com to request a more thorough condition report.