British rock legend Eric Clapton parted with 70 of his guitars in a charity auction on Wednesday that drew hundreds of fans and aficionados, and broke sale estimates.
Clapton’s 1948 Gibson hollow body guitar brought in $83,000, making it the most expensive item in the auction. Its estimated value stood at $30,000.
Most items sold for much higher than estimated by Bonhams auction house.
The auction included numerous Fender Stratocaster guitars, which the legendary guitarist is so closely associated with, including a black model he used during the Cream Reunion concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in London and New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2005.
Clapton’s signature Stratocaster sold for $51,000 in the auction, which was carried out simultaneously in New York, Los Angeles, London and online.
Proceeds will go to the Crossroads Centre in Antigua, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre which Clapton, himself a recovered alcoholic and former heroin addict, founded in 1998.