CLAPTON SELLS TREASURED GUITARS FOR DRUG CLINIC

The rock musician Eric Clapton is to sell almost all of his
most-treasured guitars to raise money for a rehabilitation centre for
drug addicts and alcoholics that he founded on a Caribbean island.

"This lot is the A team," said Clapton, who will auction the guitars
at Christie's in New York. "What I am keeping back is just what I need
to work with."

Clapton has also persuaded the guitarists Pete Townshend of The Who
and Brian May of Queen to donate instruments to the sale on June 24 in
aid of the Crossroads Centre on Antigua.

The auction is expected to raise at least UKP550,000, although many
observers believe that this estimate is conservative. When Clapton
sold some of his guitars to help the centre five years ago the sale
made UKP3.2 million, six times the estimate.

"These guitars in fact are the ones that I kept back from the first
auction because I seriously could not consider parting with them at
that point," he said. "I have picked out all the great Rock and Blues
guitars. I have had great use out of nearly all of them. I have
tremendous respect and affection for them."

The most famous of the 56 guitars which Clapton is auctioning is
Blackie, the composite Fender Stratocaster which he said "has become
part of me".

Blackie, which is estimated at UKP55,000 to UKP85,000, was built by
Clapton from three Stratocasters that he bought in Nashville,
Tennessee, in 1970.

He is also selling a 1964 cherry-red Gibson ES335, the guitar which he
has owned longest.

It could fetch up to UKP45,000 while a 12-string guitar nicknamed Ivan,
which Clapton co-designed with Tony Zemaitis in 1969, is estimated at
UKP28,000.