Eric Clapton's Sunburst ES-295!

Yes -- it really is an original Sunburst ES-295! This incredibly rare guitar weighs just 5.70 lbs. and has two hot white P-90 pickups with thumping outputs of 7.77k and 8.31k. Reminiscent of the ES-175, with the same sharp-edged single pointed (Florentine) cutaway and pearl split-parallelogram inlays, this wonderful guitar has a 16-inch laminated maple body, mahogany neck, and rosewood fretboard with 19 frets. The nut width is a very comfortable 1 11/16 inches and the scale length is 24 3/4 inches. Original clear pickguard, back-painted in cream and embossed with a gold floral design. Four controls (two volume, two tone) and a three-way selector switch. Gold plastic barrel-shaped "Speed" knobs. Les Paul combination bridge/tailpiece. Minimal lacquer checking. Housed in the original brown hardshell case with tan felt lining (8.75). With Lee Dickson's handwritten tie-on label ("Gibson 295 '53 Sunburst P.90s Ser# A.15241") and adhesive paper label similarly inscribed. ES-295s in Sunburst are extremely rare. Together with a copy of the original June 24, 1999 Christie's New York catalogue ("A Selection of Eric Clapton's Guitars in Aid of the Crossroads Centre"), a certificate of authentification signed by Eric Clapton, the original Christie's description (Lot 37), and a copy of the prices realized.

"In 1952 Gibson introduced two models with gold finish. The hollowbody is essentially a fancy ES-175 with white pickup covers, a floral-painted pickguard, and gold-plated hardware. The trapeze-style combination bridge-tailpiece is the same as that of the gold-finish solidbody, the Les Paul Model, except that the strings wrap under the tailpiece on the Les Paul. The gold finish extends to the back, sides, and neck of the ES-295; the great majority of gold Les Pauls have gold finish on the top only. The ES-295 was discontinued in 1959" (George Gruhn and Walter Carter, Electric Guitars and Basses: A Photographic History, p. 71).

A total of 1,770 ES-295s were shipped between 1952 and 1958, with a peak of 637 in 1953.

Gibson's brochures at the time boldly stated that "this instrument meets the demand for the slick action and sustaining power of a solid body guitar in a regular-size acoustic guitar." The lightweight ES-295 was adopted by a number of aspiring rockers among whom Scotty Moore, Elvis Presley's first guitarist, was undoubtedly the most famous. His was also a 1953 model...but then Eric got one too...and this is it!