Six-String Stories

‘These guitars have been really good tools; they’re not just museum pieces. They all have a soul and they all come alive.’ – Eric Clapton

‘In his own words, Clapton tells his story through the history of his instruments.’ – Rolling Stone

In Six-String Stories Eric Clapton reflects on a legendary career as told through the tools of his trade: his guitars. Collected together here for the first time are the instruments Clapton sold in three record-breaking auctions between 1999 and 2011 to benefit the Crossroads treatment centre he founded in 1998. Featuring some of the most famous guitars ever played, Clapton guides the reader through nearly 300 instruments as he discusses their provenance, reveals insights about his own playing, and shares anecdotes from each chapter of his spectacular life in music.

‘One by one these guitars were the chapters of my life. They belong to a very well-loved family.’ – Eric Clapton

Six-String Stories presents a ‘family tree’ that makes connections between iconic instruments, such as Clapton’s famous ‘Blackie’ Stratocaster, and previously unknown rarities, placing them in the chronology of his career. Clapton recalls the instruments he bought to emulate his heroes, the guitars with unknown origins that became their own legend, the ones that never left his side, and the legacy they left behind. Every piece has been individually photographed, revealing every curve, detail and scratch, while the work of over 80 of the world’s best rock photographers shows the instruments in play. See Clapton’s evolution from the psychedelic Sixties, through the stripped-back Seventies, electric Eighties, and unplugged Nineties, right up to the sale of the last guitar.

‘As an avid rock or blues fan, I would look at all the pictures in this book.’ – Eric Clapton

Historical and technical information for each piece in the collection – including playlists and concert dates for those instruments used on records and at public appearances – completes the story behind each guitar.

‘The guitars are things of great beauty.’ – Eric Clapton