After playing his remaining three, he decided to make himself the ultimate guitar by taking his favorite parts from each ('56 black alder body, '57 maple neck, etc..) and giving the resulting guitar the nickname "Blackie". Blackie soon became his #1 from 1973 to 1985 and unsurprisingly, began to show large amounts of wear and although its electronics were fit, it was retired before it completely fell apart. Around this time, Fender approached Clapton and designed a brand new Eric Clapton Signature series guitar, which he began to play exclusively. in 2004, Eric Clapton sold his original "Blackie" to California-based Guitar Center Inc. for a record breaking $959,500.
Soon after the sale of the original Blackie, Fender was commissioned to make an exact replica of the worlds most famous guitar. Unlike the Eric Clapton Signature guitar made previous, this guitar would not only use the same parts as Blackie, it would recreate every flaw, nick and sign of wear and be produced in a very limited number. Painstakingly hand crafted, each replica exactly mirrors the necks wear, cigarette burns on the headstock, aged hardware right down do the flaking black paint, which is inked in with pen just like the original. Clapton himself approved the first prototype, using it for 3 songs at London's Royal Albert Hall on May 17, 2006. On November 24, 2006, along with a replicated "Duck Brothers" flight case for each, 275 Tribute Series Blackies were made and were listed at a suggested price of $24,000, and not surprisingly, all the replicas of the worlds most famous guitar are reported to have sold out. Fender Tribute Series has also made replicas of Muddy Water's Telecaster, Jimi Hendrix's Woodstock Stratocaster, Stevie Ray Vaughn's #1 and Jeff Beck's Esquire.
