Fenders come in all sorts of colors: white, blue, red, gold, green... whatever takes your fancy. But perhaps the most famous Fender of all is black: Eric Clapton's Fender Stratocaster guitar, known as "Blackie."
Back in 1970, Clapton bought a bunch of 1950's vintage Stratocasters. He gave some to his friends like Pete Townshend and Steve Winwood, and from the ones that were left, he took a 1956 body, a 1957 neck, and the pickups from a third guitar, and made Blackie. From 1970 until the mid-80's, Blackie was Eric's primary stage and studio guitar.
In 2004, Clapton sold Blackie at Christie’s in New York to raise money for the Crossroads alcohol and drug treatment centre he had founded in Antigua. Blackie sold for $959,500!
I also own a black Fender, but it's not worth as much as Blackie. And I don't sound much like Eric Clapton when I play it. But I can dream.
What's that you say? You thought this was a sailing blog? You imagined this post would be about boat fenders? Please try and keep up. There was an election around here in 2008 and my readers voted convincingly that they didn't want this blog to be about sailing any more; they wanted me to write about "whatever the hell I want." So that's what I'm doing. I like Eric Clapton. I like guitars. I like Fenders. Especially black ones.
In the interests of full disclosure, I would like to point out that this post is sponsored by Boating.com, a great resource for boat fenders and more. So if you want to know more about boat fenders, fender locks, fender adjusters, fender lines, fender hangers, blue fenders, red fenders, white fenders and (my favorite) black fenders then head over to boat fenders and knock your brains out.
Boat fenders are a mystery to me.
After all, I'm a Laser sailor.
And a guitarist.
17 comments:
So ends the string of posts with Simon and Garfunkel references.
Someone should invent a device for reshaping fenders so that they can be fit snugly around bows, sterns and other awkward angles.
They could call it a...
On Bluesette we use acoustic fenders.
I have an acoustic guitar too. It has been part of my life for even longer than Tillerwoman. One day I may write a post about that guitar too. But it's not a fender.
Bender, Bonnie?
Bass-boat-style fenders are pretty useful; because they're designed for low-profile-hull bass boats they work really well on the Etchells or other low-profile boats.
But where do you store fenders on a Laser?
http://desertsea.blogspot.com/2011/03/low-profile-boat-fender.html
shows one of those bass-boat-style fenders
Can I ask a silly question? Are fenders to stop you hurting your boat if you bump into something like a dock? If so, why don't you just slow down a bit and steer the boat so you don't bump into the dock?
Great, great the Clapton part. Thanks.
By the way, did you win your Stratocaster at the AccessHollywood.com show?
If you haven´t listened, get this song: Dear Mr. Fantasy,
Stevie Winwood live/Stratocaster, Download the 8.29min version. Or better wait, I mail it to you.
One of my all time favorites.
Olivia - Yes! A fender bender!
Sorry, I was having a very long day! :D
I've me a Fender and a Gibson. Been to the Fender Custom Shop in California, where they have made a laser scan copy of Blackie's neck, so the computer controlled machines can duplicate it exactly for all of Clapton's guitars. They also have them for Jeff Beck and a few other players.
Wait -- I thought I was joking!!!
Not a joke at all bonnie. This is a fender bender,
Awesome. And here everybody always talks about fender benders like a moderately bad thing.
Nice find, Lord T! Meanwhile for my money this is the ultimate fender bender
A magnificently bent Fender, indeed.
For us, fenders buy some peace of mind for when the boat is in the marina and we are a two- or three-hour drive distant. If a storm were to fray a dockline while we and the marina people are gone, a fender might prevent serious damage.
Another past use of fenders is for cushioning boats during a raft-up party. Among Laser sailors, this would be known as the windward mark during a light-air regatta.
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