NEW YORK (AFP) - Rocker Eric Clapton (news) will auction off 56 guitars from his collection on June 24 at Christie's in New York, the auction house said.

"I am selling the cream of my collection. What I am keeping back is just what I need to work with," Clapton said, cited by Christie's.

The proceeds from the sale will go to the Crossroads Centre in Antigua, which helps people wrestling with chemical dependency.

Exactly five years earlier, on June 24, 1999, Christie's sold the first part of Clapton's collection.

"These guitars are in fact the ones that I kept back from the first auction because I seriously couldn't consider parting with them at that point. I think they are a really good representation of rock culture, ... all great rock and blues guitars," Clapton said.

Among the items up for bids is the legendary "Blackie," a circa-1956 composite Fender Stratocaster, which Clapton says "has become a part of me."

Estimated at between 100,000 and 150,000 dollars, it is one of a kind, as Clapton assembled it himself from the components of three different Stratocasters bought in Nashville in 1970.

Another gem is a 1964 cherry-red Gibson ES-335, the second electric guitar Clapton ever purchased, which is estimated at between 60,000 and 80,000 dollars. Clapton says he bought the guitar after seeing blues legend Freddy King with a similar model on an album cover.

Also up for sale are guitars from Clapton's friends, including The Who's Pete Townshend (news), as well as others from Brian May (news) of Queen, J.J. Cale (news) and B.B. King.