Guitar Center, in partnership with Eric Clapton and C.F. Martin Guitars, has commissioned a limited edition of two of the finest and most desirable Martin instruments ever made - hand crafted to Eric Clapton’s personal specification by the C.F. Martin Custom Shop.

Based on the legendary 14 fret 000-45 body style first introduced in 1934, the guitars are uniquely appointed with “Crossroads” pearl inlays and bear the personal, hand-written signatures of Eric Clapton and Chris Martin on both the Certificate Of Authenticity and sound hole label. The guitars are available in two versions – either Brazilian or Madagascar Rosewood.

"We’ve taken Eric Clapton’s favorite body size, which is the Triple O, the Auditorium size, and we’ve used the feel that he enjoys, the modified V-neck and the short-scale length," says,Craig Yamek, Martin Guitar National Accounts Manager. "What we have now are very playable guitar.

"Also, what Eric does with our Auditorium sizes is, he braces them differently. Typically, our smaller bodies will be scalloped with a thinner brace. Eric scallops it and gets it a bit thicker, so there’s a real sparkle to the mids and highs. Plus with the scalloping you get a real rich bottom end, very balanced – it’s not bass-y."

The Martin 000-45EC "Crossroads" Madagascar Rosewood will be limited to 30 guitars maximum in US, 25 guitars maximum for rest of the world. The Martin 000-45EC "Crossroads" Brazilian Rosewood will be limited to 12 guitars maximum in US, six guitars maximum for rest of the world. The Martin 000-28EC "Crossroads" Madagascar Rosewood will be limited to 75 guitars maximum in US, 75 guitars maximum for rest of the world.