Auction by U2's Edge & Other Rockers to Help Big Easy

Guitarist auctions "favorite" ax to replace musical equipment in New Orleans

Giving 'til it hurts is one of the litmus tests for charitable donating. Sometimes that means putting a few extra bucks in an envelope or writing a bigger check than we feel comfortable signing just so we are sure that we have made a sacrifice in service to others. For a world-famous rock guitarist, for whom money is almost beside the point, giving 'til it hurts apparently means parting with a beloved instrument. But since the goal of his giving is to keep the musical heart of one of the world's great music cities alive, it must be the kind of parting that will surely be a sweet sorrow.

The Edge, the guitarist for U2, announced this weekend that he is donating his 1975 Gibson Les Paul to an auction by Music Rising, a charitable foundation he founded with the goal of replacing musical instruments and equipment lost to Hurricane Katrina.

The cream guitar (photo from AP via Yahoo) is one that has played a significant role in his career, said David Evans, who has spent the past 30 years creating and expanding his unique style and sound as U2's The Edge, in an official release.

"I wanted that Steve Jones 'Never Mind The Bollox' sound, so I got the same guitar right down to the color. I never could get that sound, but I found a bunch of songs in this instrument, and have used it extensively ever since, on tour and in the studio," he said.

The Music Rising web site estimates the guitar could fetch as much as $80,000 when it hits the block the "Icons of Music Auction" slated for April 21st at the New York Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square.

Bandmates Adam Clayton donated a bass guitar, Larry Mullen gave a pair of tom-tom drums and Bono donated a pair of Emporio Armani sunglasses.

"It's some great poetry to ask the people like myself, who've earned a good living from rock 'n' roll, to donate items to an auction that would help protect and stave off the decline of the music culture in the Gulf Coast," he told The Associated Press.

A pair of sunglasses worn by John Lennon is expected to fetch between $4,000 and $6,000, while the estimated value of an early Elvis Presley recording contract is roughly $5,000. In total over 200 prized items donated by stars from Madonna and Bob Dylan to The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead - even a saxophone signed by former President Bill Clinton - will be on the block. A special exhibit of many of the auction items will tour Dublin, Los Angeles, London and New York. the event will include an online component as well. the live and online events are hosted by Julien's Auctions.

"Music here is as much a part of death as it is of life," renowned New Orleans jazzman Sidney Bechet once observed to an uninitiated spectator to one of the city's famous jazz funerals that The Edge says captivated him as a young musician. ATR hopes this auction is about the eternal life of the music in the City That Care Forgot. Sho'nuf.