The Edge parts with 1975 Gibson Les Paul

According to the BBC, the Edge has given his favourite guitar, the 1975 Gibson Les Paul, to the Music Rising organisation for the Icons of Music auction. The charity replaces instruments lost or destroyed when Hurricane Katrina hit the US.

Says the man: “I wanted to give something really significant that would mean a lot for me to give,” says the U2 man. “It deserved something that I would miss.”

Why not read this study of The Edge’s Guitar Delay or buy the auction’s catalogue while you recover?

You can get a look of the guitar in question from April 3 to 6 when it goes on display in Dublin’s Clarence Hotel after which it will be auctioned off online at www.juliensauctions.com on April 21st. Starting bid is $60,000. Ask the wife before you remortgage your property.

Other items on auction are The Edge’s worn sneakers, his woolly hat, his necklace, as well as a signed Bill Clinton saxophone, Larry Mullen’s tom drum ($8,000), Bono’s Irish Falcon guitar ($80,000) and handwritten Bruce Springsteen lyrics ($2,000). Personally, we’ve always liked the look of that Hamilton Ventura watch Bono used to sport in the 90s. Would he care to part with that?

The Little Red Book of Poe-ee-tree

It’s World Water Day, and a handful of U2 fans have put together the the Little Red Book of Poe-ee-tree. It’s fillled with short stories and poetry and all the royalties go to the African Well Fund.

The fans, from the US, Canada, the UK, France and Australia all used to post their poems in a poetry forum, The Heart, which was part of U2’s official fansite back in 2001-2003.

Today is the book’s launch day, so check out the book’s MySpace and buy it at Lulu.com.

All donations to the African Well Fund go directly to Africare (one of the leading private, non-profit, charitable organisations assisting Africa) to fund water projects in Sub-Saharan Africa.