Eddie Van Halen’s Kramer Ad guitar becomes the sixth most expensive ever sold at nearly $3 million – here are the five that sold for even more
Back in August, it was revealed that Eddie Van Halen’s modded 1982 Kramer guitar – also used by Mick Mars to record Dr. Feelgood – was headed to the auction block.
Hosted by Sotheby’s, the guitar was expected to fetch between $2 million and $3 million. It seems researchers had done their homework, as the guitar sold for a cool $2,734,000 on Friday (24 October).
The guitar – often dubbed the ‘Kramer Ad’ guitar after an ad in the early ‘80s featured EVH holding it alongside the caption “It’s very simply the best guitar you can buy today” – was one of the first Kramer guitars Van Halen played and helped build.
Credit: Sotheby’s
The Kramer Ad guitar was modelled on Van Halen’s legendary Frankenstein six-string, bearing the same classic red-black-and-white striped aesthetic.
According to Sotheby’s, Eddie Van Halen built the guitar “to his own specifications” at the Kramer factory in 1982, “using the original Frankenstein guitar as a template”. Photos provided by Sotheby’s show EVH working on the guitar with an electric drill.
READ MORE: Wolfgang Van Halen: “I’d rather fail at my own thing than succeed on my dad’s legacy”
“Van Halen was endlessly striving to create the ultimate guitar for tone, playability and dependability; this Kramer guitar personifies not only Eddie Van Halen innovative playing style but also his passion for design and engineering and was the culmination of Van Halen’s experience and research up to this time,” the auctioneer wrote on the listing.
The guitar was played on tour by Eddie in ‘82 and ‘83, in Philadelphia, Caracas, Sao Paolo and Buenos Aires. It was eventually sold by his guitar tech Rudy Leiren to Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars, who used it to record Dr. Feelgood among other cuts.
At a final sale price of $2,734,000, it’s hard to imagine many guitars commanding a higher price tag, but there have been a few…
5. John Lennon’s Framus Hootenanny 12-string ($2,857,000) – Famously used on the Beatles fifth album Help! (1965), the Hootenanny was thought lost for many years, until discovered in the attic of a British countryside house by its new owners in 2024.The guitar was also used by Lennon to record It’s Only Love, I’ve Just Seen a Face and Girl, and by George Harrison on Norwegian Wood.
4. Eddie Van Halen’s Hot For Teacher Kramer ($3,932,000) – Guitar used by Eddie Van Halen in Van Halen’s classic Hot For Teacher video.
3. David Gilmour’s Black Fender Stratocaster ($3,975,000) – The Pink Floyd man’s most iconic guitar, his 1968 Black Fender Stratocaster was originally bought from Manny’s Music in New York, and was heavily modded over the years. Throughout the ‘70s Gilmour swapped between two ‘50s necks – one rosewood and one maple. It’s now part of the Jim Irsay Collection after selling for almost $4 million.
2. Kurt Cobain’s Smells Like Teen Spirit Fender Mustang ($4,550,000) – Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit remains – and will always be – one of the landmark rock tracks of all time. And so the guitar used by frontman Kurt Cobain in its accompanying music video, predictably, commanded an astronomically high sale price. Like Gilmour’s Black Strat, it found its way into the Jim Irsay Collection after selling for over four and half million bucks.
1. Kurt Cobain’s Martin D-18E ($6,010,000) – Yep, Kurt Cobain’s selfish enough to steal both first and second place in the list of most expensive guitars ever sold publicly. Topping out the list is his Martin D-18E, which he used during Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged performance in 1993. The guitar was left to Cobain’s daughter Francis Bean, and ended up with her ex-husband Isaiah Silva as part of their divorce settlement. It was bought by RØDE Microphones founder, Peter Freedman in 2020 for just over $6 million – a figure which hasn’t been beaten since.
You can read more about Eddie Van Halen’s Kramer Ad guitar at Sotheby’s. You can also read more about the 15 most expensive guitars ever sold at auction.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
