Up close with iconic guitars from Ace Frehley, Kirk Hammett, Stevie Ray Vaughan and more at Julien’s Music Icons auction
Julien’s Music Icons auctions have become a regular event in the music industry calendar, often showcasing some of the most interesting and iconic rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia of all time and, most importantly for our purposes of course, guitars.
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The Music Icons auction returns for 2026 in rare form – when the collection of rock ‘n’ roll artefacts goes under the hammer at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square next month, the pick of the lots going under the hammer will be a selection of truly legendary electric guitars.
Before the sale, the headline items on the sale were taken to the Hard Rock Cafe in London’s Piccadilly Circus for the launch of the sale and for the public to check these iconic guitars out, before heading to Tokyo to do likewise and then back for the auction itself.
A Les Paul played by Billy Duffy of The Cult. Image: Adam Gasson
Guitar.com snuck into the Hard Rock Cafe before the launch of the sale to get up close and personal with the most important instruments in the sale, and to chat with Julien’s Co-founder and Executive Director, Martin Nolan. Given the wealth of rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia that decorates every Hard Rock Cafe, it was a fitting location.
“We’ve been doing this for 21 years,” Nolan explains. “And yes, the auction is exciting and the record prices are exciting. But the most rewarding part, and the part that I personally find more exciting, is to bring these items to various places around the world where people would never dream they could be up close with such a significant or important guitar.”
Space Man
The most iconic guitar in the sale is also the most poignant. The sad passing of KISS icon Ace Frehley at the end of last year makes the sale of his most iconic guitar barely six months later feel all the more significant.
Frehley’s #1 Les Paul wasn’t the Space Ace’s first Les Paul, but it is certainly his most famous and important – the guitar, which he started using a Cherry Sunburst 1975 Les Paul Custom in around 1976 after which it became his primary guitar until around 1978, and remained a frequent feature on stage and in the studio until he left KISS in 1982.
Image: Adam Gasson
It’s the guitar that Ace was using for many of the band’s most iconic moments, including their legendary Tokyo Budokan performance in 1977.
Ace modded this Les Paul with a pair of DiMarzio Super Distortion pickups (while also adding in a third dummy pickup in the middle because he “liked the look”) and you can see it also features a re-located strap button and a sticker on the back. When you picture Ace Frehley in your head, he’s probably playing this very guitar. It’s estimated to fetch between $400,000-$600,000 in the sale.
Ace modded this Les Paul with a pair of DiMarzio Super Distortion pickups (while also adding in a third dummy pickup in the middle because he “liked the look”) and you can see it also features a re-located strap button and a sticker on the back. When you picture Ace Frehley in your head, he’s probably playing this very guitar. It’s estimated to fetch between $400,000-$600,000 in the sale.
Guitar Heroes
The interesting part about this particular Music Icons auction is that many of the guitars featured are from artists who made their names in the 80s and 90s – and there’s perhaps none more important and influential than Metallica’s Kirk Hammett.
Of all of the varied and unique guitars that Hammett has used throughout his time in Metallica, perhaps none is more recognisable than his ‘Ouija’ ESP – this striking guitar has been replicated and iterated on time and time again by Kirk and ESP over the decades, but the one going under the hammer here is the original – it says so.
Kirk Hammett’s ‘Ouija’ ESP guitar. Image: Adam Gasson
Kirk has helpfully scrawled a small essay on the back of the guitar, explaining that it is indeed his first ever Ouija ESP, and noting that it was used on countless tours, as well as for the recording of the Black Album, Load and Reload.
As meaningful instruments in the history of Metallica go, this one is up there – and it’s estimated to fetch around $250,000-$300,000 in the sale.
A Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion guitar played by Izzy Stradlin, formerly of Guns N’ Roses. Image: Adam Gasson
Is there a more iconic 1980s guitar moment than the Welcome To The Jungle video? It’s the moment that announced Guns N’ Roses to millions as the saviours of rock ‘n’ roll, and became a staple of MTV for decades to come.
In that video, you can see Izzy Stradlin riffing away on a striking and unconventional 1987 Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion model – a leftfield choice for anyone at that time, but one that has become a hugely significant part of rock ‘n’ roll history. Stradlin sold the guitar a few years later, but its place in history is assured, as its estimate of around $50,000.
I Want My MTV
The power of MTV has had a huge impact on the rising value of all-star guitars in the last decade. Two of the top five most expensive guitars sold at auction are instruments used for MTV Unplugged performances, and one of the instruments up for sale in the 2026 Music Icons auction shares that important facet.
For many guitar players, Stevie Ray Vaughan remains the absolute pinnacle of electric guitar playing, but in many ways that all makes his 1990 MTV Unplugged set all the more remarkable.
Watching SRV do Pride And Joy is a treat regardless, but to watch him shred the song on a 12-string acoustic really does reinforce the otherworldly guitar talent that Stevie possessed, not to mention the strength and ferocity of his approach.
A Guild ’69 Guild F-412 acoustic guitar played by Stevie Ray Vaughan. Image by Adam Gasson
It makes being in the presence of the ’69 Guild F-412 he used for the entire performance just months before his tragic death a moving and powerful experience – this is a guitar touched quite literally by genius, that demonstrated his true mastery of the instrument. It’s no surprise it’s estimated to fetch between $300,000 and $500,000 at the sale.
Juliens and the Hard Rock Cafe are giving fans a chance to experience these wonderful, important guitars up close, and it’s something that Nolan clearly values.
“That’s the reward you’ve given people,” he explains. “It’s not a money grab. This is about celebrating rock and roll history, preserving the legacy, telling the story, and giving regular people a chance to see really incredible items.
“People love that connection. They’re works of art. They’re investment pieces, yes, but each piece also lets someone connect with Ace Frehley or Izzy Stradlin – we all have these people that we love, and we remember how impactful they were when we were growing up.
“And so this is the legacy of that. These pieces live on to tell the story. And in 10 years, 30 years, 50 years, 100 years from now, these will still be iconic pieces. So whoever the new owners there, I remind them they are just caretakers. Because they have to preserve them so that generations to come will have an opportunity to appreciate them too.”
Julien’s Music Icons 2026 sale takes place at the Hard Rock Cafe, Times Square, New York on 29-30 May – to browse the full catalogue visit juliensauctions.com
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