Kurt Cobain’s Sky Stang I and Eric Clapton’s SG, “The Fool”, are going under the hammer
The guitars are expected to fetch an estimated $1,000,000-2,000,000 each.
Image: Jeff Kravtiz / Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images
If you’d like to get your hands on the Mustang Kurt Cobain used during Nirvana‘s final show – and at over 50 In Utero tour dates – or Eric Clapton‘s classic Gibson SG The Fool, you’ll be pleased to know they’re up for auction.
However, these classic guitars won’t come cheap – it’s estimated that they’ll cost a cool $1 million – $2 million each, and both have a starting bid of $250,000.
Cobain’s Fender Mustang, known as The Sky Stang I, was used frequently by the late grunge icon during Nirvana’s final tour, and the band’s former guitar technician Earnie Bailey refers to the axe as Cobain’s “workhorse”, according to Julien’s Auctions.
The 1993 Fender MG-69 Mustang was made in Japan, and came in a Sonic Blue finish. It’s up for auction again with Julien’s Auctions, and has its original guitar strap and strings, as used by Cobain three decades ago.
Cobain described the Fender Mustang as his favourite model in a 1991 interview with Guitar World, and two years later he placed an order with Fender for ten left-handed Mustangs in preparation for Nirvana’s In Utero tour. The Sky Stang I was the first to be delivered, before II and III arrived. However, only six of the ten guitars arrived before Cobain’s death in April 1994.
The second of the classic guitars, Clapton’s, has a rich history too. One of the most recognisable guitars in history, the Fool played a huge part in the formation of Clapton’s signature “woman” tone.
It was in 1967, when he was working on Cream‘s Disraeli Gears, that Clapton began playing the 1964 Gibson SG, and it made its live debut in Manhattan in March of that year.
Clapton has used the guitar on many of his most famous tracks, including Sunshine of Your Love, I Feel Free, and White Room.
After Cream disbanded, the guitar had a few different owners. It was owned by George Harrison, and then Jackie Lomax, and then Todd Rundgren, who had it until 2000. At this point, it was first sold at auction. But it’s set to be changing hands again, to somebody with a spare couple of million lying around.