Eddie Van Halen’s Hot For Teacher Kramer fetches whopping $4m at auction
Only two other guitars have been auctioned for a higher price.
Credit: Sotheby’s
The famed custom-made Kramer guitar used by Eddie Van Halen in the music video for Hot For Teacher has sold for almost $4,000,000 at an auction.
The guitar was initially given an upper estimation of $2-3 million by auctioneers Sotheby’s but managed to fetch the eye-popping price of $3,932,000, making it one of the most expensive guitars ever auctioned. Only two other guitars have been auctioned for a higher price, Guitar World reports, both of which belonged to Kurt Cobain: the Smells Like Teen Spirit Mustang, which sold for $4,550,000, and his Martin D-18E from Nirvana’s iconic MTV Unplugged set, which sold for $6,010,000.
Sotheby’s gained the guitar via Van Halen’s retiring drum tech Gregg Emerson around 1990, who later passed it on to his nephew. It was then sold to Neal’s Music in California, where the pre-auction owner picked it up. The guitar’s new owner will receive a letter of provenance from Paul Unkert and a signed photo from Eddie Van Halen, as well as the straight jacket and white gloves he wore in the music video.
The new owner will also receive the guitar’s original case.
Van Halen’s iconic guitar features a 22-fret, bolt-on maple neck with a sole Seymour Duncan humbucker. A single volume knob and Floyd Rose bridge make up the rest of the appointments.