One of the most iconic guitars used by late rocker Eddie Van Halen is going up for auction, with his 1982 Kramer expected to sell for millions.
New York auction house Sotheby’s will be handling the instrument’s sale this fall as part of their inaugural Grails Week, which runs from Oct. 21-28.
The electric guitar in question was played by Van Halen on tour between 1982 and 1983, with the instrument’s black and white-striped design based upon the rocker’s well-known ‘Frankenstrat’ guitar from 1975.
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Per Sotheby’s, Van Halen visited Kramer’s New Jersey factory to modify the instrument, with photos reportedly showing him wielding an electric drill while working on it. Later, the guitar was featured in a famous Kramer advertisement wherein Van Halen can be seen holding the instrument while telling readers “it’s very simply the best guitar you can buy today.”
Van Halen later gifted the instrument to guitar technician Robin “Rudy” Leiren, inscribing it with the phrase, “Rude – Its Been a Great Ten Years – Lets Do Another Ten. Eddie Van Halen.” Leiren later sold the guitar to Mötley Crüe’s Mick Mars, who would use it in the recording of their first No. 1 album, 1989’s Dr. Feelgood.
The instrument (which reportedly shows “extensive wear from playing”) also comes with a letter of authenticity signed by Mars who writes, “Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Also it’s a great piece of history.”
According to Sotheby’s, the estimated sale price is between $2-$3 million, which tracks with previous sales of Van Halen’s guitars. While a 2020 auction of three of his instruments sold for $422,000, in 2023 iconic red, white and black-striped guitar from the “Hot For Teacher” video was sold for $3,932,000 by an unnamed bidder.
Van Halen co-founded his eponymous rock band in 1972, remaining their guitarist until his passing in October 2020 following a long battle with cancer.
