An instrument that Eddie Van Halen co-made with Kramer Guitars has sold at auction for $2.7 million to become the sixth most valuable guitar publicly sold.
Called the “Ad guitar”, the instrument was shown in publicity for Kramer with Van Halen declaring it, “very simply the best guitar you can buy today”.
It was sold by Sotheby’s at a single-lot sale that closed with a live auction in New York on October 18 after a month of online bidding.
Eddie Van Halen was one of the most popular and influential rock/metal guitarists of all time. His band, Van Halen, enjoyed enormous popularity from their mid-70s, eponymous breakthrough album. The band remained active into 2020, the year that Eddie died.
Alongside his musicianship and innovative technique, Van Halen was known as a keen self-builder.
His first guitar was homemade, and formed the basis for this instrument, on which he also worked, providing the distinctive paint job as well as making extensive adjustments.
Van Halen in 1984, the year they got their only number 1 single, Jump. Eddie is third from the left.
It was created by Kramer in 1982, helping to make them a popular brand, particularly with metal players.
The instrument was signed and inscribed to Eddie’s guitar tech, Rudy Leiren, to whom Eddie gifted it. Leiren subsequently sold it to Mick Mars of Motley Crue, who also played it live and on records.
In 2023 Eddie’s “Hot for Teacher” guitar, another Kramer, sold for $3.9 million.
This sale puts another Van Halen guitar into the top 10 most valuable guitars sold at auction.
It is the sixth most valuable known sale price behind a John Lennon Framus acoustic ($2.8 million), Van Halen “Hot for Teacher” ($3.9 million); David Gilmour’s black Strat ($3.9 million); Kurt Cobain’s Teen Spirit Mustang ($4.5 million); and Cobain’s Unplugged Martin acoustic that sold for $6 million in 2020.
