If you’ve ever wondered how much the guitar Eddie Van Halen used in Van Halen’s famous “Hot for Teacher” music video was worth, the answer is: quite a lot.
The guitar sold for $3,932,000 during a recent auction at Sotheby’s. The lottery closed on April 18, according to the listing on Sotheby’s website. On the site, the guitar was described as “one of the most popular guitars of the MTV era as played by the most influential guitarist of his generation.”
The list continues on the “legendary ‘Hot for Teacher’ used, photographed, and custom-built by Paul Unkert of Kramer Guitars for Eddie Van Halen, including significant innovations dedicated to Eddie’s cutting-edge guitar technique”.
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The minimum bid for a custom-made Kramer was $1.8 million. Its value was estimated between 2 and 3 million dollars.
According to Sotheby’s, the guitar has a double-cut poplar Strat style body, the top is routed for a single double-coil Seymour Duncan humbucker pickup, volume control, Floyd Rose bridge with strike bar, unpolished 22-fret maple bolt neck (sealed with “UNK” on heel) with Kramer decal on headstock” and uncut body. Headstock is spray painted with a black and white Van Halen abstract stripe design on a red ground. It is also in original condition with Tour and Warner Brothers markings.
The listing also states that the guitar comes with the straight jacket and white gloves worn by Van Halen in the music video.
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Eddie Van Halen passed away in October 2020 after suffering a stroke, lung cancer among the underlying causes.
In June 2020, late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain’s “Unplugged” guitar sold for a record $6 million at auction.
Watch Van Halen’s music video for “Hot for Teacher” below.
