One of the most iconic guitars in all of rock is going up for auction. Eddie Van Halen’s red and white striped Kramer guitar, made famous in the band’s “Hot For Teacher” video is going up for sale. It also comes with the straight jacket and white gloves worn by Van Halen in the video.
Sotheby’s description of the guitar reads: “The legendary ‘Hot for Teacher’ stage used and filmed guitar, custom made by Paul Unkert of Kramer Guitars for Eddie Van Halen, including important innovations customized for Eddie’s evolving guitar technique.”
“Poplar double-cut ‘Strat’ style body, the top routed for a single double-coil Seymour Duncan humbucker pickup, volume control, Floyd Rose bridge with whammy bar, unvarnished 22 fret maple bolt-on neck (stamped ‘UNK’ on heel) with Kramer sticker on headstock, unvarnished body and headstock spray painted with Van Halen’s characteristic black and white abstract stripe design on a red ground, rear routed for the Floyd Rose’s three springs and stop, no pick guard or rear cover (as designed), screw holes on the back for Eddie Van Halen’s patented flip-up rest (for playing the guitar horizontally.”
“Original case with tour and Warner Brothers tags. [With:] The straight jacket and white gloves worn by Van Halen in the video. Unkert’s accompanying letter of 4/13/05 details the guitar’s history: “The ‘Hot For Teacher’ Van Halen [guitar] was built by me at the Kramer Green Grove Road Plant in Neptune, NJ around 1982-1985/ #CO176. Look for ‘Unk’ stamps on Neck and Body. It was my last project for Ed and Kramer. Paul ‘Unk’ Unkert.”
The description continues: “The famed red, white and black stripe paint on CO176 was the iconic Eddie Van Halen style that originally emerged from the original striped “Frankenstrat” (now at the Smithsonian) that he built in the 1970s, and this abstract design continued to define Van Halen’s look after the release of their album 1984. It’s legacy continues today, with 5150 homage guitars available today, but it was the present guitar, the precursor to the basswood 5150 that provides an important stage in Van Halen’s evolution of his guitars.”
The guitar has a minimum bid of $1.8 million and is valued between two and three million dollars. The lot closes April 18.
