The iconic “Frankenstrat” that Eddie Van Halen played onstage and in the music video for “Hot For Teacher” sold for $3.9 million at auction this week.
The Sotheby’s auction included other items from the 1984 MTV staple like the straightjacket and white gloves EVH wore. As appealing as gloves and a straitjacket are, the “Hot Rod” guitar is what bidders were really hot for, going well past the pre-auction estimates of between $2 and 3 million.
The guitar was one of several “Frankenstrat” models the late guitar hero utilized, some of which have already gone to auction. This model was made to his exact specifications by luthier Paul Unkert of Kramer Guitars who provided a letter of providence for the auction. Per Sotheby’s, the model features “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”.
“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,” Unkert wrote in the letter from 2005. “Look for ‘Unk’ stamps on Neck and Body. It was my last project for Ed and Kramer. Paul ‘Unk’ Unkert.”
Related: Remembering Eddie Van Halen With A Volcanic Live “Eruption” From 1986 [Video]
Shortly after Eddie Van Halen’s sudden death in October 2020, a trio of his guitars went up for sale and brought in less than half a million dollars. Those instruments included a custom Kramer electric guitar, a 2004 EVH Charvel Art Series electric, and a non-playing prop guitar used in the “Hot For Teacher” video by Bryan Hitchcock, who played a young Eddie Van Halen.
All of these sales pale in comparison to the record-setting sale of Kurt Cobain‘s MTV Unplugged Martin D-18E acoustic that brought in $6 million at auction back in 2020. The trend continued last May when Kurt’s Fender Mustang from the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” music video sold for $4.5 million.
Van Halen – “Hot For Teacher” (Official Video)
The post Eddie Van Halen’s “Hot For Teacher” Guitar Fetches Nearly $4 Million At Auction appeared first on L4LM.
