Elvis Presley’s 1942 Martin D-18 Acoustic Guitar: $1.32 Million

Interestingly, Elvis Presley’s 1942 Martin D-18 acoustic guitar was expected to fetch somewhere between two and three million, but it wound up selling for just $1.32 million to a private buyer in 2020. In any case, there’s no denying the significance of this instrument. Often referred to as his “Sun Sessions” guitar, Presley used it often when recording at Memphis’ Sun Studios, as well as during live performances in the mid ’50s.

Paul McCartney’s Yamaha BB-1200 Bass: $496,100

Up until 2021, Bill Wyman’s bass held the record for most expensive bass guitar ever sold at auction at $384,000. Then Paul McCartney broke that record with his Yamaha BB-1200 bass, which he played extensively with Wings both on tour and in the studio, which sold for $496,100. (The auction, organized by U2’s the Edge and producer Bob Ezrin, raised money for musicians struggling from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.)

John Lennon’s Gibson J-160E: $2.4 Million

To date, John Lennon’s Gibson J-160E guitar stills holds the record for the single most expensive item of Beatles memorabilia ever sold at auction, earning a whopping $2.4 million in 2015. It’s not clear why or how the guitar, heard on early tracks like “Love Me Do,” “P.S. I Love You” and others, left Lennon’s possession — it went missing toward the end of 1963, only to be discovered in 2014 by a man named John McCaw. He’d purchased the guitar from a friend in 1969 for $175, and it turned out to be Lennon’s Gibson. When it sold at auction, a portion of the money went to the Spirit Foundations, a charity organization founded by Lennon and Yoko Ono.

Jimi Hendrix’s Burnt Guitar: $604,000

Jimi Hendrix set a couple of guitars ablaze on stage during his career, doing it for the first time at a show in London in 1967. That guitar later sold for $604,000 in 2008. In 2012, a second burnt guitar, reputedly set on fire at the 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival in San Francisco, sold for a comparatively affordable $380,000.

Eric Clapton’s Blackie’ Guitar: $959,500

In 1970, Eric Clapton switched from playing Gibson guitars to Fender Stratocasters. That year he purchased six of them, gave one each to Pete Townshend, George Harrison and Steve Winwood, and then dismantled the remaining three to construct an entirely unique custom instrument, which he dubbed “Blackie.” For approximately two decades, it was Clapton’s right-hand instrument. In 2004, it sold for a then-record-breaking price of $959,500.

Jerry Garcia’s ‘Wolf’ Guitar: $1.9 Million

The first time Jerry Garcia played his “Wolf” guitar live was at a 1973 show for the Hell’s Angels in New York City. In the years that followed, it became one of his primary instruments, instantly recognizable for its flecked orange color. In 2017, it was bought by Brian Halligan, Chief Executive of the software company HubSpot and, most importantly, a dedicated Dead Head, for $1.9 million.

Kurt Cobain’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ Guitar: $4.5 Million

In 2022, Kurt Cobain’s 1969 Fender Mustang electric guitar — better known as the instrument he used in the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” music video — had originally been estimated to sell between $600,000 to $800,000. It wound up going for an incredible $4.5 million. Once again, the lucky buyer was Jim Irsay. (A portion of the proceeds of this sale went to the Irsay family’s Kicking the Stigma initiative, which raises awareness around mental health.)

Kurt Cobain’s ‘MTV Unplugged’ Acoustic Guitar: $6 Million

In 2020, the sale of Kurt Cobain’s 1959 Martin D-18E acoustic guitar didn’t just break the record for most expensive guitar ever sold at auction, it frankly shattered it, earning $6 million. To be fair, it wasn’t just any old acoustic guitar — it was the one Cobain used for Nirvana’s iconic MTV Unplugged performance in 1993. The buyer was Peter Freedman of Rode Microphones, who said at the time that he planned to display the guitar in a worldwide tour of exhibitions, with all proceeds going to the performing arts. (Fun fact: the year prior, the green sweater Cobain wore during that 1993 performance was sold for $334,000.)

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IN GOD WE TRUST

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