Auction pearl from Amsterdam-born artist

Auction house Sotheby's describes this week's auction pearl as follows: "One of the most iconic guitars of the MTV era, played by the most influential guitarist of his generation". The guitar of Amsterdam-born guitarist Eddie van Halen recently sold under the hammer. The instrument fetched several million euros.

In 2020, Eddie van Halen died in California at the age of 65. One of his best-known instruments recently disappeared under the hammer. The guitar was used by Van Halen during live performances, but is best known for the video clip of Hot for Teacher. It was custom made for him and had a distinctive red and white print on the case. It is a Kramer CO176 to be precise. The first striped guitar that Van Halen received from luthier Paul Unkert. 

The instrument was said to have been completed in late 1982 and delivered to the guitarist in January 1983. He played the guitar in the 80s, for many years at live performances by his band Van Halen. Music magazine Rolling Stone even placed Eddie in eighth place in the top 100 best guitarists. 

Including signature and original case

In 1990, Van Halen gave the guitar to an engineer who left the band. He in turn gave it to a cousin who then sold it to a store. The owner of the shop in Huntington Beach, California put the guitar up for auction. 

Ultimately, the iconic guitar was sold for €3.5 million. The new owner did receive a certificate of authenticity from Paul Unkert, a signed photo of Eddie van Halen, the original suitcase and the jacket with white gloves that the guitarist wore in the music video.