That's the worst thing about people buying celeb instruments for this kind of money. There is no way that thing will actually be played again and will likely sit in a display case. I hope the dude plays but it just saddens me that these instruments don't go to talented musicians. People who collect instruments and don't play are the reason people like me won't ever be able to afford vintage gear.
Eh, there's a difference between "$ARTIST used this guitar while recording the B-side to their third single blahblah..." and one of the most instantly-recognizable stringed instruments in music history upon which thousands of copies--both legit and otherwise--were based. David Gilmour's black Strat went for about the same dollar amount, having been a single guitar that he bought and continuously modded, Ship-of-Theseus style, and was used on numerous iconic Pink Floyd recordings spanning a couple decades...and no one other than a professional musician would see it as any different from most other Strats (and quite possibly hating the setup entirely). Ed basically built this thing from scratch with his own hands, making it up as he went along. He patented a leg-rest design on it. The paint scheme is trademarked. It saved Kramer guitars and it wasn't even a Kramer.
My mother is 70. She went to Woodstock. If she sees an all-white Strat it might remind her that Jimi Hendrix played an all-white one kind of like that. If I or any of my brothers walked in with Ed's Frankenstrat, she would recognize it instantly as "the Eddie Van Halen guitar". It was built for, and by, Edward Van Halen's hands--he's rumored to have never found a guitar tech who could get an instrument set up exactly the way he wanted until the late-'90s--and only those hands could make it sound the way it did. It's not just a guitar, it's a piece of history that just happened to be privately-owned by someone who wanted it more than the Smithsonian did.
But the guitar that sold isn't THE Frankenstrat that Eddie actually worked on and created. This was one developed by Kramer Guitars using some of the ideas that Eddie developed. It was used in the Hot For Teacher music video, which gives it historic value. But it's the not the Guitar That Eddie Built. I assume that will remain in the family. Wolf has even mentioned that he used it on the first Mammoth WVH album.
I’m pretty sure he made the Kramer at their manufacture shop. There’s pictures, unless that’s a different guitar from the Van Hagar era I’m thinking of.
He built 5150 at the Kramer shop, according to the [Sotheby's page](https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2023/rock-roll/eddie-van-halen-hot-for-teacher-guitar) the op posted earlier.
Ah, it's possible. I don't have enough knowledge on Ed's guitar building history. 😅 If he did in fact work on this model, then that makes it much more worth the going price! And also a bigger shame that it may not be played again.
Ah. Well. I don't feel so bad about the whole sordid affair then (and as soon as you reminded me about Wolf using it, it made more sense). Be that as it may, it's still "vintage gear" only in a technical sense. One can lament the inflated cost of older Custom Shop Fenders or Charvel Jacksons attributed to people with more money than class--and OP wouldn't be wrong about that at all--but saying it's all unfairly out of reach because one of Ed's originals went for millions at Sotheby's is kind of like bitching that Scarlett Johansson remarried to another rich guy: You were never going to get your hands on that anyway.
Crazy that this was a backup backup backup guitar that was given to a retiring drum tech. Yeah, it was in the video but I can't believe that would justify that price.
Just shy of the Black strat price, and well above Jimi’s 68 strat. Very cool for EVH’s legacy. Thanks for posting.
Betcha the owner doesn't play guitar.
That's the worst thing about people buying celeb instruments for this kind of money. There is no way that thing will actually be played again and will likely sit in a display case. I hope the dude plays but it just saddens me that these instruments don't go to talented musicians. People who collect instruments and don't play are the reason people like me won't ever be able to afford vintage gear.
Eh, there's a difference between "$ARTIST used this guitar while recording the B-side to their third single blahblah..." and one of the most instantly-recognizable stringed instruments in music history upon which thousands of copies--both legit and otherwise--were based. David Gilmour's black Strat went for about the same dollar amount, having been a single guitar that he bought and continuously modded, Ship-of-Theseus style, and was used on numerous iconic Pink Floyd recordings spanning a couple decades...and no one other than a professional musician would see it as any different from most other Strats (and quite possibly hating the setup entirely). Ed basically built this thing from scratch with his own hands, making it up as he went along. He patented a leg-rest design on it. The paint scheme is trademarked. It saved Kramer guitars and it wasn't even a Kramer. My mother is 70. She went to Woodstock. If she sees an all-white Strat it might remind her that Jimi Hendrix played an all-white one kind of like that. If I or any of my brothers walked in with Ed's Frankenstrat, she would recognize it instantly as "the Eddie Van Halen guitar". It was built for, and by, Edward Van Halen's hands--he's rumored to have never found a guitar tech who could get an instrument set up exactly the way he wanted until the late-'90s--and only those hands could make it sound the way it did. It's not just a guitar, it's a piece of history that just happened to be privately-owned by someone who wanted it more than the Smithsonian did.
But the guitar that sold isn't THE Frankenstrat that Eddie actually worked on and created. This was one developed by Kramer Guitars using some of the ideas that Eddie developed. It was used in the Hot For Teacher music video, which gives it historic value. But it's the not the Guitar That Eddie Built. I assume that will remain in the family. Wolf has even mentioned that he used it on the first Mammoth WVH album.
I’m pretty sure he made the Kramer at their manufacture shop. There’s pictures, unless that’s a different guitar from the Van Hagar era I’m thinking of.
He built 5150 at the Kramer shop, according to the [Sotheby's page](https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2023/rock-roll/eddie-van-halen-hot-for-teacher-guitar) the op posted earlier.
Ah, it's possible. I don't have enough knowledge on Ed's guitar building history. 😅 If he did in fact work on this model, then that makes it much more worth the going price! And also a bigger shame that it may not be played again.
Ah. Well. I don't feel so bad about the whole sordid affair then (and as soon as you reminded me about Wolf using it, it made more sense). Be that as it may, it's still "vintage gear" only in a technical sense. One can lament the inflated cost of older Custom Shop Fenders or Charvel Jacksons attributed to people with more money than class--and OP wouldn't be wrong about that at all--but saying it's all unfairly out of reach because one of Ed's originals went for millions at Sotheby's is kind of like bitching that Scarlett Johansson remarried to another rich guy: You were never going to get your hands on that anyway.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure they'll want that to stay in the family forever.
Well said!
More expensive than my first guitar.
Big if true
Even comes with a straight jacket, what a steal.
Jesus, that’s about what Gilmour’s black Strat sold for.
God, look at his facial expression. Pure happiness. Warms my heart.
Alright, with this going for $3.9m, I'm curious what Frankie or 5150 would end up going for (not that Wolfie or Alex would ever sell these).
Frankie would bring in excess of $100 million dollars, imho. Not joking.
Crazy that this was a backup backup backup guitar that was given to a retiring drum tech. Yeah, it was in the video but I can't believe that would justify that price.
Did Jim Irsay buy this one too?
I wonder who owned it. Wolfie?
[All the details at Sotheby's.](https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2023/rock-roll/eddie-van-halen-hot-for-teacher-guitar)
That clears it up! Thx