Someone call a doctor, because the price a bidder paid for Eddie Van Halen‘s iconic red, white and black-striped guitar from the “Hot For Teacher” video was sold for a song this week. According to auction house Sotheby’s, an unnamed bidder bought the instrument for $3,932,000 when the lot closed on Tuesday after bidding was initially estimated to land between $2-$3 million.
“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,” the listing read in describing the instrument Sotheby’s dubbed “one of the most iconic guitars of the MTV era.”
For you six-string obsessives out there, the auction house dove deeper into the details of the instrument the late guitarist wielded in the salacious 1984 Van Halen video featuring the band members and their school-age doppelgängers lusting after their scantily clad instructors.
“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,” it reads of the guitar EVH slashes at as he rips off one of his patented fleet-fingered solos while strolling across a row of desks.
But wait, there’s more. “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.” The guitar, made of poplar wood, is believed to have been completed in 1982 and delivered to Van Halen in Jan. 1983, becoming his main instrument during 1983-1984.
As a bonus, the winning bidder also took home the white straitjacket and white gloves worn by Van Halen in the video. Van Halen died at 65 in Oct. 2020 after a long battle with cancer.
Watch the “Hot For Teacher” video below.
