“It’s very simply the best guitar you can buy today”: Eddie Van Halen’s Kramer Ad guitar sells for $2,734,000 at auction

Eddie Van Halen’s famed ‘Kramer Ad’ electric guitar has become one of the most expensive guitars to ever be sold at auction, after the hammer went down on a multi-million dollar sale earlier today (October 24).

Owing to its significance, the guitar was given a fairly sizable estimate window, but it eventually exceeded expectations and went for $2,734,000. This makes it the sixth most expensive guitar ever sold publicly.

Back in August, Sotheby’s announced it would be selling one of the highest-profile Van Halen guitars to ever hit the auction circuit. The guitar, which was built in the early 1980s, was one of the very first Kramer guitars that Van Halen built and used, and famously featured on Van Halen’s “It’s very simply the best guitar you can buy today” Kramer ad.

The Kramer was also one of the first builds the brand and Van Halen collaborated on together, and was modeled after Van Halen’s iconic Frankenstein, carrying over the black/red/white striped colorway from the OG six-string.

According to Sotheby’s reports, the guitar was built circa 1982 and was used on stage during a number of occasions across ‘82 and ‘83, in locations such as Brazil, Argentina, and Venezuela.

At the time of the auction announcement Chris Gill – EVH expert and author of Eruption: Conversations with Eddie Van Halen – corroborated the provenance of the Kramer, confirming it had been played during the time frame.

Gill told Guitar World that the ‘Kramer Ad’ guitar has been used during shows at the Philadelphia Spectrum on October 19 and 20, and for the entire South American leg of Van Halen’s shows in Jan-Feb 1983.

“This guitar is known as the ‘Kramer Ad Guitar’ amongst Van Halen guitar nerds,” says Gill. “It’s an iconic instrument as a symbol of Ed’s blossoming endorsement with Kramer, which propelled the company to incredible success, enabling them to briefly become the best-selling electric guitar manufacturer during the mid ’80s with sales exceeding even those of Fender.”

In the July 1985 issue of Guitar World, a photo of Van Halen working on a guitar – which is presumed to be the first Kramer model – was published, along with an interview with brand founder Dennis Berardi looking back on his partnership with EVH.

“It was really strange, the way I met Edward. I was on my way to the 1982 NAMM show in LA, and on the plane I met one of his equipment managers,” Berardi said. “So, to make a long story short, we got to talking about the different tremolo bars and things about guitar design, and he asked me if I wanted to meet Edward.

“I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’ So he made a couple of phone calls and that was it. We went up to his house, and Edward got his guitar out – it looked like something you’d throw in the garbage. But that was the famous guitar. So after he played for a while we talked.

“I told him about the kinds of things Kramer wanted to do, and he was very receptive; we talked for about three hours that day. Anyway, the result was that we established the relationship that we still have today.

“He’ll actually come down to the factory and spend three, four hours on the line assembling or testing guitars, checking out different components to make sure they’re up to the standards he wants maintained.

“I guess the best way to look at it from my perspective is this: Les Paul designed a revolutionary guitar for Gibson that made history. The simplest way to put it is, what Les Paul was for Gibson, Edward Van Halen is for Kramer.”

After using it in the early 1980s, Van Halen eventually gifted the guitar to tech Rudy Leiren. He signed the guitar, “Rude – it’s been a great ten years – let’s do another ten. Eddie Van Halen”. The back of the headstock also reads ‘#1 Edward Van Halen model’.

Leiren later sold it to Mick Mars, who played it while recording Mötley Crüe’s Dr. Feelgood.