eBay Seller Offering Kurt Cobain's Smashed Guitar Neck for $35,000

An eBay seller, Record Mecca, is offering what he assures the universe is one-of-a-kind Kurt Cobain collectible: the smashed neck from Cobain’s blue, hand-painted “Heart Courtney” Fender Telecaster, which he demolished on January 16, 1993, at the Hollywood Rock Festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The "Buy It Now" price? $35,000 (US).

Record Mecca says it got the neck from Louie Mathieu, the Red Hot Chili Peppers' road manager, who picked it up off the stage at the conclusion of Nirvana’s set. The Chili Peppers were co-headliners at the Hollywood Rock festival.

From Mathieu's letter of authenticity, which appears as part of the eBay listing:

"At the end of Nirvana’s set in Sao Paulo, Kurt shoved his blue Telecaster — to which this neck was attached — into his amp, then stood on the guitar’s body, finally breaking the neck by slamming a large amp into it (Kurt had crudely painted the front of this Japanese sunburst Telecaster blue, scratching a heart and “Courtney" into the surface. There are still bits of the blue paint on the sides of the neck.)

"After breaking the neck off the guitar, Kurt tossed the pieces toward the audience — but it was a large stage, and the guitar pieces landed in the no-man’s land between the television cameras and the audience. I jumped off the stage to retrieve it and as I got back on the stage, Courtney Love was walking by and I said, 'Hey, you forgot this' so as not to appear like an over-eager souvenir scavenger. She reached out for it and went, 'Ugh, thanks.' "

For the rest of this story -- and to see the listing and more photos -- head here.