The most expensive guitar sold at auction is a 1959 Martin D-18E. It belonged to Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, who played it for their performance on MTV Unplugged in 1993. The guitar sold for $6-million in 2020.

The world’s second-most expensive guitar was also once owned by the grunge-rock pioneer. His 1969 Fender Mustang sold for $4.6-million in 2022. Cobain plays it in the band’s Smells Like Teen Spirit 1991 music video, which has been viewed on YouTube 1.8-billion times.

A third Cobain instrument – a 1993 Fender Mustang – sold for $1.59-million, fetching the 10th highest price paid for a guitar at auction.

The ‘Black Strat’ owned by Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour sold for $3.97-million when it went on auction in 2019. This is the guitar played in the Comfortably Numb solo, Gilmour’s No 1 from 1970-1986.

The iconic modified instrument is the subject of a book by Phil Taylor, Gilmour’s guitar technician.