Guitars, despite their wood, metal and wire construction, have always had a human quality to them. Guitarists who hold one in their hands for enough years will tell you that they become extensions of themselves. Rough edges get smoothed. Spots get worn. Belt buckle rash appears. Their wood gets stained with sweat, booze, even blood (just ask Pete Townshend). They've traveled the world. They've been played on countless stages and studios. And so by now they're just about perfect.
Any collector will tell you to get one of these well-traveled instruments that was used to create some of their favorite recordings might well be the pinnacle of the collecting experience.
At the apex of that pinnacle are these ten guitars for which collectors paid truly staggering sums. The list was recently shaken up by an earth-shaking 2026 auction of very special guitars owned by late NFL Indianapolis Colts team owner Jim Irsay:
#10 (tie) Jimi Hendrix’s 1968 Fender Stratocaster. $2 million
Jimi Hendrix's '68 Stratocaster was of course a right-handed model that Hendrix played left handed. Finished in Olympic white, it was incredibly plain, especially in contrast to the wildly creative artistry that Hendrix teased from the instrument daily. It was used on many of his seminal recordings and also at Woodstock. His iconic version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" no doubt sold Strats as the guitar to have to budding players worldwide. Co-founder of Microsoft Paul Allen bought the guitar in 1998.
#10 (tie) Peter Green/Gary Moore’s 1959 Les Paul -- $2 million
Owned by Fleetwood Mac founder Peter Green and later by Gary Moore, this '59 Les Paul was purchased by Metallica's Kirk Hammett. Hammett bought the guitar not in an auction but rather from Richard Henry Guitars, a rare and vintage guitar dealer in the U.K. This makes it the most expensive Les Paul on our list.
#9 George Harrison's Gibson SG -- $2.27 million
The Irsay sale put this George Harrison owned 1964 Gibson SG Standard on the list for a tidy sum. Harrison used the guitar from 1966 and 1969 on the Beatles Revolver sessions and tours including playing it on the recordings of "Paperback Writer" and "Rain". The guitar was later used by John Lennon in 1968 on "Hey Bulldog" and then given by Harrison to Pete Ham of Badfinger, the group that several Beatles collaborated with and also arranged to be signed to the Apple label.
#8 David Gilmour's Martin D-35 -- $2.39 million
The Irsay sale lands another entry on the list with this famous Martin acoustic. In the early ‘70s, Pink Floyd's David Gilmour was only in the beginning of his illustrious career as a cornerstone guitarist, vocalist and songwriter with Pink Floyd when he came across a musician selling a used Martin D-35 on the street outside of Manny’s Music shop in New York City. He bought the guitar right then and there, and it remain his main studio acoustic for Pink Floyd and his solo work for over four decades.
#7 Fender “Reach Out To Asia” Stratocaster -- $2.7 million
While it only cost Fender $15-20,000 to make this guitar, it was the signatures on this one that gave it a boost. That, and the noble charitable cause it was being sold to raise funds for. That cause was Bryan Adams "Reach Out To Asia" project which worked to help those impacted by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The Strat was signed by artists including Adams, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page, David Gilmour and more. It was auctioned off in Doha, Qatar at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and purchased by the country's Highness Sheihka Miyyassah Al Thani.
#6 Eric Clapton's Martin "The Fool" Gibson SG -- $3 million
Another Irsay sale entry, "The Fool" is a 1964 Gibson SG guitar custom painted for Eric Clapton by the Dutch design collective The Fool, which is how the guitar got its name. The psychedelic instrument was originally owned by Clapton, but later from the 70s to the early 80s by Todd Rundgren, who called it "Sunny". So named, ironically after "Sunshine Of Your Love", a track from Eric Clapton's former group Cream.
Eric Clapton playing the Gibson SG "The Fool" with Cream
#5 Eric Clapton's Martin "Unplugged" acoustic guitar -- $4.1 million
This guitar was made famous after Clapton's well-known MTV Unplugged performance, which took place on January 16, 1992. A Martin 000-42 model, it become iconic in part due to the heartfelt, bluesy version of "Layla" Clapton played during the show. The 000-42 is rare in part it was made from Brazilian rosewood, which later become an endangered tree species. It's rarity further stems from its vintage nature, since they were made for only the five-year period from 1938 to 1943.
#4 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana's 1959 Martin D-18E acoustic guitar -- $6.1 million
As covered in our past article here, this guitar is the most recent entry on this list and had set a new high when it sold in 2020. An acoustic guitar outfitted with pickups, it was used by the late Kurt Cobain on Nirvana's infamous 1993 MTV Unplugged telecast and recording. The buyer was Australian Peter Freedman, Founder and CEO of RODE Microphones. Freedman said after purchasing that he planned to take the guitar around the world in a series of music memorabilia exhibits that will raise funds for the arts. Sounds like a nice thing to do with this iconic guitar...
#3 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana's "Teen Spirit" Fender Mustang guitar -- $6.91 million
Cobain's left-handed guitars grabbed two spots on this list with this 2026 entry from the Irsay sale. Made famous by its appearance in the video for Nirvana's incendiary debut hit "Smells Like Teen Spirit", the guitar is a 1969 Fender Competition Mustang finished in Lake Placid Blue with a "racing stripe." The neck on the guitar was dated 1966, and the volume and tone "pots" (potentiometers) were also of 1966 vintage. Apparently, Cobain had modified the guitar by replacing the standard bridge pick up with a Duncan single-coil-size humbucker and a Gotoh Tune-o-matic-style bridge with the tailpiece bar flipped.
#2 Jerry Garcia's "Tiger" Guitar -- $11.56 million
Another Irsay entry, the "Tiger" was the third similar guitar Garcia owned. It was made for him by Doug Irwin who worked with Rick Turner at guitar maker Alembic, who made basses used by figures such as Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones. The Tiger guitar sported a completely unique design in dark red with body made from layered cocobolo and vermillion wood and brass binding strips. Its' unmistakable appearance made it iconic in the hands of Garcia, who was first seen wielding it in the summer of 1979 at the Oakland Auditorium in San Francisco.
David Gilmour playing his "Black Strat" with Pink Floyd, circa 1974
#1 David Gilmour of Pink Floyd “Black Strat” -- $14.55 million
Gilmour’s iconic black Stratocaster zoomed to the top of the list with this staggering sum achieved in the 2026 Jim Irsay auction. Irsay reportedly paid the already-impressive price of $3.975M to acquire it in 2019 and this sale clearly made his family a healthy profit. The guitar can be heard on many of Pink Floyd's best-known albums including The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Wall. Gilmour's memorabilia in the earlier 2019 auction brought in $21.4 million, which he donated to Client Earth, an environmental charity fighting for action against climate change.
None of them cost anywhere close to $14.55 million (they're much more affordable...) so be sure and check out our selection of signed guitars and other instruments here.
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Photos credits:
Eric Clapton playing "The Fool": public domain
David Gilmour playing his black Strat: Jean-Pierre Jeannin, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
