Smashed Nirvana ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ Video Guitar Up For Auction

Would you pay £25,000 ($38,000AUD) for a guitar? What if it was the smashed-up bass guitar used in Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit video? If you answered yes to that question, you’re in luck. The Guardian reports that this could be the maximum price that it could go for when it goes on to the auction table next month.

The guitar was indeed used in the video clip, but it’s believed that it was only purchased from a pawn shop just prior to the clip’s filming, with the intention of battering it to bits for the cameras.

In the clip we see frontman Kurt Cobain taking the bass and throwing it to the ground several times, where it eventually lay. One of the fan extras from the clip apparently managed to grab the body of the instrument as a souvenir, possibly at the time not knowing it could be a piece of rock history.

Another interesting item being included in the same auction is a high school photo from 1958 of Robert Zimmerman, perhaps better known these days as Bob Dylan. The photo also includes a handwritten message that says: “Dear Jerry, Well the year’s almost all over now huh. Remember the ‘sessions’ down at Collier. Keep practicing the guitar and maybe someday you’ll be great! A friend, Bob Zimmerman.”

You can also pick up a sleeveless white velour jumpsuit made for Sir Mick Jagger, worn for the Rolling Stones’ US tour in 1972. The outfit, decorated with silver metal details and valued between £8,000 and £12,000, was worn by the singer at New York’s Madison Square Garden on his 29th birthday.

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