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| Six Million Dollar Man |
Six Million Dollars for a 1959 Martin guitar! Unbelievable!! But it is true.
In 1959 one could have purchased a brand-new Martin D-18e guitar for $235. A regular Martin D-18 had a retail price of $175. The deluxe hard-shell case was $22.00.
The Rowe-DeArmond Company of Toledo, Ohio was the best quality source for many of these guitar pickups.
On November 18th of 2024 that Martin acoustic-electric guitar went on to sell for a record-breaking $6 million at auction. Kurt’s guitar, serial number 155864, was just number 7 out of 302 that were manufactured in 1959 according to Julien’s Auction House.
The Cobain Martin D-18e guitar will join the RCM Museum’s extraordinary collection, which includes what is believed to be the oldest surviving guitar in existence, made in 1581 in Lisbon by luthier Belchior Dias.
The D-18E and the D-28E both bore two chrome sided pickups which were typical of the day with large polepieces on one side and smaller ones on the other. These were replete with twin volume and twin tone knobs and a three-way pickup control switch on the top upper bout.
The pickguard needed to be cut to maintain the pickup rings.
The 00-18E had only one similar DeArmond that was mounted at the bottom of the neck. There was a single volume and tone controls for this model.
All of these guitars had the same accoutrements as their acoustic cousins. All had a spruce top. The D-18E and the 00-18E had mahogany back and sides and the D-28E had rosewood back and sides. The D-28E had gold plated Grover Roto tuners.
The sixty-dollar difference was considered an upgrade for the addition of two DeArmond pickups and wiring.
Piezo technology was invented in the late 1800’s it was not used on a guitar until the early 1970’s. Early players were confined to either using a microphone or an electro-magnetic pickup.
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| Rowe DeArmond Pickup |
In early 1992 Kurt Cobain purchased a 1959 D-18E from Voltage Guitars in Los Angeles. Even then it was a significant purchase as it cost $5,000. This was the guitar he famously played during Nirvana's MTV Unplugged performance, a moment that's now etched in rock history.
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| 6 Million Dollar Guitar |
This guitar originally came equipped with two DeArmond pickups. However given Kurt’s guitar string preference, those stock DeArmond pickups didn’t sound very good with bronze-wound strings that Kurt was using, He fitted this guitar with an additional Bartolini 3AV sound hole pickup – which Kurt already tried out on his Epiphone Texan.
After Kurt’s passing, it seems that the guitar ended up with his daughter, Francis Bean. She kept it at the secret vault in Seattle, together with the rest of Kurt’s belongings.
According to TMZ, in 2018, the guitar ended up with Isaiah Silva, Francis’ ex-husband, as a part of the divorce settlement agreement.
Soon after, it was auctioned through Julien’s, and ended up with RODE Microphones founder, Peter Freedman. The final price was $6 million, which makes this guitar the most expensive guitar ever sold through auction at the time of writing this. What I find fascinating is the actual purchase price was $6,010,000. This meant someone else possibly bid six million dollars and that price was beat!
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| Royal College of Music |
The Royal College of Music has also confirmed that Cobain’s D-18E will anchor a new international touring exhibition planned for 2026, following the success of Kurt Cobain: Unplugged, an in-house exhibition that drew more than 15,000 visitors.
I was surprised that many players were unaware the C.F. Martin company at one time offered a small series of electric guitars.
The original instruments were the D-18E, the D-28E and the 00-18E, and were traditional Martin acoustic guitars that came with added single coil electric pickups, wiring, a selector switch, and volume/tone controls on the instrument's lower bout.
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| D-28E wiring |
The pickguard needed to be cut to maintain the pickup rings.
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| 1959 O-18E |
The 00-18E had only one similar DeArmond that was mounted at the bottom of the neck. There was a single volume and tone controls for this model.
All of these guitars had the same accoutrements as their acoustic cousins. All had a spruce top. The D-18E and the 00-18E had mahogany back and sides and the D-28E had rosewood back and sides. The D-28E had gold plated Grover Roto tuners.
In reviewing these guitars I am shocked to learn the current asking prices are between $25,000 and $50,000 for these vintage instruments.
Besides the pickups the biggest difference between the electric and acoustic models of this series was, due to the pickups mounting, the electrics were made with transverse bracing on the top. This changed the sound when the guitar was played acoustically. Subsequently they sound thinner than a typical X braced Martin.
Although Martin guitars did not become expensive until around 1973, electric guitar pickups that are screwed into a Martin acoustic guitar and holes drilled into the top along with ladder bracing.
Besides the pickups the biggest difference between the electric and acoustic models of this series was, due to the pickups mounting, the electrics were made with transverse bracing on the top. This changed the sound when the guitar was played acoustically. Subsequently they sound thinner than a typical X braced Martin.
Although Martin guitars did not become expensive until around 1973, electric guitar pickups that are screwed into a Martin acoustic guitar and holes drilled into the top along with ladder bracing.
Besides Curt Kobain, the only other artist I recall using a similar Martin electric instrument was Tracy Chapman when she first became famous. She owned a 1958 or '59 Martin D-18E.
The D-18E was discontinued within a year. The D-28E and the 00-18E were produced through 1964.
The D-18E was discontinued within a year. The D-28E and the 00-18E were produced through 1964.
If not for the provenance of this D-18E being associated with Curt Kobain, this guitar would certainly not be worth Six Million Dollars.
©UniqueGuitar Publications (text only) 2026
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