1994’s Superunknown remains Soundgarden‘s best-selling album to date. From “Black Hole Sun” to “The Day I Tried to Live,” it became their definitive piece of work — and you can now own a piece of its history, as one of the guitars Chris Cornell used to record it is up for auction.
The instrument at hand is a 1966 Fender Candy Apple Red Jazzmaster. According to the auction site Gotta Have Rock and Roll, Cornell purchased the guitar in 1993. He played it live on many occasions and used it during the recording of Superunknown, in addition to a Gretsch Duo Jet and a double-cutaway Gretsch Silver Jet.
“It was one of the best-sounding Jazzmasters I’ve ever used in my life,” Superunknown producer Michael Beinhorn described to MusicTech of the guitar.
The listing adds that the frontman gave the guitar to a friend named Chris Bond when he was going through his divorce with Soundgarden manager Susan Silver. Now, Bond has put the guitar up for auction, and the minimum bid is $125,000.
The guitar comes with its original case, a note from Bond, a letter of appraisal from Emerald City Guitars and a certificate of authenticity from Gotta Have Rock and Roll. See an image below, and a video of Cornell playing the guitar live with Soundgarden in 1994 underneath.
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