“It was the perfect guitar for him to pay tribute to Tony”: Kirk Hammett’s guitar auction shatters expectations – with his mystery Back to the Beginning SG fetching $70,000 more than anticipated

(Image credit: Gibson)

The mystery Gibson SG that Kirk Hammett played at Back to the Beginning has sold for $76,800 at auction, alongside a host of other eye-catching electric guitar sales that took place as part of Julien’s Played, Worn & Torn event.

After much speculation, Hammett’s axe was revealed as a CEO-4, the fourth creation born from CEO Cesar Gueikian’s passion project of hand-building guitars to raise funds for in-house charity, Gibson Gives.

“We sent it to him so that he could put it through his rig for a couple of soundchecks before,” Gueikian told Guitar World. “He said he really loved it, and it was going to be the perfect guitar for Hole in the Sky, and also as a way for him to pay tribute to Tony [Iommi].”

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Metallica: Hole In The Sky (Birmingham, GB – July 5, 2025) – YouTube

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Elsewhere in Julien’s collection, a 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard, played by Keith Richards during the Rolling Stones’ 2007 A Bigger Bang tour, which features his signature on the back of its headstock, sold for $192,000.

That made it the priciest lot of the collection, surpassing the $64,000 sale of a Warwick Streamer played on stage by U2’s Adam Clayton.

There was also a Gibson Gives Ukraine Relief Les Paul, emblazoned with the country’s colors, for sale. It had been played on stage and signed by Slash. It also went for $38,400.

Visit Julien’s Auctions to see the final results of the 2025 Played, Worn & Torn auction.

(Image credit: Gibson)

A freelance writer with a penchant for music that gets weird, Phil is a regular contributor to Prog, Guitar World, and Total Guitar magazines and is especially keen on shining a light on unknown artists. Outside of the journalism realm, you can find him writing angular riffs in progressive metal band, Prognosis, in which he slings an 8-string Strandberg Boden Original, churning that low string through a variety of tunings. He’s also a published author and is currently penning his debut novel which chucks fantasy, mythology and humanity into a great big melting pot.