The classical guitar marks the instrument in its purest form. Yet these guitars, first standardised by Antonio de Torres in the 19th century, are far from the most valuable instrument.
Virtually every other type of guitar, whether electric or steel-string acoustic, has been sold for more at auction; their prices boosted by their famous owners. Perhaps it’s no surprise. Music is about emotion more than history.
The 1969 Black Strat belonging to Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour reclaimed its title as the most expensive guitar ever sold in March 2026, realizing $14.55 million at the auction of the Jim Irsay Collection. Kurt Cobain’s vintage Martin D-18E, which he played on MTV Unplugged in 1993, still holds the record for the most expensive acoustic guitar, selling for $6 million in June 2020.
Yet no classical guitar has ever sold for more than $180,000. In fact, even paintings and charcoal sketches of classical guitars by masters have sold for many times more than the guitars themselves.
Since the list was first compiled, at least two publicly disclosed high-value classical-guitar sales have occurred: the Eric Clapton-played 1977 Juan Alvarez classical guitar in May 2024 and Santos Hernández’s 1935 concert guitar “La Inédita,” which almost set a new auction record in May 2025.
Guitars from the 19th century weren’t treated with the same respect as instruments such as violins until recently. One guitar made by Antonio de Torres – perhaps the most important luthier of all time – was abandoned under a bed for a quarter of a century. The owner only realised its worth after reading José L. Romanillos’ seminal book about Torres, first published in 1987.
Unfortunately many historical instruments remain damaged and beyond repair.
The list below contains publicly disclosed prices for classical guitars. This list also doesn’t include list prices or estimates.
For example, Torres’ No. 124, built in 1888, was listed for $275,000 by the Bruné luthiers in December 2019. Segovia’s 1937 Hauser, which he played from 1938 until 1962 and called “the best guitar in the world”, if ever sold would easily surpass the realised prices here. The guitar can be seen on display at The Met in New York.
Hermann Hauser I (1948): $179,999
This Hauser guitar sold at auction in May 2006 for around triple the estimated $US50,000-$US60,000 it was expected to attract.
German luthier Hermann Hauser (1882-1952) built this guitar 11 years after building the model that was finally up to Segovia’s standards. The top is spruce while the back and sides are rosewood. The label on this guitar was inscribed M. P. in Hauser’s handwriting, an abbreviation for “manu propria”, meaning the guitar was built exclusively “by my own hand” without his assistants.
Today students at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) can play the guitar after John Harris donated his collection of about 40 historical instruments, including this Hauser, to the school in late-2020.
Santos Hernández (1935): $172,924 (€152,800)
The May 2025 Bonhams auction of this 1935 Santos Hernández guitar, known as La Inédita, almost broke the long-standing Hauser guitar record set almost two decades earlier.
The guitar was originally intended for Andrés Segovia, but a personal slight – Segovia had requested the instrument be delivered to his hotel rather than visiting the luthier’s workshop – led Hernández to withhold the guitar and hide it from the public eye for decades.
The instrument resurfaced in 2025 and was sold for a final equivalent price of $172,924 (or €152,800), right in between the estimate of €125,000-185,000. The guitar’s owner, Paco Arango, donated the proceeds of the sale to his children’s cancer foundation Fundación Aladina.
While Segovia never played the guitar, it was praised in 1945 by Regino Sainz de la Maza as the “best instrument of this type known to date”. It was crafted with the finest materials available in 1935: Brazilian rosewood for the back and sides and a master-grade European spruce top.
Antonio de Torres (1888, SE 122): $167,536
This guitar by the great Antonio de Torres was sold at auction for $167,536 in October 2014, at the lower end of the estimated $147,825-$229,951 it was expected to sell for.
You can hear Luigi Attademo playing the guitar with gut strings in the video below. A better recorded version can be found on Spotify.
The soundboard of this Torres was built from three pieces of spruce and the fan bracing has seven struts.
Antonio de Torres (1864, FE 17): $157,000
This Antonio de Torres model sold for $157,000, well above its pre-auction estimate of $100,000-$150,000, in October 2007.
Torres built this guitar for his own personal use but after hearing the young virtuoso Francesco Tárrega (1852-1909) play, offered him FE 17 in 1869. The guitar apparently still bears cigarette burns from Tárrega’s habit of smoking while he played.
The guitar top is made from European spruce, while the back and sides are made from European curly maple. Like many of Torres’ early guitars, it had a tornavoz to help project the sound and accentuate the bass. The video above shows some of the guitar’s finer detail that luthier Dominik Wurth incorporated into a replica.
Hermann Hauser I (1940 and 1939): $152,500 and $134,500
Hauser holds the next two spots on the list with guitars (built in 1940 and 1939) that sold for $152,500 in October 2011 and $134,000 in April 2009.
The instrument built in 1939 was another for Segovia following the success of his 1937 classic. The soundboard has a special inscription similar to that also found on the 1931 and 1937 models: fait pour Monsieur Andres Segovia Montevideo.
It appears that this instrument now resides in the Guitar Salon International Museum.
Robert Bouchet (1964): $122,500
This Robert Bouchet guitar – once owned by artist Julian Bream – was sold for $122,500 in October 2009, well above the expected $40,000-$50,000.
The sale prompted Kerry Keane, the head of musical instruments at auction house Christie’s, to say: “The world record price for a guitar by Robert Bouchet demonstrates the importance of his work among the classical guitar community, rivaling works of Hermann Hauser I.”
Bouchet (1898-1986) was a painter and took up guitar making later in life, building only 154 instruments. His style, which was highly influenced by Torres, set the foundation for the French school of guitar making.
Juan Alvarez (1977), “Tears in Heaven” guitar: $101,600
A 1977 Juan Alvarez classical guitar used by Eric Clapton to write his hit Tears in Heaven sold for $101,600 at a Julien’s auction held in New York in May 2024.
Clapton wrote the song following the death of his four-year-old son, Conor, who fell from a window of the 53rd-floor New York apartment of his mother’s friend, on March 20, 1991.
The guitar has an ebony fretboard, rosewood back and sides, spruce top, and rosewood bridge. Clapton regularly used a pick to play the instrument, leaving marks on the finish, with an area worn to the wood on the bass side of the rosette, and numerous scrapes from the 12th fret area down to the bridge, according to the auction description.
Another acoustic owned by Clapton – a 1939 steel string featured on his MTV Unplugged performance – sold for $4,101,000 at the Jim Irsay Collection auction in 2026.
José María Vilaplana, Muro Del Alcoy (1979): $100,000
There’s a reason this classical guitar is the most recently constructed on this list yet sold for an impressive $100,000 at auction in June 2019: it was owned by Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. It was expected to sell for just $2,500-$3,500, but many of Gilmour’s guitars sold for record prices at the auction.
Gilmour bought the instrument in March 1982 and used it regularly in the studio as his primary classical guitar. It can be heard on High Hopes, the closing track on Pink Floyd’s 1994 album The Division Bell.
Hermann Hauser I: $98,500 and $93,210
Hauser again holds the next two spots on this list of most expensive guitars with a guitar built in 1949 selling for $98,500 in November 2012 and a guitar built in 1936 selling for $93,200 in April 2003.
Antonio de Torres (1864, FE21): $86,500
Another guitar by Antonio de Torres was sold at auction in 2009 within its expected price range of $70,000-$90,000. The guitar label says 1852 but 64 is written over it in ink. The guitar was exhibited at a November 1992 event in Almeria, Spain, to celebrate Torres’ life, according to José L. Romanillos’ book, Antonio de Torres, Guitar Maker – His Life & Work. He wrote: “It is interesting that this guitar is purported to be made in Almeria at a time when Torres was resident in Sevilla. There is no doubt that this is an original Torres guitar.”
Luthier R. E. Bruné also wrote about this guitar in the April 2009 edition of Vintage Guitar but unfortunately I’ve been unable to track down a copy.
Ignacio Fleta (1961, No 235): $74,400
This Fleta, once owned by artist John Williams, sold for an impressive $74,000 in April 2005. This was Williams’ main guitar during the 1960s and can heard on most of his recordings during this period, which no doubt pushed the price to this level. Fleta (1897-1977) instruments are known for their strong sound, which is well suited to the concert hall.
Hermann Hauser I (1928): $73,000
Incredibly, another Hauser finds its way onto this list, with this model selling for $73,000 in April 2008. It’s unclear if the 1928 Hauser held by Guitar Salon Internal Museum is the same instrument, but that particular guitar is valued at $120,000 today.
