WENN

Two of Eddie Van Halen's most famous guitars are going under the hammer at auction just two weeks after the rock icon's death.

The instruments, Eddie's custom-designed 2004 EVH Charvel Arts axe and another he built with his guitar technician, will be among the highlights at the Julien's Auctions Icons & Idols Trilogy: Rock 'n' Roll event on 4 December.

The sale will also feature artefacts and memorabilia owned and used by Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Lady Gaga, David Bowie, and Aerosmith, while another highlight will be the stage-played and smashed black Fender Stratocaster guitar Kurt Cobain used on Nirvana's 1994 In Utero Tour.

The instrument was gifted to Cobain by an audience member after the band's performance at the Palais Omnisport de Rennes in Rennes, France, in February, 1994.

Cobain and Van Halen's guitars are each expected to fetch up to $80,000.

The auction comes almost seven months after Cobain's 1959 Martin D-18E electric-acoustic guitar, which he strummed during the group's historic TV gig in 1993 – five months before his death, set a new memorabilia record after going under the hammer for over $6 million at a Julien's Auctions Music Icons event on 20 June.

The axe also became the most expensive guitar and Nirvana item ever sold at auction.