The End of an Era: Kirk Hammett's Legendary Guitar from Black Sabbath's Final Bow Heads to Auction

Imagine, if you will, the sheer, unadulterated electricity of that night. Birmingham, England, February 4, 2017. Black Sabbath, the undisputed godfathers of heavy metal, were taking their final, thunderous bow. It was, truly, an emotional, monumental moment for music history—and right there, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the legends, was Kirk Hammett, Metallica’s lead guitar maestro, adding his own potent riffage to the historic farewell.

And now, for the collectors among us, for those who dream of holding a tangible piece of rock lore, that very guitar, that instrument of history, is making its way to the auction block. Yes, indeed. Hammett’s ESP LTD KH-DC, the six-string axe he wielded during those unforgettable final two gigs with Sabbath, is now seeking a new home, presented by the aptly named Gotta Have Rock and Roll.

You could say it’s more than just a guitar; it’s a living artifact, a bridge between two colossal forces in metal. Hammett, with his unmistakable style, joined Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler for the ultimate encore, a truly electrifying run through some of Sabbath's most iconic tracks. Specifically, he shredded alongside them on “N.I.B.” and, perhaps most memorably, during the frenetic, crowd-igniting finale of “Paranoid.” Can you even picture it?

But wait, there's more to this story, a layer of authentication that elevates it from mere memorabilia to something profoundly special. The guitar, a beautiful black instrument that surely absorbed the very essence of those final performances, bears the indelible signatures of all four legends present that night: Kirk Hammett himself, the Prince of Darkness Ozzy Osbourne, the riff master Tony Iommi, and the incomparable Geezer Butler. Imagine the stories that instrument could tell!

This isn't just any old guitar, for once; it’s a verified, authenticated piece of a moment when the baton, symbolically speaking, passed between generations of metal royalty. The auction house has set the opening bid at a respectable $20,000, though experts—and honestly, who could disagree?—expect it to fetch anywhere between $40,000 and $60,000. And why not? It’s a tangible link to one of rock’s most poignant and powerful farewells, a guitar that quite literally played a part in ‘The End’.