Tonight on Exclusively Van Halen, we're back with Part 2 of our special 3-part series featuring two very special guests: Michael “Myko” Gutierrez and Robert Stoltz. They’re here to dive deep into the story of one of the rarest Van Halen guitars ever — a nearly unknown Kramer Baretta that was built and custom-painted in 1984 at 5150 by Eddie Van Halen himself and his then-guitar tech Rudy Leiren.

This wasn’t just any Kramer — it was Ed’s personal studio-use-only guitar, played exclusively at 5150 and never meant for public hands. Incredibly, this guitar found its way into the wild when Michael won it in a once-in-a-lifetime contest sponsored by Kramer Guitars and Guitar for the Practicing Musician magazine. Even more amazing: Eddie personally handed Michael the guitar at the 1985 NAMM Show in Anaheim, California.

Robert, who has contributed to multiple Van Halen-related publications, first wrote about this guitar back in 1997 for The Inside magazine. He’s recently completed a detailed follow-up article, packed with new insights into the guitar’s history, which will be published online soon.

Don’t miss this deep cut into Van Halen lore — only on Exclusively Van Halen.

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