SLAYER: JEFF HANNEMAN's Personal Guitars Being Auctioned

When Jeff Hanneman of SLAYER passed away in May 2013, he left behind thousands of fans, as well as fellow musicians whom he influenced via his distinctive thrash metal playing style. Jeff also left behind a number of his personal instruments, so in conjunction with his estate, ESP is helping with the auction sale of some of his most prized instruments. A portion of the proceeds will go to a charitable cause that Jeff strongly supported: the Wounded Warrior Project.

Each instrument described at ESPGuitars.com is a one-of-a-kind custom guitar that was in Jeff's personal collection, and he is known to have played all of them on various SLAYER tours and recordings. But wait, there's more: each guitar is in the original case that Jeff owned and used to store and tour with these guitars, and some of the offerings have more inside the case than you'd imagine. Each guitar auctioned will also include a certificate of authenticity from the Hanneman estate. Visit the auction page links for detailed images of each guitar.

Jeff Hanneman died from alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver. He is credited for writing many of SLAYER's classic songs, including "Angel Of Death" and "South Of Heaven".

The guitarist, who passed away in Los Angeles on May 2, 2013, had actually not been playing with SLAYER for more than two years since he contracted necrotizing fasciitis, also known as flesh-eating disease, from a spider bite in his backyard in January 2011. The infection ravaged the flesh and tissues of Hanneman's arm, leading to numerous surgeries and skin grafts that forced him into semi-retirement.

Hanneman's last appearance with SLAYER was in April 2011, when he played an encore with the band at the "Big Four" concert in Indio, California.