Jennifer Batten’s Alan Hamel Custom Used “Beat It” On Michael Jackson’s 1987 BAD Tour

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This is Jennifer Batten’s Alan Hamel Custom guitar that she used on the Michael Jackson BAD Tour in 1987 for the song “Beat It.” This is a very iconic guitar from the BAD tour and also visually stunning when the fiber optics were turned on the during her solo. Something that was never done before. The guitar was built by master builder Alan Hamel, who worked at the Fender Custom Shop from 1992 through 2001. Alan gave this guitar to Jennifer in exchange for doing a guitar clinic in a shop that he was associated with in around 1985 or ’86.

From Jennifer:

“Once I joined the Michael Jackson BAD Tour in 1987, I brought the guitar in to be used for “Beat It.” MJ had us tune down to a low C for the live show, so I needed a separately tuned guitar from the rest of the show. I also needed the guitar to be fitted with fiber optic fibers that would connect to a computer. The computer operator would then change colors within the fibers as I moved across the stage. My tech, Jage Jackson, opted to tape the fibers onto the guitar body rather than route wood out of it. He did route a channel in the sides of the neck to insert the fibers. After the tour, the neck was removed and put on a guitar that builder John Ashton made for me. I had gems from my late mother mounted into the guitar body and one mounted into the headstock. The one in the headstock fell out and disappeared at some point, but the carve-out remains. John also covered the routed neck channel with a binding. The Floyd Rose nut was removed since the new body it was inserted into had no locking bridge. The fibers were also attached separately to a headdress that was worn for that tune and would also change colors as I moved.”

The guitar is hand-signed on the body by Jennifer Batten and is accompanied by a detailed, signed letter of provenance from Jennifer, along with a recent photo of her with the guitar. There is video footage of her playing it during the iconic 1988 show at Wembley Stadium in London England with Michael Jackson on the Bad World Tour. This is a rare opportunity to own a historically significant, stage-played instrument tied to one of the most legendary live performers in modern music history, Michael Jackson.