The guitar played by late rock legend Kurt Cobain on the anthemic grunge track "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is going under the hammer next month.

The 1966 Fender Mustang is among a treasure trove of instruments and musical memorabilia that also includes the logo-emblazoned drum that announced The Beatles to the United States when the Fab Four played "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1964.

The Jim Irsay collection put together by the one-time owner of the Indianapolis Colts NFL team – includes guitars played by musicians who defined the 20th century, including Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour, The Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia, as well as Eric Clapton, John Coltrane and Johnny Cash.

But at the centre of the collection are handwritten lyrics for The Beatles' smash "Hey Jude" as well as guitars played by John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison.

"I think it's fair to say that this collection of Beatles instruments...is the most important assembled Beatles collection for somebody who wasn't a member of the band," said Amelia Walker, the London-based head of private and iconic collections at Christie's, in Beverly Hills.

"There are five Beatles guitars in his collection, as well as Ringo Starr's first Ludwig drum kit [and] John Lennon's piano, on which he composed several songs from Sergeant Pepper."

Also included is "the drum skin from Ringo's second Ludwig kit, which is the vision that greeted 73 million Americans who tuned in to watch 'The Ed Sullivan Show' on the ninth of February 1964 when the Beatles broke America."

The drum kit is expected to fetch around US$2 million, while the guitars could sell for around US$1 million at the auction in New York, Christie's estimates.

Perhaps the most expensive item in the collection is Cobain's guitar, which experts say might sell for up to US$5 million.

"It's a talismanic guitar for people of my generation... who lived through grunge," said Walker. "[Smells Like Teen Spirit] was the anthem of that generation. That video is so iconic." (AFP)