Kurt Cobain

This screenshot from the Julien's Auctions website (slightly altered to make it fit better) shows the auction for Kurt Cobain's Boss DS-1 Distortion pedal. Jeff Toste was the recipient of the pedal after Cobain threw it into the crowd. A letter from Toste accompanying the pedal tells the story:

The third show of Nirvana's iconic Nevermind tour was at Club Babyhead in Providence, RI. It was September 25th, 1991 and The Melvins opened. I was at that show.

During the show Kurt Cobain had technical problems, and at one point he was getting no sound from his gear. He must have thought his distortion pedal (Boss DS-1) had something to do with it. He smashed the pedal on the stage and threw it into the crowd. It landed between the feet of the guy in front of me. I pulled it out from between his feet.

The left hinge on the pedal is broken, but otherwise works. The pedal still has the original duct tape used to secure it to the stage. I've had it ever since.

The winning bid of this particular auction was $8,960 USD. The original source of the auction is here.

Replaced Kurt's DS-1 around 1992. Kurt still used the same settings like his DS-1 and kept it in Mode 1. Can be seen in the Unplugged show, Live at Reading, and a handful of other shows, usually before his Small Clone.

Cobain used a 1966 Jaguar during the Nevermind tour and In Utero tour. He got this guitar with a Dimarzio PAF and a Dimarzio Super Distortion already in the guitar. But later he would put a Tune o' matic Bridge in the guitar, this guitar can be seen throughout the video.

Kurt used the Sansamp as his primary distortion on the In Utero album and tour. His settings were '3 up, 3 down, 2 up' on the switches, both drive knobs were full, high from 11-2 o clock, in normal mode.

The Kurt Cobain Equipment F.A.Q. extensively documented Cobain's Fender Mustangs, his favorite guitar model. Mustangs featured prominently throughout the Nevermind and In Utero eras of Nirvana.

Guitars Page

A). Fender Mustangs. Kurt said that his favorite guitar was a Mustang (9).

1). One of the most note-worthy of the assorted lefty Mustangs he used was a 1969 Lake Placid Blue "competition" Mustang, serial # F 279651 (59). It was purchased around the same time as his Jaguar (discussed later), just prior to recording "Nevermind" (57). This is the guitar from the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" music video; however, Kurt had been seen using it often during shows (seen 2,10,15). Fender produced the Mustang competition series from around 1968-1973 and they are easily identifiable by the three racing stripes on the body. The "Fender Book" says that the competitions, quote, "sometimes" came with matching headstocks.(11). Kurt's Mustang was lake placid blue with matching headstock. It had two black, single coil sized pickups with a white mother-of-pearl pickguard; the bridge was replaced with a Stewart MacDonald Gotoh Tune-O-Matic (Kurt's favorite)(57) before the Argentina trip. Despite his babying this guitar, he trashed this guitar during the infamous Tree Club show (seen 2). As a result, it had lower edge damage and a broken neck joint (41). This guitar can also be seen on the relatively well-known "Hollywood Rock" festival concert footage shot in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1993 (seen 13, 10). This guitar remained in storage during the "In Utero" tour because Kurt really liked this guitar (57). The Australian Hard Rock Cafe claims they have this guitar, but Earnie Bailey says he saw a photo of the guitar they had and it was right-handed. "The photo said that it had come from Courtney. Either she or Eric had a right-handed one exactly like Kurt's, I'm not sure whose it was, but this is mostly likely that guitar." He goes on to say, "The Hard Rock Cafe does not own Kurt's competition blue Mustang. I recently worked on the real one and its preset owner allowed me to photograph it in detail. Courtney gave it to him a month after Kurt's death, and it is eaxctly as I remember it, ever nick, ding, and solder joint" (59).

2). The March 1995 issue of "Guitar World" magazine mentions Kurt sent out 4 new, stock, Mustangs to be routed for humbuckers (32). Three were sonic blue and one fiesta red (41). The way Earnie modified these guitars is as follows:

First, the nut had to be cut for heavier strings, then the neck shimmed for a better bridge angle with the cardboard backings from hotel stationery pads, and a Gotoh Tune-O-Matic bridge was installed. Earnie also had to modify the tailpiece to block the vibrato, which Kurt hated. He would remove the two springs for the vibrato bar, add washers to the posts beneath the bridge plate, which locked it down to the plate. Lastly, Earnie would flip the tailpiece around allowing the strings to feed directly through the tailpiece, not under, and the ball ends of the strings would fit in the tailpiece's recesses (41).

• Fiesta red Mustang (seen 1). Kurt received this guitar right before the first Roseland show. It came with a red swirl pickguard with white pickup covers. Earnie Bailey replaced the red tortoise pickguard with a white pearl pickguard from Chandler. It was used during the In Utero tour, most often seen with the white pearl pickguard. For the first Roseland NY show, Earnie switched the bridge pickup with a Seymour Duncan JB Hot Rails model in white, which is a fairly unusual pickup. When he received the Chandler pickguard, he decided black pickup covers would look better with the pearloid. This guitar was to be Kurt's first Japanese Mustang to get routed for a humbucker, the stock neck pickup only had the cover changed (59), and was fitted with a Seymour Duncan JB. Kurt later wanted all of his Mustangs routed for the JB., that is, except for the '69 competition (41).

• Sonic blue Fender Mustang with a full-sized humbucker in the bridge (seen 15, 7). There were three of these guitars, two of them set-up like below (41), one of them had the serial # 0 016988 (59). One had a red-swirl pickguard (seen 7), another a matte red pickguard. These two were sent out for the In Utero tour. The third one was never set-up or modified and stayed at Kurt's house. It never came out of its box because the "In Utero" tour people were waiting for the other Mustangs to be broken, which they never were. Earnie also never swapped out the 250k pots to 500k's when the humbucker was added as he didn't expect these guitars to last very long (59).

Courtney gave one of these guitars to a young man named Bobby Costello in Florida. Last I had heard, the family was looking to sell the guitar and supplied me these pictures: Note from Courtney, Pic #1, Pic #2, Pic #3.

3). Early 60's sonic blue Mustang, serial # F207901, no pickguard. It was used in Geffen's "In Bloom" video (seen 42, 43)(41)(59). Kurt picked up this guitar at the time of the video shoot in Los Angeles. Earnie saw it at Kurt's house and says it was really clean-- it had no body contours and stock hardware. It never toured (41). The Mustang is visible behind the mannequin in the "Sliver" video but with a single-coil pickup in the bridge (seen 36)(59).

4). Early 60's sanded-down Fender Mustang used when Jason Everman was with the band. Had no contours and no decal with unusual hardware. Had a Soundgarden sticker on it (41)(seen pgs. 95, 96 on (25)). Also said to be visible in the "Incesticide" cd insert, but I don't know if it is really the same guitar ("Incesticide" 44). Said to have a cut-up vinyl record for a pickguard (15). Another picture.

5). 1977 sunburst Mustang with black pickguard, serial # S 714567 (59), rosewood neck, and rusty parts(41). It got a Duncan Hot Rails upon returning home from Rio (59). Earnie Bailey tells me he is "fairly certain" this was used for the encore at the Rio show (59)(seen 13). On the video which many of us own, he plays a Univox for the encore and though there is confusion as to what the "Rio" show really was, most consider it to be the Hollywood Rock Festival, January 23rd, 1993 (41). Aneurysm and Dive from 'Live! Tonight! Sold Out!' were taken from this show (seen 16). However, the 'LTSO' book lists this as being in Sao Paulo, while "Come As You Are" says otherwise (25)." Here is what Earnie tells me, "[This guitar] was brought to Rio by Ron Stone of Gold Mountain Entertainment. We received it the day we arrived in Rio. I am fairly certain Kurt grabbed it for the encore. I am not sure if the encore is on the bootleg video. The guitar had a baseball bat neck and I didn't have a hot rails pickup with me in Brazil to install. I really thought he was going to smash it because it didn't feel or sound right yet, but he didn't" (59).

6). Poorly modified Fender Mustang from the early days. Its control plate and weird bridge currently reside in a pink suitcase of Kurt's (15)(59).

Also, despite how many pictures appear, Kurt never used a white Mustang. The sonic blue tend to look white, especially with the crazy light show NIRVANA had during the "In Utero" tour. Jim Vincent's girlfriend did the lighting for the shows and also designed the sleeve for the band's first single. If any of you have any photos of the whole stage from the "In Utero" tour, please let me know! Jim has been looking for pictures of the stage for his girlfriend's portfolio.

Unknown Mustang from the earlier days of the band.

Recording & Tour Gear

Recording of 'Bleach'

Jack Endino says in the early days a Univox guitar (Hi-Flyer (57)) with stock humbuckers was used (54). Jack bought one of these type of stock Univox pickups from Kurt once. It was in pieces, but Jack was able to stick the wires together (57). The Univox(s) was around approximately until "Sappy" was recorded; a new guitar was seen at least by the time Jack did the "In Utero" demos which he remembers as being a small Fender guitar, "perhaps a Mustang." (...)

Recording of 'Nevermind'

(...) The guitars used were his competition Mustang, his Jaguar, and a new Stratocaster(s) with humbuckers in the bridge positions (6). Kurt purchased a bunch of Japanese Strats (had humbuckers installed in the bridges) and effects for this album from Rick King of Guitar Maniacs. Just prior to recording this album Kurt apparently developed a taste for Fender guitars.

(...) Tour Gear Summary

(...) "Nevermind"-era: Initially only the 1965 Jaguar, '69 Mustang, and Japanese strats for guitars; later the sunburst Tele painted blue. Univoxes continually used occasionally. Dean Markley .010-.052 guitar strings and orange Dunlop picks. (...)

"In Utero"-era: Everyone knows Kurt's usual guitar of choice was the Mustang. New sonic blue (red pickguard) and fiesta red (red swirl changed to white pearl) Mustangs used almost all of the time. (...) All the work to his new Mustangs (and Mexican Strats) was done before the band went on this tour. Sometimes Kurt would want one of his Mustangs to smash at the end of a show, instead of the predetermined black Mexican Strat, but they talked him out of it! Kurt agreed by saying, "Yeah, all right, I don't want to break that guitar because it feels really good" (57).

Sources

I'm sure there are still some mistakes here and there..

1. Still photographs: Roseland new music seminar performance in NYC, 7/24/93.
2. The infamous Trees Club show video footage shot in Dallas, Texas on 10/19/91.
3. MTV Studios performance of "Smells Like Teen Spirit," "Polly," and "Territorial Pissings" taped in New York, NY 1990.
4. Guitar World Online, soundcheck. Web address is: http://www.guitarworld.com/jan96/soundcheck/scfeature1/sft.page1.html
5. Saturday Night Live rehearsal footage. 1993 NBC.
6. "Guitar World" magazine. May 1996.
7. MTV's New Year's "Live and Loud" concert footage at Pier 47 in Seattle, WA, 12/17/93 shown 12/31/93.
8. "In Utero," album, 1993 DGC.
9. "Musician" magazine interview. January 1992.
10. My and Ralph Smith's discussions through e-mail with various people.
11. My phone conversation with Fender, 8/19/96.
12. Clay Guitars Web Page. Web address is: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/1375/fender.html
13. "Hollywood Rock" festival concert footage. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1993.
14. Concert footage; said to be Trenton, NJ, 1991.
15. Various photographs/concert footage.
16. "Live! Tonight! Sold Out!" video. Geffen Home Video, 1994.
17. Saturday Night Live performance, 1993.
18. "Fender Frontline" magazine. Fall 1994 (Vol.14).
19. Still photographs: "Nirvana" (Suzi Black, Omnibus Press) 1992.
20. "Guitar Player" magazine interview. February 1992.
21. "MTV Unplugged" concert video. Fall 1993. Soundtrack released as "MTV Unplugged in New York" (DGC, DGCD-24727) 1994.
22. "Guitar World presents Alternative Guitar" magazine interview. Spring 1994. Ralph Smith feels the interview seems to date from the period right around when "Nevermind" was released.
23. "Doll Parts" music video by Hole. (DGC) 1994.
24. "Guitar Shop" magazine 1994. A review of the 11/15/93 show at the NY Coliseum, NYC.
25. Book: "Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana" by Michael Azerrad (Doubleday). October 1993. Either a picture or in the text.
26. "In Utero" sheet music book (Hal-Leonard pub.) 1994.
27. "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" by R.E.M. (Warner Bros.) 1994.
28. Book: "Ferrington Guitars, Featuring the Custom-made Guitars of Master Luthier Danny Ferrington" (HarperCollins and Callaway Editions) 1992.
29. "Vintage Gallery: Collectable Guitars & Amps" magazine. October 1994, p. 47.
30. Ralph Smith's telephone conversation with Fender, 11/4/94.
31. "Heart-Shaped Box" music video. (DGC) 1993.
32. "Guitar World" magazine (and possibly also a later issue for the item mentioned in parenthesis under the "Recording of 'Nevermind'"). March 1995.
33. "Nevermind," album. (DGC) 1991.
34. "Bleach," album. (SubPop) 1989.
35. "Guitar Shop" magazine. August 1996.
36. "Sliver" music video. (DGC & SubPop?) Year?
37. "From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah," album. (DGC) 1996. Photos from insert and cover.
38. "Guitar World" magazine. October 1996.
39. "Circus" magazine. December 17, 1996.
40. My phone conversation with Jim Vincent, NIRVANA's tour tech from later 1993 through all of 1994. 1/28/97.
41. Chris Lawrence's Equipment Tutorial which also contains information from Earnie Bailey, Kurt's main guitar technician. Web address is: http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Towers/5890/kurtseq.html
42. "In Bloom" music video (DGC). Year?
43. "In Bloom" music video (SubPop). Year? Preceded DGC's video.
44. "Incesticide" album. DGC, SubPop 1992.
45. L.A. Recycler. Web address is: http://www.recycler.com
46. "Lithium" music video (DGC). Year?
47. MTV Video Music Award show, 1992.
48. Reading Festival. London, England. 8/92.
49. "Come As You Are" music video (DGC). Year?
50. Saturday Night Live live performance, 1993.
51. "NIRVANA and the Sound of Seattle," book (more info?).
52. New Year's Eve, 1993, live performance in Oakland, CA.
53. "Goldmine" magazine/newspaper. 2/14/97, Vol 23, No 4, Issue 432. Pg. 16.
54. Jack Endino's web page http://www.nwlink.com/~endino/
55. "Guitar World Presents NIRVANA and the Seattle Sound" magazine. 1993.
56. Information from my conversations with Chris Gill of "Guitar World" magazine, who did the equipment article in the August 1997 issue.
57. "Guitar World" magazine, August 1997.
58. My telephone conversation with Mark Snyder. Mark claims to have built Kurt's amp rack and demoed Kurt Mesa/Boogie gear at the time, Earnie doubts this.
59. My conversations and emails with Earnie Bailey.
60. Various emails.
61. Uncut Legends #2.

As seen in this rehearsal video for "On a Plain", Cobain can be seen playing his rare Mosrite Gospel with a Mk IV body. Presumably, this video dates from 1991. @ around the 2:50 mark the light catches the bridge, and you can clearly see that this is not a bridge that ever featured on a Univox Hi-Flier. Additionally, there is photo graphic evidence here, here, and here.

Also, let's look at when this guitar passed through Heritage Auctions, April 17, 2004:

"Nirvana: Kurt Cobain's 1960's Mosrite Gospel Guitar. This instrument is unusual in a couple of ways. It is the only known example of a Mark IV style Mosrite Gospel model. While Kurt owned and smashed many cheap (usually Univox) copies of Mosrite guitars during his career, this was one of only two actual Mosrites he owned. (The other was damaged and given away.) It was also one of his favorite guitars, which saved it from the usual fate of the instruments he used for live performances. Kurt purchased the guitar in San Francisco in 1990. "According to Earnie [Bailey], 'Kurt had only one Gospel, and this is a beyond rare guitar. At the time Kurt died, I was secretly working with Loretta Mosley to build Kurt a lefty Gospel... in some cool color.' Unfortunately, Kurt passed away as Earnie was gathering photos to send to Mosrite of Kurt's original. 'Loretta sent me a nice letter after it ended, as she had recently lost Semie (husband, founder of Mosrite) and was now running Mosrite on her own... she had sent me some sales literature of another Gospel, but could find no history of ever having made one based on the Mark IV guitar.'" (Quote reprinted from www.kurtsequipment.com.) Kurt had painted the very small Mosrite dot markers with white-out to make them more visible in a live setting. Although the current owner removed this simple modification, residue is still visible on the instrument. This is a factory right handed instrument, so it was modified for Kurt with a strap button added to the treble side horn, and the original metal string guide has been flipped to allow it to be strung left handed. The original case bears the words 'NIRVANA' and 'F... Elvis' [colorful expletive deleted here but preserved on the case - Ed.] in white paint which, while painted over with the same white paint, are still visible on inspection."

A Vox AC30 was used on Nirvana's "Nevermind" album, according to Butch Vig:

"Kurt had a Mesa/Boogie, but we also used a Fender Bassman a lot and a Vox AC30 on Nevermind," Vig recalls. "I prefer getting the amp to sound distorted instead of using special effects or pedals, which lose body and the fullness of the bottom end."

Now to the actual guitar, which is a Univox Hi-Flier Phase 3.

Kurt’s Univox was a model called Hi-Flier, and it was most likely manufactured sometime between 1968 and 1977. Main guide in determining these dates are the two humbuckers on the guitar which didn’t appear on this model until 1974, and it’s white pickguard which was replaced with a black one on sunburst models in 1977. It was basically a cheap alternative to the Mosrite Ventures model, a guitar Kurt used later on in his career.

Kurt played this guitar presumably from mid 80s to around 1988 on all of the early Nirvana gigs in 1987. He painted the pickguard pink, and had a ton of stickers on the body. He then ended up smashing it at Washington’s Evergreen State College in October 1988. This is assumed to be the first time he ever destroyed a guitar on stage.

This guitar was famous for being used in the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" music video but that wasn't the first time it was seen, it was first used in the Beehive Music and Video store where it was used for the songs "Breed" at 8:00 and "Floyd The Barber" at 11:01. Here's the guitar - and Kurt's sweater - on display at Seattle Experience Music Project.

Cobain avoided using this guitar in large concerts because it was the second Mustang Cobain had ever owned and it was one of Cobain's favorite guitars (Cobain usually smashed his guitars onstage therefore he didn't use his favorites frequently, roadware may also have been a factor in this).

More details:

1969 Fender Lake Placid Blue Competition Mustang with Matching Headstock. Kurt Cobain used this guitar in the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" music video on August 17, 1991. It was purchased around the same time as his Jaguar, just prior to recording "Nevermind". however, Kurt had been seen using it often during shows. Despite his babying this guitar, he trashed this guitar during the infamous Tree Club show. As a result, it had lower edge damage and a broken neck joint. This guitar can also be seen on the relatively well-known "Hollywood Rock" festival concert footage shot in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 01/23/1993.

Kurt's Mustang was lake placid blue with matching headstock. It had two black, single coil sized pickups with a white mother-of-pearl pickguard; serial # F 279651.

• Pickguard: White Pearl.
• Fingerboard : Rosewood w/ dot inlays; 22 frets.
• Pickups: H-S (Black Seymour Duncan Hot rails installed in the bridge position).
• Bridge/Tailpiece: Tune-O-Matic Bridge, Sept 91'

The bridge was replaced with a Stewart MacDonald Gotoh Tune-O-Matic (Kurt's favorite) before the Argentina trip. Oct'92.

First Recorded Use: 09/16/1991 Beehive Music & Video, Seattle, WA.

Last Recorded Use: 04/09/1993 Cow Palace (Trenjevka Woman's Group/Bosnia Rape Victim Benefit), Daly City, CA.

In an interview with GuitarWorld, when asked why he favors low-end models of guitars, Cobain replied:

"I don’t favor them — I can afford them. [laughs] I’m left-handed, and it’s not very easy to find reasonably priced, high-quality left-handed guitars. But out of all the guitars in the whole world, the Fender Mustang is my favorite. I’ve only owned two of them."

He added, "They’re cheap and totally inefficient, and they sound like crap and are very small. They also don’t stay in tune, and when you want to raise the string action on the fretboard, you have to loosen all the strings and completely remove the bridge. You have to turn these little screws with your fingers and hope that you’ve estimated it right. If you screw up, you have to repeat the process over and over until you get it right. Whoever invented that guitar was a dork."

Here is a still image of Cobain holding the Fender Mustang.

This was Kurt main pre-amp, used for live performances ever since May 2, 1990. Kurt trashed his Sunn amps the day earlier, on May 1st at the Cat’s Cradle, Chapel Hill, NC, and bought the Mesa Boogie, Crown Power Base 2 Poweramp, and an Aria Pro II Cardinal Series CS-350 Guitar on May 2nd before playing at the Milestone in Charlotte NC.

The Mesa Boogie Studio Preamp were run into a Crown Power Base 2 poweramp, Kurt used these to drive anything from a single stack to four 8x12 stacks (depending on the size of the venue). From that point on, the Mesa Boogie was used for the entirety of Nevermind and In Utero tours. During most of the Nevermind tour, the preamp was paired with a Crown Power Base 2 power amp. The Crown Power Base 2 Poweramp never worked out very well and was a particular source of frustration for "Nevermind" tour tech, Nick Close. The output on the Boogie Studio preamp was so hot, the Crown power amp would blow up a lot and have to be repaired. This setup was used until around January 1992, when Kurt kept the Mesa Boogie but switched to a duo of Crest 4801 power amps. Finally, they found amps which could take the beating. Earnie Bailey called these "the amp that wouldn't die"

Cobain said he turned all the midrange up. This was the amp set-up for the latter part of the "Nevermind" tour and all of the "In Utero" tour.

the "In Utero" tour, Same basic amp rig as the end of the "Nevermind" tour.

the Marshall cabs' speakers during the "In Utero" tour were Vintage 30's, Kurt used 8 cabinets, Chris 8, and Pat 4 Pat received Kurt's old 4x12's with the Celestion 75's when Kurt got his new ones with the V30's. The first Studio Preamp Kurt had was given to Pat, and Earnie ordered three more for the "In Utero" tour... two new ones for Kurt and a spare for Pat. "I kept tons of spares of everything on hand to avoid being stranded and unable to get parts, and to make sure the show never stopped due to a dead amp. I really liked the long, drawn out demolition sessions, and the more indestructible the amp rigs were, this part of the show would last as long as the guitar would, sometimes longer" A small,1980s red Marshall 3005 Lead 12 micro stack ministack was on stage, but it was never used. Kurt had one with Red Tolex, Krist and Pat both had ones with Black Tolex, they were used as Props. Pedals included the Sansamp Classic as Kurt's main distortion, Boss DS-2, E-H Polychorus & Echoflanger (whichever worked that day), and Small Clone chorus. Kurt took care of the settings on his pedals, "He knew all the sweet spots really well".

To get Kurt's tones you're going to at least need a closed back 4x12 cab, anything less and you just won't get the required air movement and low end thump. The preamp was set fairly clean, this allowed Kurt to use his distortion boxes to generate all of his signature aggressive distortion tones.

This acoustic guitar was used for the recording of the song "Polly" on Nevermind. When told in a Guitar World interview that the acoustic guitar he played in the song sounded a little flat, Cobain replied "That’s a 20-dollar junk shop Stella — I didn’t bother changing the strings. [laughs] It barely stays in tune. In fact I have to use duct tape to hold the tuning keys in place." It has also been rumored that the Stella only had 5 strings on it at the time of the recording. It is believed that this guitar was also used on the recording of "Something in the Way". Kurt had 11 nylon strings he only had 1 high E string Aaron Rash has a video were he explains the guitar in detail

Jeff Owens writes in an article published by Fender, "The Jag-Stang was designed by Kurt Cobain, and the design process was rather simple - he took Polaroids of half of a Jaguar and half of a Mustang, and taped them together. After making a few small drawn modifications and notes, the design was sent to Fender Custom Shop master builder Larry Brooks. The Jag-Stang wasn't used very often while Kurt had it, not only due to some glitches that still needed to be worked out, but also the fact that Kurt got the Sonic Blue one not too long before he died. Fender released the Jag-Stang to the public in both Sonic Blue and Fiesta Red in 1995-1996. It was reissued in 2005-2006."

"It seems that Kurt sometimes used Seymour Duncan Hot Rails pickups, which are humbuckers, but reduced to the size of a single coil pickup, meaning they could be fitted to his Fenders with little or no irreversible damage. In guitars that could fit them, he often used Seymour Duncan JB pickups. "

At 4:42 of this video of Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit (Live at Reading 1992) you can see the Fender sign clearly.

A white Strat also used at the Commodore Ballroom concert, located in Vancouver, Canada. It has 2 characteristics:

• The bridge humbucker is diagonally like a single coil.
• And in the lower part of the body of the guitar has a "K" on a shield, which represents K Records, a symbol that also has tattooed on the left arm.

kurt cobain used this Fender Japan ST-62 Standard Stratocaster Left Handed - Sunburst at live at reading 1992, and he added (Black) Seymour Duncan Hot Rails pickup in the bridge position

This guitar effects pedal was used for the recording of "Nevermind”.

In this photo, the pedal clearly has the same knobs of that of the first version of the Pro Co Rat, as seen by the thick white lines which differ from the second one, proving that this is the correct model.

Used in the studio for "Lithium", as stated by Nevermind producer Butch Vig in at least three interviews. Nirvana discusses the pedal in this December 10, 1993 MTV interview at 19:01 (a transcription can be found on the fansite Live Nirvana). The version is unknown, but it was likely a V3 or V6 due to Cobain's love of Mudhoney (he sports an official Mudhoney V6 Big Muff t-shirt in at least seven photos: here, here and here, here and here (both from April 19, 1990), here, and here, plus this April 17, 1990 show) and Vig's sonic comparison to his Russian Big Muff, which uses transistors and thusly makes an op-amp version unlikely.

MTV, December 10, 1993

[Kurt Loder] I know I saw you guys at Roseland, I think what I saw is right, the stuff you're using on stage for like little stomp boxes are just little stomp-boxes, right? They're not $300 great big...

[Kurt Cobain] Oh, no, they're old early ‘70s Electro-Harmonix effects boxes.

[Loder] Wow, how do you keep that stuff going?

[Cobain] Batteries.

[Dave Grohl] Earnie Bailey.

[Cobain] Yeah, our guitar friend - this guy who fixes - he can fix anything, a blender or a guitar... He's great. He’s just um…

[Krist Novoselic] He's into old technology.

[Cobain] They're kind of hard to find. Yeah. Those things are kinda hard to find and I guess they're becoming collector's items now.

[Loder] I think there's a store in New York that collects that stuff.

[Cobain] Hm hmm.

[Grohl] And probably sells it for exorbitant prices.

[Novoselic] He knows like, like they use this capacitor, they use this transistor, because they use this poor-grade cheap transistor at the time, that's what gave it that sound like, if you used a modern transistor it wouldn't sound as cool.

[Loder] True.

[Cobain] If you were to use the same schematic but used contemporary electronics you wouldn't get the same sound, you know what I mean?

[Michael Alex] The Soviet Union [unintelligible] Electro-Harmonix was buying them [unintelligible]

[Novoselic] It's a Red Army pedal, they make ‘em out of tanks. Tanks! And you go, koough! and you like, crank on it... koough!

[Alex] Yeah! [unintelligible] That's the technology that made that.

[Cobain] [unintelligible] old tank parts.

[Loder] Really?

[Cobain] Yeah!

[Loder] Oh, Jesus... [laughs]

[Pat Smear] They’re not the same, they’re not the same.

[Loder] Really?

[Novoselic] They're cheap metal, it's about that thick.

[Cobain] It's so heavy, the distortion box, it's just...

[Alex] [unintelligible] Soviet parts?

[Smear] No.

[Alex] Still?

[Smear] No, they’re not the same.

[Alex] They got a Big Muff.

[Smear] No, they're not as good.

[Novoselic] That's a Big Muff, it's a total tank! Tank materials, that's what they're made out of, it's like kay! you stomp on it and the metal around it is like total thick and like that olive, drab... like, Soviet olive green color. It's just like, wow, amazing...

Guitar World, August 1997, "Nirvana: Super Fuzz Big Muff - The definitive guide to Kurt Cobain’s grungy assortment of pawn shop prizes, turbo- charged stomp boxes and blown woofers." (first published online in abridged form on February 21, 2008, later unabridged on February 17, 2021)

But even though Vig wasn’t the biggest fan of effect pedals, he allowed Cobain to use a few on the album, especially since the guitarist felt that the DS-1 was the main factor in his tone. Cobain also used the Small Clone liberally. “That’s making the watery guitar sound you hear on the pre-chorus build-up of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and also ‘Come as You Are,’ ” says Vig. “We used an Electro- Harmonix Big Muff fuzz box through a Fender Bassman on ‘Lithium’ to get that thumpier, darker sound.”

Classic Rock Albums: Nirvana - Nevermind by Charles R. Cross & Jim Berkenstadt (1998)

To achieve the thumping, darker sound on "Lithium," the band employed an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff fuzz box through a Fender Bassman amplifier. “As I recall,” says Vig, “we used a U87 microphone on that. We wanted something that was not so bright, a heavier sound.” The U87 was a microphone that the producer usually reserved for capturing low-frequency instruments like bass guitar. Two tracks were devoted to Krist’s bass part. An additional three tracks recorded Kurt's guitar, all gauged to beef up the sound.

Guitar.com, December 10, 2020, "Butch Vig shares the guitar recording secrets of Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters and more"

“I think when we did Nevermind, Kurt had a Mesa/Boogie, and I rented a Vox AC30 because, as I said, I love the clear tones on those. I also rented a Fender Bassman. We had one at Smart Studios that we used all the time. One of the engineers called Doug Wilson had modified it. I don’t know what he did, but it was the fattest, crunchiest, thickest guitar tone. So I rented one in LA when we did Nevermind, and although it didn’t sound quite the same, we used that on Lithium and for some of the really heavy tones as the main guitar amp.

“And we only used a couple of pedals. Kurt had a Big Muff. And I think I had a Russian Big Muff, which is, you know, very close. And he had a RAT. And then he had a Small Clone, which is sort of the watery effect on Teen Spirit in the verses. Come As You Are as well. But that was it; a pretty simple setup, really.”

In a July 27, 2007 Two Plus Two forum reply, Steve Albini recalled a Big Muff appearing during the recording of In Utero, although no indication was made of whether or not it was actually used. He affirmed the Big Muff’s presence in a May 30, 2020 Reddit AMA reply.

Two Plus Two, “Ask a music scene micro celebrity”, July 27, 2007 reply to damntang

damntang

Hi Steve,

Can you remember what gear kurt Cobain used when recording In Utero, I'm particularly interested in his pedals.

Cheers,

D.T.

electric

Boss DS3 and ubiquitous Big Muff Pi also a Sans Amp

Fender Quad Reverb broken, but one working tube sounded pretty great

Reddit, “steve albini AMA here is the thread” by u/steve_albini (May 30, 2020), reply to u/rock-phillistine

rock-phillistine 4. Once you mentioned he used a Sansamp, a Boss DS-2 and a Big Muff for distortion. Recently his guitar tech said he shipped two homemade fuzzes as well. Do you remember if he actually used the Big Muff or the homemade fuzzes? If so, for which tracks?

steve_albini - I only saw Kurt use regular commercial effects pedals, the ones you mentioned, and a box I brought with me that was a kind of ring modulator/overdrive called Pedal X made by a friend of mine. That might be what his tech (Ernie?) was referring to.

Contrary to rumour, Cobain was never sighted with a Big Muff on stage. In a September 13, 2021 Instagram message replying to Equipboard user eyeseeofficial, Nirvana tech Earnie Bailey reported never having seen it himself.

Which Muff Kurt used on Nevermind is one of the great mysteries and probably the question I see most. Wish I would have asked when the chance was there.

In my time, I never saw on[e] used on the stage. Krist once gave me an early triangle knob circuit board, minus the pots & enclosure. No backstory on it though and I doubt he’d remember it.

If I presented a series of pics of all the Muffs, Krist would be the most likely to remember, but Dave too as he was more of a guitar guy than people realized.

Citing Bailey via a “Personal communication with Caio Leme” in 2020, Live Nirvana reports that “a green Russian unit was among equipment that Krist once brought over to Earnie's house.”

It is used throughout the MTV Live and Loud show at Pier 48 in Seattle. Its next to his Tech 21 Sansamp pedal. You can get a fairly good view of it during Radio Friendly Unit Shifter, Drain You, Rape Me and Blew. The closest shot you get is a couple of times during Endless Nameless when some fans get onto the stage, which I've provided screenshots of for the source.

Later, in 2014, it was tried to be sold on the infamous Pawn Stars show.

Note: Not the "Blue Courtney Telecaster"

Cobain's last favorite guitar was sold to a private buyer by rockstarsguitars.com

Note that on the photographs of Cobain playing the guitar the pickups are different. This is because Earnie had modified the guitar.

See quotes below:

From rockstarsguitars.com:

"This is the guitar that Kurt wrote his music on and carried with him for months from bus to hotel room to airline toward the end of his career. This guitar was not exclusively used for live performance but more for writing and never left his side. It was used from late 1993 until his death in 1994. It is featured on the cover of the book "Nirvana" and on pages 116-123. There are distinguishable markings on the body that can be matched up perfectly with these photos. It also comes with original prints of Kurt playing this guitar and a notarized detailed letter from a crew member. The pickups, bridge, and tuners were changed at one point, as this was a common practice with Kurt's guitars. This was done by Earnie Bailey, Kurt's guitar tech. This comes with a letter from Earnie detailing the complete modifications done to this guitar. Earnie also supplied the original receipt for the bridge pickup and a letter from Gibson for the neck pickup that he installed, and has signed photos of this guitar ensuring the authenticity of the instrument. And it still has four of the original strings on the guitar."

From kurtsequiptment.com:

"Sent to Kurt by Fender in early 1994 . Japanese made. "Fender sent this out for the In Utero tour to replace the blue one. Stock pickups were very shrill. After Kurt's coma in Rome, I thought modifying this guitar would make it a workhorse and get him away from the Mustang-Jaguar image. Hopefully get him perked up. I put on new tuners (Gotoh's - his favorite). A Tele bridge from Stew-Mac with a humbucker cut-out and individual saddles for each string. In the bridge, I put a Duncan JB - black, and in the neck, a new Gibson PAF, potted with a Chrome cover. He got this back 2 weeks before he died, and said it was his new favorite. He used it for the home recordings he was making with Pat and Eric Erlanderson in March 1994 in Kurt's basement. "

This Gibson SG originally belonged to Sluggo Cawley, the guitarist of the Boston band Hullabaloo. The day after Nirvana played at Green Street Station, Jamaica Plain, MA on July 15, 1989. Where Kurt had no Guitar (as he Smashed his Right-Handed Flipped upside down and strung Lefty 1973 Sunburst Fender Mustang on July 9, 1989 The Sonic Temple Wilkinsburg PA and Univox Hi-Flier Phase 3 Natural with Red Spray Paint to make it look Sunburst on July 13, 1989 Maxwell's Hoboken NJ) so Kurt just sang and Jason did all the guitar playing at the July 15, 1989 Green Street Station Jamaica Plain MA show. The next day July 16th, while in Watertown MA, Kurt traded his 1973 Fender Mustang in exchange for the 1970s Gibson SG, which at the time was hanging on Sluggo’s wall.

"Kurt asked me if he could have the smashed Gibson SG I had hanging on my wall. So I said, 'Sure, but now I won’t have one for my wall.' Kurt replied, 'I’ll be right back.' He went out to their van and presented me a 1973 Fender Mustang that he deemed beyond repair. Kurt smashed it at the Sonic Temple, in Wilkinsburg, PA, on July 9, 1989, six days before the Green Street show. In sort of mock guitar hero worship, I asked him to sign it for me."

"He wrote, 'Yo Sluggo, thanx for the trade. If its illegal to rock and roll, then throw my ass in jail. NIRVANA.' He also wrote 'vox pick-up' with an arrow, but I have lost that piece of the pickguard. There are also two of his flowers he liked to draw on things. The guitar has a serial number on the base of the neck – 4900 1853. It is in three or 4 pieces held together by duct tape."

Kurt likely painted and repaired the SG upon returning from Europe in late 1989/early 1990, and fitted it with a humbucker in the bridge from one of his old Univox guitars. It also appears that there was some sort of a Single-coil pickup in the neck pickup slot, but it’s hard to tell what it was due to a lack of good quality photos.

Kurt played this guitar for the first time on January 6, 1990 East Ballroom, Husky Union Building, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. And a few other gigs in early 1990, before he ended up smashing it beyond repair in Tijuana, Mexico on February 17, 1990. However, at that point, he already had the guitar with him for almost half a year.

According to Jack Endino, Bleach was recorded close-mic with a Shure SM58:

I am often asked how we got Kurt’s guitar sound.... When we did Bleach, the Randall was "in the shop" for repairs so we used my ’68 Fender twin... No speakers in my Twin: we used a 2×12 cab, sealed back, with 70 or 75-watt Celestions, that Kurt had. Close-miked with an SM-58, recorded to Otari half-inch 8-track at 15 ips with no noise reduction.

From the Nirvana FAQ on Jack Endino's own website: http://www.endino.com/nirvfaq.html

Cobain had a Small Clone chorus from Electro-Harmonix in his pedalboard.

"Apparently Cobain developed a taste for Fender guitars just prior to recording Nevermind. "I like guitars in the Fender style because they have skinny necks," said Cobain in a late 1991 interview. "I've resorted to Japanese-made Fender Stratocasters because they're the most available left-handed guitars." During this period, he also acquired a left-handed '65 Jaguar that had a DiMarzio Super Distortion humbucker in the bridge position and a DiMarzio PAF in the neck position in place of the guitar's stock single-coil pickups. These modifications were made before Cobain purchased the guitar."

Kurt Cobain used the Ernie Ball Polypro Guitar Strap for all his guitars following the release of "Nevermind." A photo from 1993 to 1994 shows him with a black version of this strap.

In this photo Kurt Cobain can be seen playing his custom painted Fender Telecaster.

Kurt can be seen with this strap on his blue telecaster.

In this photo, Kurt Cobain can be seen playing a Aria Pro II CS-250 electric guitar. Details of the guitar can be seen here.

This July 27, 2020 Guitar World magazine article covers one of Kurt's used Orange 0.60mm Dunlop Tortex guitar picks that sold on Sat. August 1, 2020 for $1,854 with a starting price of only $400:

You can now buy a Kurt Cobain-used Tortex pick - for $400

The 60mm Dunlop plec has been authenticated by Nirvana tech Earnie Bailey

There has been an awful lot of Kurt Cobain gear going up for sale lately. Last month alone, the Nirvana frontman's battered Boss DS-1 Distortion pedal sold for $9,000, while his MTV Unplugged Martin D-18E set a new record for a guitar sold at auction, reeling in a whopping $6m.

But now there’s a piece of Cobain gear you might just be able to afford… although it’s not quite as unique.

Up for sale at Gotta Have Rock and Roll is a Kurt Cobain stage-used Dunlop Tortex .60mm guitar pick, estimated to sell for $500-$700, with bids starting at $400.

And while you might claim to have an identical pick in your pocket right this very second, this particular plectrum comes from the collection of Cobain guitar tech Jim Vincent.

According to the listing, the pick is in “very good condition”, and comes with a letter of provenance and a Certificate of Authenticity.

To bid, head over to Gotta Have Rock and Roll.

The same memorabilia site is also playing host to auctions of Prince’s custom “Goldfinger” gold-leaf prototype Fender Stratocaster (est. $2m-$3m) and Elvis’s iconic “Sun Sessions” Martin D-18 (est. $2m-$3m).

As well, in this image, we can see multiple Orange 0.60mm Tortex picks on Cobain's microphone stand.

And at Nirvana's November 19, 1991 preformance at Teatro Castello, Rome, Italy, during the first verse of "Come As You Are" at 31:09 you can see Kurt holding an Orange Tortex pick.

"He also used a Fender Bassman on about four songs and a Vox AC30 for some clean tracks. Four microphones were used to mic Kurt's speaker cabinet (he would pick which mic he liked best for each song and its signal was sent through the Neve console at Sound City): a Shure SM57, an AKG 414, a Neumann U87, and occasionally a Sennheiser 421. His main effects were the DS-1 Distortion and Small Clone. A ProCo Rat distortion pedal was also used on some songs on the album (6)."

Kurt Cobain used the Boss DM-2 Delay pedal both live and in the studio, notably on the track "If You Must." It is also believed to have contributed to the distinctive sounds on his home demos, as evidenced by a photograph from Nirvanaguide.