Kurt Cobain

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.

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."

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 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."

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

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.

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

In this live preformance, Cobain can be seen with an Epiphone ET-270.

Cobain used this Guitar in Nirvana's early days during the “Bleach” era, it was later smashed while preforming live at the Pyramid Club in New York.

A still shot of this Guitar can be seen here.

"Near the end he began inquiring about metal neck guitars, after borrowing Steve Albini’s Veleno for several tracks on In Utero, and his being a fan of the Jesus Lizard and Duane Dennison’s extensive use of a Travis Bean."

This guitar owned by Steve Albini and used by Cobain to record "Very Ape" for the "In Utero" album. If you listen to the album & try to recreate the tone on the whole album with his jaguar it does not sound the sames the Veleno

This Veleno was refurbished by Kevin at Electrical Guitar Company in 2015. Kevin re-chromed the guitar, re-fretted, replaced the tuners and replaced the pickups with EGC pickups. He fabricated new pickup covers to fit them in the cutouts. He also did quite a bit of work on the electronics.

In this picture, you can see Kurt Cobain using a left-handed white Fender Stratocaster with a rosewood fretboard and a white seymour duncan hot rail & an all white pickguard he used this guitar during the 1992 which NIRVANA proceeded to open with the intro to rape me then go into lithium must people/fans call this the lithium stratocaster

In this photo, Cobain is playing Hagstrom II.

It had two dimarzio x2n pickups and coil splits. He din't use it live 'cause it made him seem like Jimmy Page, but he used it along with his jaguar for the recording of the In Utero albums. It was allegedlly kept years later in a vault with Kurt's possessions, but it had some changes. For more info, this article explains it well: https://www.groundguitar.com/kurt-cobain-gear/kurt-cobains-ibanez-les-paul-copy/

Kurt Cobain's Martin D-18 is found at the Martin Factory in Nazareth, PA. The plaque located under the guitar reads, "This well-worn D-18 was coined 'Grandpa' by Cobain himself, and was gifted to the rocker by then girlfriend Mary Lou Lord in 1991. The guitar was was used by Cobain by while on tour for Nirvana's second and most notable album, 'Nevermind'. Here's a pic of the guitar as well.

Kurt Cobain used a guitar lent to him by Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo to perform "The Money Will Roll Right In" with Mudhoney. This guitar, stolen from Sonic Youth in 1999, was returned in a refinished state in 2005.

In this video Cobain's former technician explains how and when he bought Cobain these guitars.

1960 Hagström Deluxe 90 Blue Sparkle. He got this in December 1992, paid $500, a lot for that model at the time. Had a pearloid fingerboard and back.

In December 1982, Kurt Cobain used the Teisco FB-29M to record his first demo, "Organized Confusion," at his Aunt Mari's house in Burien, WA. A photo from that day shows a 15-year-old Cobain with the guitar, which he had converted from right-handed to left-handed for his use.

In this video, we take an in depth look at Cobain's Fender Jaguar, covering how he acquired the instrument, the modifications made to it, inconsistencies from standard Jaguars made at the time, aswell as past/future owners.

Obviously not his Courtney or Custom tele. Seems like it dates back to 1993, judging by his clothes. Has one humbucker but the bridge pickup is hard to make out. Has 4 knobs, so seems to be a deluxe?

In this image Kurt can be seen playing a Epiphone FT 79 Texan with a "Nixon Now" sticker.

Kurt Cobain is seen with a Framus Strato De Luxe, used as a prop for a 1992 "Alternative Guitar" magazine cover, in an image from Theredlist.

This guitar was played on the last three songs during the set that Nirvana played at Bogart’s, Long Beach, CA, on February 16, 1990. At the end of the gig, the guitar was smashed, resulting in the neck popping off, and the body is split in half.

The only other time this guitar was seen was at the beginning of the show played on February 12, 1990, at Cattle Club, Sacramento.Kurt starts the gig off with the Mustang, but switches to an Epiphone before the first song is even played.

Make/Model: Home-made Mustang, Left-handed.

Finish: Surf Green.

Pickguard: None.

Fingerboard: Rosewood w/ dot inlays; 22 frets.

Pickups: H. (what looked like a Maxon pickup,)

Bridge/Tailpiece: Non-Tremolo Hardtail Bridge. (fitted with a Schaller non-tremolo bridge).

Other Distinguishing features: Chandler neck w/ black headstock. Mustang control plate. Metallic barrel Shaped speed knob.

This guitar was used in parts of the "In Bloom" Sub Pop Music Video Version...

First Recorded Use: 04/27/90 - SAGA, Dining Rooms, Hampshire College (Amnesty International Benefit), Amherst, MA.

Last Recorded Use: 04/30/90 - J.C. Dobbs, Philadelphia, PA.

This guitar was first seen on October 3, 1992, at Sam Carver Gymnasium Western Washington University Bellingham, Washington. serial # 1002904. The guitar featured sunburst finish, mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard, and a red tortoise shell pickguard and truss rod cover. Based on the specs, the raised plastic “Univox” logo on the headstock, and the two rocker switches – this was a Phase One Custom model, that was originally shipped with two P90-style pickups. and was purchased from Danny's Music. This was his favorite Univox. This was the first guitar that had a Duncan JB installed in it. Kurt loved the sound of this "plywood beast". Earnie bought it for him for $150. The previous owner was a Minister in Everett, Washington.

Earnie Bailey did the mods... He replaced the stock pickups with a Seymour Duncan SH-1 '59 Neck & SH-4 JB Bridge and Humbuckers and This had an Ibanez Gibraltar bridge installed (vintage version with mounting studs, similar to Gibson’s Tune-o-Matic) instead of the original. The the two rocker switches used for pickup selection were also taped over, likely to avoid accidental toggles.

As far as using the guitar for live performances, Kurt had it with him for the couple of shows he did in October 1992, (10/03/92 Sam Carver Gymnasium Western Washington University Bellingham WA, 10/04/92 Crocodile Cafe Seattle WA 10/30/92 Estadio José Amalfitani Buenos Aires Argentina) and then picked it up again in 1993 and used it during the band’s second Saturday Night Live appearance on September 25th. Also by this time the Original White Plastic Tuners were replaced with Vintage Schaller Tuners (Kurt's Favorite) That was also the last time the guitar was ever seen.

Cobain used this guitar for Nirvana's performances at Tower Records, New York, and Northern Lights, Minneapolis, during their Nevermind tour in 1991.

Cobain had a Mid 60's Sunburst Fender XII electric 12-string, serial # F 136692, dot neck, right-handed (unlike most, if not all, of Kurt's other Fenders). It had cherub stickers on it. He wrote "Serve the Servants" on this guitar. but were damaged in the Spring of 1992. Kurt hid some guitars, Fender Electric XII, Blue Mosrite Mark IV, songbooks, and tapes in their bathtub figuring burglars wouldn't look in the tub, were the house ever robbed. The bathtub filled with sewage and damaged his guitar the most-- the body was water-stained about halfway up, split, and warped. Earnie offered to build a new body for it, but Kurt didn't think the guitar was worth saving. Kurt was very depressed about the unfortunate accident to this guitar. Purchased around the end part of the "Nevermind" tour. The Blue Mosrite Mark IV that was damaged in bathtub incident. Kurt gave this to Pat at SNL 1993.