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Kurt used this guitar until...when he smashed it. Kurt used this guitar until...when he smashed it. Kurt used this guitar until...when he smashed it. Kurt used this guitar until...when he smashed it. Kurt was not what we would call a "guitar geek", "guitar afficionado" or "guitar collector".
And thats a beautiful thing....especially when he was able to "part them out" and able to put together something new that sounded good and he liked.....that is rare
very cool!!! I like the sound quality of peavey amps...I am not skilled enough to be able to rebuild my guitars if it came to that, I wish I could. lol. Shallow Grave sounds like a cool band name....was it a skate company??
I was at this show in Hoboken @4:10. Me and my friend helped Kurt pick up the pieces of this guitar after the show. There weren’t a lot of people in attendance. He was funny and nice
I lived in Jersey City for like 10 years and saw many shows at Maxwell's. This show happened a number of years before I moved there but i always wished I had seen it. FYI, Maxwell's was closed about 10 years ago. Such a shame- it was an amazing place to see live music. It was so small and intimate that it was like having a band perform in your own basement. It was also an odd place because it had no backstage area and a very tiny stage. The "backstage area" was a basement under the club that was reached by going down a set of stairs in the bar area. There were only a few chairs to sit on among some shelves and stocking supplies for the bar. It was as bare bones as you can get but the acoustics were great and it was as intimate a setting as you'd ever find in a concert venue.
He never smashed his main guitars- his Strat, Mustangs, or Jaguar, but he usually had guitars specifically intended to be smashed at the end of their set. I think at the end, Fender was sending him Strats to smash; these were usually Mexican Strats, right at the time Mexican Fenders were improving in quality. Think of all those great Strats that ended up destroyed.
Brilliantly put together, thanks. I think Kurt almost single-handedly revived interest in offset Fender guitars. You wonder would the Jaguar be some long discontinued model in the Fender line without him.
KURT COBAIN IS ALIVE AND WAS SEEN IN SWITZERLAND WITH 2 PAC SHAKUR BOTH FAKED THEIR DEATH TO LIVE SIMPLE LIFE , LOOK THIS VIDEO TO UNDERSTAND ...U DECIDE 🔥👍🏽💯 : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HLB1Z70OLl4.html
Ahhh......Kurt Cobain. Without whom I would have probably never fallen even deeper in love with the basic standard Strat. Among the top 2 guitars of all time. He made them scream, weap, yell and sing.
Kurt had a good understanding of how guitars were expendable and disposable.A tool to convey your emotions at that point, regardless of financial or musical repercussions.
I must admit that I do not see the virtue in this attitude. It seems that the habit of destroying guitars was problematic for Cobain. Yet he kept doing it. I personally find the violence offensive and not entertaining at all. Nevertheless, Cobain continued to draw audiences. So I must admit that my issues with this are personal.
He played crap music on crap (mostly) guitars, so who cares what that idiot did or didn't do? He was sacrificed in the end by the satanic cabal, which had pushed him to the top so young people would think using drugs and alcohol and playing crap music was cool.............BAD INFLUENCE. Then they sacrificed him in a satanic ritual, the gematria is telling, it always is.
I mean there's nothing wrong if you keep them. You almost make it sound like it's wrong to keep them Charles. That'd be a ridiculous suggestion, I am sorry to say.
I never got to see Nirvana live unfortunately but I did see Green Day play at HFStival in Washington DC at the old Washington Redskins RFK Stadium back in 1998 and that was the only time I ever saw a live band smash their guitar's/bass AND light the drum set on fire 🔥🔥🔥. It was fucking incredible!
@@paulbcote sure but then again UFC draws audiences too. Another much worse example is one of the most cowardly acts to exist: torturing a defenseless animal to death. That draws crowds too, just watch the Spanish celebrate the psychological torment and murder of an innocent bull. Drawing audiences proves absolutely nothing, when the audience is human. I would be much more joyous and emotional if my playing music drew the attention of non human life. Now that would be something profound! A few of my most favorite artists and bands have like 20 fans. It really doesn't prove much at all.
One of the prototype Jag Stangs was given to Peter Buck of R.E.M. He uses it on the video promo for What’s The Frequency Kenneth and in the studio for the song Let Me In on their Monster album in 1994
@@TheGuitarShow Stipe was good friends with Kurt, the song "Let me in" was his reaction to Kurt's death. I believe Courtney gave the jag stang to Peter Buck.
@@TheGuitarShow ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EJje9gA9jsI.html Michael Stipe and Mike Mills talk about the song "Let me in" and Kurt at 39:30. No mention of the jag stang though but interesting all the same.
There are some great Charles Peterson photos of Kurt playing the Gibson SG I gave him at Washington State University in late '89 or early '90. One of those photos even made it on to the cassette packaging of Bleach. It took me many years to piece it all together, esp since he repainted the SG that I had already painted. Thanks, sluggo San Francisco, CA
It was amazing how much Kurt customized his guitars. He could never seem to just get a guitar an d play it without changing its appearance somehow. imagine what one of these "custom" guitars would be worth now.
The Mosrite model is one that he barely changed anything on. Outside re-stringing it as a lefty, and painting better fret markers on it, he didn't do anything to it, maybe except lose the spring for the Vibrato tailpiece (which might have been lost when he bought it.)
Good stuff. The last guitar really highlighted, the heavily modified Telecaster, was actually Kurt’s favorite guitar at the time of his death. He never is really seen playing it because he kept it at home; he didn’t want to ruin it. Teles have a unique sound; so many great guitarists, especially blues players, seem to gravitate towards them. One can only wonder if he had lived what kind of songs might have been written using it.
@@TheGuitarShow he may not have been the most technically proficient (though he was actually better than most give him credit for), but he had the knack of writing catchy songs with lyrics that were different than so much of what was out there at the time.
Michael Houser of widespread panic is the telecaster’s favorite guitar player. He made it into a psychedelic dripping buzzsaw. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BJUriJqTG9M.html
When Kurt got his first guitar, Santa remarked "You'll poke your eye out with that thing, kid!" Great pics, never saw the SG. It only needed to slip off the stand for the headstock to break off.
This is incredible- I’m a fan going way back to 91- saw them in 93- I’ve read a lot; watched lots of footage on the band and I’ve always wondered about these guitars. Thank you so much for this labour of love- fascinating !
Amazing documentary.🙌🏻I've been a fan of kurt Cobain for like 26 years and I still dont know much about his life and what he all did back then.i would say the fender jaguar was kind of his signature guitar back then.Similar to slash with his Gibson les paul.
I didn’t realize he went through that many guitars. I was born in Philly and raised in the suburbs. I moved away from the area about five years ago. It was great to hear JC Dobbs mentioned a couple of times, they had so many great bands play there, it reminded me of home, awesome video!
What I find most interesting about Kurt's guitars is that when Nirvana played one of their biggest and most influential gigs at Reading Festival in 92, most of the set was done with .. A Strat! 🎸 Songs from Bleach, Nevermind, In Utero and more are included! This gig is on DVD or watch here for inferior quality.
Thanks so much, Mr. Goose! Very comprehensive! As a lefty, I know the struggle of using whatever you can get. I knew very little about most of these guitars. Well done.
I was at the show at 5:27 in the video, where Kurt smashed the fender mustang. I was surprised that he would do that for such a small gig (there was only about 10 to 20 people in the place). Afterwards I asked Kurt "Why did you smash your guitar?" And he said "I only do that if it's a really great show, or a really awful, horrible show." "Oh," I asked him, "which one was it tonight?" Without missing a beat he answered "It was awesome! You guys were great!" Never knew if he meant it or if he was just being a smart ass. But they did play great that night.
1:00 that photo was taken at Kurt’s Aunt Mari’s House in Burien, WA (during Christmas break) December 1982 when Kurt was recording his first demo “Organized Confusion” and it’s his Second guitar, Kurt’s first guitar was a Lindell (which was smashed by local kids when Kurt left it in a meatlocker that he was supposed to jam at) the guitar Kurt is Playing here in Dec ‘82 is a 1976 Ibanez Destroyer…
The "smells like teen spirit" mustang guitar was purchased from Dave Hussong at Fretware Guitars in 1991. It was store stock at the time and purchased with a check from Geffen Studios.
@@troymurphy6531 I doubt it will go for more. Their Unplugged show is probably their most famous and notable show. It has drawn people from all over who might not listen to Nirvana, but they listen to their Unplugged show.
I find it a marvellous little tidbit that Kurt's very first guitar was an Explorer style shape....which he played it upside down, making it a close approximation of a jazzmaster/jaguar! Furthermore, it was sunburst, and - if at Gibson scale length, 24.75" - then it was indeed quite the precursor to what would become his signature: an HH sunburst Jaguar, at 24" scale length! Even the 3 knobs, which Kurt insisted on for his Jag - and most find too close together - can be seen on the Explorer - one of the few 3 knob models. Spooky, right?!! Or...just consistent. And you know, jazzmasters and jags got popular thereafter, being seen as the alternative "cool" guitar choice. Today they are the most popular shape, with Fano, Novo, Rivolta and Reverend all offering stylised jazzblasters. They all have that Upside down Explorer copy to thank for it, too..thanks to Kurts' uncle!
Thanks for keeping Kurt's dignity in tact, that's not done with all others who post "content" on him. Also when you said his final show in Munich on March 1st, 1993, it's actually 1994. Please and thank you.
I am a huge Nirvana fan, one of the few bands where I know and love every single song. However having said that, I'll never understand the people who obsess over Kurt and treat him as if he's some sort of god. It's just so cringe and pathetic... people invest so much time into sounding exactly like him, instead of being inspired to create something of their own.
Great video, however I think there is a mistake, Krist's quote in regards to the mustang was not about the competition blue one, but the sanded down mid' 60s one with the Soundgarden sticker, you can confirm this with Kurt's journals, there you'll find a letter Kurt sent Dale Crover talking about this beat up pre cbs mustang he bought for only a few bucks from a bunch of "greeners".
Sears used to sell those cort explorer copys back in the day. thats probably one of those kurt had. owned 2 of them myself before i could afford a gibson.
Many people are neurotic about copying their guitar hero’s gear down to the most negligible of component. Kurt, one of the most influential musicians of all time, used whatever he found laying around! I love it!
Mustangs in early 90s were homemade. There were 3. One or more that switched colors and the pickguards were made of broken records he and Krist had theown away aftrr eating lsd and going through Krist's record collection.
Floating trem means it can be pulled sharp or flat, meaning the bridge has a recess under it. That force 3 was just a standard tremolo, only drop the tuning flat.
The Explorer-type guitar in your video is actually Kurt’s second guitar. His first one was a Lindell which is believed to appear in at least one of his home movies. It looks to be a fairly generic black or brown Teisco/Lindell type guitar similar to a Wildcat with two gold foil pickups with individual rocker switch controls and a metal pickguard. It’s not certain what happened to it but it was either returned to the store or smashed by a bully.
I think that Explorer type is a Dean ML or a ML copy. The horn is larger on the treble side of the neck joint as where the explorer has a very small horn that curves sharply back down toward the bottom of the body.
26:15 The Univox Hi-Flier Custom Phase I that Kurt owned was purchased by Earnie Bailey (Kurts guitar Tech) for $150 at Danny's Music in Everett, WA the previous owner was a Minister in Everett, WA. Earnie Bailey purchased the Univox Hi-Flier Custom Phase I for $150 at Danny's Music, Everett, WA and Earnie did all the Mods to it .... And Earnie gifted it to Kurt on October 3, 1992 at Carver Gymnasium, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA. Then used it the next night on October 4, 1992 at The Crocodile Cafe, Seattle, WA and then used it on October 30, 1992 Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires, Argentina and then again on Saturday Night Live on September 25, 1993 (It was brought on Nirvana's In Utero North American Tour in October 1993 but was never used). The Univox Hi-Flier Kurt used in Rio de Janiero Brazil on January 23, 1993 was a Univox Hi-Flier Phase 2 Sunburst with a Gotoh Tune-O-Matic Bridge, Grover Tuners, and Schaller Straplocks. This Univox Hi-Flier Phase 2 was only used twice it was used on the encore of the January 23, 1993 Rio de Janiero Brazil show and it was used on the last 2 songs "Smells Like Teen Spirit/Endless, Nameless" at the July 23, 1993 Roseland Ballroom (New Music Seminar), New York, NY show.
I never knew he smashed so many guitars, I don't know how you were able to document all this, great work. I heard that Jag with the white humbuckers might not have been the one the studio Cat owned....but I don't know.
Ive been in bands...it's a lot of physical work and expense and a major pain to keep your main guitar working well even pampering it, hard to imagine choosing to do something that would cause a lot more work and expense, he mustve sensed that doing this constant smashing would be crucial to hitting the big time and so it was worth it to him....if he'd just avoided drugs and shotguns, damn.
2:55 Kurts first Left-handed guitar, the Fender Mustang which was sanded down, had a Soundgarden Sticker on it Kurt bought it for $20 from a student at the Evergreen State College, Olympia WA it was just the Body, Neck, Tremolo Plate, Cigar pipe, Bridge, the Univox Hi-Flier Phase 3 that Kurt Smashed on October 30, 1988 Kurt added the Univox Hi-Flier Bridge Humbucker, the Univox Pots (Vol, Tone, Input Jack) and used the broken bottom half of the Univox Pickguard as a Control Plate, and Used the Univox Vol/Tone Knobs, so its Basically a Fender Mustang with Univox Hi-Flier Electronics. And it was last seen live on April 14, 1989 and then was used on February 9, 1990 at the Pine Street Theatre, Portland OR where it was smashed beyond repair.
This is great. Like many, i remember seeing the vid for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" for the first time like it was yesterday. Wee bit of a bomb going off. ha, i remember an early '90s GW or GP interview where Kurt went on a bit of rant about trying to adjust the bridge of his Mustangs..."I'll never get an endorsement deal now".
An epic lesson in music history. Thanks and major appreciation for the craft, diligence and effort. Whatever guitars he might have smashed, Kurt smashed the Multiverse open for grateful millions. Of which I am a guitar shredding one. Goodnight sweet Prince. Love and total respect.
I’ve watched so many of your videos at this point and it’s always great stuff, love your content! Could you please do a video on the history of johnny marr’s guitars & gear? He was the guitarist for the smiths and others. He had so many amazing guitars and so much cool gear. He now has his own signature fender jaguar.
Good job Ramon, I enjoyed the video! It's always nice to have so many photos - hope no one minds. I'm always scared to use them myself :D. Cheers, Dan.
Hi Ramon! I hope you're doing well. I'm kind of surprised you decided to do a video about Kurt's guitars, as he's not a blues, classic rock or jazz guitarist. Welcome to punk! Even the punks have their heros! I'd like to add some corrections and complementary information, as his gear can be idiosyncratic and full of stories and mysteries. The Mosrite wasn't sold, it was stolen with 2 more guitars at Jabberjaw, right after recording Nevermind, one being the K Sticker and the other is a mystery. The TOM strat possibly only remained because he didn't have it at the bar as it was broken. As almost all of his guitars were stolen, he needed buy some right away and got the Jaguar in LA and the Vandalism in the northwest. Possibly the biggest misinformation about Kurt's gear is the Jaguar and the competition Mustang being used in Nevermind, although they were present on IU. It wasn't the comp Mustang that was bought at a party, it was his first lefty Mustang instead, back in 89. Krist mentions this story in february 90 and mentions it was sanded down: livenirvana.com/interviews/9002ga/index.php The TOM strat was actualy repaired after Cabaret Metro and got a new black guard prior to mid 92 tour, when it was smashed in France, iirc. The SNL strat was used again, actually was broken beyond repair at Reading: livenirvana.com/equipment/kurt.php The Tele didn't received the hot rails, that's why it sound much weaker in the recordings (it was manly used for CAYA and Lithium). The Reading sunburst strat was a partscaster assembled by his guitar tech, Earnie Bailey. 25:25 Same guitar that was used in Teatro Castello, back in 91, check LN equip guide. The Univox Custom was not used in Rio, it was a Phase II instead. 28:55 Actually he had two whites, almost identical, one survived. There were more two Phase IV naturals, at least one toured. The Jag-stang probably had a 59' humbucker when Kurt got it, instead of a Dimarzio. The story of this guitar: www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=112241&sid=994a2ec5a39859acf0c1b7f4519e1d28&start=525 If you have any doubts about the acoustics or any of his gear, please contact me. Cheers!
Many thanks indeed for this bro. I've always been a Nirvana fan from afar....I started playing in '92 when Nirvana were really taking off so I couldnt avoid them. Although I was deep into the blues and jazz at that point I still admired and still do Kurts songwriting and also loved the trio as a unit as well. They brought a we'll needed antidote to the rock scene at the time and with bands like The Las and the Stone Roses it was an amazing time which Ive yet seen matched. I hate Coldplay and Beyonce which came afterwards...rock n roll died in '94
Wow. Maybe my mind filtered out some of these, but lordy what amazing guitars he smashed! Granted he made them worth so much more but still! Thanks for a look at these. Really hard to watch though!
I found a 69 univox hi flier 1 at a pawn shop in 2015. The Univox badge was missing although you could still see the outline of where it was. I guess the people there figured it wasn’t worth much, and I scooped it up at $200 for an early Christmas present. Found a badge, screwed it in, and although all of the frets are worn down it still sounds killer.
I never heard of a musician as hard on his equipment as Kurt. Did he have any guitars that survived a long time? I would love to know which guitars survived the longest and by how long.
Jaguar, Martin, Vandalism Strat, Compation Mustang, Skystang 1 and 2, and JagStang lived Edit: and his Sunburst Tele and 2 Mosrites, one had water damage and was given to Pat Smear
@@TheGuitarShow Listen I Didn't Know That Kurt's First Electric Guitar Was An Explorer I Thought Kurt's First Electric Guitar Was A Univox Which He Smashed In 1988 I Think I've Seen Your Playlist Called "The Guitars Of The Greats And I Love Your Playlists
@@tylergrabo6165 many thanks, apparently his uncle bought him an Explorer which some folk say is an ibanez (although I've never seen an ibanez with star pickups - they did a cheaper brand called Seiwa but I dont think they made an Explorer style guitar) so more likely its from the sears catalogue.
Thanks for posting this well researched video. I've never understood destroying perfectly functioning guitars. But I've kicked the crap out of some amps. I also never had a record company that would pay for them. Curt was unique. Apparently so were his guitars after destroying them.
I had a hondo 737 years ago . I never knew Cobain played one . I always think about jaguar when I think Cobain when it comes to electric guitars though ( even though I'm aware he ayed multiple guitars )
Thanks so much Neil - actually there is a super thanks feature next to the download tab below the video - but either way just your message is reward enough! Thank you
This means that the entire "From The Muddy Banks of The Wiskah" was played on Washburn Force 31. I`ll be dipped !! *PS: Rest In Peace Washburn Force 31*
30minutes well spent amigo. Im not a great guitar player . But the fender mustang jaguar is the best looking guitar for me. I can not afford it but i might buy the squier version
Just one correction; Jeff Beck doesn’t have a signature pickup. He uses Fender Noiseless, and used Lace Sensor for a long time. JB stands for Jazz&Blues, not Jeff Beck. I’ve heard that from Seymour Duncan himself.
I'm so glad nirvana was able to do the unplugged on MTV. I've always thought if it would have been just 4 or 5 years later it would have never happened.
@@TheGuitarShow yes that's a great begginers rig No acoustic starting out for me I was playing all lead along to my favorite albums before I knew a chord Man I would gladly rock that rig today I got an SG/LP soon after
Not necessarily. The guitar prior Cobain has a Block inlay binded fretboard. Cobain's guitar has a dot inlay binded fretboard. Its hard to believe that Cobain would take the time and money to change the neck, also the dot inlay binded small headstock necks were pretty rare back then.
i have a few fender mustang and a univox hi flyer phase three. Univox is really nice, light and neck is cool. Paid it 50 us$ and used to see it around 1989 for 2/300 max.. Mustangs jazzmaster and jaguar price went up the roof.. they became fashionable... same for univox
Good video! 18:36 It definitely was NOT this great looking Mustang they bought on the Evergreen State College campus though. It was an earlier one. Krist talked about it in an interview in February 90 - and it was already gone!. "One time, Kurt and I were walking around the Evergreen State College campus, looking for something and we heard this band jamming (...) There was this left-handed Fender Mustang from the late 60s (...) It was sanded down, so you couldn't see, it didn't say Fender or anything on it but it was a Mustang (...) We talked from 50, we talked him down to 20 bucks! (...). We bought it for 20 and we had a couple of frets - we had a fret job done to it and...God, it was just a beautiful guitar and what did Kurt do? He just smashed it!".
Not gonna lie I was a little hesitant clicking on this video as I thought it'd be a poorly done and boring/lazy presentation (I've never seen any videos from this RU-vidr), but I'm very happy I decided to watch it! I'm a bassist myself but do enjoy playing guitar 🎸 sometimes and I'm certainly no expert or highly knowledgeable on guitars/amps but I still find this all interesting! I hope you have a similar video for all of Krists basses! Well done my man! 👍🏼
