Kurt Cobain's Interesting Guitars And Modifications

Kurt said that his favorite guitar was the Fender Mustang. The only modification that he made to his favorite blue Mustang was that he replaced the stock bridge with Stewart MacDonald Gotoh tune-O-matic. However, he would often replace the bridge pickup with a humbucker(most of the time a Seymore Duncan JB), cut into the nut to allow heavier strings, and lock the tremolo system. The picture above is one of Kurt's Mustangs. You can easily see the humbucker and the tune-O-matic.
click here to go to the official website

Recently, Fender released a signature artist version of this awesome guitar, just as Kurt had it customized, to celebrate the 20th anniversery of Nevermind's release. Click Here to Check Out This Sick Guitar!
picture from http://media.photobucket.com/image/recent/nickjt/more%2520misc%2520pics/KurtCobainFenderMustang.jpg

Kurt had one Jaguar that he used all the time, from the Nevermind era, to the In Utero era. It was a sunburst Jaguar heavily modified with Schaller strap locks, an additional volume knob, the pickup selectors replaced by tape and a Gibson style toggle switch, and the pickups replaced. In the neck position there was a DiMarzio PAF, and in the bridge position there was a DiMarzio Super Distortion(later replaced by a Seymore Duncan JB). This was not one of Kurt's "babied" guitars though, through the years it was dropped multiple times, and just downright abused. Kurt's Jaguar was similar to that of the Jag shown to the right, except there was tape at the pickup selector, Schaller strap locks, and different pickups.
If you want a guitar similar t Kurt's, but prefer not to do any modding, it is a good idea to go with the Jaguar HH
Special, or go with the Blacktop Series Jaguar.
click here to go to the official website
Another option would be to check out the new Artist Signature Series Jaguar that Fender released for Kurt, featuring all the mods of Kurt's guitar. Click Here to Check It Out!

image from thegearpage.net

Kurt also used a lot of Mexican Strats. He always kept the middle and neck pickups stock, but always changed the bridge pickup. Sometimes he would use Seymore Duncan Hot Rails, other times he would use a Seymore Duncan JB(tilted). Occasionally he would keep the stock pickup in the bridge position. The picture depicts one of his Strats with a Seymore Duncan Hot Rail in the bridge position.
click here to go to the official website

image from flickr.com

Kurt rarely used the Telecaster until the very last days of his career. During the last two weeks of his career, a Tele became his favorite. This Tele was outfitted with Gotoh tuners, and a Stewart MacDonald bridge(humbucker cutout). For pickups, it had a Seymore Duncan JB in the bridge, and a Gibson PAFF in the bridge. It was a Japanese Telecaster Custom. The picture depicts Kurt playing his new favorite Telecaster.
Up until then, Kurt had occasionally played a sunburst Tele that was painted blue with latex house paint. He used this guitar on the Nevermind tour.
click here to go to the official website

picture from tdpri.com

Kurt collaborated with Fender to produce the Jag-Stang-a combination of the Mustang and the Jaguar. The neck of the guitar is a Mustang style, while the body his a hybrid of the two guitars with a more Mustang style pickguard and control design. It has a DiMarzio H-3 bridge pickup, and a Texas-Style single coil in the neck position, both slanted at a Mustang angle. It had a Mustang tremolo that, of course, was replaced by a tune-O-matic later. Kurt rarely played his creation though, even after he said it was his dream guitar.
The Jag-Stang is no longer in production.

picture from musiciansbuy.com

Kurt used Univox guitars throughout his career. Among the models he used are: the Hi-Flier(Mosrite copy, Kurt also used Mosrites), and the Univox Custom(Les Paul copy). One of Kurt's favorite guitars was a Univox sunburst Hi-Flier. A white Hi-Flier was used in the Heart-Shaped Box music video. The Univoxes also were outfitted with better tuners and a better bridge. Univox is no longer in production.
The picture depicts Univox Hi-Fliers

image from gbase.com

This was one of Kurt's favorite guitars. He often used the Univox Hi-Flier because it was a copy of this guitar. As far as I know, he made no modifications.
click here to go to the official website

image from celebrityrockstarguitars.com

Kurt bought this guitar for about $30. This guitar was used on the recording of Polly(Nevermind), Something In The Way(Nevermind), and a demo of Lithium.
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picture from rorygallagher.com

Kurt had the bridge and nut redone so that he could play it(it was a right handed guitar). The guitar was made in the late 1950's as part of Martin's first attempt at electric guitars and was discontinued soon thereafter. This is an extremely rare guitar.
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image from tdpri.com

For a complete list of every guitar Kurt ever used in his entire career, please visit kurtsequipment.com