Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) on Tuesday (12th) announced the global launch of the Kurt Cobain Jag- Stang® guitar, commemorating the 30th anniversary of Nirvana’s influential record “Nevermind.” The Signature Jag – Stang® guitar is a reissue of the legendary performer’s own custom model, which included a combination of his favorite elements from his Fender® Jaguar® and Mustang® guitars.
The Kurt Cobain Jag – Stang® guitar design genesis can be traced back to Cobain’s personal journals filled with photo collages and drawings of his idea for a hybrid of the Jaguar® and Mustang®guitar. These detailed sketches of Cobain’s dream Fender ® guitar drawn in 1993 are brought to life in this 2021 revival. The guitar is built to Cobain’s meticulous specifications, using vintage – style single – coil and custom humbucking pickups, a 24″ scale length that gives the guitar a feel and playability that is characteristic of the Mustang ® guitar, which Kurt preferred, and of course, the iconic body shape.
Available in both right and left-handed models to honor the legendary left-handed player himself, the Kurt Cobain Jag -Stang® fits all of his playing preferences for those looking to emulate his iconic stage style.
“Ever since I started playing, I’ve always liked certain things about certain guitars but could never find the perfect mix of everything I was looking for” said the late Kurt Cobain in a 1994
Watch the video here:
One of the most influential rock musicians of all time, Cobain’s impact has influenced guitarists and musicians throughout pop culture. As the front man of the Grammy Award-winning band Nirvana, Cobain was a creative force to be reckoned with: delivering generation-defining anthems from their first album Bleach to their final release, In Utero. Many of music culture’s greatest used the re-release of the Jag-Stang® guitar to pay tribute to Cobain’s legacy:
“After the 80s placed a focus on excess and technical guitar ability, Kurt blew through the barriers to entry to become a musician or start a band,” said Gerard Way, singer, songwriter and co -founder of My Chemical Romance.
“He embodied a collective frustration with the elitist obstacles to guitar players, and encouraged all of us to pick up an instrument and go for it —no matter what kind of training you had, no matter how many solos you were able to play. To me, that’s rock and roll. Kurt and Nirvana brought the underground into the public consciousness with heart, rebellion, and authenticity; the world needed these things on a mass scale.”
The Kurt Cobain Jag-Stang® guitar comes in Fiesta Red and Sonic Blue finishes and all the specs on the new Jag-Stang® are as they were in Kurt’s original model, honoring his creation. The guitar features an alder body, 24” short scale length, 7.25” and radius rosewood fingerboard. Additionally, the vintage-style single-coil and custom humbucking pickups allow players to recreate Cobain’s classic tones.
The Mustang® guitar slider switches provide the flexibility to dial in four distinct settings for a variety of in or out-of-phase tones – perfect for replicating Kurt’s punchy guitar sounds. The Kurt Cobain Jag-Stang® guitar is available in both right and left-handed models. Originally designed by Kurt Cobain and the Fender Custom Shop™, the guitar was dialed in and finalised right before the time of Cobain’s passing.
Although only used live at a few of Nirvana’s last shows, the documentation of this personalised guitar is preserved in his personal journals, made public after his passing. The pages here are scanned from the book, “Kurt Cobain Journals” published by Riverhead Books (2002), which reprinted the pages. These sketches not only illustrate the history of the Kurt Cobain designed Jag-Stang® but are also incredible pieces of history epitomising the relationship between Cobain and Fender.
