The Jag-Stang signature model guitar NIRVANA's Kurt Cobain designed with Fender will return in October 2021.
Few artists in music history can be credited with changing the industry nearly overnight and continuing to influence music culture three decades after the height of their popularity. Cobain and his bandmates in NIRVANA appeared on the scene in the early 1990s as generational talents who combined raucous, heavy tones, punk-infused energy and melodic hooks to create a sound that quickly attracted millions of fans and established grunge and alternative rock as a genre with legitimate mainstream appeal.
Although Kurt was seen playing a variety of Fender guitars over the years, his Fender Jaguar and Mustang remain the most iconic due to their use on the "Nevermind" tour and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" music video. Kurt designed the Jag-Stang to combine his favorite elements of both instruments and brought it to life with help from the Fender Custom Shop in 1993.
"Kurt always played both guitars," Fender's Larry Brooks told Total Guitar. "He took photographs of each, cut them in half, and put them together to see what they'd look like. It was his concept, and we detailed and contoured it to give him balance and feel.
"He was really easy to work with," added Brooks. "I had the chance to sit and talk with him, then we built him a prototype. He played it a while and then wrote some suggestions on the guitar and sent it back to us. The second, time we got it right."
Commemorating the 30th anniversary of NIRVANA's seminal record "Nevermind", this Jag-Stang comes equipped with the same features that made it Kurt's ideal instrument. The alder body delivers a punchy tone perfect for big power chords, the 24" short-scale reduces string tension for easier playing, and the 7.25" radius rosewood fingerboard with maple neck has a comfortable feel that won't fatigue your hands when chording. The vintage-style single-coil and custom humbucking pickups are perfect for recreating Kurt's classic tones, while the Mustang slider switches provide the flexibility to dial in four distinct settings for a variety of in or out-of-phase tones.
Cobain died in 1994 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound not long after he took a massive dose of heroin — which could have proven fatal on its own.
Kurt began using heroin to ease chronic stomach pain he had suffered from his entire life.
NIRVANA was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame on April 10, 2014 — just five days after the 20th anniversary of Cobain's death.
