Guitar #1 - No name
Apparently the Hard Rock Cafe found it "appropriate" to alter Kurt's writing on one of his guitars. Rather disturbing that they would do that. Regardless out of the two on display here, this one is the most likely to have belonged to Kurt. Besides Kurt's graffiti on the guitar, the modifications done on the guitar are typically of Cobain's. The tremolo was replaced with a fixed bridge, and the arrangement of the strings has been flipped to accommodate a left handed player.
From article;
"Cobain in the wake of the Gulf War had written out an obscenity on the guitar: "Fuck Our Troops." Any Nirvana fan familiar with Cobain's journals, his music, and the culture he came out of would not be surprised by what he wrote. But obviously with a nation at war this is not an appropriate way to greet guests at a casino. And the Hard Rock rulers are business guys more than music fans. The guitar now reads "Our Troops" with the offending word permanently removed."
Guitar #2 right handed Fender Competition Mustang
I've never seen any photos of Kurt playing this. Perhaps this is another Courtney Love - Hard Rock scam (see post about Jazzmaster @ HR) It could also simply be on display not as one of Kurt's guitars, but an autographed guitar. The guitar is signed by all members of the band and it has a Nirvana backstage pass adhered to the body.
Anyone have any photographs of Kurt playing either of these guitars?
Full article here.
Video clip of the guitar on display in Las Vegas here.
Known locations of display; Las Vegas (1990s) and Seattle (2000s).
I have NEVER seen Kurt play one of these guitars.
ReplyDeleteI reckon it's a fake.
I agree
DeleteThey actually were his guitars, typically not the guitar he would use in concerts. The white guitar was a (which is a G&L Rampage) was a gift from a friend of Kurts. He wrote a lot of songs on bleach with a Rampage "Supposedly" he just didn't record with it
DeleteThe Mustang is simply a signed guitar.
ReplyDeleteThe other guitar could of been Kurt's. It's set up to the specs he likes (trem removed to a fixed bridge) and it's his handwriting on it. Perhaps a guitar from early on that was too ugly for him to play out.
Thanks for checking out the guide!
i thought the no name guitar was a g&l rampage.it has the strat body with 1 volume nob so.
ReplyDelete@Spike, i think your right, it is a rampage.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's a Rampage because
ReplyDeletea) Rampages aren't really shaped like Strats, they're more elongated and narrow, like a Mustang
b) The headstock is not G&L
c) The body is routed for a Floyd Rose; trem-equipped Rampages had Kahlers
Looks to me like a run-of-the-mill (for the '80s) superstrat body meant to accept one humbucker and one tone knob a la Van Halen/other shredders. It could also be a Jackson guitar. I would bet that the bridge and pickups came from Kurt's demolished blue SG and that the other parts were just bargain bin fodder from a guitar store.