"I believe I have the guitar case from the smashed Sluggo Mustang. In Oct 1989 Nirvana was on the Bleach European tour with TAD. Tad had no case for his Fender Musicmaster and Kurt gave him a Fender Mustang case. Kurt played Tad's Musicmaster on occasion as stated in the letter of provenounce from Tad. I bought it from Tad Doyle several years ago."
Thank you Mark!
Mark's band, Willard, was very much a part of the Seattle music scene. And we all know TAD's close association with Nirvana. Mark says he has letters from Tad Doyle and Sub Pop regarding authenticity.
This may or may not be the neck from Kurt's Epiphone ET-270 that popped up for sale on eBay in 2009. This guide does not offer a strong opinion either way. It could be real. It could be fake.
The seller pulled most of the photos (including the ticket/flyer) from nirvanaguide.com and did not including any form of authentic certification so there is no telling if it's the real deal or not. The only evidence that shows it may be Kurt's is the replacement tuners.
Update
I received email from readers saying they've communicated with the eBay seller. The seller does not personally have a back story on the neck. They are selling for somebody else under consignment.
Update 2
According to trusted sources "the real neck is documented and accounted for. Currently in a NW collection". I know this was left as a comment below but additionally I've received email with this information.
Update 3
Another reader has brought up an excellent observation. Kurt's Epiphone ET270 was outfitted with Gotoh tuners from the late 1980s/early 1990's. The tuners in the photographs of this neck appear to be Schaller tuners found on Mexican made Fender Stratocasters from the early 2000's. This information cannot be verified and the information is intended for entertainment purposes only.
Update 4
A trusted source pointed out that there are recently (September 2020) surfaced photographs of Kurt playing one of these that appear to have Schaller tuners similar to the ones shown on these photographs.
Disclaimer: This guide is not claiming that this neck is a fake, nor is it claiming that it's real. This guide is only reporting opinions based on observations, not facts. This guide is intended for entertainment purposes only and has no business affiliation with collectors, buyers, or sellers. It was never intended to be any source of such information or a "buyer's guide" for Kurt's guitars. The guide's primary intention is to obtain close up photographs of Kurt Cobain's guitars and speculate as to where they may currently be.
Kurt used this guitar on Nirvana's 1989 US tour. At some point in the northeast part of the tour Kurt had smashed the guitar to the point where it was rendered unplayable. He took it into Mouradian Guitar in MA to fix the broken neck but either did not have the time or the money to go through with the repair.
While in New Jersey Kurt traded his broken Mustang with Sluggo (of the band Grannies and Huballaloo) for a Gibson SG that Kurt ended up painting light blue.
At one point the guitar was on display at the Seattle EMP on loan from Sluggo himself. It was taken off display to be auctioned off. In December of 2008 the smashed guitar made news headlines when it sold for $100,000. It is rumored to be returning there on loan from it's current (private undisclosed) owner for the Nirvana 2010 exhibit at the EMP.
If anyone has more photos of this guitar please send!
The photograph above is from the last show that this guitar was used on (Wilkinsburg, PA 7/9/89). There are no videos of the show but it's assumed that's where the guitar was smashed last. The video below is from a performance on 7/12/89 in Philadelphia, PA. No Mustang, but still a neat insight on this era of the band.
And another great montage of photos from this era.
This was the second sunburst Univox Hi Flier photographed for the Cobain Unseen book. Unlike the first one (see other entry) this one was published in the book. In the photograph we can see a replacement humbucker in the neck position. The rest of the guitar appears to be stock.
This is the Univox Hi Flier famously used in the encore of the Rio De Janeiro show. Video of "Dive" can be seen on the Live Tonight Sold Out video and also below.
According to Kurtsequipment.com
"Univox Hi-Flyer, mahogany neck and stock single coils at the Rio show encore. Kurt liked this one too. Later got a humbucker in the bridge"
The humbucker in the bridge alteration can be seen in the latest photograph above (by Geoff Moore) as well as the show on 7/23/93 at The Roseland in New York City.
Geoff Moore is the photographer that shot most of the photos for the Cobain Unseen book. He was the sole photographer allowed to shoot the guitars that are in the Cobain estate vault. This guitar was not featured in the Cobain Unseen book. For other guitars photographed by Moore please visit the "Geoff Moore" tag below, as well as Geoff Moore's website.
Note: There is another Geoff Moore photographed Univox Hi Flier that ended up in the Cobain Unseen book. Entry coming soon.
The guitar being played by the virtual version of Kurt Cobain in Guitar Hero 5 appears to be a hybrid of a Jagstang and the In Utero era Mustangs. It has the Jagstang body shape and the trimmings (pickguard and pickups) of the In Utero era Mustangs.
Of special note; the headstock shape is that of a Telecaster.
As speculated by forum members of Offsetguitars.com this could be due to possible copyright infringements; "Guitar Hero is sponsored by Gibson and Rockband by Fender".
Because the Cobain estate was involved in the creation of this character it is also a possibility that the headstock design was influenced by Kurt's favoring of Telecasters in 94 and/or later sketches by Kurt of the Jagstang which showed a smaller headstock.
Read Rolling Stone article on Cobain's cameo on the game here.
It came from an article published a few years ago regarding a raffle for this guitar.
Sadly I didn't save the article and after searching on Google profusely I've come up empty handed.
From my recollection the article claimed that this guitar was part of a collection of guitars used by the school and that this specific guitar was signed out to Kurt Cobain for music classes. The article also had a photo of the raffle winner being presented the guitar. I was a little skeptical when I read the article because Kurt played drums for the school band. Regardless it was newsworthy and apparently the guitar came with a letter from Kurt's music teacher for authenticity.
If anyone finds a link to the article PLEASE let me know so I can update this entry with the proper information rather than my mere recollection.
