In Miami 1993 at the Bayfront Amphitheater Kurt pointed out to a green giant Stratocaster on top of the Hard Rock Cafe and said "Hey after the show let's all go over there and throw rocks at that stupid fucking neon rock and roll guitar over there".
Now the Hard Rock has mounted a giant guitar in Seattle. It's modeled after his Competition Mustang.
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.
Famously used on the Smells Like Teen Spirit video. This guitar was also (alongside a Strat and a Jaguar) used for the recording of Nevermind. Kurt's Competition Mustang is currently on display at Seattle's Experience Music Project. After Kurt's death Courtney gave the guitar to a close friend. That friend has lent the guitar indefinitely to Seattle's EMP.
"I recently worked on the real one and its present owner allowed me to photograph it in detail. Courtney gave it to him a month after Kurt's death, and it is exactly as I remember it, every nick, ding, and solder joint." - Earnie Bailey
If anyone is in Seattle please take a ton of photos of this guitar @ EMP and send it to us so we can post 'em!
Hard Rock Cafe sells a tiny version of this Mustang.
A thousand thank you's to Rob and Earnie for the close up photographs above!
There were three sonic blue and one red Mustang built by Scott Zimmerman from Fender Japan. Two of the blue Mustangs along with the red Mustang were sent out in the In Utero tour. The other (third) blue one stayed at Kurt's house. The whereabouts of the third blue Mustang and the red Mustang are currently unknown.
5/12/09 Update
According to The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame there were 5 of these built for Kurt.
Not four as previously reported. Have any more information please feel free to contact me.
10/7/09 Update
At some point the In Utero Stangs will have their own dedicated entries.
This entry is specific to two sonic blue ones that were used on the In Utero Tour.
Blue Mustang #1 "Sky Stang III"
This guitar was referred to as "Sky Stang III" by Kurt, Earnie Bailey and John Duncan.
There were two other sonic blue Mustangs named Sky Stang I and Sky Stang II.
Blue Mustang #1/ Sky Stang III is owned by Recordmecca and it is on indefinite loan to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHF) in Cleveland. The RRHF curator states that "the guitar is on display indefinitely near the entrance of the museum. At this time there are no plans to move it." It was given to a boy named Bobby Costello in Florida by Courtney Love in response to a letter he had written presumably to Kurt or Courtney. The boy's family sold the guitar to Recordmecca. It is rumored to have been sold to Recordmecca for approximately $17,000. Rolling Stone magazine reports that figure to be closer to the $100,000 mark.
Blue Mustang #2
Blue Mustang #2 is in a secured storage vault in Seattle, as seen in "Cobain Unseen".
All the items in the Seattle storage vault are owned by the Cobain estate (Courtney Love).
When asked by Rolling Stone where the vault was, Cross responded: "It's an undisclosed location. It literally was at an underground bomb-proof bunker that Bill Gates stored his stuff in. When I first went to visit it, it was the first time in my life my retina was ever scanned. It was like James Bond. The week Kurt died Courtney had the sense to tell someone "put all this stuff away" and it had all been boxed up and never opened. I think I was the first person to open these boxes — and I cannot tell you how freaky that was."
Blue Mustang # 2
Both of these Mustangs were modified by Earnie Bailey multiple times during the In Utero tour. The last modification in 1994 was the replacement of the bridge pickup from a DiMarzio humbucker to a Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck humbucker. The identifying factor is the fact the Duncan pickup is black. In most In Utero tour photos these guitars are seen with a white humbucker in the bridge position.
The easiest way to tell apart the two blue Mustangs apart is by the pattern of the tortoise shell on the pickguards. Blue Mustang #1 (Recordmecca/RRHF) has a yellowish spot right above the humbucker, underneath the strings. The other blue Mustang has a similar yellow spot in the tortoise shell guard, except it is to the left of the black humbucker. Also Mustang #2 has a nick on the strap side horn and sharpie marker markings on the selector switches. Mustang #1 does not.
"Kurt Cobain's custom left-handed Fender Mustang guitar, on loan to the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. This guitar was custom made by Scott Zimmerman, a custom luthier who does work for Fender in Japan. Cobain played it extensively on Nirvana's "In Utero" tour, and there are many photographs and videos documenting this. Courtney Love sent this guitar to a young Nirvana fan after Kurt's death. Her letter accompanying the guitar, the fedex receipt for it's shipping, and Scott Zimmerman's email detailing the exact history of this guitar (including its serial number) make this one of the best documented artist-owned guitars ever."
Pictured here is the guitar upon arrival in it's original case at The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.
Knob Incident on blue Mustang #1
Above: Blue Mustang #1 at it's original display at The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.
After someone stole the volume and tone knobs, the guitar was then moved to a secured display by the entrance.
Initially blue Mustang #1 was put into this display knob-less.
A more recent photo shows the guitar with new replacement knobs.
Bobby Costello and blue Mustang #1
Below are photographs from kurtsequipment.com of Bobby Costello after receiving the guitar from Courtney. In the case with the guitar is the Greg Sage tribute vinyl box set.
These are not the more well-known Smells Like Teen Spirit (SLTS) video Mustang but sure look similar. Furthermore the Oslo HR Mustang is right handed and autographed. Kurt was left handed and did not autograph his own guitars (at least not with his own name).
Perhaps these were fan submitted guitars or another Courtney Love - Hard Rock transaction.
Earnie Bailey, the most qualified expert on Nirvana's gear, has confirmed that neither of these guitars were ever played or owned by Kurt.
Kurt's REAL SLTS Competition Mustang is owned by a private owner and it is currently on loan to the Seattle Experience Music Project. My guess is that it's owned by a friend of the Cobain family (Mark Arm, King Buzzo, someone like that).
"The Australian Hard Rock Cafe claims they have this guitar, but Earnie Bailey says he saw a photo of the guitar they had and it was right-handed. "The photo said that it had come from Courtney. Either she or Eric had a right-handed one exactly like Kurt's, I'm not sure whose it was, but this is mostly likely that guitar." He goes on to say, "The Hard Rock Cafe does not own Kurt's competition blue Mustang. I recently worked on the real one and its present owner allowed me to photograph it in detail. Courtney gave it to him a month after Kurt's death, and it is eaxctly as I remember it, ever nick, ding, and solder joint".
I'd really like to get a copy of the photographs Earnie is talking about!
I'm working on a post regarding Courtney Love's transactions with the Hard Rock. It appears that she sold the Hard Rock curators a boat load of guitars and possessions of both Hole and Nirvana. Some legit and some not. Any leads appreciated. Thanks !
Special thanks to Mike J for the Melbourne HR photo above.
The guitar was sold by Sluggo of The Grannies and Hullabaloo.
Kurt traded it him for either a white Univox Hi Flier (pic 1, 2, 3) or a Gibson SG (pic 1, 2)
Update; It was the SG
It was displayed (on loan from Sluggo) at the Experience Music Project (Seattle, WA) until he decided to sell it in 2008. The news articles mention that it was smashed in New Jersey.
This may lead one to assume it may be have been the sunburst Univox. However two of the articles (NYTimes and Rolling Stone) mention a "Mustang"; hence the confusion.
My guess is that Kurt had smashed both the Mustang (possibly in 7/9/89 PA) and his sunburst Univox (7/13/89 NJ). Looking at photos from nirvanaguide.com, Kurt did not play guitar on the show following the Maxwell's gig. He played the whole show with no guitar. The show after that, he is seen with a white Univox.
To recap;
7/9/89 - Kurt is playing a sunburst Mustang (top photo)
7/12/89 - Kurt is playing a natural/sunburst/duct taped Univox
7/13/89 - Kurt is seen smashing the Univox (see photo)
