Fender Kurt Cobain Road Worn Jaguar

I should say up front that I am not a huge Nirvana fan. But I happen to think Kurt had some pretty good tone and had a funny way of getting it. He didn't use what everyone else was using at all. He just did things his own way I guess. While he used his Mustang a lot, he also used the Jaguar from time to time too. This is supposedly a replica of that Jaguar. I will be the first to admit that the older Fender Cobain signature guitars were terribly overpriced for what they were/ These new replica models are priced roughly the same with (what looks like) a lot more bang for the buck.

At first glance, there isn't a lot to this guitar. But it's actually got a bunch of tricks up its sleeve. The base of the guitar is pretty traditional. C shaped neck. Alder body. No surprises. Besides the obvious body aging that has been done, this is your typical jaguar design. The aging by the way, is pretty good. I felt like some of the first road worn models from fender were a little bit much, and the execution was off. This feels like it had some thought put into it and all the "damage" looks appropriately authentic. Thankfully the neck doesn't feel like someone took a sander to the fret board.

The seymour duncans are a nice tough here. The super distortion is obviously not for the faint of heart, but I really like how they put the PAF anniversary in the neck. That has been one of my favorite pickups since it came out. The switching can be a little tricky at first, especially if you aren't familiar with the jag layout. It's a little complicated to explain. It's better to learn it yourself. But the short version is you have your normal tone volume pickup switching options along with the other switches which are for voicings. Once you get the hang of it, it's very simple.

The quality on this is surprisingly very good. And that's coming from a guy who has said a lot of bad things about fender quality the last few years. My big problem with a lot of fenders lately has been the feel. But this guitar feels great to me. It surely has that Kobain vibe. They really nailed this one I think. Price is very appropriate. I guess the only knock against it is the fact that it's not an overly classic design or anything. But come on...it's a signature model.

Kurt Cobain was the guitar Icon of the 90s. He wasnt that great of a player but he changed what we thought of rock music at the time. There have been other Kurt Cobain Fender guitars but I think this is the first truly accurate model. The model is basically a modded Jaguar. It retains a lot of the old Jaguar crazyness but has some decent tone to go with it. On this guitar you get an alder body. The whole guitar has a light relicing to it. The neck is maple with a bound rosewood fretboard. You do not see many Fenders with bound fretboards anymore. The headstock is the smaller design which looks kind of strange on a Jaguar to me. It still has the crazy Jaguar tremolo that no one uses and all the crazy electronics. The Jaguar design gives nice balance. The aging on all the hardware gives the guitar a broken in feel. The controls are modified and it helps with the usability on the guitar. The guitar has a volume for each pickup along with a master tone so it has a more traditional control setup. The old Jaguar also did not have a simple 3 way toggle that this one has. The tuners are upgraded as well to a more modern spec so it holds tune a lot better. The short Jaguar scale gives you a little less string tension so it is easier to play most of the time. The pickups are a set of Dimarzios which is very cool for a guitar like this Jaguar. You get a classic Super Distortion in the bridge and a PAF 35 Anniversary pickup in the neck. The Super Distortion has all the tone you need for Grunge or Punk rock. It has a very period overdrive sound. It is not super compressed like a modern pickup but it has an old school wide open hot pickup sound. It does not clean up well but the PAF works for that. The neck pickup is more vintage in output and sound. It has the classic PAF sound. It is good for leads and clean tones. All the other tone switches are still active on this guitar so you can engage the lead circuit and the rhythm circuit if you please but these things were designed more for single coils. With humbuckers they do not have much of an effect on the overall tone of the guitar. The master tone does more than the little tone circuits. If you are Kurt Cobain fan this guitar is a must have. I think it is kind of expensive for a non USA made Fender. It is about 1500 dollars for a Mexican made Fender. I think thats kind of odd since you can get USA made Fenders for less than that. The guitar is still great overall and for Nirvana fans it will be welcome as it is the first good and accurate Kurt Cobain signature model, and it comes in lefty.

How long have you use it?
A few months

What is the particular feature you like best and least?
I seem to have a weapon in his hands, made to collect all the energy I have when I play. It may be the look that way, but it is also rather thin and round sound without compromise. May be a lack of potato in the treble. For example, the sound of the strings if and half seems a little dull compared to others. But hey, maybe it's just my way of playing, or the height of the pickups base is incorrectly set. In any case I found this slight problem on the 4 or 5 amps on which I play.

Have you tried many other models before buying it?
When I went to the mag, I tested a telecaster 3 000 euros, a Lespaul custom black and one. I preferred any more: I was more comfortable than others. Low action, fast neck on which it is rather easy to walk. Perhaps the key hangs a little to do with time.

How would you rate the quality / price? With experience, you do again this choice? This is a very good guitar, and if we add the great look, it becomes excellent (yes it plays as we all know). After the value for money, I do not know, in general I find the guitar too expensive in France, so ...
In any case this is the first time I say, wow, this guitar is made for me! But more than the sound, it is in the feeling of being able to use it for everything, and the abuse of power without restraint to play real rock.