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tjon901 « Kurts preferred live guitar »
Published on 01/27/12 at 19:04Kurt Cobain was known for his fender guitars throughout his career. Mostly the Jaguars and the Mustangs. Early on he played the Jaguar and later on he played the mustang. Fender came out with a Jaguar Kurt Cobain signature last year and now they have a new Jaguar based on what he use to play. He played made in Japan Jaguars and these guitars are made in the same factory his was and they come with the same mods from the factory. With this guitar you get an alder body in the small Mustang shape. The neck is a 24 inch scale maple unit with a rosewood fretboard. The fretboard has 22 vintage frets and a 7.25 inch radius. The phase switches are recessed to simulate Kurt cutting them off without having to make them unusable. The neck has a large headstock with vintage tuners. The bridge is a tune-o-matic style bridge. The pickups are Kurts preferred setup. The bridge pickup is a Seymour Duncan JB while the neck pickup is a slanted single. The controls are typical Mustang with the crazy phase switches no one uses on the top of the pickguard. The other controls are typical with a volume and tone.
UTILIZATION
This is by no means a shred guitar. It doesnt really have the construction for shredding. The neck is only a 24 inch scale so it can be kind of cramped up in the high end. The frets are a lot smaller than what you normally find on modern guitars as well. This is all topped off by the 7.25 inch radius. Modern shred guitars usually have like 15 inch radiuses so this fretboard has a very vintage round feel to it that doesnt help you get a low action. If you arent planning on shredding on the guitar it is alright. It is great if you are a smaller person or a girl and you need a guitar that you can easily handle. The short scale on this guitars means people with smaller hands can play it easily.
SOUNDS
This guitar has a really raw punk rock sound. This guitar isnt really for clean tones and shred tones. its for power chords and riffing. The shorter scale and looser tension on the strings give you a bit of a thicker tone from the guitar. The bridge pickup is mounted directly into the body and not on the pickguard so you get a more direct and woody tone. The JB is a classic bridge pickup. Kurts older guitars used Dimarzio Super Distortions. Its nice to see Fender being accurate with these mdoels. They easily could have thrown in a generic hot Fender humbucker in the bridge.
OVERALL OPINION
This guitar is meant for hardcore Cobain fans but it is not super expensive like older models so younger players can still afford it. Since this guitar doesnt have any crazy signature markings it can be enjoyed by people who arent particularly Nirvana fans. If you just like Mustangs in general you could enjoy this guitar for having a heavier sound than your typical mustang.
UTILIZATION
This is by no means a shred guitar. It doesnt really have the construction for shredding. The neck is only a 24 inch scale so it can be kind of cramped up in the high end. The frets are a lot smaller than what you normally find on modern guitars as well. This is all topped off by the 7.25 inch radius. Modern shred guitars usually have like 15 inch radiuses so this fretboard has a very vintage round feel to it that doesnt help you get a low action. If you arent planning on shredding on the guitar it is alright. It is great if you are a smaller person or a girl and you need a guitar that you can easily handle. The short scale on this guitars means people with smaller hands can play it easily.
SOUNDS
This guitar has a really raw punk rock sound. This guitar isnt really for clean tones and shred tones. its for power chords and riffing. The shorter scale and looser tension on the strings give you a bit of a thicker tone from the guitar. The bridge pickup is mounted directly into the body and not on the pickguard so you get a more direct and woody tone. The JB is a classic bridge pickup. Kurts older guitars used Dimarzio Super Distortions. Its nice to see Fender being accurate with these mdoels. They easily could have thrown in a generic hot Fender humbucker in the bridge.
OVERALL OPINION
This guitar is meant for hardcore Cobain fans but it is not super expensive like older models so younger players can still afford it. Since this guitar doesnt have any crazy signature markings it can be enjoyed by people who arent particularly Nirvana fans. If you just like Mustangs in general you could enjoy this guitar for having a heavier sound than your typical mustang.