Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) today announced the global launch of the Kurt Cobain Jag-Stang® guitar,commemorating the 30th anniversary of Nirvana's influential record "Nevermind." The Signature Jag-Stang® guitar is a reissue of the legendary performer's own custom model, which included a combination of his favorite elements from his Fender® Jaguar® and Mustang® guitars. The Kurt Cobain Jag-Stang® guitar design genesis can be traced back to Cobain's personal journals filled with photo collages and drawings of his idea for a hybrid of the Jaguar® and Mustang® guitar.
These detailed sketches of Cobain's dream Fender® guitar drawn in 1993 are brought to life in this 2021 revival.
The guitar is built to Cobain's meticulous specifications, using vintage-style single-coil and custom humbucking pickups, a 24" scale length that gives the guitar a feel and playability that is characteristic of the Mustang® guitar, which Kurt preferred, and of course, the iconic body shape.
Available in both right and left-handed models to honor the legendary left-handed player himself, the Kurt Cobain Jag-Stang® fits all of his playing preferences for those looking to emulate his iconic stage style.
"Ever since I started playing, I've always liked certain things about certain guitars but could never find the perfect mix of everything I was looking for" said the late Kurt Cobain in a 1994 Fender Frontline interview. "The Jag-Stang® is the closest thing I know."
One of the most influential rock musicians of all time, Cobain's impact has influenced guitarists and musicians throughout pop culture. As the front man of the Grammy Award-winning band Nirvana, Cobain was a creative force to be reckoned with: delivering generation-defining anthems from their first album Bleach to their final release, In Utero. Many of music culture's greatest used the re-release of the Jag-Stang® guitar to pay tribute to Cobain's legacy:
"After the 80s placed a focus on excess and technical guitar ability, Kurt blew through the barriers to entry to become a musician or start a band," said Gerard Way, singer, songwriter and co-founder of My Chemical Romance. "He embodied a collective frustration with the elitist obstacles to guitar players, and encouraged all of us to pick up an instrument and go for it — no matter what kind of training you had, no matter how many solos you were able to play. To me, that's rock and roll. Kurt and Nirvana brought the underground into the public consciousness with heart, rebellion, and authenticity; the world needed these things on a mass scale.""After getting their first single and their Bleach album, I was a Nirvana fan before I even saw them live," said J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. "They didn't disappoint — they were hard, heavy, and manic. We toured together in 1991 — after we played the Warfield in San Francisco, I was really sick lying on the couch backstage. Kurt came up and hugged me — he was psyched up on the show, especially on the song Sludgefeast that we played. I wasn't much of a hugger at the time, but I needed one. Thanks Kurt."
"Kurt's style felt like a reaction to the overindulgence of the '80s," said Joe Trohman, guitarist of Fall Out Boy. "Through his playing, I was exposed to this strange intersection where noise rock and pop music could meet and get along. So, Cobain was definitely a gateway player. And, similarly to how he felt about his Jag-Stang, my Tele is also a Frankenstein, of sorts––cobbled together from my favorite guitar bits. It's important to have an instrument you're comfortable with that can do what you need it to do."
"Kurt was the first guitar player that I really recognized as a "defier" of norms,'' said singer-songwriter John J. McCauley of Deer Tick. "It must have been MTV or one of the college stations in Providence. I was pretty young. Aside from Kurt's guitar playing, it was really all the hooks and his incredible voice that captivated me. I was a big Beatles nerd kid and Nirvana was like their heaviest moments on steroids. In Utero was the first album I owned by Nirvana. I had never heard anything like "Scentless Apprentice" before. That album and those tracks really helped me open my mind to more experimental music."
"Kurt's playing inspired me in a lot of ways, from the attitude in his playing and use of power chords, to his more pluck-focused and interesting riffs like in Come As You Are or All Apologies," said singer-songwriter Beabadoobee. "He also played in Drop D a lot and that was cool to try - it got me into playing around with tunings which I do all the time now. I agree with what Kurt said about loving guitars, but always wanting to change something small. It's a hard mix to get right, but there's a few guitars I really love. The Jag-Stang is a really nice fusion and I love what Kurt did with it!"
"Nevermind was basically my music teacher," said Luke Boerdam of Violent Soho, "I've never needed a guitar lesson since. That album underpinned how I related to writing and music… it wasn't just an influence, it was the influence. To me Nirvana made it "okay" not to know heaps of chords, or practice your scales. It was all about raw energy, feel and tension with their music. It's 100% important to have a guitar that can help you build a mental picture of things you need to make your songs work and what you like."
"Though Kurt's performance and playing style seems quite simple, his sound had an unrivaled persuasiveness and vitality that penetrated through our emotions," said Jean-Ken Johnny, guitarist and vocalist of Japan's MAN WITH A MISSION. "Listening to Nirvana was an eye-opening experience for me. He made me realize the importance of expressing one's emotions through music and guitar, rather than overwhelming audiences with technique. It showed me the potential guitar has to reveal and amplify emotions to a greater length. His performances changed the way I listen to music, and had great influence on the music I chose to pursue."
The heartfelt vocals, distorted power chords and raw energy of Cobain's music with Nirvana launched the grunge movement and inspired countless other artists for years to come. Later generations have also come to appreciate Cobain's progressive politics, as he publicly took positions against racism and homophobia that were well ahead of the social norms of the day. Since his passing, Kurt Cobain has been named one of Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists, 100 Greatest Singers of All Time and 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.
Cobain was seen playing a variety of Fender® guitars over the years, but his Fender® Jaguar® and Mustang® remain the most iconic due to their use on the "Nevermind" tour and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" music video. The Jag-Stang® guitar — designed by Cobain himself — combined his favorite elements of each of these guitars into a custom Fender® creation. Cobain played his own Jag-Stang® live several times on the In Utero tour before his untimely passing. But much like Cobain's legacy, the guitar lived on after being given to R.E.M guitarist Peter Buck, who used it in several of the band's videos.
Exploring the Kurt Cobain Jag-Stang | Artist Signature Series | Fender
"When we took a look at the sketches Kurt Cobain had drawn up for his dream guitar, we were impressed by how intricate his design was. We honored the original model - all the specs on the new Jag Stang® are as they were. Nothing new was done to it, we really wanted to keep it aligned with Kurt's vision. Through our long-standing relationship with the Kurt Cobain Estate, we always knew we wanted to bring his vision to life. It's been an immense honor to help bring his idea to fruition and revive this model," said Justin Norvell, EVP of Fender Products.
The Kurt Cobain Jag-Stang® guitarcomes in Fiesta Red and Sonic Blue finishes and all the specs on the new Jag-Stang® are as they were in Kurt's original model, honoring his creation. The guitar features an alder body, 24" short scale length, 7.25" and radius rosewood fingerboard. Additionally, the vintage-style single-coil and custom humbucking pickups allow players to recreate Cobain's classic tones. The Mustang® guitar slider switches provide the flexibility to dial in four distinct settings for a variety of in or out-of-phase tones - perfect for replicating Kurt's punchy guitar sounds. The Kurt Cobain Jag-Stang® guitar is available in both right and left-handed models.
Originally designed by Kurt Cobain and the Fender Custom Shop™, the guitar was dialed in and finalized right before the time of Cobain's passing. Although only used live at a few of Nirvana's last shows, the documentation of this personalized guitar is preserved in his personal journals, made public after his passing. The pages here are scanned from the book, "Kurt Cobain Journals" published by Riverhead Books (2002), which reprinted the pages. These sketches not only illustrate the history of the Kurt Cobain designed Jag-Stang® but are also incredible pieces of history epitomizing the relationship between Cobain and Fender.
In celebration of the Jag-Stang® release, fans can learn to play iconic Kurt Cobain songs on the Jag-Stang® guitar inside Fender Play®, the complete learning app for guitar, bass and ukulele. "Artist Spotlight: Kurt Cobain (Nirvana)" features lessons to Nirvana songs such as In Bloom, Polly, Something In the Way, Pennyroyal Tea, Sliver and more.
Street price: $1,249.
In true tradition, the Fender® Artist Signature Series honors iconic musicians through product progression and storytelling, creating instruments inspired by the unique specifications of the world's greatest guitarists and bassists. Watch History In A Hot Minute: The Kurt Cobain Jag-Stang for a deep dive into the building of this iconic instrument. Watch as Nick Reinhart digs into the exciting features from the Kurt Cobain Jag-Stang. Additional info on the Kurt Cobain Jag-Stang® guitar and product descriptions are available here. Product, lifestyle and artist images can be found here.
For technical specs, additional information on new Fender products and to find a retail partner near you, visit www.fender.com. Join the conversation on social media by following @Fender.
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Naturally, every recording Eddie Van Halen ever played on has been pored over by legions of guitar players of all styles. It might seem funny, then, to consider EVH solos that might require more attention. But your 100 Guitarists hosts have their picks of solos that they feel merit a little discussion. Some of these are deep cuts—get ready for some instrumental bonus tracks and Van Halen III mentions—and some are among the biggest radio hits of their time. Just because their hits, though, doesn’t mean we don’t have more to add to the conversation.
We can’t cover everything EVH—Jason has already tried while producing the Runnin’ With the Dweezil podcast. But we cover as much as we can in our longest episode yet. And in the second installment of our current listening segment, we’re talking about new-ish music from Oz Noy and Bill Orcutt.
Tinkering with theSDE-3 Dual Digital Delay suggested a similar, possibly enduring appeal. As an evolution of the Roland SDE-3000rack unit from the 1980s, it’s a texture machine, bubbling with subtle-to-odd triangle LFO modulations and enhanced dual-delay patterns that make tone mazes from dopey-simple melodies. And with the capacity to use it with two amps in stereo or in panning capacity, it can be much more dimensional. But while the SDE-3 will become indispensable to some for its most complex echo textures, its basic voice possesses warmth that lends personality in pedestrian applications too.
Tapping Into the Source
Some interest in the original SDE-3000 is in its association with Eddie Van Halen, who ran two of them in a wet-dry-wet configuration, using different delay rates and modulation to thicken and lend dimension to solos. But while EVH’s de facto endorsement prompted reissues of the effect as far back as the ’90s, part of the appeal was down to the 3000’s intrinsic elegance and simplicity.
In fact, the original rack unit’s features don’t differ much from what you would find on modern, inexpensive stompbox echoes. But the SDE-3000’s simplicity and reliable predictability made it conducive to fast workflow in the studio. Critically, it also avoided the lo-fi and sterility shortcomings that plagued some lesser rivals—an attribute designer Yoshi Ikegami chalks up to analog components elsewhere in the circuit and a fortuitous clock imprecision that lends organic essence to the repeats.
Evolved Echo Animal
Though the SDE-3 traces a line back to the SDE-3000 in sound and function, it is a very evolved riff on a theme. I don’t have an original SDE-3000 on hand for comparison, but it’s easy to hear how the SDE-3 bridges a gap between analog haze and more clinical, surgical digital sounds in the way that made the original famous. Thanks to the hi-cut control, the SDE-3’s voice can be shaped to enhance the angular aspect of the echoes, or blunt sharp edges. There’s also a lot of leeway to toy with varied EQ settings without sacrificing the ample definition in the repeats. That also means you can take advantage of the polyrhythmic effects that are arguably its greatest asset.
“There’s a lot of leeway to toy with varied EQ settings without sacrificing the ample definition in the repeats.”
The SDE-3’s offset control, which generates these polyrhythmic echoes, is its heart. The most practical and familiar echos, like quarter, eighth, and dotted-eighth patterns, are easy to access in the second half of the offset knobs range. In the first half of the knob’s throw, however, the offset delays often clang about at less-regular intervals, producing complex polyrhythms that are also cool multipliers of the modulation and EQ effects. For example, when emphasizing top end in repeats, using aggressive effects mixes and pitch-wobble modulation generates eerie ghost notes that swim through and around patterns, adding rhythmic interest and texture without derailing the drive behind a groove. Even at modest settings, these are great alternatives to more staid, regular subdivision patterns. Many of the coolest sounds tend toward the foggy reverb spectrum. Removing high end, piling on feedback, and adding the woozy, drunken drift from modulation creates fascinating backdrops for slow, sparse chord melodies. Faster modulations throb and swirl like old BBC Radiophonic Workshop sci-fi sound designs.
By themselves, the modulations have their own broad appeal. Chorus tones are rarely the archetypal Roland Jazz Chorus or CE type—tending to be a bit darker and mistier. But they do a nice job suggesting that texture without lapsing into caricature. There are also really cool rotary-speaker-like textures and vibrato sounds that offer alternatives to go-to industry standards.
The Verdict
The SDE-3’s many available sounds and textures would be appealing at $219—even without the stereo and panning connectivity options, a useful hold function, and expression pedal control that opens up additional options. The panning capabilities, in particular, sparked all kinds of thoughts about studio applications. Mastering the SDE-3 takes just a little study—certain polyrhythms can be dramatically reshaped by the interactivity of other controls and you need to take care to achieve identical results twice. But this is a pedal that, by virtue of its relative simplicity and richness and breadth of sounds, exceeds the utility of some similarly priced rivals, all while opening up possibilities well outside the simple echo realm
Reader: T. Moody
Hometown: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Guitar: The Green Snake
Reader T. Moody turned this Yamaha Pacifica body into a reptilian rocker.
I have always loved the reverse headstock, simply because nothing says 1987 (the best year in the history of the world) like a reverse headstock. The pickups are both Seymour Duncan—an SH-1N in the neck position and TB-4 in the bridge, both in a very cool lime green color. Right when these pickups got listed, the Buy It Now button once again lit up like the Fourth of July. I am a loyal disciple of Sperzel locking tuners and think Bob Sperzel was a pure genius, so I knew those were going on this project even before I started on it. I also knew that I wanted a Vega-Trem; those units are absolutely amazing.
When the body arrived, I thought it would be cool to do some kind of burst around the yellow so I went with a neon green. It turned out better than I imagined. Next up was the shaping and cutting of the pickguard. I had this crocodile-type, faux-leather material that I glued on the pickguard and then shaped to my liking. I wanted just a single volume control and no tone knob, because, like King Edward (Van Halen) once said, “Your volume is your tone.”
T. Moody
I then shaped and glued the faux-leather material in the cavity. The tuning knobs, volume knob, pickguard, screws, and selector switch were also painted in the lemon-lime paint scheme. I put everything together, installed the pickups, strung it up, set it up, plugged it in, and I was blown away. I think this is the best-playing and -sounding guitar I have ever tried.
The only thing missing was the center piece and strap. The latter was easy because DiMarzio makes their ClipLock in neon green. The center piece was more difficult because originally, I was thinking that some kind of gator-style decoration would be cool. In the end, I went with a green snake, because crocodiles ain’t too flexible—and they’re way too big to fit in a pickup cavity!
The Green Snake’s back is just as striking as the front.
