The Jag-Stang guitar which Nirvana's Kurt Cobain designed in collaboration with Fender is to be reissued in October, to mark the 30th anniversary of the band’s Nevermind album.
Cobain worked with Fender's Custom Shop on the guitar’s design and took a prototype out on the road when Nirvana were promoting their third album In Utero, an undertaking which would prove to be the grunge trio’s last tour.
“Kurt always played both guitars,” Fender's Larry Brooks told MusicRadar of the musician's fondness for the Jaguar and Mustang models. "He took photographs of each, cut them in half, and put them together to see what they'd look like. It was his concept, and we detailed and contoured it to give him balance and feel.”
"He was really easy to work with," added Brooks. "I had the chance to sit and talk with him, then we built him a prototype. He played it a while and then wrote some suggestions on the guitar and sent it back to us. The second, time we got it right.”
The new edition of the guitar has the same features as Cobain’s original instrument. These include an alder body, a 24-inch short scale length, a 7.25-inch radius rosewood fingerboard and vintage-style single-coil and humbucking pickups. It will be available in both right and left-handed models, and retail for £1,249 / $1,249.99 / €1,399.
Earlier this year, former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic hinted at a 30th anniversary reissue of Nevermind, but no details of this project have yet emerged.
