“Kurt tended to record with guitars that he liked to play live, guitars he was real comfortable with,” Bailey says, “and at that point the Jag-Stang wasn’t one of them. John McCauley of the band Deer Tick has been seen playing a Sonic Blue model, covered with stickers, live. [3] Dylan Borkowski of alternative group Sixth In Line uses a partially disassembled red Jag-Stang. After Cobain’s April 1994 death, Bailey went on to work as guitar tech with former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl’s band the Foo Fighters before starting his own guitar building business, Wire Instruments, in the Seattle area. Fender Jag-Stang; Manufacturer: Fender: Period: 1994, 1995–2001, 2003–2005: Construction; Body type: Solid: Neck joint: Bolt-on: Scale: 24" Woods; Body: Basswood or Alder on reissues: Neck: Maple: Fretboard: Rosewood: Hardware; Bridge: Fender Dynamic Vibrato: Pickup(s) "Vintage style" single coil "Fender Santa Ana" humbucker: Colors available; Sonic Blue, Fiesta Red “Kurt tended to record with guitars that he liked to play live, guitars he was real comfortable with,” Bailey says, “and at that point the Jag-Stang wasn’t one of them. Guitar builder Earnie Bailey, who was Cobain’s guitar tech, remembers the Jag-Stang, which Cobain really didn’t use much.
Even though Fender had built the Jag-Stang to Cobain’s specs, Bailey modified it as Cobain found things he wanted adjusted. guitarist Peter Buck, who has it to this day. “There was an early show where he may have used it for a song or two, and later on he may have used it for an entire show.” Bailey says that, to his knowledge, Cobain never recorded with the guitar. He only used the bridge pickup, a DiMarzio H-3 humbucker, that was replaced by a Seymour Duncan JB SH-4 at some time. Cobain played the Jag-stang live only a few times, however at Nirvana's concert at Tivoli Hall in Ljubljana, Slovenia, he used the Jag-Stang for the entire show. Originally produced in the fall of 1995, after Kurt Cobain's death, Fender Japan reissued the Jag-Stang two years after its 2001 cancellation due to popular demand. Ruban Nielson, of the band Unknown Mortal Orchestra, uses a red Jag-Stang. [2] Dallon Weekes of Panic! The Jag-Stang guitars have one humbucker, a vintage-style single coil and a Fender floating vibrato, three-position slide on/off switch. “I don’t know if Kurt was much of one to actually endorse anything,” he says. [1] “I’d say he played the Jag-Stang between two and five times on stage,” Bailey says. Molly Rankin of Alvvays plays a red Jag-Stang.
I was in the room or the dressing room when he would be playing some changes he was working on with one of the other guitars, but I was never around when he actually was writing something in full.”. But there were always changes of one kind or another to almost everything.”, Bailey doesn’t know that Cobain used the Jag-Stang for writing, but says he was never actually in Cobain’s presence when the artist was writing a song anyway. And the band’s frontman, the late singer-songwriter-guitarist Kurt Cobain, became the somewhat reluctant spokesman for a population of angst-ridden young men whose lives, almost like his own to that point, seemed to be going nowhere. The Zen of John Prine (In Three Lines) by Jason Wilber. Fender Japan mass-produced and sold the Jag-Stang for a few years following Cobain’s death, and then again from 2001 to 2006 before canceling production altogether. Cobain had an affinity for Fender Jaguars and Mustangs, with those guitars coming to define the Nirvana sound both live and on record. When the new JBL IRX-112BT was announced, I was a little perplexed as to the type of user they were trying to reach,... How do you sit with guitar in hand and not want to play the Spark amp all day? That was one of the things I loved about him.”, Become Part of a 35 Year Tradition American Songwriter has been the number one resource on The Craft of Music for Songwriters and Music Enthusiasts since 1984. It employs the Mustang's "Dynamic Vibrato" bridge and like both of its predecessors, it has a 24" short scale neck (an exact replica of Cobain's favorite neck, from a Fender Mustang). To combine his favorite features of those guitars, the left-handed Cobain approached Fender about building him a new guitar that would be known as the Jag-Stang. Kurt was the first to receive and play the guitar, which also featured a mimic of his favorite guitar neck.
His widow, Courtney Love, gave the original sonic blue Jag-Stang to R.E.M. music video. Robert Madriaga from the band Barber Floyd has been seen playing a red custom Jag-Stang.
It was shipped back to Fender for repairs before Cobain brought it with him on the European leg of Nirvana's In Utero tour in 1994, where the guitar was seldom played live. When Nirvana exploded onto the music scene with Nevermind in 1991, the band became an overnight phenomenon in a new era of rock. Even though Fender had built the Jag-Stang to Cobain's specs, Bailey modified it as Cobain found things he wanted adjusted. Cobain's prototype Jag-Stang had a Fender Texas Special pickup at the neck and a DiMarzio H-3 at the bridge. “Basically everything that came in, including the Jag-Stang, I modified,” Bailey says. I believe the guitar showed up not long before the In Utero tour began, and there wasn’t a lot of recording going on then anyway.”. Fender delivered a prototype sonic blue Jag-Stang to Cobain in 1993, and he took it out on tour in support of Nirvana’s In Utero album. Cobain suggested his idea for an instrument to Fender, resulting in two left-handed prototypes built by former Custom Shop Master Builder Larry L. Brooks, only one of which was played by Cobain himself. Songs like “Smells Like Teen Spirit” “Come As You Are” and “Lithium” changed the airwaves, helping usher in the grunge movement that also spawned bands like Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains. Cobain's Sonic Blue Jag-Stang was given to R.E.M. “Kurt wasn’t really into the business part of it at all. Mike Mills, also from R.E.M., played this same guitar in concert during the song "Let Me In", itself a tribute to Kurt Cobain.
TAS 1000 guitarist, Cass Picken is seen playing a Sonic Blue Jag-Stang at a TAS-A-Thon. Fender once again discontinued importing the Jag-Stang from Japan as of May 2006. Cobain sketched a basic design that was sent to Fender, which was later published as part of his Journals in 2002. But there were always changes of one kind or another to almost everything” ("Legendary Guitars" by R. Moore 2012). I believe the guitar showed up not long before the In Utero tour began, and there wasn’t a lot of recording going on then anyway.”, Even though Fender had built the Jag-Stang to Cobain’s specs, Bailey modified it as Cobain found things he wanted adjusted. The production Jag-Stang includes a "vintage style" single coil pickup and one "special design" humbucker, each with its own toggle switch which a player can use to switch from "on", "off", or "out-of-phase" settings. Kurt Cobain is the one who recommended the idea to Fender, picking up the "Jag-Stang." Conor Walls of Irish rock band Turfboy uses a Sonic Blue Jag-Stang. at the Disco uses a Fender bass that appears to be modeled after the Jag-Stang's body style. Behind the Song: “Angel from Montgomery” by John Prine, Bruce Springsteen Announces Special COVID-19 Relief Concert, “Jersey 4 Jersey”. Bailey is unsure about any true “endorsement” Cobain made of the instrument, but it’s all water under the bridge now. 's Peter Buck by Courtney Love after Cobain died. (The H-3 humbucker is not available as an individual product but the closest sounding one is the DiMarzio DP158 Evolution Neck Pickup.) He stated to Nardwuar the Human Serviette that he designed it by taking a Polaroid of the Mustang and Jaguar, cutting them in half and combining them. Seriously, Positive Grid’s new amp,... John Prine's longtime guitarist on three essential Prine lines Jason Wilber. “Kurt’s older Jaguar was already pretty heavily modded and he liked it pretty much the way it was. Taylor Guitars has lots of excitement surrounding them this year - as they do so often! “I’d say he played the Jag-Stang between two and five times on stage,” Bailey says.
Available in Fiesta Red and Sonic Blue. And Cobain didn’t live long enough to see the second Jag-Stang, a fiesta red one that Fender built for him. “There was an early show where he may have used it for a song or two, and later on he may have used it for an entire show.” Bailey says that, to his knowledge, Cobain never used the guitar to record with.
He used it on rare occasions.