Fender Kurt Cobain Telecaster Custom Sunburst Japan 1984 Guitar + Seymour Duncan + Case

Here for sale is a Fender Kurt Cobain Telecaster Custom guitar in Sunburst finish, made in Japan in 1984 with a moulded Fender Hard Case. This guitar is based on the two Fender Telecasters Kurt Cobain played in Nirvana. The First was this exact model from the same time period, a Japanese Fender Telecaster Custom which he obtained for the 1991 Pacific Rim tour in Australia and Japan and used until its destruction at their infamous concert in Rio January 16th, 1993 where it was smashed and the neck was thrown into the crowd and then retrieved by the Red Hot Chili Peppers Guitar tech. This was the guitar that he painted with baby blue latex paint and Kurt scratched 'I heart Courtney' on the front. Footage from the concert shows that the paint was only on the front and sides and the back shows that is was a Telecaster custom the same as this one. 

Kurt then went on to acquire another Japanese Fender Custom Telecaster in Sunburst in 1993 from Fender, but it had by all accounts very shrill pickups. Kurt can be seen playing this guitar backstage in '93 in a serious of famous photographs by Steve Gullick. This guitar was then modded by his Guitar Tech Earnie Bailey and was his last guitar modification for Kurt. This later Telecaster had a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge and a Gibson '59 in the neck position. I no longer have the original pick ups. The Telecaster I am selling is a bridge between Kurt's two Telecasters as it is from the same time period as Kurt's first one without the baby blue latex paint and has the exact modifications of the 1993 Telecaster. Earnie Bailey also said that "after Kurt's coma in Rome, I thought modifying this guitar would make it a workhorse and get him away from the Mustang-Jaguar image. Hopefully, get him perked up." 

This guitar has the same humbucker cut-out bridge and individual saddles for each string. Earnie then went on to state that "I put a Duncan JB - black, and in the neck, a new Gibson PAF, potted with a Chrome cover. He got this back 2 weeks before he died, and said it was his new favorite. He used it for the home recordings he was making with Pat and Eric Erlanderson in March 1994 in Kurt's basement" This guitar has the exact same Gibson Chrome cover PAF in the bridge position and a Seymour Duncan JB in black in the bridge. The end result is this stunning Kurt Cobain Fender Telecaster Custom. Kurt loved his new Telecaster which never left his side and he carried it for months from hotel room to airline.  it is highly likely that this guitar would have been used on the rescheduled European Nirvana Tour dates and the summer USA Lollapalooza tour and marks the next evolution of Kurt's association with Fender and who knows, it may have resulted in an official Kurt Cobain Telecaster model.

The approximate neck measurements are as follows, the width of the nut is 42.42mm / 1.670", the depth of the neck at the first fret is 21.25mm / 0.8365" and 23.47mm / 0.924". It has a C shape neck profile and a 7.25" fretboard radius. The frets are 2.03mm / 0.080" wide and 0.84mm / 0.033" deep. The approximate weight of the guitar is 3.640KG. 

The guitar is in good condition for its age, with plenty of vintage mojo and roadworn characteristics with the odd ding and scratch which all adds to its rock 'n' roll character. The guitar has a couple of dings on the top side above the bridge, some scratches on the underside of the guitar, a small scratch on the bottom of the neck and a small ding above the top of the pickguard on the upper horn. There is also a scratch at the bottom of the headstock, but again this just adds to the vibe. It has a great full sound, a massive improvement on the original pickups which we no longer have. The sound is clear and rich and great for any style of music. The double binding looks gorgeous and the Rosewood neck is beautiful to play and has a nice C shape profile. This is one of the nicest Telecasters we have had in and a great tribute to the late great Kurt Cobain and Japanese Fender craftsmanship.