Fender Jagstang
The Fender Jagstang is an electric guitar designed by Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain and Fender .
Emergence
Kurt Cobain loved to play Fender Mustang and Fender Jaguar guitars. In the 1980s / 1990s, these were cheap in American pawn shops. The alternative rock scene often resorted to these guitars because they were cheap, looked different than the Telecasters and Stratocasters of the established pop stars and were still real fenders. When Kurt was asked what a guitar that was perfect for him should look like, he took photos of both guitars, then glued the top of the Jaguar to the bottom of the Mustang and said, “So!” The name Jag-stang is the abbreviation of the two guitar models Jag = Jag-uar Stang = Mu-stang.
Larry Brooks and Mark Wittenberg from Fender then met with Cobain and discussed the exact implementation. Brooks says:
"He (Kurt) was really easy to work with. I had a chance to sit and talk with him, then we built a prototype. He played it a while and then wrote some suggestions on the guitar and sent it back to us. The second time around, we got it right ” (“ Kurt was good to work with. I had the opportunity to sit down with him and talk, then we built the prototype. He played it for a while, then wrote a few suggestions on the guitar and sent it back. The second time we got it right. ")
The prototype had a Fender Texas Special Single Coil on the neck and a DiMarzio H-3 humbucker. He also had a Mustang neck, which Cobain liked best.
According to Cobain's request, the Jagstang was built in two colors: Sonic Blue and Fiesta Red. Cobain received the blue variant and used it several times on the " In Utero " tour.
He couldn't see the red one anymore. Fender was about to mail it to him when the news of his death arrived.
construction
Since Kurt Cobain died in April 1994, no further changes were made to the guitar. However, it was not delivered with the pickups described above, but with the cheaper Fender replicas .
The guitar has an extremely narrow neck, which is very playable for rhythm guitarists, but should be too narrow for soloists. The body is made of linden wood , the neck of maple .
Another story
From 1995 on, the Jagstang was produced in Japan. On April 11, 2001, Fender announced that they would cease production of the Jagstang. In the summer of 2003, Fender announced at the NAMM Show that the Jagstang was being reissued and could be ordered from Fender dealers. In January 2005, the reissue series was also discontinued. There are currently no plans to reissue the Jagstang.
The first edition of the Jagstang hardly differs from the Reissue. A small sticker on the back of the head with the words "Designed by Kurt Cobain" helps to differentiate. 1996 Jagstangs still have a 50 year anniversary sticker from Fender. At the end of the neck it says “Made in Japan” for the first edition, but “Crafted in Japan” for the next edition. The serial number can be used to determine the age.