Fender Kurt Cobain Jag Stang
N
irvana and Kurt Cobain
fans probably associate
the late frontman closest
with his sunburst Jaguar
or the Mustangs he used
throughout his career, but there
are others – the pawn shop
Mosrites, the ‘Vandalism’
Strat, and the Jag-Stang.
Cobain worked with the Fender
Custom Shop to develop the
Jag-Stang concept, famously
sending an annotated collage of
a Jaguar and Mustang in order to
direct the builders to the shape
he had imagined. In essence, it’s
a Jaguar shape on the bass side
and a Mustang on the treble side.
The Jag-Stang is often a slightly
forgotten weapon in the Cobain
arsenal, largely due to the fact
that the guitar was still in the
unreleased prototype stages at
the time of his death. But Kurt did
receive one, and used it on stage at
a number of Nirvana’s fi nal gigs in
late 1993 and early 1994. While
there have been tributes to his
Jaguar and Mustangs, the
Jag-Stang is the only ‘signature’
guitar that had Cobain’s
involvement.
This reissue is the third
incarnation of the Jag-Stang,
having originally materialised as
a Japanese-made model in 1996,
then again in the 2003 with an
alder body replacing the basswood
original. Today’s version comes
from Fender’s Mexican factory,
and includes the alder body of the
second run. Fender has developed
Jag-Stang pickups this time
around – a single coil in the neck
position and a humbucker in the
bridge. Elsewhere, it’s got a maple
neck, rosewood fi ngerboard with
a 7.5-inch radius, Mustang bridge
and Fender Dynamic vibrato,
white pearloid scratchplate and
is off ered in the same two Fiesta
Red and Sonic Blue fi nishes.
Now, the fi rst thing you’ll notice
is that neck. It’s a gloss fi nish
which is either your thing or not,
but whereas many modern
Fenders come with a C-shape
profi le and 9.5” or 12” radius, the
Jag-Stang’s vintage 7.5” defi nitely
complies with Cobain’s wishes for
it to feel thin. Combined with the
24” scale length, it might be a bit
of a hunch if your digits are less
than dainty. That said, it does keep
everything feeling a little more
within reach than, say, a 25.5”
Strat with a 12” radius.
Electronically, there’s a single
volume and tone control, and
a pair of horizontal toggles, giving
you on, off and out of phase
positions. It’s a change of mindset
that will likely take some getting
used to as switching one pickup
off and another on independently
requires two switch movements.
Sound-wise, the neck pickup
is very much in the Strat neck
ballpark, becoming punchier and
snappier with plenty of clarity
when you really hit it, great for the
cleaner side of Cobain’s riffi ng.
There’s a lot to love about the
Jag-Stang, but it’s not for
everyone. The body is unique, the
neck is quite diff erent, and the
switching isn’t straightforward.
But isn’t the idea of a signature
guitar to bring something new
to the table? And while the Kurt
Cobain Jaguar is still a current
model in the Fender catalogue,
the Jag-Stang has the unique
connection of being the guitar
that Kurt conceived, and for fans
that will be the deciding factor.
Stuart Williams
FENDER KURT
COBAIN JAG-STANG
Cobain’s “dream guitar” gets a reissue
1
2
3
AT A GLANCE
FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
PLAYABILITY
OVERALL RATING
SUMMARY
Photography Phil Barker
1
DESIGN
Kurt Cobain created
the Jag-Stang by
merging two of his
favourite Fender
models – the Jaguar and
Mustang. This reissue is
available in the same
Sonic Blue and Fiesta
Red finishes as the
original was.
2
NECK
The Jag-Stang
follows the Fender
short-scale blueprint
at 24”, but has
a vintage-style 7.5”
fingerboard radius.
3
ELECTRONICS
Two three-position
toggle switches give
you on/off/out of phase
switching for the
Jag-Stang single coil
and humbucker.
BODY: Alder
NECK: Maple
SCALE: 24”
FINGERBOARD:
Rosewood
FRETS: 22
CONT ROLS: Master
volume, master tone
2x 3-position pickup
switches
HARDWARE: Nickel/
Chrome
LEFT-HANDED: Yes
(same price)
FINISH: Fiesta Red
[pictured], Sonic Blue
CONTACT: Fender,
www.fender.com
£1199
MARCH 2022 TOTAL GUITAR
REVIEW
93
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