Fender Jag-stang® Designed by Kurt Cobain | Japan | '99 - '02

Super duper guitar, one for those guitarist who definitely want to stand out. Designed by Kurt Cobain himself in '93. This one was built just a few years later in Japan (between 1999 and 2002 only 5 of these were built and this is one of them). It comes in a fiest-red finish which has those orangy hues in it (different from the the usualy fiesta red). Looks just fantastic and feels just like a proper Fender should, which gives you that great playing experience.  The guitar has been professionally set up in house. The action is nice and low with no buzzing or dead spots. The guitar has a slight paint chip on the right side of the neck pocket and a few light marks on the right side of the body. Other than that ... it's in great condition. It also has upgraded pickups, on the neck it has an original Fender ST Vintage and a JB model Seymour Duncan TB-4 at the bridge ... their most popular pickup of all time. Blues, country, fusion, punk, hard rock, grunge. A perfect blend of sounds for the style this guitar was made for. 
 
Few artists in the music history can be credited with changing the industry nearly overnight and continuing to influence music culture three decades after the height of their popularity.
 
Kurt Cobain and his bandmates in Nirvana appeared on the scene in the early '90s as generational talents who combined raucous, heavy tones, punk-infused energy and melodic hooks to create a sound that quickly attracted millions of fans and established grunge and alternative rock as a genre with legitimate mainstream appeal.
 
Although Kurt was seen playing a variety of Fender guitars over the years, his Fender Jaguar® and Mustang® remain the most iconic due to their use on the "Nevermind" tour and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" music video. Kurt designed the Jag-Stang® to combine his favorite elements of both instruments and brought it to life with help from the Fender Custom Shop in 1993.
 
The alder body delivers a punchy tone perfect for big power chords, the 24" short-scale reduces string tension for easier playing, and the 7.25" radius rosewood fingerboard with maple neck has a comfortable feel that won't fatigue your hands when chording. The vintage-style single-coil and custom humbucking pickups are perfect for recreating Kurt's classic tones, while the Mustang slider switches provide the flexibility to dial in four distinct settings for a variety of in or out-of-phase tones.
 
More info about the model: 
Origins
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.
In an interview from January 4, 1994, Cobain talked about designing the Jag-Stang, since it had not yet been produced. He stated to Nardwuar the Human Serviette that he designed it by taking a Polaroid of a Mustang and a Jaguar, cutting them in half and pasting them together.
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.
Cobain sketched a basic design that was sent to Fender, which was later published as part of his Journals in 2002.
According to Cobain's guitar tech Earnie Bailey, the Jag-stang was played live only a few times; at Nirvana's concert at Tivoli Hall in Ljubljana, Slovenia, he used the Jag-Stang for the entire show. Kurt played the song Dumb with a Jag-Stang, but played the Fender Mustang on almost the entire set. “I’d say he played the Jag-Stang between two and five times on stage,” Bailey says. “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.
“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. 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. “Basically everything that came in, including the Jag-Stang, I modified,” Bailey says. “Kurt’s older Jaguar was already pretty heavily modded and he liked it pretty much the way it was. But there were always changes of one kind or another to almost everything”.
 
Design
Cobain's prototype Jag-Stang had a Fender Texas Special pickup at the neck and a DiMarzio H-3 at the bridge. 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. 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).
Originally produced in 1996, after Kurt Cobain's death, Fender Japan reissued the Jag-Stang two years after.
 
Jag-Stang Users
Kurt Cobain is the one who recommended the idea to Fender, picking up the "Jag-Stang." Kurt was the first to receive and play the guitar, which also featured a mimic of his favorite guitar neck. He used it on rare occasions. He only used the bridge pickup, a DiMarzio H-8 humbucker, that was replaced by a Seymour Duncan JB SH-4 at some time. Cobain's Sonic Blue Jag-Stang was given to R.E.M.'s Peter Buck by Courtney Love after Cobain died. He can be seen playing it (modified for right-handed playing) in the "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" music video. 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. An example of this can be seen on their Road Movie DVD. TAS 1000 guitarist, Cass Picken is seen playing a Sonic Blue Jag-Stang at a TAS-A-Thon. Ruban Nielson, of the band Unknown Mortal Orchestra, uses a red Jag-Stang. Dallon Weekes of I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME uses a Fender bass that appears to be modeled after the Jag-Stang's body style. Molly Rankin of Alvvays plays a red Jag-Stang. Nicolle Maroulis of indie-pop band Hit Like a Girl uses a custom shell pink Jag-stang. Conor Walls of rock band Turfboy uses a Sonic Blue Jag-Stang. Dylan Borkowski of alternative group Sixth In Line uses a partially disassembled red Jag-Stang. John McCauley of the band Deer Tick has been seen playing a Sonic Blue model, covered with stickers, live. Robert Madriaga from the band Barber Floyd has been seen playing a red custom Jag-Stang.