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Take a look below at some of my work into replicating a range of the tortoise shell guards found on Kurt Cobain's offset guitars.
I take pride in my replica Pickguards being faithful 1:1 replicas of the originals, unmatched to any other 'replica' guard, both in pattern and quality.
All Kurt Cobain Replica Guards are £95 + postage costs to your country.
1993 Fender Japan Fujigen Mustang "Skystang-I"
Skystang-I
Made directly from the real guard itself when I requested the guitar was brought to Dublin, and was granted permission from Darren Julien of Julien's Auctions in 2023 to document the pickguard and bring along my original left handed Fender mustang. (Thank you!!) - these are a 1:1 exact replica of Kurt's original 1993 Fujigen Fender Mustang pickguard, not only mimicing the pattern and colours, but overall look of the guard too, unlike many other makers, who tend to spray clear paint ontop of their attempts.
Through speaking with Scott Zimmerman, Fender Japan's Masterbuilder who assembled and constructed all 6 of Kurt's MIJ Mustangs, he revealed that the 'Yellow V' was something he initially planned to cut out, but instead at the last minute, when routing the guards, decided to embrace them, leaving his print on one of the most iconic guitars Kurt used.
Avaliable in ANY Mustang format. Send me a message and we can discuss.
*Avaliable as a Light Relic - mimicing Kurt's wear patches, detailed on the original guard, as well as mis-aligned humbucker route, as done by Earnie Bailey in 1993.
Also avaliable as a '1993 US Tour' spec (body mounted humbucker), or '1994 Europe Tour' spec (added humbucker mounting hole - for direct pickguard mounting.)
*SKY-STANG II NOW ALSO AVAILABLE! - CHECK BELOW! :)
1966 CBS Fullterton Jaguar - 'The Jaguar'
I have been provided with documentation, enabling me to perfectly replicate Kurt's original 1966 Jaguar pickguard, 1:1 - originally owned by Martin Jenner.
I have theorized for a long time that this pickguard, like many parts of the guitar, aren't original to the guitar from 1966, due to the steeper bevel within the pickguard. This guitar featured parts from luthiers within the UK aswell whilst Kurt owned it, including a entirely different neck, rumoured to be highly modified from a different early '66 Jaguar neck.
Available for all Jaguar Specs! Message me to discuss.
Pics show:
Kurt Cobain Signature Mexico and Japan Specs
Accurate USA Kurt Spec (altered pickup locations to match Kurt's original '66)
1993 Fujigen/Fender Custom Shop - Prototype No.1 Jagstang
A faithful 1:1 of the pickguard on the Prototype Jagstang model Fender sent Kurt in 1993 and would use here and there over the In Utero Tour - notabably the Tallehasse show and Zenith.
Noticable different shape on the upper area of the pickguard, as well as a 1ply, glossy white material, opposed to the 4ply Perloid that will be present on all Production run models, and Prototype 2.
Made to fit on Mexico Reissue Jagstangs as well as CIJ Dyna-Gakki Fender Japan 1997 Models. *Please Note - Due to the nature of this guard and having replicated screw holes on Kurt's Prototypes, it is unlikely all screws will match to your body.*
Please contact me for other specs, avaliable on request.
NOTE: This pickguard is also available made to stock Jagstang production specs, meaning your guitar will not need to be modified for it to fit.
1993 Fender Japan Fujigen Mustang - 'Oranj-Stang'
Roseland Ballroom/New Music Seiminar Pickguard.
A faithful replica of the beautiful 90s tort pickguard cut and sent by Scott Zimmerman in the first batch of Mustangs Kurts recieved. We were able to replicate this pattern by sourcing another Japanese 1993 made guitar, which featured the same section of tortoise-shell pattern, allowing us to reproduce the pattern seen on Kurt's original guitar.
This was the first Japanese Mustang Kurt was seen with live, played only at this show as seen with the Tort pickguard, for its classic 'red on red' look, before tech Earnie Bailey changed it out for a White/aged white Perloid one from 'Chandler Guitars'. This took place before taking stage at the Arizona State Fair, which also marked the beginning of the 'In Utero' world tour.
'In Utero Tour' Era Replica Perloid Pickguard.
This is a faithful replica of the Pickguard Earnie Bailey requested from 'Chandler Pickguards' in Mid 1993, after the New Music Seminar/Roseland Ballroom preformance.
Chandler pickguards of that time featured some unique features which make them identifable/unique, such as the rounded switch routes visable on the 'Oranj-stang. (pictured below.)
1993 Fender Japan Fujigen Mustang - 'Skystang-II' / 'blue-Mustank'
Skystang-II
A faithful replica of the unique, and rarely seen 90s tort pickguard cut and sent by Scott Zimmerman for the second batch of Mustangs Kurts recieved.
We were able to replicate this pattern by some hard investigative work into guitar, with some kind help by a couple photographers who pictured this guitar up close.
Kurt wasn't seen with 'Skystang-II very often, but you will see him using it as a back-up from time to time on the In Utero tour when Skystang-I was out of action. (string breaks etc.)
Once iconic preformance where you can see Kurt using this guitar is at the 1994 'Tunnel' TV show in Italy, where Nirvana played 'Serve the servants' and 'Dumb'.
(Unfortunately a 'Nirvana-centered' seller has now copied/scanned the below photo from my website and is offering a low-res sticker on a pickguard, without the white/black/white edges...)
Ensure you study the example photos here to see the difference in quality.
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