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View Full Version : Cobain Guitar - bad photomatch or bad description or..



Krsoneus
05-14-2015, 10:32 PM
I saw an autographed Kurt Cobain notebook paper thats up on ebay right now...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NIRVANA-LEAD-SINGER-KURT-COBAIN-HAND-SIGNED-AUTHENTIC-AUTOGRAPH-PAPER-/111666590563?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19ffd8f363


and after watching the recent Cobain documentary that premiered on HBO a week ago, it got me to looking up some of his memorabillia and prices to see whats out there...

Really only a few of his guitars have hit the markes with some hitting 6 figure prices, the cheaper of the bunch was an Acoustic Martin that went for $30,000, heck that might even be a great deal, wonder if the owner is considering offers thru the auction house?

That really could be a solid investment 30k for a sweet Kurt Cobain owned guitar i initially thought... Now its probably worth at least 30k if someone he dated briefly in 1990 is willing to confirm this saying she was given the guitar after Kurt bought it / owned it / played it, and just leave it at that...


But not only does the listing say Cobain bought the guitar and then gave it to this girlfriend, it says,
"Included is a color photo of Cobain playing the guitar."
Interstingly if you go to the listing and look closely at the photo, even though he's holding it lefty, the strings are still strung righty, so is he playing his guitar, or is he holding one of her guitars for a brief moment?...

Even more interesting, sounds like they're saying this is a photomatch, and I can't believe questions were never raised about this photo because its completely obvious that we are looking at two different guitars based on the usage shown.
Anyone want to weigh in on how the use on these guitars?
Much like the use on game used equipment, the use in the pictures look like two completely different guitars, its not even close.

http://entertainment.ha.com/itm/vintage-guitars-and-musical-instruments/kurt-cobain-s-1953-martin-acoustic-guitar-singer-songwriter-and-reluctant-spokesman-for-generation-x-kurt-cobain-played/a/647-22552.s#233233243


Moving on, the listing also says :

"The guitar being offered was Cobain's first Martin D-18, and the model became his favorite brand of acoustic. (Cobain continued to use this model throughout his career.)"

So this is his favorite model of acoustic guitar? I'll give any forum member $5 if they can find a single photo of Cobain playing a regular D-18 guitar stringed left handed so he can actually play it of course.
Now, the D-18E, a similar model, but visually different, with electric pickups, volume knobs, etc apparently there was only 300 of these made, now that one he was known for playing when he recorded the Unplugged Album.

The website below has this information on all Kurt's guitars, they list in detail, 7 different acoustics Kurt used, putting information together from interviews of Kurt and people that worked on his guitars, and no mention of any standard D-18 guitars used by Kurt and this is somebody that has a website devoted to the equipment he used...
http://www.kurtsequipment.com/


Moving forward,
apparently after the auction ended people would continue to ask his exgirlfriend, Mary Lou Lord about the guitar has its continued to garner noteriety, probably more than she expected when she originally sold it to a guitar dealer and then it made its way to the big time auctions and press, probably didnt even get that much money for it initially.

So now after many inquiries about it, she has a detailed account of the guitar after the fact, posted here :
http://www.josephkaynephoto.com/page/grandpa/

So the facts are somewhat different a few years later, Kurt didnt buy it, she bought it, but gifted it to Kurt because the guitar was loved so much. She later got it back, and more famous artists used it after she got it back, and now its in the Martin Museum bottom of the page :

http://blog.martinguitar.com/blog/archive/2013/12



Conclussion :
I'm not saying the guitar wasnt used by Kurt. Maybe it was used by Kurt.

But if you look at the details on Kurts equipment page, it does sound like his equipment took work to switch from righty to lefty, including other acoustics he sent a Seattle shop to have the nut/bridge reworked so he could play it, you'd think there would be more verifiable 2nd party information about this guitar out there in the world, being worked on, but all there is are slightly different stories, and a photo of Kurt holding a different, right handed strung, banged up Martin.

Krsoneus
05-15-2015, 12:00 AM
I keep stairing at these photos of this guitar he's holding in the photo and the guitar on her album cover, i guess the wear isnt the same.
But must have been refinished?
I do see some similarities now comparing those two photos.. I guess it is the same guitar, but in the photo of him holding it is still strung right handed with a pink guitar strap...

"Once held by Kurt Cobain"..

beachpetrol
05-15-2015, 12:58 AM
Might be me, but the ring around the sound hole looks bigger in the auction photo, than the guitar Kurt is holding. Also the bridge looks like the size might be different.

michaellechner
05-15-2015, 09:28 AM
Not trying to be a jerk, but this has nothing to do with game used memorabilia. Let's stay on topic here.

ndevlin
05-15-2015, 06:26 PM
Not trying to be a jerk, but this has nothing to do with game used memorabilia. Let's stay on topic here.

I personally enjoyed it. You knew what the thread was about before you clicked on it, right?

helmets
05-15-2015, 09:07 PM
I personally enjoyed it. You knew what the thread was about before you clicked on it, right?

Ditto. i found it interesting.

Phil316
05-15-2015, 09:31 PM
Thanks for posting. A good friend of mine bought a trunk that was once owned by Cobain. Lots of clothing and a pair of his shoes. After lots of looking at pictures we could identify several pieces. He has slowly sold them off over the years the last being a moomoo Kurt wore onstage.

Krsoneus
05-16-2015, 12:11 AM
Thank you guys for the feedback.

Your right Michael, I agree its not really best suited for GUU.
I will stick with sports posts in the future.

If the thread did have to get pulled or closed by a moderator because its N/A to sports I'm fine with any of that, just glad to hear that some of you did enjoy it first, thanks.

Jags Fan Dan
05-16-2015, 04:15 AM
I enjoyed it, too. Nirvana was a huge influence on me and played a large part in me learning bass guitar and playing in a band for years. I enjoyed checking out the guitar!

camarokids
05-16-2015, 12:11 PM
Thank you guys for the feedback.

Your right Michael, I agree its not really best suited for GUU.
I will stick with sports posts in the future.

If the thread did have to get pulled or closed by a moderator because its N/A to sports I'm fine with any of that, just glad to hear that some of you did enjoy it first, thanks.

I have to disagree. It is still part of collecting. Now if it were about Barbie Dolls or My Little Ponies I would agree.

Most of us collect other subjects besides sports.

chargeralaska
05-16-2015, 05:13 PM
Hard to tell with a small photo like that if it matches or not. Good luck!

I sold a signed airline vomit bag that Kurt wrote a note on for $4500 last year--not bad.