Nirvana is almost universally held up as one of the greatest bands in rock history. Much of that esteem can be attributed to their lead singer, songwriter-in-chief and sole guitarist, Kurt Cobain.
That the band was able to make as much noise as they did, channelling punk rock at its best as they defined the sound of grunge with just one solitary guitar player, is a testament to Cobain’s ability with the instrument.
But it also demonstrates how much attention he paid to the guitar sound they were aiming for and to writing songs that could work for a three-piece punk outfit with only a bass providing harmonic support for a solo guitar, which often combined lead and rhythm parts.
Cobain learned to play the guitar after receiving one as a second-hand gift from his uncle for his 14th birthday, and within eight years, he’d mastered the instrument to the extent that his playing was a key feature of the new musical genre coming out of Seattle in 1989. Here, we delve deep into the making of an alternative rock icon…
So, how did Cobain’s guitar influence Nirvana’s sound?
While Nirvana is commonly referred to as the definitive grunge band, Cobain detested the term. He had grown up on a healthy dose of hardcore punk and had complete disdain for the hair metal bands of the late 1980s with their glossy, radio-friendly guitar sound.
And so, for him, Nirvana’s debut album Bleach was more about delivering a punk rock ethic than it was about the ear for melody he was already displaying. The song ‘About a Girl’ aside, the album bleeds distortion at every turn, its sound covered in white noise and grit. Cobain’s guitar gnaws away incessantly at the verses of most songs, plunging occasionally into a chunky power chord whenever a chorus line appears as if by accident.
This sound was achieved by putting various customised Univox Hi-Flier guitars “through 2×10 Soundtech cabs with a Randall head,” according to former Nirvana drummer Chad Channing. He also distorted the sound with DS-1 and DS-2 Boss pedals.
The Univox Hi-Flier was a relatively cheap guitar to buy second-hand and was easier to get hold of than others for left-handed players like Cobain. Which made it a good choice of guitar to smash up on stage as well.
“He broke a lot of those guitars,” says Rick King, who owned the Tacoma-based guitar shop Cobain frequented. “We sold him several of them for an average of $100 each over the course of five years.”
