Complete Story of Nirvana at 1992 MTV VMAs + My VMA Strat Build | Nirvana Guitar History Episode 4

Diving into the crazy stories & drama surrounding Nirvana's appearance at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards. Also showing my new Fender VMA Strat build and all that went into it
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - Intro
0:21 - What 1992 was like for Nirvana
4:11 - Nirvana at the MTV VMAs
11:39 - Kurt's Hot Rail Strats
13:04 - My VMA Strat Build
My amazon storefront where you can buy gear/parts Kurt used: www.amazon.com/shop/nirvanagu...
Vandalism Strat Stickers - use coupon code "nirvanaguitars" to get 2 for the price of 1:
khristore.com/product/kurt-co...
Nirvana Gear artwork by SketchyPedals:
sketchypedals.com/collections...
Lomic Guitars - Where I got my custom 2021 Jag-Stang Pickguard:
ebay.us/4Luq0j
Learn Nirvana songs with Fender Play!
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Follow me on instagram at @nirvanaguitars
Check out my progressive punk band at ithomiid.com
Check out my acoustic project at atlasmn

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Like what I do? Buy me a coffee so I can stay awake while I mix audio and edit videos 😴 www.buymeacoffee.com/nirvanaguitars

[@teerboyd]

Its kinda messed up how kurt one day just went “i know we agreed to split everything threeways but now im thinking more like 60-20-20. Oh and you guys gotta pay me money you already spend. Hope we can still be friends 😊”

[@filippo923]

seem something Courtney would do😅

[@jmdyt3626]

Exactly and it goes against the whole I don’t want to be famous and have money thing and then even after having loads wanting more

[@signoguns8501]

Yeah, its the retroactive changes that really twist the knife in. What a slap in the face lol. You can tell that they all hated each other by the end. Just look at the body language in some of those interviews from 93 onwards. They look absolutely miserable. I imagine that Kurt could be a very difficult person to get along with sometimes.

[@foofghtr]

Well at that point he’s married with a kid, ya know the wifey may have said something about it. Honestly if he wrote the song he gets 100% of the publishing for the words, and Nirvana splits the music end of the publishing 3 ways and Kurt gets paid again. So a publisher pays the artists with those two pies. Words Kurt Cobain 50% of the pie. Music by Nirvana 1/3 split of 50% So Kurt gets paid 66.6% and the other two get 16.6% each for the music. That’s how the business works.

[@PorkSnorkle]

@@foofghtr for a frontman who was inherently counter culture, you would expect him to not care about how "business works" walking contradiction.

[@dylanguerrero3889]

i love how i got this notification right as i was watchin' the VMA performance

[@NirvanaGuitars]

haha that's perfect timing!

[@PalmettoStateSirens]

That has to be good luck or something

[@TheBlackSheep-sd7yb]

Believe it or not the same thing happened to me 😅

[@KossoffFan]

I remember that night like it was last night. I was eight and in less than a year’s time my world would change forever. The first was my parents splitting up in October the previous year. The second was seeing Nirvana on the VMAs. My mom and sister taped the whole show as they had done a year earlier. I wore out that VHS. My life has never been the same since that night.

[@xero_2003]

In all honesty, you’re one of the main reasons why I got back into loving nirvana. It makes me realize every time I watch one of your videos that it still is possible to get those tones

[@PalmettoStateSirens]

And here I thought that I knew every little thing about Nirvana. Your Nirvana history videos are teaching me more valuable info than history class ever will. (Btw I loved the little emoji section)

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thank you so much! I love doing the research for these history videos, it’s fun and a completely different process then putting together tone videos 😁

[@dylanlovesqueentoomuch8720]

I'll be honest, I had no clue that Krist shared a drink with Brian May, which is the coolest thing I've heard.

[@NirvanaGuitars]

I love imaging a frantic and worried Dave bursting in and finding them haha

[@trashcan_5450]

Love these story/tone videos, theyre so dope to watch while doing stuff

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thank you so much! That take quite a bit of time to research and put together, but I love gathering all the facts and trying to put it together in a (hopefully) entertaining way

[@sethcallen-pb4hm]

Dude this looks so cool great job

[@b1ocko]

this is one of my favourite videos youve made. i loved the history section about the while axl rose situation. great job :)

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thank you so much! These history videos take a lot of time and research so I really appreciate you saying it's one of your favorites 😃

[@b1ocko]

@@NirvanaGuitars ive been watching you for getting onto a year, and ive got to say all the history videos have definitely been my favourites. keep it going man, i love your videos :)

[@b1ocko]

@@NirvanaGuitars by the way, congratulations on the huge sub gain! i believe when i started watching you, you had below 10k. your doing great!

[@Organizedconfusionn]

This live its incridible

[@NirvanaGuitars]

The best Lithium performance imo

[@mirata7748]

I'm so amazed at your ability to push out great content like this with fantastic editing. I usually skip a lot of nirvana backstory/storytime videos because they tend to miss out few key details and other parts to the story that are so vital which leads me to usually end up doing the research myself, But you did your research really well on this. Everything from writing the script to the production of the video was laid out excellent, It wasn't boring at all! I was fully invested even though I was already aware of the history behind the 92' VMA's. Loved it!

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thank you so much! Means a lot coming from a diehard Nirvana fan such as yourself 🙏 I have a lot of fun doing the research and then trying to piece it all together in a (hopefully) entertaining way 😃

[@tylerferrusi7652]

Great content as always! This was a super interesting one for me as my first real guitar was a mim std strat that's ended up with texmex neck & mid pups w/ a hotrails bridge. Nirvana is my favorite band and I built that strat before I even knew about Kurt's hotrails strats.

[@alexpromares5813]

i think we can agree that night and days prior to the VMA performance where the materialized version of the word "b o n k e r s" lmaoooo Jokes aside, great video man! you never fail to deliver with these amazing high quality videos!

[@Morbid0007]

Another great video!

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thank you!

[@hugohenriques8524]

Another great vídeo! I really like all the details you put on your vídeos! Great work! Thanks

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thank you!

[@h.k6781]

On of my favorite Nirvana Shows!

[@khristore]

Great vid! You did a good job with that beautiful white strat 👍

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thank you so much my friend!! 🙏

[@dpmcnevin]

Great video! I was a high school student and a huge Nirvana fan when they played the VMAs. I remember I had a VHS tape of the performance that I had recorded, and would play it over and over. Of course, MTV would replay the VMAs occasionally, but for the longest time they'd cut out the Rape Me part.. but I always had my tape that I'd go back to!

[@nirvanerbean]

love it ❤

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thank you!

[@josephjunior2364]

hi big fan of nirvana and i love ur vids and guitars :) u have amazing vids

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thank you for watching!

[@Frezfoo]

Good job dude.

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thank you!

[@fish_8696]

You should turn the old vandalism Strat into his tune-o-matic Strat

[@JuliqnF]

Wow! This Video was so good and entertaining! Can you do more of this history Videos?

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thank you so much! I do plan on doing more, but I do currently have 4 other ones up too 😃 kzbin.info/aero/PL_BjLJXaLwLBYstQ_q3b_Kdyq3j9lApfH

[@JuliqnF]

Cool!

[@deviduhansakananayakkara2030]

Super video 👍👍👍👍👏👏👏

[@isaacsong-so5um]

hi i love your content remember your reading 92 tone you did the first part with the jaguar and you said when you got a srat with hot rails you would do part 2 now you have can you pls do it now thanks rip kurt

[@NJGAMER_12]

Great video, can you do a video of the tone at reading 1992

[@kylehunter2012]

I’ve been debating either getting a jb jr or hot rails in my white strat, my friend you’ve sold me on the hot rails, thanks so much, I’ve got a small clone and vintage DS2 so I’m pretty sure I can ballpark some Cobain tones with this pickup

[@Headlessguitarist13]

That’s cool

[@curtisbush5728]

Ive been looking at vintage white on white squier/tokai/Greco strats recently... I've also been thinking about changing the bridge pickup to a hot rail as well, to acquire similar tone/sound!

[@Stayaway234]

Can u please do more history videos about Kurt’s guitars or just nirvana history in general and if you were to do another history vid about one of his axes pls do his jaguar🙏

[@theshiningemerald4288]

Fantastic video and information as always! This was also like a history of '92 video which a year of Nirvana I don't really know much on. Thank you so much and great work!!

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thank you for the kind words and for watching 🙏

[@Jeremya74]

put hotrails in my first strat..I didn't even know he had he did that..I just liked the way it sounded and looked..his white and black strats remind me of pink Floyd and Hendrix..wish I still had that strat

[@caylesswalsh9199]

The guitar is so cool ! I was wandering what happened to your first vandalism start. You put the neck to good use

[@NirvanaGuitars]

I was a little bummed to take it apart, I put a lot of work into it and really liked it. But there was no way I was not gonna use that nice neck somehow. Really happy I transferred it over to the VMA build 😃

[@caylesswalsh9199]

Personally I thought it was a new start and not parts from your other vandalism guitar. Great job

[@MisterRorschach90]

My uncle is a left handed guitarist so when I learned they actually make left handed guitars I was a little confused. Because he just plays guitar upside down. Which makes it really hard to follow him when playing together because all of the chord shapes are completely different.

[@slurvie6241]

Did you ever get to see Nirvana? I was too young but I would've loved to

[@brandonpoynter7419]

Awesome video! I am curious where you ordered your pickguard from? I didn't see it at Lomic. Thanks for what you do!

[@sussyperson2539]

Love this band and history thank you

[@Voidedfireleg2]

Will you ever upload any Fecal Matter covers? Big fan of the channel

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Yes! I meant to a while ago but then I keep getting new video ideas and kept forgetting lol 😂 I will soon!

[@TheNirvanaNerd87]

The vma show is probably my favorite just because of all the drama that’s apart the story

[@cezqx8343]

can you do a gear and tone review/ explanation for incecticide? im not sure if you already have, but if you havent then i think it would be great as i love the tone from the album and hope to recreate it

[@smartavocado8319]

He did that

[@blason56]

Hotrail Strats are pretty fun

[@claw0304]

shoot, why'd Kurt wanted more royalties? i didn't knew that btw GREAT VIDEO i love sm your videos cause they are sooooo well edited and well produced, like a documentary, perfect man!

[@1713162434]

Greeeeeeat video! Congrats dude. One question, did you change the volume pot (250k) that came originally with the guitar? Or did you change for a new one 500k pot?

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thank you! I did not change the pot, it's the original one it came with

[@thrillvilled111]

Love the fact that you took a Vandalism Strat and converted it into the VMA Strat. So satisfying and yet so awesome for another guitar to add to the timeline of all the Kurt's guitars that the used over the years. 🎸

[@NirvanaGuitars]

I was a little bummed to take my original Vandalism apart, I put a lot of work into it and really liked it. But there was no way I was not gonna use that nice neck somehow, and I knew I didn't want 2 roadworn Vandalism strats. Really happy I transferred the neck over to this VMA build 😃

[@thebluetortex]

I was just thinking about when this video would be made lol.

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Perfect timing 😉

[@18bagabooo]

Dang - i have a 91 hendrix strat mim , with hot rails- just yesterday i was thinking “this sounds pretty close to nirvana sound, with a ds1 into a jcm 800” - turns out got the same pickups 🤣 total coincidence on my side as i was just chasing other sounds 🤣

[@theshiningemerald4288]

YAASSS

[@jesdonut2223]

Wow❤❤

[@powerlink2000]

The history you showed on this video is SO interesting! Well done!

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thank you so much!

[@crumdyagain]

So much happened at that show, physically to krist especially.

[@ModernDayWarrior2112]

In a twist of irony, the album that knocked Nevermind off the top of the charts? Adrenalize by Def Leppard. From the very genre that Nirvana supposedly killed off.

[@ilgarisnotme5001]

HI AXL

[@jysan7508]

Hi Eric, beside the cool nerdy content of your channel, you got a really great talent to narrate a story.

[@NirvanaGuitars]

I appreciate that thank you!

[@Bobbytabasco962]

For what ever reason growing up i just didnt enjoy watching tha v.m.a's but i had seen earlier that week that this was going to be on and so when that day came i was unenthusiastic watching switch back an forth during tha commercials but then they announced that nirvana was going ta play...an at that point i had heard only a handful of there songs i knew of only one person who had there tape...though i thought they were good however after seeing this song live i knew at that point they were something special....never seen them in person live but a few years later i was able ta catch there unplugged concert on t.v.....

[@Runkpocker]

I really don't like to think about or see anything Nirvana related when it comes to 1992 as it was noticeably the most troubled period for both the band and Cobain. Great video as always nonetheless.

[@NirvanaGuitars]

I totally get that, I feel that way about 94. I really want to know more about what went during the European In Utero tour but at the same time it's a massive bummer

[@Venlifh]

Hi Axl, hi Axl

[@mini3456]

Do you know or have any information on what pickup did Kurt use on his k records Strat? Awesome video btw

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thank you! The K strat humbucker is kind of a mystery, as far as I know we don't know for sure. I think it was either a JB or 59b, I've seen people build K strats and they seem to usually put in a JB

[@rooster8925]

Hot rail pickup on the bridge

[@kkrsnn5632]

Probably the last good VMA show... I remember watching this...

[@shadowedge729]

awesome video! is there any footage of that soundcheck from the vmas that you were talking about?

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thank you! As far as I know and saw in my research, all we currently have is the like 2 seconds of Kurt bent over with his Jaguar. The clip that I used in this video

[@shadowedge729]

@@NirvanaGuitars oh ok then

[@eldiablo3794]

Pertaining to the VMA beef between Nirvana and GnR, Ironically it was Duff Mcagan who was one of the last people to see Kurt alive and actually hung out before and during their flight back to Seattle after Kurt left rehab days before his suicide. Duff even admitted that he sensed something was wrong and regretted not reaching out to see if Kurt was ok. But as a recovering heroin addict myself its hard for me to believe that if Duff did offer to hang with Kurt and Kurt accepted, Im pretty sure they would've just ended up getting high lol. It would've probably stalled Kurt by a few days from doing the inevitable, but in the end, im sure Kurt would've still taken his own life.

[@TheCamSays]

Of all the times I’ve seen the Lithium VMA performance, I never saw the pick tucked into the pickguard.

[@dhilan9946]

Hi, can you make a video about doing guitar feedback I'm trying to learn and everyone is saying face the amp I do that and it doesn't work. They say put it behind still doesn't work. By the way I also have a ds2 and small clone. But I'm doing the feed back with the ds2

[@Arkaitz.M.A]

I think royaltys topic hasn´t Kurts idea. I think he was poisoned by another so near to he. All show was epic on and out stage

[@wantutosigh1117]

It reeks of Courtney.

[@user-ib3gj3ty9k]

Literally one of the most common guitars ever played to sound like Nirvana and will do a good job, and great theory!

[@ilgarisnotme5001]

this guitar is one of the easiest build of kurt cobain guitars (just get a white to white sss strat and put a hot road to bridge pickup) but have one of the best tones i think

[@tonyhall3365]

So much happened in a small period

[@GothamGuardian747]

Yessss. Beautiful job Eric. Is the history of Kurt’s jaguar next?👀👀

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thank you! I've been getting requests for Jaguar and Vandalism history videos. I'm gonna start researching for those soon, but it might take me a while because there's so much to talk about when it comes to those two 😅

[@Frezfoo]

@@NirvanaGuitars Oh yes, Jaguar story would be so cool. 👍

[@dhilan9946]

Hi bro so for your MTV unplugged guitar how did you get the pickup wire to not come out of the guitar. Because don't you have to plug a jack thing into the pickup and the other end goes to the amp. Like how did you get a wire to go into the guitar from the amp instead a wire from the pickup going out the soundhole into the amp.

[@WilliamHaisch]

I had completely forgotten about the stupid drama between them back then. I loved both bands and it was a bummer when people started to divide along partisan band lines. Thank goodness that didn’t last too long.

[@gloryxkid]

I had no idea about the royalties thing, I kinda get it but at the same time what a bummer to put that strain on the band

[@gloryxkid]

@@paranoizehfx 😐

[@wantutosigh1117]

It reeks of Courtney.

[@strumdogmillionaire]

With the neck plate missing they would've had to take the broken neck piece off and put it back on with out the plate. Interesting video. Love your work

[@NEVERMIND_JAG]

Great video you really nailed it!! But I’ve got a question. My jagstang sounds very clunky and metallic is it because I’ve left it stock or not. do you know how I can fix that?

[@procrastinator6902]

I'll be honest with you, they're just not very good sounding guitars at all. It's a common complaint with them and probably the reason Kurt gave away one of the 2 he had. I'm thinking his suggestion to have it made was more of a half joke than anything well thought out.

[@NEVERMIND_JAG]

Thanks for letting me know

[@Nick-s-f]

In Utero could have so easily never happened when you consider how crazy 1992 was for them.

[@douglasvaughn9349]

🔥❤❤❤

[@Uzikamii]

❤✨

[@zkiller67]

Hi! Nice gears man. Which pots amount you have on the white strat with hot rails?

[@user-ht6bx8bn4h]

Can you make the video about the tone of live at reading please...?

[@NirvanaGuitars]

I will, I’ve got other things already started that I need to finish before I get to that one

[@heymrzanzeeba]

As cool as all of the offset Fenders are I will always prefer a Strat or (failing that) a tele as my guitar of choice. I think that Kurt may have had a couple of Telecasters if I'm not wrong?

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Yup he did! We know of 2 teles. The blue "Courtney" one and the custom tele he got towards the end of his life that he supposedly said was his new favorite

[@h.k6781]

Alter watchting the show i fund so funny alter hearing the story.

[@imaginewaffles1318]

it would be awesome if you did one of these on the show where Kurt smashed a monster and split the managers head open with his guitar when stage diving

[@MasterChiefHarrow]

Off topic question, what kind of guitar Kurt Cobain had at live at Kapu?

[@jimberd]

Did you keep the 250k pots for the hot rail? It was super dark on my guitar lol

[@Chad_grimes]

It would be cool to get the burn marks on it to look 100% like it .

[@benjamink7105]

The day his album goes number one, the day he plays for the entire country on a show he grew up watching and dreamed about playing on...on the VERY DAY that Weird Al Yankovic asks if he can do a parody of them like Kurt Cobain is MICHAEL JACKSON he's gotten so big.... On that night he almost died of a heroin overdose. Addiction is f*cked. Don't want to end on a downer. Your content is tremendous. And I don't know how old you are, but I know you appear to be young and that makes this "old" man happy. : )

[@TestMeatDollSteak]

According to Michael Azerrad’s 1993 “Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana” biography, the other new song that the band played during their sound check for the VMAs was tentatively titled “New Poopy”. I wonder what song that was, or if any recordings of it have found their way into circulation? 🤔

[@NirvanaGuitars]

I don't believe there is anything from the soundcheck other than the like 2 seconds of video we have of Kurt adjusting his pedal, the clip that I used in this video. I would need to double check, but off the top of my head I think "New Poopy" is tourette's!

[@TestMeatDollSteak]

@@NirvanaGuitars - I guess it could be tourette’s… The band kind of jokingly introduced that song as “The Eagle Has Landed” during the ‘92 Reading Festival, which was right before the VMA show… I wouldn’t be surprised if Kurt didn’t decide on a proper title for that song until they recorded the In Utero sessions. Its short length (under 2 mins) would also mean it could be squeezed in after R*pe Me and still come in under their allotted five minutes of air time. So, you could be right!

[@benjamink7105]

@@NirvanaGuitars That is pretty much the conclusion the community has arrived at. It was hotly debated in the 90's but pretty sure that it was in fact Tourette's. Imagine if they played that instead!

[@loganm15]

1:15 shouldve just called it the Australian rim tour

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Why? New Zealand, Japan and Hawaii are not Australian www.livenirvana.com/concerts/92.php

[@directedbyduff]

Hey! Where did you find the clip from 11:35 ?

[@NirvanaGuitars]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/h2GwfGOoerFkrac

[@recordingerror]

Some extra info, the band that ended up opening on that gnr/metallica stadium tour in '92 was faith no more who ended up getting fired before the tour was over because they were being chaotic and messing with gnr. fnm singer mike patton allegedly urinated on axl rose's teleprompter.

[@cobussy]

what value pots did you use?

[@vivito-]

" STRATOCASTER HIS GO TO TO STAGE DESTRUCTION "

[@NirvanaGuitars]

CAPS LOCK

[@ohnoitsnotjoe]

RIP To Your Vandalism Strat 🙏

[@NirvanaGuitars]

It's neck, single coils and spirit lives on in this white strat 🙏

[@bleachstain2670]

hey man, do you know how to make the same tone like on 92 mtv ?

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Yes! Settings shown here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zoa7h5uZbtOiaKM

[@MikkelHNielsen]

You're playing the first part of the intro wrong, nou eed an upstroke on the Bb

[@thehistorybuff8265]

anyone know where this great guitar is now?

[@LudogCaezar]

I am relly sad that Kurt treated Axl bad It would be awesome friendship

[@coldbanana4785]

why dont you buy the same japan st-62 strat? find some old Hot Rails pickup like Kurt did?

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Because I don’t need to go that far to accurately recreate the VMA tone. Why don’t you build one that way?

[@subaie3]

please for the love of god make a tone vid for inceticide

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Incesticide is a compilation album that spans 4 years, 88 to 91. That's a lot of different tones and gear, and frankly I don't have some of the right gear for some of those songs atm. I will be making individual tone videos for each song as I get the right gear for them over time. So far I have a video for Dive tone up

[@subaie3]

@@NirvanaGuitars i belive he used his univox for downer beeswax Mexican seafood hairspray queen big long now aero zepplin stain and been a son the ones with john peel and the new wave version of polly i have no idea but if i had guessed id would've either been a strat of some kind a univox or the et270 as for amps i dont really have a clue for pedals im almosst 100% sure kurt used his ds1 and thats about all the info i have for the exact tones you just have to eyeball them i guess

[@subaie3]

i have some new info Son of a Gun, Molly's Lips,and Turnaround where either with his white k strat or weirdly enough a mosrite gospel and for Been a Son, New Wave Polly, and Aneurysm its suspected to be his jag or the white strat but mostly his jag

[@funnyguy7799]

Hey I know I sound pretty stupid but I’m trying tot urn my red Jagstang in orang-stang what are the specs?

[@NirvanaGuitars]

You don't sound stupid at all! The main parts are the Seymour Duncan JB, white pickguard and TOM bridge. You can find more details here: www.groundguitar.com/kurt-cobain-gear/kurt-cobains-fender-mustang-red/

[@funnyguy7799]

@@NirvanaGuitars thank you