History of Kurt Cobain's TOM Strat: The Frankenstrat of Grunge | Nirvana Guitar History Episode 9

Extensive deep dive into Kurt Cobain's uniquely modded tune-o-matic Fender Stratocaster. The only electric guitar we have concrete definitive proof as to have been used on Nevermind
TOM Strat Sound Demo: • The Nevermind Stratoca...
MASSIVE shoutout to ‪@pennsy77‬ for being a huge source of the information seen in this video!
Also big thank you to LiveNirvana.com and the “NIRVANA GUITARS AND GEAR!” facebook group!
LiveNirvana: www.livenirvan...
NIRVANA GUITARS AND GEAR: / z81zrgca8azbugpa
0:15 - The Frankenstrat of grunge?
1:50 - Model possibility
2:16 - First form - Early 91
2:56 - The mystery humbucker
4:59 - Nevermind recording sessions
6:25 - Second form - mid 91
8:18 - My TOM Strat build
9:25 - Fall 91 Nevermind tour
11:05 - Third form - mid 92
12:06 - Present day
Join my Patreon to get early & exclusive content:
/ nirvanaguitars
Like what I do? Buy me a coffee so I can stay awake while I mix audio and edit videos 😴
www.buymeacoff...
My amazon storefront where you can buy gear/parts Kurt used: www.amazon.com...
Vandalism Strat Stickers - use coupon code "nirvanaguitars" to get 2 for the price of 1:
khristore.com/...
Follow me on instagram at @nirvanaguitars
Check out my progressive punk band at ‪@ithomiid8830‬
Check out my acoustic project at ‪@atlasmn2836‬

[@feliperamirez4308]

We now need NirvanaBassGuitars

[@d3lt452]

He'll need some serious luck to get a Ripper/Grabber/RD, but YES

[@matteoandrulli552]

Krist used bassist worth 4000$

[@DineroDeLeon]

No, but actually, to hear the history and use of all of Krist Novoselic's basses would be incredibly informative and valuable.

[@feliperamirez4308]

@@d3lt452 he's a lucky guy

[@NathanColvin]

Didn’t Krist only play a small handful of bass models in Nirvana? Gibson Ripper and Ibanez Black Eagle, almost exclusively?

[@PulseXP-yo8wu]

Watching this on work break. With fish and chips

[@ffluigishots9288]

True British

[@PulseXP-yo8wu]

@@ffluigishots9288 Indeed

[@Ottophil]

You should get french fries. They are better with fish

[@PulseXP-yo8wu]

@@Ottophil Nah. Chips with Salt and Vinegar with gravy on top. That’s the way to go for me

[@mushroomleg]

It’s ok.

[@pennsy77]

Sorry I wasnt present for the premier! Was doing some other things. This video turned out amazing, I am so glad to have helped with this Eric!

[@NirvanaGuitars]

I am so so happy you like it! Wouldn't have been possible without you, will never be able to thank you enough!

[@TaiFlurfy1]

TOM STRAT!!! I love that awesome pickup mounting ring on. Great vid Eric!!!

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thank you so much!!

[@Tangent_Frank]

one reason why you should modify a Gibson-style bridge (TOM or wrap tail) is that it has a higher tension towards the bottom of the strumming hand. tremolos have a much softer break angle on the strings, whereas a TOM bridge specifically makes it feel stiffer and adds a bit more acoustic characteristics, including a fuller sound, or at least it can feel that way. it's part of what makes a Les Paul such a big-sounding guitar. in fact, you can hear the difference between a Floyd Rose Les Paul and a traditional one. The Floyd version always sounds thinner, or weaker in comparison. I must give some real credit to Kurt here, with a reverse approach of trying to essentially use haptics for a fuller sound.

[@StereotoneGlasgow]

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH YOU’RE ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS I STARTED PLAYING GUITAR!!! YOU’RE SO COOL!1!1!1!1

[@NirvanaGuitars]

I don't even know what to say 🥹 It's the support of amazing viewers such as yourself that keep me going! Thank you so so much for watching and for the kind words, I'm extremely honored to have a played a role in you starting to play!

[@StereotoneGlasgow]

@NirvanaGuitars im glad i could help you!!! you’re the best nirvana channel on youtube and i learn most of my lore from your channel! my friends get annoyed at me because i send them your videos all the time haha

[@daniel-mj1xd]

Hi Eric 😁 I shared your video about T.O.M. stratocast and I started looking for when it was destroyed. in your video you showed two photos taken by a guitar technician, which he allegedly took in June 1992, but according to me, this guitar was destroyed on July 4, 1992, thanks to several preserved photos .😁 sorry if there are spelling mistakes in the text, I wrote it via google translator.

[@Silverfan97]

Nice vid dude i love the TOM Strat!

[@mossy_Antolope]

You’re my favourite channel on YT. I’m obsessed with nirvana and Kurt himself and this is where I go to geek out😂 keep it up man❤

[@monkist]

Love this “History of” series you started recently. Would love to see one on each of his most prominent guitars! The Competition Mustang and the Jaguar of course, but what fascinates me maybe even more are the Univoxes. Keep them coming!

[@GRUDGEDGuitars]

Wow amazing work man keep it up and also please do the history of the Fender Jaguar 🙏🏽

[@bigmuffmelvin7388]

Love these history of videos brother, keep em coming. I had no idea that picture of dave with the smashed body was the TOM strat. I always assumed it was the vandalism also. This is why I love thr Nirvana Gear Community (I learn something everyday) Excellent build and video

[@UnhingingLoki36]

My favorite of Kurt’s guitars. Love the look and simplicity

[@Raisonlife]

Cool! It seems like you have all of Kurt's more or less famous guitars. Now you need a Mesa Boogie Studio Preamp, a Marshall cab and that frankie Marshall Amp.

[@erinmulholland9301]

Cool video!

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thank you so much for watching!

[@Garbageguitarist]

I absolutely love this guitar it is so unique love the detail in this video keep it up!

[@Aaron_Luiken]

Yet another amazing video. You are truly the best youtuber on the platform

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Wow thank you so much! 🥹🙏🏻

[@bobhope4949]

I know why he used it, he wanted a stable live guitar where he wouldn’t have to fuck with tone too much and be good to go

[@thrillvilled111]

Thank you again for another banger video. Reminds me to keep playing my guitar!

[@angutimmm]

Can’t wait! Been waiting for this for so long😆

[@All_the_wrong_reasons]

Love these vids

[@rigor.mortis.4]

you have no misses man, ur one of the main ones getting all the facts into a mainstream audience. we see the dedication man, keep it up :) and hows the jagstang vid going?

[@loungeact1212]

Damn dude great job on this! This is one of the trickier mods to do at home without a drill press. The holes need to be precise.

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thank you so much man! Means a lot coming from you, I've really been enjoying the history videos you've been posting lately 😊

[@jmelara324]

I kind of like how it’s basically the anthithesis to the superstrat and hair metal or whatever and Grunge’s answer to the Frankenstrat

[@kaydenandrade3138]

I was in the premiere of the video, it was a great history video too

[@LucianoEnriquePeraltaVaras]

I was waiting this exact video since the sound test

[@Fluensky2]

TOM STRAT!!!! This is probably my favorite of kurts guitars. Not even just for the sound but it just looks so cool

[@GoldenNinja67]

Best NirvanaGuitars video i have seen

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Wow thank you!! 🙏🏻

[@MicahSheperd]

Hell yeah!!! My fave Nirvana Strat!!!🥳🥳🥳

[@bobhope4949]

If ya think that’s cool my squire has two humbuckers…….😏 and is built like a tank could definitely kill someone, that’s why her name is black Betty

[@MicahSheperd]

@@bobhope4949 Okay, squire boy.

[@bobhope4949]

@@MicahSheperd total micha……. Good news is is it don’t end well for you

[@MicahSheperd]

@@bobhope4949 Okay whatever you say man. Anyway have a nice life.

[@bobhope4949]

@@MicahSheperd I’ll have a horrible life just to spite you!😡

[@fereise208]

Hell yeah, my personal fav Kurt's guitar next to the Jaguar.

[@bobross4449]

3:29 me and Pennsy were talking and I think these are black Telecaster style knobs, AllParts sold these in 80s and 90s and today, so it’s very well possible that someone switched the stock knobs to these

[@mateks2413]

lv your vids!! I always watch them even tho i don't have enough money to buy anything that appears in your channel ; >

[@Aoutrarapousa]

Oh thats my favorite Nirvana Channel

[@NirvanaGuitars]

🙏

[@joeyarnold9372]

That damn thing sounds so good his live rig was perfect

[@WrongOrderIsHere]

try getting a Hagstrom F200 build for the Kapu tone, specifically the full concert itself (I forgot where Kapu is, nevermind)

[@rowboat0012]

You should totally do a Mr. Moustache cover with the L&L tone :D I’ve always wondered what it would sound like if it was part of the setlist

[@nirvanauk]

Another great Vid mate, mine is currently in bits but you may of inspired me to bring her back from the dead 😂

[@italian_weirdo]

you should make videos where you use setups of nirvana shows and play songs that weren’t played at those shows, like In Bloom with a Paramount setup or Territorial Pissings with a Live & Loud setup

[@angrybirds2472]

Yo have you been to any shows? November 93 Springfield mass. Imho one of the band's personal favorite because what i saw from the seats was that intimate club aura personifies into a stadium perfectly. Life changing event. Spent years wondering why the ds1 was weak sauce during the 90s cutting volume when I went to nail his tones. That and i want as much info as i can on the mix setups it was some crazy stwreo delay on his vocals too make his voice really what it was..... Maybe you'd dive into that someday?

[@thewoodenkipper]

Awesome video such an interesting guitar and do you think you’ll ever make a video about Kurts SG.

[@joesampson2658]

Nice job

[@MattMonk]

That Kerrang! list is hilarious, especially if it's an all time list.

[@mikemorrisonmusic]

Pretty cool :)

[@dangallo4397]

Would love to know more about how the TOM was mounted into a trem Strat body. The bridge posts would have had to have been drilled into the wood just forward of the mounting point of the original Strat bridge. The wood there is super thin, maybe a quarter of an inch. Can’t imagine those bridge posts had much wood to bite into, unless wood was added underneath in the trem cavity.

[@elaaron1236]

You should get an reaper bass! To complete the vma look!

[@onlyusernameleft2]

Retrofitting a strat with a tune-o-matic is not a simple modification. The bridge sits much higher than a standard strat bridge. I looked into it when I was building an offset baritone partscaster. There are a few ways it can be done though. If the guitar is a hard tail, routes can be made to recess the bridge and tailpiece. The pitch of the neck will almost definitely still need to be adjusted, since ToMs were designed for arched and carved top guitar. That's what I was looking into because I was starting with a guitar shaped slab of wood. If the guitar had a trem, which the vast majority of strats do, I can only guess. Removing the old bridge assembly and blocking the entire trem cavity, and just filling in that entire route to give yourself a blank slate? Did he even have Ernie Bailey as a guitar tech at that point?

[@FDM-]

je pense que c'est l'une de mes guitares préféré de nirvana !

[@DomichuYT]

hey, i was just wondering, did kurt modify his guitars on his own or did he go to people and ask them to modify them to how he liked? I myself would want to learn how to but dont think i have the tools

[@0nedairy]

more history videos☝🏾️

[@TwistedCantQuickscope]

1:54 I know this picture was taken in Edmonton Canada.

[@samabbitt5587]

Hey Eric can you do a collection of bloopers and outtakes compilation for your next video

[@101Volts]

Still looking forward to a Mosrite video that debunks the nonsense and misnomers surrounding his 2 Mosrite mark V models. Please contact me for straighter information on it.

[@Toxygen-5u7]

When this comes out I will be watching a nirvana tribute band plus fav Kurt guitar

[@andyandersonsylvester8533]

Based on Polaroid Picture taken by Big John, i guessed that TOM Strat were smashed during Le Zenith gig on June 1992..

[@Yeeper-omsj]

Im going to party at this time😂😂😂 i will watch it when im done

[@CregyGuds-i5n]

Played a strat with a similar pickup configuration at guitar center, I thought about buying it since it was a squier, but I sadly didn’t pull the trigger.

[@VV_Music21]

Hi Eric, do you think that the Boss Katana Mini would nail the Nirvana Tour Tone 91-92 and 93-94? Nice video by the way. Very interesting. The T.O.M strat looks actually better then I thought it did.

[@xrprevolution8480]

Amazing content .. I’m already trying to replicate your unplugged mod acoustic … with a sigma

[@rileysuperfriend9889]

i always assumed he put that bridge on cause of lee ranaldo’s tom bridge on his red hh strat.

[@ianclevenger9714]

I wonder if you'll an endless nameless tone recreation

[@paulkovacic3822]

Day 2 for asking for a video about the sound garden mustang

[@fanaticluflex.]

dude can you do a verse chorus verse cover with the 1992 reading tone?

[@TaxiKlenzi]

Hi eric, quick question. For your build you used a hardtail body, but if Kurt’s was hardtail too why did he put tape on the hole? Cause if it was a hardtail there would be no hole. I’m trying to build a Tom myself and was wondering this for a while. Anyone got anything useful let me know!

[@Nottheoutline420]

I've been lurking but i wish you would try to recreate these tones on a mustang gtx amp for the memes because Mustang

[@clintwilson6380]

Did Kurt ever play a hardtail Strat?

[@larrasumner]

The Roxy strat neck had 22 frets all the other strats had 21 i wonder if he didn't like the spacing on the 22 frets

[@Pizzak-q9f]

I need it

[@jmelara324]

we need a MuseGuitars

[@TungstenOvergaard]

We need a BOOK

[@omaligam]

Do the jaguar!

[@whenlifehandsyou]

I wonder if the pots were 250 or 500.

[@Eggnoodlesandketchup3]

That pickup ring looks black in the photos to me

[@Ilovegwen00]

How do i learn to play nirvana songs?

[@batman_rme3236]

What was that song playing at the beginning of the video

[@Nirvanatones27]

One waiting, that's me

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thank you for taking the time to be at the priemere!

[@Aguywholikesguitar]

Can you do you know you’re right tone

[@Aoutrarapousa]

Nirvana is the best Band I know

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Same!

[@Aoutrarapousa]

😉​@@NirvanaGuitars

[@Theeletricminers]

mustang é uma tonante americana, guitarra de brinquedo ...

[@Theeletricminers]

Stratos são bem melhores meu amigo brasileiro ... não sei como ele conseguia tocar mustangs e jaguars com aquela escala de anão e aquela mãozona dele kkkk comprei uma jaguar japonesa, devolvi no outro dia ...

[@Mrbeef-f2x]

0:11 player

[@superhall911]

only kurt cobain would need to hurry and buy another guitar to finish an album lol

[@dfgvjnkjdsnbkjsbdvjkhdsb]

*who killed Kurt?*

[@iamthew1zard]

get your conspiracy bullshit outta here

[@krisfrederick5001]

If guitars could talk...

[@bobhope4949]

Kurt would have been locked up

[@JoshNotJohn0]

Well the guitar was smashed 3 times so odds are you'd just hear "OW OW OW OW OW"

[@gabriellemcdevitt7681]

Im 10 and i need advice for a Nirvana pedel to get thats chep enough

[@lmaosougo3936]

boss ds-1 but on your age you should focus on playing and practicing not gear

[@rodgodx345]

Hey nirvana guitars check this video out this guitar might be the same but it’s looks a little different but the same its from the live concert in December of 1989, Go to 31:16 kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2S1aYCIepqfa8Usi=avg6Kp3RFCSpgMTf

[@gracetaylor8914]

Sorry iam late

[@IvanBruh-sz6jh]

by the way that guitar I think it was played in live and loud

[@youthfrustrationband9291]

No, it looks similar but that was just another "throw away strat" during this time kurt bought a bunch of strats just to destroy them. Hence why the guitar was kept stock.

[@fntb4gotten]

Just by looking at the thumbnail, I can tell the guitar is out of tune…🤣🤣🤣

[@NirvanaGuitars]

It’s in tune this entire video

[@fntb4gotten]

@@NirvanaGuitars in the hands of Kurt Cobain, nothing sounded in tune…lol..never seen a tune-a-matic on a Strat, does it even intonate right with Fender scale.

[@YvngShiesty2K]

Now we need a "Green day guitars" channel

[@itsmeerick_18]

week 3 asking for a jason everman guitar video 🫡

[@MicahSheperd]

Penney has they/them pronouns or they lied.

[@bobross4449]

I’m friends with them on discord/in a server with them, it’s Them/He there

[@MicahSheperd]

@@bobross4449 Kay

[@bumbum9675]

THE LAST RECORDED SHOW OF THE TOM STRAT IS MY BIRTHDAY