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

[@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!

[@TaiFlurfy]

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

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thank you so much!!

[@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

[@Silverfan97]

Nice vid dude i love the TOM Strat!

[@UnhingingLoki36]

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

[@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.

[@Aaron_Luiken]

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

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Wow thank you so much! 🥹🙏🏻

[@Fluensky2]

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

[@Delirious0221]

I've been waiting for this video

[@thrillvilled111]

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

[@Garbageguitarist]

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

[@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?

[@loungeact6311]

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 😊

[@joeyarnold9372]

That damn thing sounds so good his live rig was perfect

[@mateks2413]

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

[@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.

[@angutimmm]

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

[@Propanerockband]

Love these vids

[@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?

[@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

[@nirvanauk]

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

[@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.

[@MattMonk]

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

[@LucianoEnriquePeraltaVaras]

I was waiting this exact video since the sound test

[@kaydenandrade3138]

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

[@MoreThanTeenSpirit]

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

[@MicahSheperd]

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

[@thewoodenkipper]

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

[@o8ean]

Hi Eric another great video, your tones are awesome and i’m planning to get a HB ST-20 SSS and change the pickguard to a black HSS and the bridge pickup to a SD 59n for the Paramount show tone. You also replied during the premiere that you changed the middle and neck single coils to Vintera 60s single coils. Any tips for a beginner on how to change pickups? - Thanks from Oliver p.s I’m a massive fan! 😊

[@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

[@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?

[@0nedairy]

more history videos☝🏾️

[@GoldenNinja67]

Best NirvanaGuitars video i have seen

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Wow thank you!! 🙏🏻

[@Britishguns]

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

[@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.

[@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.

[@elaaron1236]

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

[@xrprevolution8480]

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

[@paulkovacic3822]

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

[@FDM-]

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

[@joesampson2658]

Nice job

[@Aoutrarapousa]

Oh thats my favorite Nirvana Channel

[@NirvanaGuitars]

🙏

[@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.

[@samabbitt5587]

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

[@Ilovecountryballs-o2j]

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

[@TwistedCantQuickscope]

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

[@rileysuperfriend9889]

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

[@jmelara324]

we need a MuseGuitars

[@Muďð]

Dude Amazing fucking video!

[@ianclevenger9714]

I wonder if you'll an endless nameless tone recreation

[@TungstenOvergaard]

We need a BOOK

[@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

[@Pizzak-q9f]

I need it

[@Aoutrarapousa]

Nirvana is the best Band I know

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Same!

[@Aoutrarapousa]

😉​@@NirvanaGuitars

[@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!

[@whenlifehandsyou]

I wonder if the pots were 250 or 500.

[@clintwilson6380]

Did Kurt ever play a hardtail Strat?

[@krisfrederick5001]

If guitars could talk...

[@superhall911]

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

[@Aguywholikesguitar]

Can you do you know you’re right tone

[@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 ...

[@dfgvjnkjdsnbkjsbdvjkhdsb]

*who killed Kurt?*

[@Raban333]

money fame drugs ?

[@thew1zard__]

get your conspiracy bullshit outta here

[@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.

[@YvngShiesty2K]

Now we need a "Green day guitars" channel

[@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

[@itsmeerick_18]

week 3 asking for a jason everman guitar video 🫡

[@jblassio]

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

[@NirvanaGuitars]

It’s in tune this entire video

[@jblassio]

@@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.

[@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