This guitar was first seen on October 3, 1992, at Carver Gymnasium in Bellingham, Washington. It was given to Kurt by his guitar tech, Ernie Bailey, that same night, backstage just before the gig, and Kurt apparently liked it so much that he decided to use it right away.
To remind you, the Univox Hi-Flier is the first known electric guitar that Kurt ever owned, so it makes sense that Ernie would choose this exact model as a gift.
Specs, Mods
The guitar featured a sunburst finish, rosewood fretboard, and a red tortoiseshell pickguard and truss rod cover. Based on the specs, the raised plastic “Univox” logo on the headstock, and the two rocker switches – this was a Phase One Custom model, that was originally shipped with two P90-style pickups.
Ernie replaced with stock pickups with Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB Bridge and SH-1 59 Neck pickups and installed the Ibanez Gibraltar bridge (vintage version with mounting studs, similar to Gibson’s Tune-o-Matic) instead of the original. The two rocker switches used for pickup selection were also taped over, likely to avoid accidental toggles.
Usage
Given the time period in which this guitar was used, it is highly likely that Kurt recorded some of the stuff from ‘In Utero’ on it. However, there are no photos available from those studio sessions, so this is for the most part just a guess.
As far as using the guitar for live performances, Kurt had it with him for the couple of shows he did in Argentina in October 1992, and then picked it up again in 1993 and used it during the band’s second Saturday Night Live appearance on September 25th. That was also the last time the guitar was ever seen.
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Just wanted to share this with the community–I finally found a Phase 1 two years ago in the exact same color scheme as this and its in excellent condition. I have kept it mostly original (swapped in a bridge humbucker) I brought it to a local luthier, Vig guitars in St. Paul to look at the rocker switches because they easily move back and forth instead of clicking. One is a kill switch, which the luthier seemed to think was wrong and that everything was just worn out. After he inspected the guitar, he deemed that nothing was worn out at all, just simply the way it was designed. It is cooler looking IMO than the Phase 3, which I also own one of. But you can see big differences in how Univox improved the quality of these as the were building them. For example, the 1 has open backed tuners with plastic knobs and a lighter built bridge. The 3 is much more robust, heavier and with a slightly more comfortable neck. The 3 also sounds much better with the 2 stock humbuckers. The 1 has the cooler headstock logo though and of course the SNL appearance. I watched and still have the VHS tape of the original broadcast and was fascinated with the Phase 1 for years after. It became a bit of a mythical object to me. I was excited to find this one serial # and I’ll keep it forever. Running it through my 72 twin with Utahs, a 1990 Sans Amp and a Boss DS2 is kinda spine ti
hey how goes is kevin? I noticed that you mentioned vig guitars in st paul, are you in MN? i am too, just picked up a phase 1 and also have a quad reverb with Utah’s :))
I’ve noticed that you dont have the hi-flier that he used at roseland and the Hollywood rock festival… Could you please do an article on that one?
Does anyone know what happened to that hi flier?
Ernie Bailey talks about showing up at the Bellingham WA show excited to give Kurt a new guitar he had set up for him. Kurt liked it so much (there’s pictures of him being presented with it from Ernie) that he immediately went out on stage and used it
can you post that picture please?
You can see Kurt talking to somebody here backstage on October 3, 1992 and you can see the univox headstock at the bottom. As said above Earnie gave it to Kurt that night and he went up and used it during the show and part of night after as well as in Argentina at the end of October.
Another photo of Kurt receiving this guitar, just posted by Live Nirvana on Instagram.
Interesting fact: This is the guitar which was using while recording “You know you’re right”
The ykyr guitar was owned by Ernie Bailey, kurt turned up to the session with no guitar.
The SNL picture appears to show the pickups with single pole pieces, so would he have switched out the Duncans or was this a different guitar?
I just chose an unfortunate moment to screenshot the photo. It is a humbucker, see image attached.
Nirvana played in Argentina on October 30th, 1992. Kurt used this guitar on this show. They played at the Hollywood Rock Festival in Brazil on January 1993
Yup, should be fixed now. Thanks!
No thats a phase 2 phase 2 got a white pickguard and 1 redd turtoise.
I wasn’t talking about the guitar. I was talking about the shows…