Kurt Cobain’s 1980s Aria Pro II CS-350
Kurt started using this guitar around mid-1990 during the latter part of the Bleach club tour, and it was first photographed on May 2nd, 1990, at the Milestone, Charlotte, NC (while the tour ended up on 17th). From then on, Nirvana went on a break until August, by which time Kurt seemed to have obtained a Mosrite guitar, which he used as his main, while the Aria popped in only occasionally, and was eventually destroyed on September 22, 1990, at Motor Sports International Garage, Seattle.
Based on the photos, Kurt’s Aria Pro II featured an ash body with a walnut finish, a maple neck with rosewood fretboard, and two Protomatic V humbuckers. Kurt removed most of the control knobs – leaving only bridge pickup volume control, pickup selector, and one of the two-phase reversal switches.
The guitar, or more precisely – what’s left of it, was seen on a few Nirvana-themed exhibits organized by the EMP Musem (now Museum of Pop Culture). It is unknown how exactly the museum acquired the body.
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I didn’t know kurt disliked his aria. One factor could’ve been the bridge: they were problematic on arias, especially the design on his. His was also in poor shape. Interestingly the front strap button looks to have been moved to the back
He played a CS-250 which had 1 phase switch and 1 coil tap switch, not 2 phase switches. I had the same one back in ’81 well prior to that band. Fan of the Aria guitars, not a fan of his.
it was a good show
The missing piece! :D That’s cool, thanks for sharing the photo.
Did you know he actually changed the lyrics during love buzz? Instead of the normal verse he said “would you believe me that if tell you, I bought a crappy guitar. I bought it for 100 dollars, and trust me it really sucks.” Being for this guitar.
its “would you believe when i told you, i bought a brand new guitar, it costed me 125 dollars and it really sucks”
Pretty sure Kurt had a CS-250.
The 350’s did not feature a Matte finish and Kurt’s Aria looks like a Matte type finish. It doesn’t seem to have a glossy surface like the 350 series.
Here’s a site on Aria guitars that I found to be very informative:
http://www.matsumoku.org/cm_models/2021/03/26/aria-pro-ii-cs-cardinal-series-general-specs/
You know, he accually hated it.
here are the prouves: https://youtu.be/aCyGHF8BdTo?t=794
Haha, that’s an awesome bit! Thanks for posting it.
also, the first photo was in 2 th of may
Oh yeah, gonna fix that!
“2nd”
Wotta jerk.
It looks like after a bit Kurt swapped the bridge pickup for something else.