Kurt bought this guitar at a pawn shop for around $30 in late 1989. It was a 12-string model, but Kurt strung it with only five nylon strings, and he allegedly never changed them since. The guitar barely stayed in tune, and apparently had duct tape holding the tuning pegs in place.
We bought it for twenty dollars in Denver, Colorado,Kurt took the twelve strings off and put six strings on it. But it wouldn’t stay in tune, so he took the head stock and tightened it as much as he could. He had this pair of pliers and when it would go out of tune he’d put the pliers to the tuning pick. It was a total fucking joke, but it worked for him.
Krist Novoselic
This guitar was used on all of the acoustic songs on Nevermind (Polly, Something in the Way), and it supposedly even appeared on the In Utero album, but only after the issues had been addressed. It was also carried regularly on tour, but was mostly used just as a warm-up instrument.
A fun fact – one of Kurt’s favorite musicians, Lead Belly, played a similar guitar so that probably played some part in Kurt’s decision to buy and play this exact model.
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Kurt’s Stella Harmony 12-String acoustic, serial # 1460H912 had 5 nylon strings on it that were never changed and Kurt had to use pliers to tune it, it was sunburst in color, Flattop, with a white screw on Pickguard, and a floating wood bridge which was glued down. Kurt purchased it for $31.23 from Edgewater Pawn shop and Sheridan Jewelry, Edgewater, CO on October 12, 1989 before Nirvana’s show at Penny Lane Coffeehouse, Boulder, CO. Kurt most likely bought it as it looked like one of Leadbelly 12 string guitars Kurt recorded “Polly” from the Smart Studios session April 2-6, 1990 (same version they put on Nevermind) and also on the “Lithium” demo from the Smart Studios, Kurt also used it to record home demos in the Summer 1990 and Kurts solo acoustic performance on KAOS Radio, on September 25, 1990 and on the January 18, 1991 when Nirvana played at Library 4300, The Evergreen State College (No More Wars Benefit), Olympia, WA. Kurt had the Stella Harmony leaning against the Amp as Kurt played his White MIJ Fender K Strat, and a MIJ Red with Maple Fretboard and Red Headstock Memphis Strat copy which Kurt smashed with a hammer. The Stella was used on “Something In The Way” during the Nevermind sessions May 2-28, 1991, then sometime In 1992 Earnie Bailey fixed the bridge and added new tuners on it.
Kurt brought it along to Pachyderm Studios for the In Utero sessions and Kurt would strum it as he recorded the vocals.
But Kurt owned a Natural finish Harmony Serial # 5226H913, 12-String acoustic other than the finish, Its identical to the Stella Harmony 12-String acoustic.
Which can be seen in September, 1993 at the Cobain Residence at Matthews Beach (Seattle), WA.
A late summer’s afternoon at the Cobain Residence on Lakeside Avenue. Eric Erlandson captures footage of Kurt Cobain sitting out on the terrace, playing (Seasons In The Sun) on his Stella H913 acoustic guitar, while Courtney Love dances around him singing with Frances Bean Cobain in her arms, further scenes of Frances Bean Cobain receiving her first haircut and the couple singing an a cappella version of Amazing Grace are filmed Inside the house (seen In Cobain: Montage of Heck).
So Kurt owned two Stella Harmony 12-String acoustics this Sunburst one he bought on October 12, 1989 and a Natural he bought sometime between 1992-1993.
what happened to this guitar?
courtney has it i think like how she has all of kurts clothes
I know nothing about acoustic guitars but does anyone know type of body this guitar is (like is it a dreadnought or a parlor)?
It’s a large guitar, so closer to a dreadnought. You can see its size relative to Kurt in this photo:
its considered a 12 fret to body all birch construction OM size guitar with a floating bridge, thats everything u need to know about it really. i have one its like nothing u have ever heard before, the birch resonates so weirdly and the floating bridge allows for so much reverb from an acoustic
The Harmony Stella that Kurt owned was a budget model from Harmony, with a birch body. Lead Belly did not own a Harmony Stella 12-string.
Lead Belly’s 12-string was a 1920s Stella, made by Oscar Schmidt, with a solid spruce ladder braced top, a much better instrument than the one Kurt owned.
There is one just like Kurt’s for sale on Reverb right now for $158 Canadian.
https://reverb.com/ca/item/2890855-harmony-stella-12-string-guitar
lead bellys guitar was a 1930s oscar schmidt stella not a harmony stella, kurts was a harmony stella because harmony bought stella in 1939
in the picture the stella guitar is in the ground
Yes, the Stella is sitting on the ground, while Kurt is playing his Martin D-18E.
The D18e was Martin’s first attempt at making an “electric guitar”. It was a D-18 with two DeArmond pickups and three control knobs. The electronics adversely affected the tone of the guitar, and the D-18E only remained in production for a year.
Kurt did not like the sound of the DeArmond pickups, so he disconnected them and put a Bartolini pickup in the sound hole, so although we see three pickups on his guitar, only one of them was functional.
I feel that this made Martin’s ugliest guitar ever even uglier.
The photo at the top of this thread is before the Bartolini was added. You can see the Bartolini in the MTV Unplugged video.
I supposed he could be able to connect the Bartonili in the middle position of the switch selector without disconnecting the DeArmonds.
I have a photo of the original wiring BUT THE PHOTO IS NOT VERY GOOD IN TREMS OF THE ANGEL if you want that