Kurt Cobain's Epiphone ET 270 | Nirvana Guitar History Episode 2 | Live Bleach Era & Smart Sessions
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ส.ค. 2024
- A deep and extensive look into one of Kurt Cobain's most iconic Bleach era guitars: the Epiphone ET 270
This guitar is one he most likely used at Nirvana's 1990 Smart Studio Sessions. An extended look into those sessions and what gear he used.
0:00 - Introduction
0:58 - ET 270 Production History & Facts
1:32 - Technical Specs & Possible Variations
2:16 - When Kurt used his
2:40 - Kurt's live Bleach era rig
3:24 - Smart Sessions History & Overview
5:17 - ET 270 Gets Destroyed
5:54 - What gear Kurt most likely used at the Smart Sessions
6:18 - Dive Side by Side Tone Comparison
6:59 - Oddities about Kurt's ET 270
7:49 - Notable Videos/Shows it was used at
8:20 - Overview of my 1971 Epiphone ET 270
8:55 - Tone Playthrough (Clean & Distortion, all Pickup Modes with Bass Boost switch both off & on)
12:00 - Original 70's ET 270 Guitar Case
Sources:
drowninginguitars.com/2012/06...
www.groundguitar.com/kurt-cob...
vintagejapanguitars.com/1971-...
www.livenirvana.com/
Facebook Group "Nirvana Guitars and Gear
groups/10951...
My links:
My amazon storefront where you can buy gear/parts Kurt used: www.amazon.com/shop/nirvanagu...
Vandalism Strat Stickers - use coupon code "nirvanaguitars" to get 2 for the price of 1:
khristore.com/product/kurt-co...
Lomic Guitars - Where I got my custom 2021 Jag-Stang Pickguard:
ebay.us/4Luq0j
Learn Nirvana songs with Fender Play!
prf.hn/click/camref:1101lpoaU
Follow me on instagram at @nirvanaguitars
Check out my progressive punk band at ithomiid.com
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I think that youre right about him using a twin for the smart sessions. You were able to get a perfect tone on dive, I love your videos man
Thank you so much that means a lot! I’m so happy with the Dive tone I was able to get 🙂
anyone else found that nuclear bomb joke actually funny?
me
Hey the GREEN ONE IS MY GUITAR! That’s actually my friend’s/luthiers idea of a color after I found it on ebay already bad condition. Thank god electronics and other parts are still working.. and I still have it 😂😂 🙏🙏🙏
You have a gorgeous guitar!! It’s awesome to hear from you, I couldn’t find any info about your guitar beside that one picture. Cool to know it was painted afterwords 🙂 makes me think even more that Epiphone only released them in red
late reply, but it also came in a sunburst paint job, with a white pickguard and inverted pickup colors. Don't know about epiphone, but thats how it was released as the Pyle 1802T.
Great vid Eric I’m a sucker for learning more about nirvana’s history
Thanks for watching!
@@NirvanaGuitars no need to thank me it’s you who should be thanked for making such great content on the band I could only dream of being in
Who isn’t??
i never knew about this guitar until recently, i haven't researched much of the 89-90 era but this is definitely getting me interested in this era of nirvana.
There are definitely some interesting guitars in the Bleach era!
Loved this! Very informative, and that dive tone is perfect
Edit: the tones you got out of this guitar are honestly amazing, that middle position tone nails the smart sessions era clean tone
Thank you as always my friend! I absolutely love the cleans of the middle position with the bass boost on. This is such a great guitar
You really hear just how much of a difference that bass boost, like holy shit.. great vid, man, this was great and the guitar definitely looks and sounds amazing
I know right?? I don’t think I’ll ever have it off, it thickens up the sound considerably. Thank you!
@@NirvanaGuitars 100%, I do like how you can really hear the clean tone with it off but then makes a world of difference when it's on. It's awesome
sounds very well. wow men.
..sounds very good. Wow man
the bass boost neck distortion sounded hefty AF god damn, incredible tond
Agreed! Not gonna lie after recording that sound sample portion I went to back to neck position with distortion and jammed Black Sabbath. It really reminds me of their early thick and dark tones
Can you do the same for the Vandalism strat? For years that guitar has boggled the minds of us Nirvana gear geeks. There's been a huge debate if Kurt used the guitar on Nevermind as it was noted he used *a couple* strats for the sessions. First appearance of the guitar is June 91 however their first show after recording Nevermind was May 29th 91. Out of the few pictures of the show Kurt is photographed definitely using a Fender guitar but only the headstock was visible. As always loved your video man. Appreciate the dedication you put into these 💯
Yes! I at first wanted to concentrate on his lesser known guitars such as the ET270, but I've been getting multiple requests for Vandalism and Jaguar history videos so I'm gonna have to start doing my research for those 😃 I touch on the "was the Vandalism Start used on Nevermind?" mystery in my Lounge Act studio tone explanation. It's hard to say for sure, all we really have is a bunch of speculation. th-cam.com/video/9rZnJR_NkGM/w-d-xo.html
@@NirvanaGuitars wow thanks a lot I don't know how I missed that video! Vandy really does sound extremely close to Lounge Act tone. I personally knew Kurt used another strat cause even though he smashed one some songs if not fully but have a hint of a strat tone which you can't confuse for a mustang or Jaguar.
6:20 I honestly didn't notice it was you playing it until you mentioned it!
I've had my ET for over 15 years now, it's been the mainstay of my gear for that period. Had swap the tuners when I got it as they were bent in shipping & about 3 years ago I had to replace the boost switch & capacitor as they were totally fried. If anyone has had that issue I'd be happy to tell them what I used as replacement parts ✌️
You nailed that sound with that setup! Thank you for the video!
Thanks for the kind words! 🙏
The Bleach guitar was the left-handed Mustang on the cover of the album. Some have attributed it as a Greco or some other copy, but I believe it to be a genuine Fender, probably from the late 70s. He used bits of his first Hi Flyer which he smashed in 88, notably the pickups and the part of the pickguard that had the control knobs and input jack, using a vinyl LP to finish it off. He later panted it blue, possibly multiple times, before it met a similar fate sometime in 1989.
I do think he actually really loved that guitar though, as it became the basis for the crappy homemade copies he used around 1990, then the Ferrington custom, and then ultimately the In Utero Sky Stangs.
This is so well done! Amazing work!!!! 👏🏼👏🏼
Thank you so much!! Means a lot coming from you guys 😊
Great job! I also love the hardware and technical side of music. It’s amazing to learn how artists used these tools for their crafts. Killer.
Great video! Thanks for posting this and congrats on the guitar! Definitely a cool piece of Nirvana history.
Thank you! This is one I will never be letting go 😀
Excellent video!! Sounds so much like the recordings. The middle position with the bass boost on is exactly like Here She Comes Now!
Thanks man! I don't see myself ever turning off the bass boost, it adds so much. I LOVE the cleans on middle position with the bass boost on 🤩
Noice! Nice to know facts about this guitars and that Dive riff sounded on point!! Keep up the great work!
Thank you!
Loved the info on the history of the guitar and the demo!!! 🎉
Thank you! 🤩
Amazing vid. Such good information. I remember a lot of this era and it's great to relive it. So much of this stuff is either under documented or just hard to find. Thanks for doing all the research.
I had a lot of fun learning about and researching for this particular model, it deserves more attention! Thanks for watching 😀
Epic video!! Thx for putting so much work in your video's!! 🤘🤘🔥🔥
I CANT WAIT! 🎉
This video was awesome man!!
Thank you!
This was amazing mate Im v keen to see more content this year!!
Got lots more coming 🙂 thanks for watching!
Great job 👏🏼 I enjoyed the hell out of this! I always liked this guitar!
Im glad to see your great job for this theme. Absolute cool !!
Thank you!
great video as always mate!
Thank you so much!
Great video loved the Here She Comes Now playthrough, it sounded very close to the recording.
Thank you!
i loved the last history video, cant wait to see this one! what a great way to start the year.
@Samppa History of Skystang I th-cam.com/video/MUehEeJ9e-A/w-d-xo.html
your dedication is amazing dude¡¡¡
AMAZING VIDEO!!!!! I also put the bleach guitars in those categories, and my favourite Kurt guitar next to his Fender vandalism strat!😊
Perfect video man!
Thank you so much my friend!
The Bass Boost gives it a more unique character
GREAT VIDEO ! 👏👏👏
Fine work sir
These were also sold as Aria (1802) Lyle 1802, Aria Diamond, and probably a dozen others. Matsumoku would make you whatever you paid them to, so there’s lots of variants that are similar. I remember seeing them all the time at used stores or pawn shops and dismissed them as cheap junk, but clearly Mr Cobain was more open minded and of course got great results from his. Now I wish I had bought every one of those $50 specials because they’re fantastic guitars!
The new one you bought is sick man - when that things not all beat up and taped up and played upside down it’s fricken gorgeous.. great sound, design and color. Its like an Epiphone style Mustang lol
Awesome video! It has made me want one of these guitars now though haha
This was my first guitar handed down from my dad. I’m a lefty so I also had to restring it. Nirvana is what sparked my interest in learning to play and interest in music in general. Imagine my teenage surprise when I saw Kurt playing the same restrung guitar. Also imagine my surprise when I found out he was found dead on April 8th, which happens to be my birthday. 😭
Great video for such a cool guitar
Woop woop! Excited to see 🤘🤘🔥🔥
Thank you!
The fact that I was in the *laundry room* waiting for the dryer cycle to end as this premiered is something I’ll never not find funny.
Awesome video! I absolutely love these guitar history videos you’ve been doing! I actually never knew Sappy was from a completely different session, I always thought it was a Nevermind outtake.
Did the conclusion come to you? 😉 Thanks for the kind words! There's a lot of Sappys haha there are two that could be considered Nevermind outtakes. The Smart Session one with Chad and the Sound City one with Dave
@@NirvanaGuitars Wasn’t the one that appeared on with the lights out with Dave?
@@PalmettoStateSirens Not the Sound City version with Dave, that one is still officially unreleased. The Pachyderm In Utero version with Dave is on With the Lights Out though!
Happy 16k sub’s congratulations! 🎉🎉🎉
Thank you!! 😁
Love this guitar so much, i want one.
It would be sick if you made a full video on the Smart Sessions tone or the Pine Street Theatere tone.
great job.
Cool vid bro
Thanks!
Awesome run down on my fav bleach/post Nevermind guitar. I love mastsumoku guitars so much
God damn it...back down a Nirvana rabbit hole I go 🙈
Excellent stuff man
It’s a slippery slope man. One minute you’re listening to Bleach, the next you’re wondering if Kurt ever used the bridge cover on his ET270 🤪
@@NirvanaGuitars tis a slop worth slipping down :D
Awesome video!!!
Thank you!
@@NirvanaGuitars no problem man. Keep up the great work!
I CANT WAIT!!!!
Such a good video
YEEEAAAAAAAH I CAN'T WAIT!
It would be cool if EPIPHONE did a Kurt Cobain ET270 line
Damn you....now I want one, and I just bought an Epi Flying V too, must....self control 😂. Love your content brother! 🤘
LOVE IT!
Thank you!
Thanks 😢❤
Super video 👍👍👍
Thank you 👍
I have one of these with an inline 6 headstock that needs a bridge. Very cool guitar. (Mine is painted with toxic avenger imagery haha) great video!
This tone is spot on!
Thank you!
Interesting to see Kurts set up. It has the deep twangy sound which is perfect for his style. Cool channel I need to study more vids. I’d chill on some of the settings that don’t sound as good. Some fit well and others were not the correct tone as far as the balance for that type of riff. Maybe if was to show contrast. Some of the tones were on point.
Check my patented vertical scallop fretboard. Kurt actually bent the high E or low E off the fretboard on some of his feedback type solos to get different scratchy or buzzy tones. Hendrix carved fret notches on select frets as told by Seymour Duncan to alter pitch. I just evolved it to any string and deeper grooves. The fretcorner can pluck the string for infinite vibrato sustain and extra notes of pulloffs to evolve power chord rhythms.
My uncle Gary Lucas composed Jeff Buckley Grace which is iconic. in fact Jeff does FretCorner vibrato on hallelujah Chicago live solo on high e.
Another cool fact is my uncle played guitar in Cptn. Beefheart which the Melvins are big fans of and they introduced Kurt to them as well as Zappa That inspired Nirvana and there sound / attitude in subtle ways. There’s a lot of unknown Nirvana history out there to learn and share.
Regarding the amps used at Smart, Butch's '65 Bassman was used for Lithium and In Bloom and Kurt's Beta for the rest of the songs, according to Classic Albums book. No word about the guitars. After few weeks, he started to use the last homemade Mustang, I wonder if it was repaired or assembled before of after the sessions, considering the lot of work involved.
Thank you for sharing that info! I’ve seen the quote where Butch said a bassman was used on Lithium at Sound City, but I couldn’t find any info regarding Smart Session amps aside from Krist’s memory in that interview. Do you mind linking that book, or what is the full title? Would love to check it out and see who is quoted as saying that 😁
@@NirvanaGuitars No need to get the book for this, I put the exact quotes in LN forum, the music equipment thread. Also put a post after with the Butch quote about the mods in the amp (other source). If you want the book anyway is Classic Albums Nevermind, by Charles Cross and Jim Berkenstadt. I think the quotes were from Butch and his assistant.
I came here to say the same thing about what is in that book, as I mistakenly assumed he might have used a Twin Reverb during the Smart Sessions based off that same interview.
I thoughy you were just playing Dive over the video the tone is perfect!
That pickup position of sappy sounded exactly the Same as the clean pine street theater 9:14
Kinda funny that I gravitated to fender amps looking for something like Kurt's sound before ever knowing he used fenders.
Hello! I love your channel very much. Cool video! Tell me, do you know what model the pickups were on the epiphone et270? I just don't speak English very well. I might not have heard what you were saying.
Dude , your research is highly invaluable! You are extremely thorough! And your ET 270 is in great condition. How on earth did you find one in such minty shape with the cover?
I’ve had two. One was stolen and took 3 years to replace. Hope your get lucky and find one. One of my favorites. I put flatwound strings on mine. It’s a beast.
@@frankblakley8249 Damn bro. Sorry to hear that. I had a nice chunk of my pedals stolen in the 90’s. It took me years to replace. I recovered one though. My first gen Jim Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Wah from like 97. The thief, an acquaintance stole them at a house party at my house and sold them locally and another acquaintance bought the Hendrix wah, toured with it for like ten years and one day I was at his house and found it under his bed. It was just sticking out a bit and I pulled it out, and looked at him and the look he gave me said it all and I just took it back while he was begging me not to take it back. The guy is a recluse hermit who lives in his parents house in Queens. He’s like 42 now and doesn’t leave the house or fuck or anything. Stopped talking to everyone. Karma.
What happened to my comment? Gah. In short: just look every day in places like eBay, Reverb, GBase, Guitar Center, and such. Eventually, one will show up. I've done this well over 100 times; not to buy guitars, but to catalog individual examples of rare Mosrite models.* _And it works well._ Not that I find them every day, but sooner or later, I find them.
* Mosrite's records burned in the 1983 factory fire. Serial Numbers Lists are at the Mosrite Forum.
That's sick!
Thank you!
I’ve read that Chad’s final live show with Nirvana was on May 17, 1990 at the Zoo in Boise, Idaho. Neither video nor audio of that gig has ever surfaced. I’ve also read that the show at the Zoo was cancelled and as such never happened, which would then make Chad’s last show on May 14, 1990 at the Garage in Denver, CO.
This is very educational, and awesome, thanks for doing this!!
Thos pups sound pretty gritty even clean. It would be cool if you would open the guitar up to see their construction, but I wouldn't blame you for not wanting to mess with a 50 year old axe.
Thanks for watching! I actually did open it up when I first got it, the pickup selector was really scratchy and sometimes the bridge pickup would randomly cut out. Thankfully some contact cleaner cleared all those problems 😊 I should've documented/took some pics of the inside while I was doing that
Great video, I have the Aria 1802t in white which is basically the same guitar but i like the headstock and the color better on the epiphone
Nice! I prefer the Epiphone overall but the Arias in white look really sleek and nice
Great video, man! This guitar is also one of my favorite non-univox of the Bleach-era, along with the Hagstrom and the Aria, even if Kurt hated it, hahahah.
I want to try an Aria like he had, that is a very interesting guitar!
@@NirvanaGuitars yeah, the controls of that guitar are very interesting! Although Kurt got rid of most of them and just left the volume and pickup selector, I think.
Can't say I've heard of this guitar before, but I love how it looks and sounds. The shape sortta reminds me of a mustang. The middle pickup setting really stood out to me.
I can see that! The shape makes me a think of a mustang/strat mix. The middle pickup is definitely my favorite setting for cleans
1:25 - The ET-275 on the left, those Wilshire type models also are supposed to be darn good. The ET-290 is a Stoptail version of the ET-275.
That case reminds me of the case for my 1964 Harmony H-19. Only real difference was my H-19 case had cream colored side tolex, and the headstock end shape was different for the six inline headstock. The construction and body shape look almost identical. I wish I still had that original case for it. I got rid of it in the late 90's because I was dumb back then. The internet wasn't a vast resource for all things imaginable back then like it is today... I'm not even gonna tell you what I did with the original DeArmond gold foil pickups. 🤦♂ I also won't mention how I routed it out for humbuckers. Whatever, the work is clean and I have no intention to ever sell that guitar. Wow, this got long, haha.
Great video, I'll get the guitar eventually.
Also is there any way to find a good jaguar for under $600?
I really like the single coil pickups that Epiphone chooses to use in their guitars. I want this guitar! I’d even be happy with a re-issue.
It’s long overdue! I hope this video will raise some awareness and enough people bug Epiphone so they make it happen 😉
PLEASE DO MORE GUITAR HISTORY VIDEOS
LIKE ONE MAYBE OF THE VANDALISM STRAT
im a pretty big fan of them 60s hagstroms. hagstrom f12 is a dream guitar of mine
Didn't expect to get a tad upset about the epi getting the Cobain treatment.. almost as if I was rooting for that one to prevail lol
Anyone notice how the ET270 looks similar to the body of a Fender KC jag-stang? Of course, it is not as skewed and wonky as a Jag-Stang, but it definitely looks like Kurt was inspired by the “askew-mustang” look, hence why he went to Fender to create both of his signature Fender Jaguar and the Jag-Stang. This is just my theory though, but in my opinion, that Epiphone reminds me so much of a Jag-Stang.
Great video, I've always loved this era of the band, Bleach is probably my favorite record they ever did (depending on which day you ask me anyway). These old Japanese Epiphones are excellent guitars, the Japanese factories were putting out guitars that really punched above their price range at the time. I had an opportunity to buy one of these a few years back but just couldn't manage to get the money together in time and I still kick myself about it to this day, really unique sound that I love. I could be wrong, but I seem to remember seeing a picture that showed Kurt had moved the strap button to one of the screw holes for the neck plate? Seems like he really did like this guitar though, because based on some sources he tinkered with it a fair bit to keep it in working order, like filling the neck pocket with some sort of glue to keep it from shifting. Shame he smashed it as he was getting some really good tones out of it, but in those early days he was kind of prone to breaking things out of frustration even though they didn't really have any backup gear, so I also have to wonder if he regretted this one. Sorry for the rant, keep up the great work.
Extremely interesting information, thank you for passing that along! Do you happen to have a source for those, which show pic shows the strap button on the neck plate and where it was said he glue in the neck pocket? I don't mean to come off as questioning or anything, I would just love to see where those came from 😊 I searched near and far for any and all info I could find regarding this guitar and didn't read those!
@@NirvanaGuitars The strap button on the neck plate is something I don't have a source for sadly, I just seem to remember seeing an image like that at one point, so take that with a grain of salt. The neck pocket being filled with glue is mentioned on the Kurtsequipment site under the entry regarding this guitar.
"Red sunburst Epiphone ET270, Japanese-made, used during the Bleach era, no serial #. Kurt had taken off the neck and filled the neck pocket with Elmers Glue, to stop the neck from shifting. It was messy, but worked. He had also put right-handed six-in-line tuners on this three on a side headstock. The fingerboard came off the last time he threw this guitar around (59). Used in the SubPop "In Bloom" video (43) and was his main guitar around that time (41)(57)(possibly seen (25), pg. 132; and is on pg.135, says Earnie)."
@@seanmckelvey6618 would you believe me when I tell you, Kurtsequipment is literally the first place I went to and I didn’t take note of that and forgot after gathering all the other info?! 🥲 you are completely right, I am kicking myself so hard for not including that info lol. Thank you for the heads up!! I didn’t see any pics where it could suggest he used the strap button on the neck plate, but I’m gonna keep an eye out for that from now on
@@NirvanaGuitars No problem! I think I might be mistaken on the strap button thing based on some quick research, looking at photos it's pretty clear he just taped the strap to the back of the guitar, which is pretty funny honestly. Kind of makes me wonder if it even had the strap button when he got it?
It has a really good sound.
This is the first time I've been able to say this.
I'd always keep this on Middle w/ Bass Boost on.
I usually either like the bridge or neck pickup, nothing in between.
This guitar is going for a bit much, since I already have a guitar, I really want to get the pickups, but I can't find them separate, no matter what brand name i use.
I miss mine. got it for 325.00 18 years ago
It’s crazy how guitars can have their own sound. You can buy a bunch of different equipment, amps, pedals, and everything like that, but it really comes down to the guitar and the pickups. That’s what gives the true tone. I envy your guitar collection, it looks like you broke into every music museum and stole every kurt cobain guitar they had. Also, have you been to MoPop in Seattle? There’s a great Nirvana exhibit with a few of Cobain’s guitars, a bass played by Krist, and I believe a pair of broken drumsticks used by Dave. Keep up the good videos!
Goal is to have my own private guitar museum in my house 😉 I have been to the MoPop Nirvana exhibit twice, it's a fan's dream come true walking through it! Thanks for the kind words!
Any idea what the blue guitar at .20 is? Looks like a Mustang but not top routed and with a Schaller bridge.
I'm not familiar with this model but it appeared in my dreams several times. It is usually stored under my bed without remembering I put it there and out of nowhere something remind me I have another guitar. It is either unassembled build project or fully assembled guitar and always surprise me it is there.
Anyway, does any one have template of the body in vector file? It would be cool to have guitar which literally appearing in my dreams.
Between this and the Univox Phase 1/2 P90’s, the ET 270 sounds way better as long as it’s in boost mode!
Do you know where i can can get one of those knobs i was looking at an image of kurt cobains sonic blue homemade mustang that he used Live in Amherst and it had a volume knob from one of these
Next vid you should do the BBC John Peel Sessions
I'm so happy cuz today I found my friends
could you do a videos of the univoxes he used during this period since there where more than a couple
Yes that's a good idea! There are multiple Univoxs and it can get confusing
I just got myself an Epiphone ET-270 the other day. How did you date yours to 1971? I can't seem to find any reliable serial number searches for this era of Epiphone and there are no date codes on the pots.
I miss my univox phase 2 I had
I have the same guitar, in excellent condition.
Only the bass switch is broken.
Do you have any idea where to get one?
noice i have this one, was about to sell it but put an egc neck on it instead
GOOD thatsnthe guitar that kurt used in 1990 and he smashed it at pyramid club nyc 1990
Did Kurt also used this Guitar on the european Bleach Tour with TAD? My favourite Show on YT is about that Tour in Linz "Kapu" Austria. Could be this Guitar. At this Show he is playing through an Ampeg Head. Would be cool if you one day recreate the Sound of this Show :)