Kurt Cobain, guitarist and songwriter for the group, Nirvana, changed rock.
With his band mates, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, he crafted intensely
personal songs that somehow found an audience of millions. A left-handed
guitarist, Cobain eschewed the normal rock star Les Paul or Telecaster and
became famous for using a Mosrite. This 1960’s Gospel Guitar will be a featured
lot in the April 15,2006 Heritage Signature Music and Entertainment Auction
schedule to be held in Dallas, TX.

According to a press release from
Heritage’s Music & Entertainment expert, Doug Norwine, “This instrument is
unusual in a couple of ways. First, it is the only known example of a Mark V
style Mosrite Gospel model. While Kurt owned and smashed many cheaper (usually
Univox) copies of Mosrite guitars during his career, this was one of only two
actual Mosrites he owned. (The other was damaged and given away.) It was also
one of his favorite guitars, which saved it from the usual fate of the
instruments he used for live performances.”

Cobain purchased the guitar
in San Francisco in 1990.

Cobain had painted the very small Mosrite dot
markers with white-out to make them more visible in a live setting. Although the
previous owner removed this simple modification, residue is still visible on the
instrument. This is a factory right handed instrument, so it was modified for
Kurt with a strap button added to the treble side horn, and the original metal
string guide has been flipped to allow it to be strung left handed.

The
original case bears the words ‘NIRVANA’ and ‘F… Elvis’ (colorful expletive
deleted here but preserved on the case) in white paint which, while painted over
with the same white paint, are still visible on inspection. This lot also
includes a hand-written letter from Chris Cobb, owner of Real Guitars in San
Francisco, who sold Cobain the guitar in the fall of 1990.

On line
bidding for the event has opened and is available through the Heritage website.
The auction is scheduled to contain a wide variety of lots from many sides of
the music and entertainment world. Details on the auction can be found at http://www.heritageauctions.com.