Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar - Overview and Best Prices
- 5 Prices - New from $1,079.99 >
- From Fender's 2011 Artist series
- Kurt Cobain Signature
- Made in Mexico
- 6 strings
- 24"'' scale
- 9.5" Fretboard Radius
- Alder body
- Maple neck
- Rosewood fretboard
- Bridge pickup: DiMarzio Super Distortion DP100 (Humbucker/Passive)
- Neck pickup: DiMarzio PAF 36th Anniversary (Humbucker/Passive)
- 3 volume and 2 tone Bell knobs
- 3-way Switch
- Adjusto-Matic Bridge with Vintage-Style Floating Tremolo Tailpiece and Tremolo Lock Button bridge
- Modern C Bolt-On neck
- 22 Medium Jumbo frets
- Gotoh Cast/Sealed tuners
- Weight between 8.65lbs (3.9kgs) and 9.05lbs (4.1kgs)
- Side-By-Side Comparison
Show Specs
| Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar | ||
|---|---|---|
| General | ||
| Brand: | Fender | |
| Year: | 2011 | |
| Configuration: | HH | |
| Strings: | 6 | |
| Made in: | Mexico | |
| Series: | Artist | |
| Colors: | Sunburst | |
| Left-Handed Version: | Yes | |
| Body | ||
| Type: | Solid Body | |
| Body Material: | Alder | |
| Bridge: | Adjusto-Matic Bridge with Vintage-Style Floating Tremolo Tailpiece and Tremolo Lock Button | |
| Neck | ||
| Neck Joint: | Bolt-On | |
| Tuners: | Gotoh Cast/Sealed | |
| Fretboard: | Rosewood | |
| Neck Material: | Maple | |
| Decoration: | Pearloid Dot | |
| Scale Size: | 24" | |
| Shape: | Modern C | |
| Thickness: | 1st Fret: 0.82'' (20.8mm) - 12th Fret: 0.87'' (22.1mm) | |
| Frets: | 22 Medium Jumbo | |
| Fretboard Radius: | 9.5" | |
| Nut: | Synthetic Bone | |
| Nut Width: | 42mm (1.654'') | |
| Electronics | ||
| Bridge Pickups: | DiMarzio Super Distortion DP100 (Humbucker / Passive) | |
| Neck Pickup: | DiMarzio PAF 36th Anniversary (Humbucker / Passive) | |
| Switch: | 3 | |
| Knobs: | Bell | |
| Volume Controls: | 3 | |
| Tone Controls: | 2 | |
| Hardware | ||
| Strap Lock: | No | |
| Hardware Color: | Black & Chrome | |
Show Diagram
Our Scores and Tone Evaluation
- Heavy Metal
- Hard Rock
- Jazz
- Blues
- Funk
- Country
Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar
- Expensive Wood
- Synthetic Bone Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Tremolo
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- Made in Mexico
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Price Overview
Its average competitor's price is $1050, which means that the Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar is within the average price asked for this kind of guitar. This takes into account all instruments of the same category in our database with 6 strings and Tremolo bridge that are made in Mexico.
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User Reviews & Feedback
Not all instruments are created equally. That's why it's important to have different opinions. Here's what our users who have played this instrument say. If you've played it before, help others by voting below!
Weight
VoteTuning stability
VoteNeck speed (thickness)
VoteNeck access to high frets
VoteNeck profile shape
VoteFret edges
VotePickups noise
VotePickups power
VoteOften Compared With
Hand Size Comfortability
After taking into account the neck profile, scale size, fretboard radius, and nut width, we can conclude that the Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar's construction favors people with relatively small hands.
Nevertheless, this comes down in the end to personal preference. Make sure you test this guitar—or another one with similar characteristics—before buying.
Beginner Friendliness
The Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar meets 7 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, which means that it's a good guitar to start with as a complete beginner. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players to get used to.
New Player Friendliness
Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar- Comfortable shape
- Easy-to-use bridge
- Comfortable fretboard
- Tall frets
- Narrow nut
- Short scale
- Comfortable neck
- Locking tuners
Videos
How Lightweight is it?
We found that the Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar weighs between 8.65lbs (3.9kgs) and 9.05lbs (4.1kgs). This was recorded from some online retailers that publish the weight of the instruments they sell.
Playability
Scale Length
Scale length is the distance the strings will span between the bridge and the nut. It can tell you a lot about the overall playability and tone of the instrument. A longer scale length means longer distance between frets, brighter tone and more string tension—which means lower action, but more difficult bending of the strings.
Here's the Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar's 24" scale length compared to other common sizes:
There are advantages and disadvantages to a short scale length like this. This guitar will be very easy to play, especially if you have small hands because the frets will be close to each other. Also, since the distance between the bridge and nut is short, the strings will have less tension, so they'll be really easy to bend. However, this also means that you won't be able to lower the action (lower the saddles and get the strings closer to the fretboard) too much or you will get fret buzz since the strings will be a bit loose.
Also, short scales give less space for the harmonics to 'breath', so this ends up making the tone of the guitar sound more 'bassy' than a loger scale where there's more separation between harmonics, which gives the tone more chime.
Neck Profile
The neck profile tells you the thickness (neck depth) and shape in cross section. Every difference will completely change the feeling and comfortability of the neck. This is a highly subjective thing, but most players indeed prefer certain types of necks (like Cs and Ds) because they feel nice in most hands.
The Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar's neck thickness is approximately 0.82'' (20.8mm) at the first fret, and 0.87'' (22.1mm) at the twelfth.
These measurements were taken either from the official Fender website, or, in case this information wasn't provided, by researching multiple online marketplaces and forums where owners of this model have posted their measurements.
It has a C type neck. C-shaped necks like this have been the most popular for the last years. The reason is that they feel good in most hands. It's generally a thin neck that doesn't get in your way when playing fast, but that also has enough mass to give your hands a comfortable grip for chords if they aren't too big.
Thin necks like this make it easier to move your hand across the neck and it helps when playing fast solos, especially if you like to leave your thumb free while playing high on the fretboard. However, thinner necks are also weaker and will need adjustment more often than a thicker neck.
Fretboard Radius
When it comes to fingerboard radius, personal preference will dictate which one is better for you. However, most people seem to agree that a more curved (lower) radius will make it easier to play chords while a less curved (higher) radius is better for soloing and bending.
The Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar has a 9.5" fingerboard radius.
Here's an image comparing this fretboard radius to other popular choices:
This is the most common radius for Stratocaster guitars. It's considered curved when compared to most other models. This allows you to play chords very easily without muting strings accidentally and gives you more space between strings for fingerpicking. However, this curve also gives the guitar less allowance for lower action. If you bend too hard at the high frets, some of your notes might get muted because the curve will make the string fret out.
Compound radius fingerboards give the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, the Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar has the same radius across the board.
Playability compared to main competitors
Nut Width
The Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar has a nut width of 42mm (1.654''). This is considered a narrow width for a 6-string guitar. This means that this guitar will have a narrower string separation at the nut, which will affect your fretting hand.
If you are a player with big hands, you might find it difficult to play chords without muting strings. However, this is good for players who have smaller hands, as it will allow them to reach each string more easily at the nut.
Frets
The Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar has 22 frets. Even though 24 frets has become really popular, there's still a good reason to get fewer frets; the pickup at the neck position will be further away from the bridge. This makes the neck pickup achieve a warmer tone. You might want this if you're playing Jazz or similar genres.
However, if you don't care about the warmer neck pickup, more frets will always be better. It's always nice to have the option to play higher notes if you want to.
It comes with nickel silver frets, so they won't last as long as stainless steel frets. If you use your instrument a lot, you might need to replace the frets after a few years. But this is unlikely as most people change instruments before this happens.
Fret Size
Finally, let's talk about fret size. Some people prefer tall frets because it's easier to press the strings and perform bends since there's less friction against the fretboard. On the other hand, some people like shorter frets because they like to touch the fretboard when playing, or because they got heavy hands and tend to press too much on the string and alter the of the note pitch accidently.
The Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar's frets are Medium Jumbo size. These sit somewhere between a Jumbo and a Medium fret. They're not quite as tall as a full Jumbo, so you'll still feel the fretboard, but you won't feel it as much as with medium frets. This is a good size if you want to make it easy to press the strings but would also like a little bit of ''feedback'' to know when to stop pressing so the notes don't go out of pitch.
Playability Score
Tone
Wood will have little influence in the final tone of an electric guitar or bass. Instead, the hardware, especially the pickups, will be the most important thing to look at. Bur first, let's see the quality of the wood.
Wood
Alder Body: This is a lightweight type of wood that was popularized by Fender. According to them, it's a wood that offers a balanced tone but that favors the upper midrange slightly.
Maple Neck: This is one of the most popular types of wood used in all kinds of guitars. It's heavy, strong and compact, which makes it great for necks. However, it's also used for fretboards, bodies and tops due to its light color, resistance and beautiful patterns. When it comes to tone, it highlights the mid and high frequencies.
Rosewood Fretboard: Since the ban of Brazillian Rosewood, this has become a rare and expensive wood. It's not usually used for guitar bodies because of this, and also because it's heavy. Instead, it's used mainly for fretboards. Sometimes it's also used for necks because it's an extremely hard wood (even harder than maple). Its tonality tends to favor warm tones.
Pickups
This guitar comes with pickups from one of the top brands: DiMarzio. So you can expect well built pickups with great sound that shouldn't need an upgrade anytime soon.
These are passive pickups, so you can expect a rounder sound and a moderade level of output.
The Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar's configuration is HH. With this pickup combination, you'll get warmer tones and more output than using single coils. Humbucker pickups cancel the noise that single-coil suffer from, which also results in a warmer tone. This pickup combination isn't only for high-gain music like Hard Rock or Heavy Metal. Their warmness is also popular for Jazz, Indie, R&B, Blues and more.
More with the same pickups
Versatility
It comes with the popular 3-way switch that is present in most guitars. For more versatility, players tend to prefer a 5-way switch, although it all depends on what you want to use your guitar for.
Unfortunately, it doesn't come with more options for coil split or coil tapping. This makes it less versatile than some competitors.
What music genre is it good for?
As a 6 strings, Solid Body guitar with HH configuration and Passive pickups, we'd recommend it for genres like Hard Rock or similar. However, you can use almost any guitar for any genre. This is just the typical type of music for this particular one.
Sound Score
Build Quality
Country of Origin
Knowing where the instrument is produced is a good way to know how well it's built. Some manufacturing countries are known for having higher quality standards. For example, most expensive instruments are made in the US or Japan, but there are some exceptionally great countries—like South Korea—that are building a good reputation.
The Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar is made in Mexico. This is the country that some American brands choose for building really good, but cheaper guitars. You can expect a guitar that offers a good price-quality relationship, although they don't get the same quality control as the ones built in Japan or the United States.
Bridge
Adjusto-Matic Bridge with Vintage-Style Floating Tremolo Tailpiece and Tremolo Lock Button: This type of bridge allows you to change the pitch of the notes by pulling the bridge with the attached bar, which gives you better versatility. Also, since the bridge is not fixed to the guitar body, the bridge will move as you bend the strings. So you'll have to increase the distance of your bends to reach the same tension (note) compared to a fixed bridge. This allows you to perform smoother bends but will also make you slower. Finally, remember that this type of bridge requires a bit more maintenance than fixed ones, especially when changing strings.
Nut Material
Another important thing to analyze is the nut material, as it's one of the most important aspects that can affect the sound and playability of your guitar. A well-cut nut will make sure it stays in tune and will make it more comfortable to play.
In this case, the Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar has a Synthetic Bone nut. One of the best nuts you can have is a Bone nut thanks to their rich tonality and resistance. The problem is that they're a natural material, so different bone nuts will have inconsistent tonal properties. In other words, one bone nut might not sound as well as the other even when they're made from the same piece. Synthetic bone helps with this by giving you a high-quality, consistent nut that resembles the tone produced by bone.
Neck Joint
The neck joint is the part where the neck of the guitar meets the body. There are three main techniques to attach both parts together: Set-In, Bolt-On and Neck-Through. The latter two provide different advantages, although neck-throughs are the most expensive.
This guitar has a Bolt-On neck joint. Even though this type of neck was looked down upon for a long time, nowadays bolt-on necks are well built and provide just as much sustain as any other join method. First of all, it's cheap to make because it consists of simply 4 bolts that attach the neck to the body. And you can travel with the guitar more easily, swap out the neck if you damage it, or upgrade to a more comfortable neck later on.
