Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's 1960's Mosrite Mark IV Gospel

This instrument is unusual in a couple of ways. It is one of only two known examples of a Mark IV style Mosrite Gospel model. While Kurt owned and smashed many cheap (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. Kurt purchased the guitar in San Francisco in 1990.

According to Kurt’s tech, Earnie Bailey, "Kurt had only one Gospel, and this is a beyond rare guitar. At the time Kurt died, I was secretly working with Loretta Mosley to build Kurt a lefty Gospel," ".in some cool color." Unfortunately, Kurt passed away as Earnie was gathering photos to send to Mosrite of Kurt's original. "Loretta sent me a nice letter after it ended, as she had recently lost Semie (husband, founder of Mosrite) and was now running Mosrite on her own... she had sent me some sales literature of another Gospel, but could find no history of ever having made one based on the Mark IV guitar."
[Quote reprinted from www.kurtsequipment.com]

Kurt had painted the very small Mosrite dot markers with white-out to make them more visible in a live setting. Although a subsequent owner removed this simple modification, residue of this 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 'Fuck Elvis' in white paint, which while painted over with the same paint are still visible on inspection.

This was a featured instrument in our ‘Icons of 20th Century Music’ auction, held in Dallas, TX, in April 2004. The guitar sold to a collector for $131,450.00. At one time Kurt’s lovely widow, Courtney Love, attempted to claim ownership of the instrument. This was problematic for her, as he had sold the guitar before they were married.

URL Links: Kurt Cobain • Mosrite • Nirvana