YouTuber and polymath Aaron Rash has been on another Nirvana mission – and it's culminated in him buying the same year Mosrite Gospel as Kurt Cobain's own. Most fans know he used a Mosrite, less that is was the main electric guitar used on the band's 1991 breakthrough album Nevermind.
Cobain's left-handed 1966 Mosrite was white, and the story goes that it was stolen from Nirvana's van in mid-May – slap bang in the middle of sessions for the album with Butch Vig in LA. It was never seen again, but it had already played its part in shaping rock history.
As Aaron demonstrates in the video above with the 1966 sunburst model he now owns, the stock Gospel is the Lithium clean guitar – you can hear it. "Another thing that's cool about this guitar is it has naturally chorus-y sound," notes Aaron. "It sounds like a chorus – but there's no chorus."
As the Nirvana historian notes part of what makes this guitar sound unique are its pickups – they feature an 'air coil' rather than a traditional bobbin.
The magnets are placed underneath the coil with epoxy used under the pickup covers to help cut down on the risk of feedback. And the sounds Aaron demonstrates playing parts from the songs Come As You Are and Drain You (with the forthcoming Nevermind IR pack that's being released to follow up his In Utero one) certainly sound thicker than a P-90 to my ears. And the combo of Mosrite Gospel and Aaron's IR nails the sound!
"It's like I'm sitting here playing Kurt's Gospel through his Nevermind rig – it's crazy, it sounds exactly the same".
Aaron also reveals in the video that he's working on a Bleach IR pack as well as a Nevermind one, and he's "almost" done with the production aluminum guitars he's going to make available. As he explains in our interview from early 2024, they're inspired by the late Steve Albini's Veleno model he loaned to Kurt Cobain that became a key guitar in the tracking of Nirvana's In Utero album.
"The way that the aluminum guitars are going to work is that I'll probably do runs of 15 at a time," explains Aaron. "They're probably going to sell out really quick because the amount of interest in there has been through the roof."
If that wasn't enough, Aaron has a pedal coming out too – The Engine. It's based on the tones Cobain used on In Utero and some of his home recordings that were provided by a super rare Univox Superfuzz pedal Cobain owned, had stolen (notice the theme) and a replica built by his tech Earnie Bailey. After Aaron built a pedal himself by ear to replicate the 'engine-like' sound it makes, a company is going to mass-produce them for Aaron to sell on his site.
Keep an eye on aaronrash.com for preorders and to buy the In Utero IR pack now.
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“There’s three of us playing guitar in Foo Fighters… A lot of tone details can get lost, which is what drew me to the Cleaver – that P-90 cut”: Chris Shiflett on how he found his weapon of choice with his Fender Cleaver Telecaster Deluxe
“Notes dance rhythmically, almost creating a reverb diffusion. Those notes are held together with tape-style effects”: Keeley Electronics and Andy Timmons unveil the Halo Core – same modulated dual echo magic, simplified controls
