Kurt Cobain’s iconic 1959 Martin D-18E, which he played throughout Nirvana’s legendary MTV Unplugged set, is no longer within the Cobain family, as daughter Frances Bean Cobain has left it to her ex, Isaiah Silva, in the couple’s divorce settlement.
The acoustic has long been a bone of contention, as Silva has claimed Frances gave him the guitar as a gift - something that was denied by Frances.
According to TMZ, Cobain left the guitar to Silva on the condition he quickly vacates the couple’s LA property.
Cobain’s Martin was equipped with a number of electro functions, as Nirvana tech Earnie Bailey told Total Guitar.
“The D-18E’s spruce top was weighted down by a trio of volume and tone potentiometers, a toggle switch and a Bartolini soundhole pickup mounted between a pair of hefty [stock] 1950s DeArmond Dynasonic pickups [these ended up being bypassed in favour of the retrofit Bartolini].”
Nonetheless, the guitar has acquired a mythical status, partly due to Cobain’s performance on MTV and partly because it’s rumoured to be the last guitar he played before he passed in 1994.
A number of Kurt’s instruments have changed hands over the years, with one of only two Cobain-designed Fender Jag-Stang prototypes currently up for auction.
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![Epiphone goes high-end with its Inspired By Gibson Custom 2025 collection: [from left] the '63 Firebird in Polaris White is joined by a 1959 Les Paul Standard, a '64 SG Standard, a 1960 Les Paul Special in TV Yellow and a 1962 ES-335 reissue.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3N4uVp3ezzrrhjCbY8KNfn-840-80.jpg.webp)
![YouTuber Aaron Rash [left] wears grey and an Adidas beanie and checked trousers as he poses with his Veleno-clone aluminium guitar. On the right, Kurt Cobain performs in 1993 with Nirvana at their MTV Live and Loud show in Seattle.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/aqcaqZZK7FsRFWvoMPzMF9-840-80.jpg.webp)
