“Own a piece of grunge history”: The backline used on Nirvana’s Bleach tour is to be auctioned off today

When Kurt Cobain gear hits the auction block, it tends to fetch a pretty penny, and the grunge icon’s Bleach-era touring backline could be the next lot to do so.

For evidence, before the mega bucks auction of Jim Irsay's humongous and historic gear collection earlier this year, his MTV Unplugged Martin D-18E and Smells Like Teen Spirit Fender Mustang, which originally sold for a collective $10.5 million, were the world's two most expensive guitars.

Granted, there are some outliers: his 1989 Takamine acoustic, featured in one of the most recognizable photos of the late guitarist, was estimated to sell for ‘just’ $500,000 last year. Still, there’s an aura that surrounds Cobain-themed bidding wars.

This lot is expected to turn a few heads. It features black-and-silver-paneled Fender Twin Reverb combo amps, each kitted out with JBL speakers, and a Marshall 4x12 speaker cabinet. For good measure, bassist Krist Novoselic’s Ampeg SVT has also been thrown in.

The amps are being sold off via London’s Denmark Street Guitars today (April 10). Posting on Instagram, it tempts those with cash to spare to bid on its auction to “own a piece of grunge history,” although there is no mention of expected prices; it’s an open book.

As MusicRadar points out, Bleach – Nirvana’s ear-gratingly raw debut album recorded for just $600 – was recorded with a Utah speaker-leaden ’67 Fender Twin. Cobain pivoted to a slightly different flavor for the proceeding tour.

Released in the summer of ‘89 (not to be confused with the Bryan Adams song), Bleach initially sold a respectable 40,000 copies, but when the polished powerhouse that is their sophomore album, Nevermind, dropped two years later, the record enjoyed a retrospective glow-up. It's since been certified Platinum in the US, UK, and Australia.

Live tracks from the tour were included in the record's 20th-anniversary deluxe edition, suggesting that this backline was put through its paces at – among many other shows – the Pine Street Theatre in Portland, Oregon, on February 9, 1990. Their set included Love Buzz, About a Girl, and their Vaselines cover, Molly's Lips.

Cobain once described Bleach as “straight-ahead garage grunge”, and its raw, abrasive textures, coupled with Cobain's lyrical themes of alienation, societal standards, and mental health, made for a powerful statement. Machine Head would go on to cover the hammerblow track Negative Creep, giving the song a thrashy makeover.

The auction takes place today (April 10). Interest can be registered by emailing sales@londonvntageguitars.com.

And don’t worry, Aaron Rash has already been informed.