Kurt played guitar left-handed, mostly using left-handed guitars, but sometimes used a right-handed guitar strung for a lefty and played upside down.
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Electric
Univox Hi-Flyers. Although Kurt is known for his Fenders, he would use other brands from time to time. One of his favored models was the Univox Hi-Flyer, a copy of the Mosrite Ventures Model. He replaced the single coils for humbucker pickups and used this guitar on Bleach. He owned mostly sunburst Hi-Flyers, but was seen with at least two white ones, including the one used in the Heart-Shaped Box music video. Cobain was also reported to have owned several natural finish models.
Fender Mustang. Kurt said that the Mustang was his favorite guitar. He replaced the bridge with a Gotoh Tune-o-matic, and the bridge pickup usually replaced with a Seymour Duncan JB Humbucker (the Mustang comes with dual single coils and therefore the guitar had to be routed to accommodate the full size humbucker)
Fender Jaguar. Kurt's main guitar during the Nevermind era was a 1966 sunburst Fender Jaguar.
Epiphone ET-270 Guitar Kurt used extensively in 1990. Was destroyed.
Kurt liked to have Japanese Fender Stratocasters to smash at the end of his sets.
Kurt also used a Fender Telecaster. In early 1994, Fender sent Kurt a Japanese Sunburst Telecaster to replace a blue (which was also originally sunburst, it was handpainted blue by Cobain, and he scratched the shape of a heart and "Courtney" into it) one that was trashed in 1992. After his coma in Rome, Kurt got away from the Jaguar-Mustang image. The guitar included Gotoh tuners (his favorite ones), a Tele bridge from Stew-Mac with a humbucker cut-out and individual saddles for each string. He got it 2 weeks before his death and said it was his new favorite. He used it for the recordings that he did in his basement with Pat Smear and Eric Erlandson 1 week later.
Fender Jag-Stang, this was another custom collaboration with Fender. It was seen starting in mid-to-late 1993 (apparently at the beginning of the In Utero tour) although Kurt rarely played it. It featured a DiMarzio H-3 humbucker in the bridge and a Texas Special single in the neck. After Kurt's death, Fender was given the go ahead to mass produce these. Courtney Love gave Kurt's Jag-Stang to R.E.M.'s Peter Buck. He played it in the "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" music video and REM bassist Mike Mills plays it live on "Let Me In".
For the Nevermind underwater photoshoot a Black Epiphone Les Paul was used (probably only for this time).
Kurt also played two Mosrite guitars, and though one was damaged, he occasionally used his other, the "Gospel" (which was, in fact, the only known Mark IV model of this guitar).
Kurt also owned a custom Mustang-Style guitar built by master luthier Danny Ferrington.
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Acoustic
12-string Stella Harmony on Nevermind ("Polly" and "Something in the Way") and In Utero. While recording "Polly" and "Something in the Way", the guitar only had five nylon strings, and the tuners had to be held down with duct tape. For In Utero, the strings and tuners were replaced.
Prior to the In Utero tour, Kurt's main acoustic was an Epiphone Texan purchased after completing "In Utero" as a replacement for the Stella. Despite this, he wouldn't use it on "Unplugged"
A late-fifties Martin D-18E for "Unplugged".
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Amplificaton
In the early days, Kurt used Randall heads and Sunn-Beta Lead heads to drive various cabinets, including a 4x12 Peavey and 2x12 BFI Bullfrog. Randalls can be heard on Bleach. Around the time of Nevermind, Kurt began using a Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp and a Crown power amp to drive a variety of Marshall cabs. Eventually the Crown heads were replaced with Crest amps, because they could withstand his onstage beatings. Other amps used on Nevermind include a Fender Bassman and a Vox AC30 for some clean tracks. Another amp he used frequently was an early eighties Fender Twin Reverb. This is used on In Utero and MTV Unplugged in New York, though it is uncertain as to whether it can be heard on Unplugged (it is believed that he used it only as his monitor). Mesa/Boogie heads driving Marshall cabs were a large part of Cobains later, heavier sound. He also liked to put a red vinyl Marshall Microstack on stage, but it was never really used.
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Effects
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Distortion
A Boss DS-1 Distortion pedalBoss DS-1 Distortion. This pedal was used on Bleach and Nevermind. He also used a ProCo Rat Distortion, an MXR distortion plus and an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff fuzz on a few songs.
For the Nevermind tour, he switched over to a Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion. It was also used for distortion on Unplugged. However, contrary to popular belief, this was not his main distortion during the In Utero tour.
His settings were reportedly as follows: Level all the way up; Tone at about 11 o'clock; Distortion usually all the way up; and the last knob was set to "non-turbo."
During the recording of In Utero, he also began experimenting with a Tech 21 Classic Sansamp pedal. This became his main distortion of choice throughout the entire In Utero tour.
Kurt also used an Electro Harmonix clone theory chorus but he didn't like it so he broke it.
DOD Grunge Pedal (totally different from the current DIGITECH ones) Kurt put this pedal on stage as a joke. This pedal was sent to him as a sample by DOD, he later threw it into the audience.
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Chorus/Flange/Phase
His most frequently used chorus pedal was the Electro Harmonix Small Clone. It was used on probably every album and tour at some point. During the In Utero tour, Kurt also used an Electro-Harmonix PolyChorus for the solo of "Heart-Shaped Box" and for effects on "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter" and "Scentless Apprentice." Occasionally on tour, he would use an MXR Phase 100 pedal, as on the song "Curmudgeon." He also briefly used an Electro-Harmonix EchoFlanger on tour.