Kurt liked to have Japanese Fender Stratocasters to destroy at shows. Kurt preferred Japanese Stratocasters because of availability and smaller frets.
Kurt had two all-white Strats with 3 white single-coil sized pickups. The stock pickups were replaced with Seymour Duncan Hot rails, white or black at any given time because these pickups damaged easily. Both guitars had various necks. One of these Strats was used at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1992 for Lithium, which was trashed at the Seattle Center in '92 as well. The other Strat was trashed at Argentina. However, before Kurt had these two white Strats, he had a White Strat with 2 white single-coil sized pickups and tilted black bridge humbucker. It had the "K" sticker.
Kurt also had four black Fender Strats. One of them had a black pickguard, 2 white single-coil sized pickups and a black full-sized humbucker in the bridge, used as early as 1991. It had a sticker saying "Vandalism: As beautiful as a rock in a cop's face" and "Courtesy of the Feederz: Office of Anti-Public relations". This guitar was smashed in Paris around spring '92 or winter '91. Another one of them had a white pickguard, two single-coil sized pickups and a full-sized black humbucker in the bridge, which was smashed during the recording of "Endless, Nameless on Nevermind. Once fixed, it had a black pickguard and black pickups with a Tune-O-Matic bridge. It can currently be found at the Hard Rock Cafe. The third black Strat had a white pickguard and was set up like the all white Fender Strats and it was also from around the same time. Dave smashed this guitar in '92 at the Reading Festival, and after the show, BBC Radio 1 sound engineer Miti Adhikari recalls a guy wandering around collecting the pieces. The guitar also ended up at the Hard Rock Cafe. The fourth black Strat had a white pickguard as well, however, this guitar was reduced to splinters in January 1993 in Sao Paulo by Kurt. Afterwards, Kurt handed out the broken remains to the audience.
Kurt has also been seen with a sunburst Strat with a white pickguard and three white single-coil sized pickups. This Strat was smashed in Florida.
Smashed during the East Coast leg of the In Utero tour, Kurt also had a Candy apple red Japanese '57 Fender Strat, with a rosewood neck and a white single ply pickguard.
Kurt used 5 or 6 black Fender Mexican Strats with white pickguards and black Seymour Duncan Hot rails in the bridge during the In Utero tour, used mostly for smashing.