Riff Tone
About a Girl (Live at Reading, 08/30/92)
Nirvana
Guitarrock1990s
Original Gear
GuitarFender Japan Standard Stratocaster Left Handed (Sunburst, with Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in bridge)
AmpUnknown (likely Marshall JCM800 or JCM900, as used by Cobain live in 1992, but not confirmed for this specific song/section)
PickupsSeymour Duncan Hot Rails (bridge), stock single coils (middle/neck)
Amp Settings
gain5.5
bass5
mid6.5
treble7
reverb1
presence6
Effects & Signal Chain
distortionBoss Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion
Notes
Live performance at Reading Festival, August 30, 1992. Guitar confirmed from Equipboard and video evidence. Amp not explicitly confirmed for this song/section, but Marshall JCM800/JCM900 is most likely based on era and Cobain's live rig. Settings estimated due to lack of explicit numbers for this performance.
Tone Character(10)
warm and slightly grittyclear and janglyopen and dynamicslightly compressednot heavily distortedarticulate single-coil soundslight breakup at higher picking dynamicsno pronounced modulationmodest low endbright upper mids
Difficulty
The riff is based on simple open chords and steady strumming, but requires dynamic control to maintain the clean/edge-of-breakup tone and clarity in a live setting.
Sources
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Create Free AccountGuitarrock1990s
Original Gear
GuitarFender Japan Standard Stratocaster Left Handed (Sunburst, with Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in bridge)
AmpUnknown (likely Marshall JCM800 or JCM900, as used by Cobain live in 1992, but not confirmed for this specific song/section)
PickupsSeymour Duncan Hot Rails (bridge), stock single coils (middle/neck)
Amp Settings
gain5.5
bass5
mid6.5
treble7
reverb1
presence6
Effects & Signal Chain
distortionBoss Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion
Notes
Live performance at Reading Festival, August 30, 1992. Guitar confirmed from Equipboard and video evidence. Amp not explicitly confirmed for this song/section, but Marshall JCM800/JCM900 is most likely based on era and Cobain's live rig. Settings estimated due to lack of explicit numbers for this performance.
Tone Character(10)
warm and slightly grittyclear and janglyopen and dynamicslightly compressednot heavily distortedarticulate single-coil soundslight breakup at higher picking dynamicsno pronounced modulationmodest low endbright upper mids
Difficulty
The riff is based on simple open chords and steady strumming, but requires dynamic control to maintain the clean/edge-of-breakup tone and clarity in a live setting.
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