Riff Tone

Dumb

Nirvana

Guitarrock1990s

Original Gear

Guitar1991 Fender Mustang (left-handed, Competition Blue, stock single coil in neck, Seymour Duncan JB humbucker in bridge)

AmpFender Quad Reverb (1970s, Utah speakers, studio recording at Pachyderm Studios)

PickupsNeck single coil (Fender stock Mustang pickup)

Amp Settings

gain0

bass6

mid6

treble6.5

reverb2.5

presence5.5

Effects & Signal Chain

chorusElectro-Harmonix Electro-Harmonix Small Clone Chorus

Notes

Studio recording, 1993, In Utero sessions. Clean tone for 'Dumb' riff/verse. Guitar: Mustang with neck pickup. Amp: Fender Quad Reverb, as confirmed by multiple sources for In Utero. No evidence of pedals in clean section; chorus and reverb are audible. Settings estimated based on amp type and genre, as no explicit clean settings for 'Dumb' found.

Tone Character(10)

clear and bell-likelush chorus shimmerwarm and rounded attackslightly scooped midsopen, airy high endsubtle spring reverb ambiencedynamic and touch-sensitiveno audible distortionneck pickup claritystudio-recorded clean passage

Difficulty

The riff is beginner-friendly, using basic open chords and a steady, soft strumming pattern with no complex techniques or fast changes.

Sources

The super rare Fender amp that Kurt Cobain used on In Utero | MusicRadar "It sounds exactly like the record" – guitarist nails Kurt Cobain's Nirvana In Utero distorted tones with two pedals, a Fender amp and some insider information | MusicRadar Kurt Cobain news and features - Page 3 | MusicRadar

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