Riff Tone

Dumb

Nirvana

Guitarrock1990s

Original Gear

GuitarFender Mustang (early 70s, Competition Blue, stock pickups)

AmpFender Twin Reverb (Silverface, late 60s/early 70s)

PickupsStock Fender single-coil pickups

Amp Settings

gain5.5

bass6

mid6.5

treble6.5

reverb1.5

presence5.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, In Utero sessions (1993). No evidence of live rig or alternate guitars/amps for this song's riff. No pedalboard evidence for this specific track. Most sources agree on Mustang + Twin Reverb for In Utero era studio work.

Tone Character(10)

raw and mid-heavybright attackslightly compressedopen and dynamicmodest sustainclear note separationuncompressed amp drivedistinct Fender amp characterslight breakup on chordsno audible modulation

Difficulty

The riff requires moderately precise timing and dynamic picking to capture the raw, open feel of the recording, but uses basic chord shapes and no advanced techniques.

Sources

Which Pickup does Kurt use? : r/Nirvana Cheap amp to get as close as you can get to Nirvana tone Nirvana songs standard tuning recommendations

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