Riff Tone

Serve the servants

Unknown Artist

Guitarrock1990s

Original Gear

GuitarFender Electric XII (mid-1960s, used for writing, but likely not for recording); likely Fender Mustang or Fender Jaguar for recording

AmpMesa/Boogie Studio Preamp into Crown Power Amp and Marshall 4x12 cabinets

PickupsSingle-coil (Fender Mustang/Jaguar stock pickups)

Amp Settings

gain6.5

bass6

mid7.5

treble6.5

reverb2

presence5.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1993 (In Utero sessions). Guitar World confirms Cobain wrote the song on a Fender Electric XII, but for recording, he used his typical In Utero rig: Mustang or Jaguar into Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp, Crown Power Amp, Marshall 4x12. No evidence of Electric XII on final recording. No evidence of live-specific gear for this section.

Tone Character(10)

grinding and rawmid-heavy and punchyslightly dark, not overly brightscratchy, aggressive rhythmtight and percussive strummingsaturated but not high-gainopen, ringing chordspunk-influenced attackloose, dynamic feelminimal effects coloration

Difficulty

The riff requires moderately aggressive strumming and dynamic control to achieve the grinding, mid-heavy tone, but does not involve advanced techniques or fast tempo.

Sources

Nirvana: Super Fuzz Big Muff | Guitar World Song Discussion - Serve The Servants : r/Nirvana Serve The Servants is a better album opener than Smells ...

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