Riff Tone

Stay Away

Nirvana

Guitarrock1990s

Original Gear

GuitarFender Stratocaster with Seymour Duncan JB humbucker (bridge position)

AmpMesa/Boogie Studio Preamp into Crown Power Base 2 power amp, Marshall 4x12 cabinets

PickupsSeymour Duncan JB humbucker (bridge)

Amp Settings

gain8

bass6

mid6.5

treble7

reverb1

presence5.5

Effects & Signal Chain

distortionBoss Boss DS-1 Distortion

Notes

Studio recording for Nevermind (1991). Guitar is a Fender Stratocaster with a Seymour Duncan JB humbucker in the bridge. Amp is Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp into Crown Power Base 2 and Marshall 4x12 cabs. Boss DS-1 Distortion pedal provides main distortion. No chorus or modulation effects used in the riff section of 'Stay Away'.

Tone Character(10)

aggressive and saturatedtight and punchymid-heavy and cuttingraw and uncompressedpercussive palm-muted chugsslightly scooped highsminimal ambiencebridge pickup biteloud and dynamicgritty grunge texture

Difficulty

The riff requires fast, aggressive power chord changes with tight palm muting and dynamic strumming, but does not involve advanced techniques or complex chord voicings.

Sources

Kurt Cobain's guitar tone on Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit Need help finding the best settings to sound like nirvana (on guitar)How to get that typical nirvana tone? : r/guitarlessons - Reddit

This tone has been researched 3 times by the community

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