Been a Son (BBC Mark Goodier Session) amp settings — peavey rage 158
The Nirvana guitar tone for “Been a Son (BBC Mark Goodier Session)”, dialed in for a peavey rage 158 with a squier sonic mustang SS. BBC Mark Goodier Session, Maida Vale Studios London, November 9, 1991 (released on Incesticide 1992)
Mesa/Boogie Studio .22 Preamp + Crown Power Base 2, Fender Mustang/Jaguar with bridge humbucker (Seymour Duncan Hot Rails), Boss DS-2, Electro-Harmonix Small Clone chorus
| Knob | Setting (0–10) |
|---|---|
| Gain | 2 |
| Bass | 4 |
| Mid | 6 |
| Treble | 7 |
| Reverb | 0 |
| Master | 5 |
01Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion
Cobain ran Level maxed, Tone around 11-1 o'clock, Dist maxed. Mode I for tighter response.
Your Squier Sonic Mustang has single coils versus Cobain's hot humbucker, so the DS-2 is doing all the heavy lifting here. The Peavey Rage 158 is a solid-state practice amp with limited headroom—amp gain is dropped to 2 so the DS-2 stays defined rather than turning to mush. Mids pushed to 6 compensates for single coil output loss and the Rage's naturally scooped voicing; Cobain's tone had more low-mid chunk from his humbuckers that you won't fully replicate, but the aggression translates.
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