Tone library / Nirvana / Come As You Are

Come As You Are amp settings — Kustom Arrow 16

The Nirvana guitar tone for “Come As You Are”, dialed in for a Kustom Arrow 16 with a Squier Bullet Stratocaster. Studio version, Nevermind (1991) — iconic watery clean intro riff

Original rig

1965 Fender Jaguar / 1969 Mustang (neck pickup) -> Electro-Harmonix Small Clone -> Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp / Vox AC30 clean

Warm, watery modulated clean with slight low-end depth and lush detuned chorus

Amp settings — Kustom Arrow 16

CHANNELCleanBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Bass	6
Mid	5
Treble	5
Reverb	2
Master	5

Don’t have a Kustom Arrow 16? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPneck TONE8 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Electro-Harmonix Small Clone Chorus

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned; essential for the signature watery Nevermind modulation

Rate 6 · Depth Switch 10

Why these settings

The Kustom Arrow 16 clean channel is relatively flat, so bass is pushed to 6 with mids and treble balanced at 5 to capture the round, dark low-end of Kurt's Jaguar without harsh single-coil bite. Because the amp has a simple 3-band EQ and no chorus circuit, the iconic detuned watery texture requires an external chorus pedal. When you add a Small Clone clone or chorus pedal in front, keep this clean setting intact and set the depth high.

PRO TIPPick firmly with a medium pick directly above the neck pickup and let the open D and low E strings ring out fully to emphasize the dark, droney low-end resonance of the riff.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Kustom Arrow 16. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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Song, artist and gear names are used to identify the tone being matched; ToneAdapt is not affiliated with or endorsed by the artists or manufacturers mentioned. Settings are AI-generated starting points — trust your ears.