Tone library / Nirvana / Come As You Are

Come As You Are amp settings — Vox AC15C1

The Nirvana guitar tone for “Come As You Are”, dialed in for a Vox AC15C1 with a Gibson Les Paul Studio. Studio version, Nevermind (1991), Sound City Studios with Butch Vig

Original rig

Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp → Crown Power Base-2 → Marshall 4x12, 1965 Fender Jaguar with DiMarzio pickups, EH Small Clone chorus (Deep, Rate ~10 o'clock), Boss DS-1 for solo only

Warm, watery clean with deep chorus wobble — melancholic and slightly detuned shimmer, edge-of-breakup grit

Amp settings — Vox AC15C1

CHANNELNormal channelBRIGHToffBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	3
Bass	6
Mid	5
Treble	4
Reverb	0
Master	4

Don’t have a Vox AC15C1? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPneck TONE7 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Electro-Harmonix Small Clone

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. This pedal IS the tone. Depth switch must be set to 'Deep' (up position). Without it, you cannot authentically recreate this sound. A Boss CE-2 or TC Electronic Corona set to 'vintage' mode are acceptable substitutes.

Rate 3 · Depth Switch 10

Why these settings

Your AC15 is actually period-correct — Butch Vig used a Vox AC30 on Nevermind for its amp breakup character. However, your Les Paul's humbuckers are hotter and darker than Cobain's Jaguar single coils, so I dropped treble from the original 6 to 4 and raised bass from 4 to 6 to compensate and avoid mud. The AC15 breaks up early, which works here — keep gain low for that clean-with-grit edge. The critical problem: without a chorus pedal, you have 50% of this tone at best.

PRO TIPTune down to D Standard (D-G-C-F-A-D) — this is non-negotiable for the correct pitch and string slinkiness. If you cannot get a Small Clone, the AC15's tremolo circuit can fake a seasick wobble at slow speed and high depth, but it lacks the pitch-detuning character that defines this track.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Vox AC15C1. 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.