Drain you amp settings — Fender Hot Rod DeVille 212
The Nirvana guitar tone for “Drain you”, dialed in for a Fender Hot Rod DeVille 212 with a Ariapro2 STG-series. Studio version, Nevermind (1991) - Main distorted rhythm track
Fender '65 Jaguar / '69 Mustang (bridge humbucker), Boss DS-1 / ProCo Rat, Mesa/Boogie Studio .22 Preamp into Crown Power Amp & Marshall 4x12 with Fender Bassman blend
| Knob | Setting (0–10) |
|---|---|
| Gain | 8 |
| Bass | 6 |
| Mid | 7 |
| Treble | 5 |
| Presence | 4 |
| Reverb | 2 |
| Master | 4 |
Because the Hot Rod DeVille has a naturally bright and scooped Fender voicing, you need the 'More Drive' channel pushed hard to reach Kurt's heavy saturation without an owned distortion pedal. Treble and Presence are reined in to keep the 2x12 open-back cab from sounding harsh, while Mids are pushed to mimic the dense Mesa Boogie preamp core. With the recommended DS-1 pedal, you would switch to the Clean channel, drop amp gain to 2, and let the pedal provide the dirt. Clean intro/verses: step the DeVille switch back to the normal Clean channel.
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These settings are for a Fender Hot Rod DeVille 212. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.
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