Drain You amp settings — Hightone Ht-10

The Nirvana guitar tone for “Drain You”, dialed in for a Hightone Ht-10 with a Auster As120 Black Stratocaster. Studio version, Nevermind (1991) — multiple overdubs including Mesa Boogie and Fender Bassman tracks

Original rig

Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp (clean) → Crown Power Base 2 → Marshall 4x12; Fender Mustang (bridge pickup); Boss DS-1 Distortion; EHX Small Clone Chorus

Raw, aggressive mid-forward grunge distortion with gritty bite and minimal effects

Amp settings — Hightone Ht-10

CHANNELClean (amp provides clean platform only — all distortion from pedal)BOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	2
Bass	5
Mid	7
Treble	6
Reverb	0
Master	6

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE6 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss DS-1 Distortion

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. This is essential for the Drain You tone; Cobain's DS-1 settings were tone at 10 o'clock (~3), distortion at 4, level maxed. Budget clones (Behringer OD300, Joyo Ultimate Drive) can approximate this.

Tone 3 · Level 10 · Dist 4

Why these settings

Your Hightone HT-10 is a small practice amp — keep gain at 2 to stay clean since the DS-1 provides all the dirt. Mid pushed to 7 compensates for Strat single-coils being thinner than Cobain's Mustang. Treble at 6 avoids ice-pick harshness that small solid-state amps can produce. Without a distortion pedal, this tone is unobtainable — the amp's built-in gain will sound fizzy and lack the DS-1's characteristic midrange grind.

PRO TIPCobain's attack was critical — he picked hard and close to the bridge with downstrokes on the main riff. Roll your tone knob to 6 to tame the Strat's brightness and get closer to the Mustang's darker, boxier character.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Hightone Ht-10. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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