Drain You amp settings — Jelar G-15

The Nirvana guitar tone for “Drain You”, dialed in for a Jelar G-15 with a Lea Hss. Studio version, Nevermind (1991) — also representative of Live at the Paramount, October 31, 1991

Original rig

Fender Mustang (bridge single-coil) → Boss DS-1 (maxed) → EHX Small Clone → Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp (clean) → Crown Power Base 2 → Marshall 4x12

Raw, compressed, mid-forward grind with aggressive pick attack — DS-1 provides all saturation, amp stays clean

Amp settings — Jelar G-15

CHANNELOverdrive/Distortion channel (highest gain channel available)BRIGHToff

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

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE7 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss DS-1 Distortion

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. This pedal IS the Nirvana tone. Kurt ran Level and Dist maxed, Tone around 11 o'clock. Without it, use amp gain as substitute (settings above reflect this).

Tone 4 · Level 10 · Dist 10

02Electro-Harmonix Small Clone Chorus

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Used on bridge breakdown section only. Depth switch always UP (full). If unavailable, skip — the main riff is dry.

Rate 5 · Depth Switch 10

Why these settings

Your Jelar G-15 is an unknown/budget modeling amp, so I've set it to use its highest-gain channel to simulate the DS-1's saturated character since you have no pedals. Kurt's original amp was CLEAN — the DS-1 did all the work. Without that pedal, you must use amp gain instead, which will sound thicker and less razor-edged. Mid pushed to 7 to compensate for the DS-1's natural mid-forward voicing. Your HSS Lea's bridge humbucker will be hotter than Kurt's Mustang single-coil, so treble is pulled back to 6 to avoid harshness.

PRO TIPKurt's attack was critical — he hit the strings hard with a heavy pick (Dunlop Tortex .60mm, but played aggressively). Dig in on downstrokes for that explosive, percussive chunk. Roll your tone knob to 5-6 during the quieter verse for the cleaner dynamic shift, then slam it back to 7+ for choruses.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Jelar G-15. 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.