Drain you amp settings — Orange Crush 20
The Nirvana guitar tone for “Drain you”, dialed in for a Orange Crush 20 with a Squier Classic Vibe 60s Stratocaster. Studio version, Nevermind (1991) — distorted main riff and chorus
Fender Jaguar (DiMarzio Super Distortion bridge humbucker) -> Boss DS-1 Distortion -> Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp / Fender Bassman / Twin Reverb blend
| Knob | Setting (0–10) |
|---|---|
| Gain | 8 |
| Bass | 6 |
| Mid | 7 |
| Treble | 5 |
| Master | 6 |
Because you do not own a distortion pedal, the Crush 20 must run on the Dirty channel with gain pushed to 8 to deliver Kurt's heavy rhythm saturation. The Stratocaster's bridge single coil has a brighter, thinner response than Cobain's humbucker, so treble is held at 5 and tone rolled back to 8 to eliminate shrillness while mids are boosted to 7 to replicate the thick Mesa preamp punch. Once you add a Boss DS-1, move the amp to the Clean channel, cut amp gain to 2, and let the pedal provide the grit. Clean verses: roll your guitar volume back to 3-4 or kick the channel switch to Clean.
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These settings are for a Orange Crush 20. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.
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