Tone library / Nirvana / Frances farmer Will have her revenge on the Seattle

Frances farmer Will have her revenge on the Seattle amp settings — Harley benton HB-20B

The Nirvana guitar tone for “Frances farmer Will have her revenge on the Seattle”, dialed in for a Harley benton HB-20B with a Harley benton Stratocaster series. Main riff / chorus (distorted rhythm), In Utero (1993) studio cut

Original rig

Fender Mustang / Jaguar (bridge humbucker) -> Tech 21 SansAmp Classic / Boss DS-2 -> Fender Twin Reverb / Quad Reverb / Marshall Plexi

Grungy, abrasive, mid-forward distortion with raw top-end bite

Amp settings — Harley benton HB-20B

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	8
Bass	5
Mid	7
Treble	6
Master	6

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion (or Tech 21 SansAmp)

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned; place in front of amp input

Level 7 · Tone 6 · Dist 9 · Turbo 1

Why these settings

The HB-20B is a compact 20W practice bass amplifier with a 4-band EQ (Bass, Low-Mid, High-Mid, Treble) and Gain/Volume controls without built-in drive channels or presence/reverb. Set gain to 8 to squeeze out maximum analog preamp clipping, keep high-mids punchy around 7, and roll the Strat bridge tone knob to 8 to avoid piercing highs from single-coils. Adding a dedicated distortion pedal like a Boss DS-2 or SansAmp in the future will allow you to drop the amp gain to 2 and get authentic In Utero saturation. Clean verses: roll the guitar volume knob down to 4-5.

PRO TIPTune the entire guitar down one half-step to Eb standard (Eb-Ab-Db-Gb-Bb-Eb) and attack the power chords with heavy, aggressive downstrokes right near the bridge for the raw Albini-style In Utero rasp.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Harley benton HB-20B. 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.