Heart shaped box amp settings — Boss Katana 50 MkII
The Nirvana guitar tone for “Heart shaped box”, dialed in for a Boss Katana 50 MkII with a Jackson JS22 Dinky. Studio version, In Utero (1993) — Steve Albini recording, Drop D tuning
Fender Jaguar (bridge pickup), Mesa Boogie Studio Preamp into Crown power amp, Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion (Turbo mode I), EHX Poly Chorus
| Knob | Setting (0–10) |
|---|---|
| Gain | 3 |
| Bass | 5 |
| Mid | 6 |
| Treble | 5 |
| Presence | 4 |
| Reverb | 0 |
01Nux MG-300 Mk2 — DS Turbo model (DS-2 simulation)
Enable DS Turbo or similar DS-2 model in the drive block. Set to Turbo mode I (non-turbo). This is your primary gain source for the chorus — bypass for verse clean-ish tone. Run MG-300 drive block into Katana front input, amp stays on Crunch channel at low gain as clean platform.
02Nux MG-300 Mk2 — Chorus block
Enable for the iconic swirling chorus texture on the main riff. Poly Chorus original had extreme width — push depth high. Bypass on verse.
Your Jackson's humbuckers are hotter than Cobain's Jaguar single coils, so I dropped amp gain to 3 and let the DS-2 sim do the heavy lifting — this prevents mud. Katana Crunch channel approximates the Mesa's mid-forward grind better than Brown. Treble stays conservative because humbuckers don't need the brightness boost a Jaguar would. The DS-2 maxed into a low-gain amp is the signature sound.
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These settings are for a Boss Katana 50 MkII. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.
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