Tone library / Nirvana / Heart-Shaped Box

Heart-Shaped Box amp settings — Fender Mustang LT25

The Nirvana guitar tone for “Heart-Shaped Box”, dialed in for a Fender Mustang LT25 with a Jackson JS22 Dinky. Studio version, In Utero (1993) — Steve Albini recording, chorus section tone

Original rig

Fender Jaguar (bridge pickup, Drop D) → Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion (Turbo I mode) → Mesa Boogie Studio Preamp → Crown power amp. EHX Polychorus on solo. Big Muff Pi also used on this album.

Raw, scooped fuzz wall with sizzling highs and loose low-end thump — aggressive but not tight, intentionally unpolished

Amp settings — Fender Mustang LT25

CHANNELMetal 2000 (amp model selector)

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	7
Bass	6
Mid	4
Treble	7
Reverb	0
Master	5

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE6 VOLUME8

Why these settings

The Mustang LT25 lacks a presence knob — null it. Original used a DS-2 into a Mesa preamp for scooped fuzz; the Metal 2000 model approximates that saturated, mid-scooped character without an external pedal. Mid dropped to 4 to match the Big Muff-style scoop Cobain favored. Your Jackson's humbuckers are hotter than Cobain's Jaguar single coils, so gain stays at 7 rather than maxed — this prevents mud while keeping the wall-of-fuzz aggression. Volume knob at 8 mimics Cobain's rolled-back verse tone; stomp it to 10 for the chorus explosion.

PRO TIPTune to Drop D and palm-mute the open D string on the verse — the dynamic jump when you lift your palm and hit the chorus open chords is the entire point of this song's arrangement.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Fender Mustang LT25. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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