Tone library / Nirvana / Heart-Shaped Box

Heart-Shaped Box amp settings — NUX MG-300

The Nirvana guitar tone for “Heart-Shaped Box”, dialed in for a NUX MG-300 with a Fender Jaguar. Studio version, In Utero (1993) — Steve Albini live-to-tape recording

Original rig

Fender Jaguar (bridge pickup) → Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion → Mesa Boogie Studio .22+ (clean channel pushed hard) → recorded direct to tape in Drop D

Raw, fuzzed-out wall of distortion with midrange bark and compressed sustain — verse clean-ish, chorus DS-2 stomped

Amp settings — NUX MG-300

CHANNELTwin Verb amp model (clean Fender platform closest to Studio .22+ voicing)BOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	3
Bass	5
Mid	6
Treble	7
Presence	4
Reverb	0
Master	7

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE7 VOLUME8

Signal chain

01DS-2 Turbo Distortion (MG-300 block)

Enable only for chorus/heavy sections — bypass for verse. Run into amp input block, not FX loop.

Tone 4 · Dist 10 · Level 10 · Turbo 1

02Small Clone Chorus (MG-300 block)

Optional — Kurt used this on some takes for subtle shimmer under distortion. Can omit if not needed.

Depth 10 · Rate 4

Why these settings

Your Jaguar is exact-match to the original. The MG-300's Twin Verb model replicates the clean Fender-voiced preamp Cobain used as a pedal platform (Mesa Studio .22+ at low gain). Amp gain set to 3 keeps it barely-breaking-up; the DS-2 block provides all the fuzz. Original was mid-scooped Mesa; compensated by pushing mid to 6 and presence to 4 on the Fender-voiced model to retain that crunchy bark without ice-pick highs.

PRO TIPDig in hard with a heavy pick on downstrokes — Cobain's attack was aggressive and physical, which drives the DS-2 into splatty, compressed fuzz. Rolling your guitar volume to 6 during the verse (as he did) cleans up the tone without switching pedals.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a NUX MG-300. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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