Heart sheaped box amp settings — Fender Champion 20
The Nirvana guitar tone for “Heart sheaped box”, dialed in for a Fender Champion 20 with a Fender Player Stratocaster. Studio version, In Utero (1993), Steve Albini recording
Fender Twin Reverb, 1965 Fender Jaguar (neck humbucker), Boss DS-1/DS-2, Small Clone chorus
| Knob | Setting (0–10) |
|---|---|
| Gain | 3 |
| Bass | 5 |
| Mid | 6 |
| Treble | 5 |
| Presence | 0 |
| Reverb | 2 |
| Master | 5 |
01Boss DS-1
Engage only for choruses and heavy sections. Keep OFF for clean verses. This is your primary gain source.
Kurt used a Jaguar neck humbucker into a clean Fender platform with DS-1 for dirt. Your Strat single-coil is brighter and lower output, so I rolled tone knob to 6 and kept amp treble neutral at 5. The Champion 20 is your clean platform—amp gain at 3 keeps it on the edge of breakup without competing with the DS-1. The DS-1 Tone at 4 prevents the Strat's ice-pick highs from getting harsh.
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These settings are for a Fender Champion 20. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.
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