In Bloom amp settings — Fender Champion 20

The Nirvana guitar tone for “In Bloom”, dialed in for a Fender Champion 20 with a Fender American Original 60s Stratocaster. Studio version, Nevermind (1991) — main distorted riff and chorus

Original rig

1965 Fender Jaguar (DiMarzio/PAF bridge humbucker) -> Boss DS-1 Distortion -> Mesa Studio Preamp / Studio .22+ into Marshall 4x12 cab

Thick, punchy grunge distortion with scooped upper mids and tight low-end bite

Amp settings — Fender Champion 20

CHANNELMetal voice (Voice knob at 9 / Metal 2000)BOOSToff

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

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01ODB2

Used strictly as a tight mid-boost in front of the amp model (Balance 0% dry, Low boosted, Gain low).

Level 8 · High 4 · Low 6 · Balance 0 · Gain 2

Why these settings

The Champion 20 lacks a dedicated mid knob, so the heavy mid-scoop of Kurt's Mesa/DS-1 setup is dialed via the onboard Metal voice with treble capped at 5 to tame the Stratocaster's bright single-coil bridge pickup. Rolling guitar tone back to 8 prevents high-end fizz on the small 8-inch speaker. Clean verse: switch guitar volume down to 6 or click the Champion 20 Voice to Blackface Clean.

PRO TIPDig in hard with a thick pick (around 1.0mm) right next to the bridge saddles to simulate the tight percussive punch of Kurt's DiMarzio Super Distortion.

Get this tone on your amp

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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More tones for the Fender Champion 20

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