in bloom amp settings — ibanez sound wave 65 sound wave 65

The nirvana guitar tone for “in bloom”, dialed in for a ibanez sound wave 65 sound wave 65 with a ESP LTD B-204SM. Studio version, Nevermind (1991)

Original rig

Ampeg SVT 400T, Gibson Ibanez Black Eagle bass, ProCo Rat 2 for drive sections

Warm, thick low-end with slightly scooped mids; gritty drive on chorus sections from Rat pedal

Amp settings — ibanez sound wave 65 sound wave 65

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

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Guitar

PICKUPneck TONE7 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01ProCo Rat 2

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Essential for the gritty chorus tone. The Rat's Filter knob works backward: higher = darker. Keep Distortion moderate to preserve low-end definition. Engage for chorus/heavy sections, bypass for verses if you want the cleaner rumble.

Distortion 4 · Filter 6 · Volume 6

Why these settings

The Ibanez Sound Wave 65 is a solid-state practice amp with a cleaner, more neutral voicing than Novoselic's tube SVT. I've pushed bass +1 vs the original SVT settings to compensate for the smaller speaker's thinner low-end response. Your ESP B-204SM's active pickups run hotter than his passive Gibson, so gain stays conservative at 4 — the amp won't deliver SVT-style tube warmth, but this keeps it clean for a Rat to push. Without the Rat, you'll have the warm foundation but miss the gritty edge on the choruses.

PRO TIPNovoselic played with a pick on this record for that aggressive attack — if you normally play fingerstyle, switching to a medium pick gets you closer to that percussive chunk on the verse's eighth-note pulse.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a ibanez sound wave 65 sound wave 65. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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in bloom on other ampsSAME SONG, YOUR AMP nirvana tonesALL SONGS ESP LTD B-204SM tonesSAME GUITAR Tone libraryEVERYTHING

Song, artist and gear names are used to identify the tone being matched; ToneAdapt is not affiliated with or endorsed by the artists or manufacturers mentioned. Settings are AI-generated starting points — trust your ears.