In Bloom amp settings — Yamaha GA15II

The Nirvana guitar tone for “In Bloom”, dialed in for a Yamaha GA15II with a Yamaha Pacifica 012. Studio version, Nevermind (1991) — recorded at Sound City Studios with producer Butch Vig

Original rig

Mesa Boogie Studio .22 preamp + Fender Bassman (chorus), Fender Mustang, Boss DS-1 distortion

Crunchy, thick low-mid grunge with controlled saturation — not overly saturated, more bark than fizz

Amp settings — Yamaha GA15II

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

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME9

Signal chain

01Boss DS-1 Distortion

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Essential for this tone. The DS-1 is the primary gain source; without it, the Yamaha GA15II cannot achieve the correct saturation character. Budget clones work fine.

Tone 4 · Level 5 · Dist 8

Why these settings

The GA15II is a solid-state practice amp with limited headroom and a bright, thin voicing compared to the Mesa's warm tube compression. Gain is pushed to 7 to compensate for no tube saturation, bass raised to 6 to add the low-mid thickness Cobain's rig had naturally, and treble dropped to 4 because the GA15II gets harsh in the upper mids where the Mesa stays smooth. Without the DS-1, you will get generic crunch, not the specific compressed-yet-open grunge character of this recording.

PRO TIPTune to E♭ Standard (half-step down) — this is mandatory for the correct string tension and note voicing. The looser strings contribute to the sludgy attack Cobain got. Palm-mute aggressively on the verse F–B♭ progression, then open your right hand completely for the chorus power chords to get the dynamic contrast that defines this track.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Yamaha GA15II. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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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.