Lithium amp settings — Orange Crush 12

The Nirvana guitar tone for “Lithium”, dialed in for a Orange Crush 12 with a Ibanez GIO GRG170DX. Live at Reading (1992) — iconic chorus/heavy rhythm tone

Original rig

Fender Jaguar (DiMarzio Super Distortion bridge) + Boss DS-1 / DS-2 (Turbo mode 1) + Mesa/Boogie Studio .22 Preamp into Crest power amp & Marshall 4x12s

Aggressive, abrasive grunge crunch with boosted upper-mids and heavy saturation

Amp settings — Orange Crush 12

BOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	2
Bass	6
Mid	7
Treble	5
Master	5

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss DS-1 Distortion

Engaged for the loud chorus/heavy rhythm sections; step on it for the classic quiet/loud dynamic

Tone 4 · Level 8 · Dist 8

Why these settings

The Orange Crush 12 is a single-channel practice amp without a presence or reverb knob, so amp gain is kept low at 2 to keep the clean foundation clear and prevent muddy double-gain when the DS-1 kicks in. The Boss DS-1 Tone is dialled to around 4 (10-11 o'clock) to keep the ceramic Ibanez bridge humbucker from sounding overly harsh while preserving the gritty bite of Kurt's live Mesa/Marshall rig. The CH-1 is omitted from the rhythm settings since Kurt bypassed chorus during the heavy live Lithium sections.

PRO TIPHit the strings hard with heavy, aggressive downstrokes right over the bridge pickup during the 'Yeah' chorus bursts to match Cobain's explosive dynamic contrast.

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These settings are for a Orange Crush 12. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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