Lithium amp settings — Orange Crush 12
The Nirvana guitar tone for “Lithium”, dialed in for a Orange Crush 12 with a Ibanez GIO GRG170DX. Studio version, Nevermind (1991) — distorted chorus tone
1965 Fender Jaguar (bridge humbucker) into EHX Big Muff / Boss DS-1 distortion and 1965 Fender Bassman
| Knob | Setting (0–10) |
|---|---|
| Gain | 2 |
| Bass | 6 |
| Mid | 5 |
| Treble | 5 |
| Master | 6 |
The Boss DS-1 serves as the primary gain engine, so the Orange Crush 12 stays on its clean channel with gain kept low to prevent muddy double-gain stacking. Orange amps are inherently mid-heavy and darker than Cobain's Fender Bassman, so bass and mid are dialed conservatively at 6 and 5, while the DS-1 tone knob is pulled down to 4 to round off harsh high-end fizz on the small 6-inch speaker. Clean verse: bypass the DS-1.
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