Tone library / Nirvana / Man who sold the world

Man who sold the world amp settings — 3rd ave Unsure

The Nirvana guitar tone for “Man who sold the world”, dialed in for a 3rd ave Unsure with a Ibanez GIO GRG170DX. MTV Unplugged in New York (November 18, 1993) — the iconic acoustic performance

Original rig

Fender Twin Reverb (silver panel, rented from SIR), Martin D-18E acoustic-electric with Bartolini pickup, Electro-Harmonix Small Clone chorus (not used on this specific song — clean DI tone)

Warm, clean acoustic-electric tone with slight midrange presence, minimal processing, dry and intimate

Amp settings — 3rd ave Unsure

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	3
Bass	5
Treble	6
Master	4

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Guitar

PICKUPneck TONE6 VOLUME10

Why these settings

The 3rd Ave amp is an unrecognized budget practice amp — control names may differ on your faceplate. I've set universal knobs only (gain/bass/treble/master). The original was a pristine clean Fender Twin with an acoustic-electric; your Ibanez humbuckers will be darker and hotter, so I dropped gain to 3 to stay clean and raised treble to 6 to compensate for the neck humbucker's warmth. Keep the amp as clean as possible — any breakup ruins this tone.

PRO TIPRoll your neck pickup's tone knob to 6 and pick gently over the fretboard (not the bridge) to approximate the soft, woody attack of Cobain's acoustic — humbuckers into a clean amp can get surprisingly close to that unplugged feel with the right touch.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a 3rd ave Unsure. 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.