On A Plain amp settings — Traynor DG30D2

The Nirvana guitar tone for “On A Plain”, dialed in for a Traynor DG30D2 with a Fender American Professional II Stratocaster. Studio version, Nevermind (1991)

Original rig

Fender Bassman / Mesa Boogie Studio Preamp + 1960s Mosrite Gospel Mk IV / Fender Mustang + Boss DS-1

Aggressive, raw grunge rhythm distortion with scooped low-mids and sharp top-end bite

Amp settings — Traynor DG30D2

CHANNELCleanBOOSToff

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

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE9 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Joyo Distortion (DS-1 / Classic Distortion style)

Main drive source; run in front of clean channel

Tone 4 · Gain 8 · Level 8

Why these settings

The Traynor DG30D2 runs on its clean channel with gain low to avoid muddy double-gain stacking with the Joyo distortion pedal. Kurt's studio tone used a cranked Bassman pushed by a DS-1, so keeping the pedal tone knob around 4 prevents the single-coil Strat bridge pickup from becoming overly shrill. The Traynor's EQ is set relatively neutral with a slight low-end push to compensate for the lighter single-coil output.

PRO TIPHit open power chords with hard, aggressive downstrokes across the low strings while letting the high B and E strings ring slightly open on transitional chord shifts for that authentic sloppy Nevermind bite.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Traynor DG30D2. 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.