Tone library / Nirvana / Rape Me (Live at The Paramount, 1991)

Rape Me (Live at The Paramount, 1991) amp settings — Yamaha Ga15ii

The Nirvana guitar tone for “Rape Me (Live at The Paramount, 1991)”, dialed in for a Yamaha Ga15ii with a Yamaha Pacifica 112V. Live at the Paramount (October 31, 1991) — distorted chorus/main riff

Original rig

Fender Stratocaster / Jaguar (bridge humbucker) -> Boss DS-1 Distortion -> Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp -> Crown Power Amp -> Marshall 4x12 Cabs

Raw, aggressive, mid-heavy grunge distortion with biting top-end

Amp settings — Yamaha Ga15ii

CHANNELDrive switch ON

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	8
Bass	6
Mid	7
Treble	6
Master	5

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss DS-1 Distortion

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned; the core grunge gain source

Tone 6 · Level 7 · Dist 9

02Joyo JF-05 Classic Chorus

Bypass for main heavy riff; engage for subtle modulation or clean sections

Rate 4 · Depth 6

Why these settings

The Yamaha GA15II is a small practice solid-state amp, so push its onboard Drive channel gain to 8 to approximate Kurt's aggressive power-chord crunch. Keep the bridge humbucker on the Pacifica 112V engaged to push maximum output into the preamp. Adding an actual Boss DS-1 in front would allow you to run the amp clean and get the exact raspy clipping of the live performance. Clean intro: switch amp Drive button off, engage the Joyo Classic Chorus.

PRO TIPHit the strings hard with heavy downward rest-strokes near the bridge to maximize pick-attack bite and induce natural harmonic feedback typical of Nirvana live sets.

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.