School amp settings — Fender Frontman 15g

The Nirvana guitar tone for “School”, dialed in for a Fender Frontman 15g with a Peavy Raptor exp plus. Studio version, Bleach (1989)

Original rig

Univox Hi-Flier / modified Strat (bridge humbucker) into Boss DS-1 distortion and cranked Twin Reverb / solid-state head into 4x12 cab (produced by Jack Endino)

Raw, abrasive, aggressive grunge distortion with biting upper midrange and raw low-end grind

Amp settings — Fender Frontman 15g

CHANNELNormal / CleanBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	2
Bass	6
Mid	7
Treble	5
Master	4

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss DS-1 Distortion

Main distortion engine; run directly into the amp's clean channel

Tone 4 · Level 8 · Dist 9

Why these settings

Because the Boss DS-1 provides the heavy clipping, the Frontman 15G must stay on the Normal clean channel with Drive select disengaged to avoid muddy double-gain. The Frontman 15G has an 8-inch speaker prone to harsh top end, so Treble on the amp is set to 5 and the DS-1 Tone is dialed back to around 11 o'clock (4/10) to tame fizzy solid-state bite while pushing Mid to 7 for grunge body. Note that the Frontman 15G faceplate features Gain, Volume, Treble, Mid, and Bass (no Presence or Reverb controls).

PRO TIPDig in hard with a heavy downstroke attack right next to the bridge saddles to get the sharp, metallic snap that defines the iconic opening riff.

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These settings are for a Fender Frontman 15g. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

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