Tone library / Nirvana / Serve the Servants

Serve the Servants amp settings — peavey rage 158

The Nirvana guitar tone for “Serve the Servants”, dialed in for a peavey rage 158 with a squier sonic mustang SS. Studio version, In Utero (1993), recorded at Pachyderm Studio with Steve Albini

Original rig

Fender Twin Reverb (80s blackface Ultra Linear), Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion, Fender Mustang with Seymour Duncan JB humbucker

Raw, aggressive grunge crunch with scooped mids, buzzy high-end fizz, and loose low-end thump

Amp settings — peavey rage 158

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	2
Bass	6
Mid	3
Treble	5
Presence	0
Reverb	0
Master	7

Don’t have a peavey rage 158? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion

Mode I (standard distortion). Kurt ran his DS-2 into a clean Twin Reverb — your Rage 158 should stay clean to let the DS-2 be the sole gain source.

Level 7 · Tone 6 · Dist 8 · Mode 1

Why these settings

Kurt's Twin Reverb was run completely clean with all distortion from the DS-2. Your Peavey Rage 158 is a solid-state practice amp with less headroom and a brighter, thinner voicing than a Twin. Gain stays at 2 to avoid stacking with the DS-2. Bass raised to 6 to compensate for the Rage's smaller speaker lacking low-end thump. Mid scooped to 3 to match the recording's hollow grunge character. Your Squier Sonic Mustang with single coils is lower output than Kurt's JB humbucker-loaded Mustang, so DS-2 Dist is pushed to 8 to compensate.

PRO TIPKurt's picking attack was aggressive and close to the bridge with downstrokes — dig in hard with your pick angled slightly for that trashy, clanky string attack that defines the In Utero tone. Roll tone knob to 8 to tame single-coil ice-pick without losing bite.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a peavey rage 158. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

Get ToneAdapt on Google Play

More tones for the peavey rage 158

Beat itMichael Jackson Rape MeNirvana Floyd the BarberNirvana Smells Like Teen SpiritNirvana Been a Son (BBC Mark Goodier Session)Nirvana Cat ManAll Space Cats

Find your amp

Browse

peavey rage 158 settingsALL SONGS FOR THIS AMP Serve the Servants on other ampsSAME SONG, YOUR AMP Nirvana tonesALL SONGS Nirvana on the peavey rage 158SAME ARTIST, SAME AMP squier sonic mustang SS tonesSAME GUITAR Tone libraryEVERYTHING

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.