Tone library / Nirvana / Smells Like Teen Spirit

Smells Like Teen Spirit amp settings — Boss Dual cube LX

The Nirvana guitar tone for “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, dialed in for a Boss Dual cube LX with a Harley Benton SC-Custom II. Studio version, Nevermind (1991) — iconic main riff and chorus tone

Original rig

Fender Stratocaster (Seymour Duncan JB bridge humbucker), Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp (clean) into Crown Power Base 2, Marshall 1960B 4x12, Boss DS-1 Distortion, EHX Small Clone

Aggressive, abrasive high-gain grunge crunch with biting upper-mids and scooped low-mids

Amp settings — Boss Dual cube LX

CHANNELEXTREME amp type

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

Don’t have a Boss Dual cube LX? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss DS-1 Distortion

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned; with pedal, switch Dual Cube LX to JC CLEAN and drop gain to 2

Tone 6 · Level 7 · Dist 8

02Electro-Harmonix Small Clone Chorus

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned; essential for the watery clean verse tone

Rate 4 · Depth 10

Why these settings

Because you lack an external Boss DS-1, the Dual Cube LX's EXTREME amp type provides the necessary abrasive diode-clipping saturation directly from the amp. The Harley Benton SC-Custom II humbuckers match the high output of Kurt's bridge humbucker, while scooping the mids to 4 captures the signature Nevermind grunge bite. The Dual Cube LX faceplate has a 3-band EQ with no presence knob, so presence is null.

PRO TIPHit the four-chord progression with hard, aggressive down-and-up power chord strums and accentuate the percussive muted rakes between chord changes to replicate the raw energy of the track.

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These settings are for a Boss Dual cube LX. 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.