Tone library / Nirvana / Smells Like Teen Spirit

Smells Like Teen Spirit amp settings — Bullet Reverb amp

The Nirvana guitar tone for “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, dialed in for a Bullet Reverb amp with a Kawasaki HSH super strat. Studio version, Nevermind (1991)

Original rig

Mesa/Boogie Studio preamp (Rhythm channel, clean setting) + Crown Power Base 2 power amp + Marshall 1960B 4x12, Fender Stratocaster with Seymour Duncan JB bridge humbucker, Boss DS-1 Distortion, Electro-Harmonix Small Clone chorus

Thick, grinding distortion with scooped low-mids and boosted upper-mids around 2.5-3kHz; raw and aggressive with a wall-of-sound width from double-tracked guitars

Amp settings — Bullet Reverb amp

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

Don’t have a Bullet Reverb amp? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss DS-1 Distortion

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. This is essential for the Teen Spirit tone; Cobain ran his amp clean and used the DS-1 as his dirt source. A used DS-1 runs $30-50 and is the single most important piece to nail this sound.

Tone 4 · Level 10 · Dist 7

02Electro-Harmonix Small Clone Chorus

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. Used on clean verses and stacked with DS-1 on pre-choruses/solo. Depth switch UP (full depth). Lower priority than the DS-1 but adds the watery verse texture.

Rate 5 · Depth Switch 10

Why these settings

The Bullet Reverb is a basic solid-state practice amp without a presence control—I've set that to null. Your HSH super strat's bridge humbucker is close to Cobain's JB humbucker, so no pickup compensation needed. Without a distortion pedal, you cannot achieve this tone; the original amp ran clean with all grit from the DS-1. Crank your amp's gain to 7 as a stopgap, but it will sound fizzy and thin compared to a real DS-1 in front of a cleaner setting.

PRO TIPCobain's attack was key—he struck hard with a thin .60mm pick and let the strings ring slightly loose. Palm-mute the low E string stabs aggressively on the main riff, then release completely for the power chord hits. The dynamic contrast between choked mutes and open chords is half the tone.

Get this tone on your amp

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

Get ToneAdapt on Google Play

Find your amp

Browse

Smells Like Teen Spirit on other ampsSAME SONG, YOUR AMP Nirvana tonesALL SONGS 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.