Tone library / Nirvana / Smells like teen spirit

Smells like teen spirit amp settings — Fender Blues Junior IV

The Nirvana guitar tone for “Smells like teen spirit”, dialed in for a Fender Blues Junior IV with a Harley Benton SC-Custom II. Studio version, Nevermind (1991) — iconic main riff / heavy chorus tone

Original rig

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

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

Amp settings — Fender Blues Junior IV

BOOSTon

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	8
Bass	6
Mid	4
Treble	7
Reverb	1
Master	4

Don’t have a Fender Blues Junior IV? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss DS-1 Distortion

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned

Tone 6 · Level 7 · Dist 10

02Electro-Harmonix Small Clone

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned

Rate 6 · Depth 10

Why these settings

The Blues Junior IV is a clean-to-crunch tube platform, so the FAT switch boost and Volume (gain) are pushed to 8 to reach the heaviest saturation possible on the amp alone. Bass is kept at 6 and mids scooped slightly to 4 to mimic the Mesa/Marshall studio stack bite without flubbing out the 12-inch speaker. Clean verse: turn FAT switch off and roll guitar volume down to 4.

PRO TIPDig in hard with a thick pick right over the bridge pickup and hit the muted percussive rakes between chords with the flat of your strumming hand for the signature jagged attack.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Fender Blues Junior IV. 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.