Tone library / Nirvana / Smells Like Teen Spirit

Smells Like Teen Spirit amp settings — Fender Champion 100

The Nirvana guitar tone for “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, dialed in for a Fender Champion 100 with a Hohner Rockwood LX100G. Studio version, Nevermind (1991) — main distorted riff/chorus

Original rig

Fender Stratocaster (Seymour Duncan JB humbucker) -> Boss DS-1 -> Mesa Boogie Studio Preamp (clean channel) -> Crown Power Base 2 -> Marshall 1960B 4x12 cab

Aggressive, abrasive grunge distortion with punchy upper-mids and tight low end

Amp settings — Fender Champion 100

CHANNELChannel 1 (Clean)BOOSToff

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

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss DS-1 Distortion

Primary gain source; run into clean amp input

Tone 4 · Level 8 · Dist 9

02EHX Small Clone

Bypassed for main riff/chorus; engage for verse

Rate 4 · Depth 10

Why these settings

The DS-1 provides the entire distortion stage into the Champion 100's clean channel, following double-gain rules to keep low-end clarity intact. The Champion's treble is pulled back slightly to tame solid-state harshness from the single-coil bridge pickup on the Rockwood Strat. Clean verse: bypass the DS-1 and kick on the Small Clone.

PRO TIPHit the muted 16th-note string scratches hard with an aggressive down-up wrist snap over the middle pickup area to get the signature percussive clack before each chord change.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Fender Champion 100. 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.