Tone library / Nirvana / Smells Like Teen Spirit

Smells Like Teen Spirit amp settings — Harley Benton 10G

The Nirvana guitar tone for “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, dialed in for a Harley Benton 10G with a Squier Classic Vibe 60s Stratocaster. Studio version, Nevermind (1991) - main riff/chorus tone

Original rig

Japanese Fender Stratocaster with Seymour Duncan JB bridge humbucker → Boss DS-1 Distortion → Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp (clean, Rhythm channel) → Crown Power Base 2 → Marshall 4x12 cabinets

Aggressive pedal-driven distortion with mid-forward punch, raw and buzzy but not overly compressed

Amp settings — Harley Benton 10G

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

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE7 VOLUME10

Why these settings

The original tone came from a Boss DS-1 into a clean amp, but you have no pedals. The Harley Benton 10G is a basic solid-state practice amp with limited gain staging, so I'm pushing the gain to 7 to approximate the DS-1's buzzy saturation. Your Squier's stock single-coil bridge pickup is brighter and lower output than Cobain's JB humbucker, so I've raised mids to 7 and kept treble at 6 to avoid ice-pick highs while maintaining the aggressive cut. Rolling your tone knob to 7 tames the single-coil sparkle closer to humbucker territory.

PRO TIPDig in hard with downstrokes on the riff—Cobain's attack was aggressive and slightly sloppy, which pushed the DS-1 harder and created that raw, explosive feel. A practice amp won't sustain like the original, so rely on picking dynamics to fake the compression.

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These settings are for a Harley Benton 10G. 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.