Tone library / Nirvana / Smells Like Teen Spirit

Smells Like Teen Spirit amp settings — Harley Benton HB-20R

The Nirvana guitar tone for “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, dialed in for a Harley Benton HB-20R with a Harley Benton ST-20 CA Standard Series. Studio version, Nevermind (1991) — Sound City Studios recording

Original rig

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

Raw, mid-forward pedal distortion with scooped lows, aggressive upper-mids, and no reverb — punk energy with pop dynamics

Amp settings — Harley Benton HB-20R

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	7
Bass	4
Mid	8
Treble	6
Presence	0
Reverb	0
Master	5

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE7 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss DS-1 Distortion

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned. This pedal is ESSENTIAL to the tone. Cobain's distortion came entirely from the DS-1, not the amp. Without it, you cannot authentically replicate this sound. Budget alternative: Behringer OD300 or any DS-1 clone (~$25-40).

Tone 4 · Level 10 · Dist 7

Why these settings

Your HB-20R is a small solid-state practice amp without the headroom of Cobain's Mesa preamp, so I'm using the amp's onboard gain to approximate the DS-1's distortion since you have no pedals. I pushed mids to 8 (Cobain's Mesa was at 8) because the original tone is NOT scooped—it's mid-forward and raw. Treble at 6 compensates for your ST-20's bright single coils vs his JB humbucker. Reverb is 0 because the recording is bone dry.

PRO TIPCobain's pick attack was hard and deliberate, not sloppy—he dug in on downstrokes for the main riff. Roll your tone knob to 7 to tame the ice-pick highs from your single coils and get closer to his humbucker's thickness. The DS-1 is a $50 pedal that will transform your tone more than any amp upgrade.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Harley Benton HB-20R. 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.