Tone library / Nirvana / Smells Like Teen Spirit

Smells Like Teen Spirit amp settings — Marshall DSL40CR

The Nirvana guitar tone for “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, dialed in for a Marshall DSL40CR with a Epiphone SG Standard. Studio version, Nevermind (1991) — Sound City Studios recording with Butch Vig

Original rig

Early-'90s Japanese Fender Stratocaster (Seymour Duncan JB humbucker at bridge), Mesa/Boogie Studio preamp (Rhythm channel, clean setting) into Crown Power Base 2 power amp, Marshall 1960B 4x12 with Celestion G12T-75s, Boss DS-1 Distortion, EHX Small Clone chorus

Aggressive, buzzy distortion with scooped low-mids and boosted upper-mids around 2.5-3kHz; clean verses have watery chorus modulation
Amp settings — Marshall DSL40CR
CHANNELClean (Classic Gain channel, green/clean mode)BRIGHToffBOOSToff
GAIN 3 BASS 4 MID 5 TREBLE 6 PRESENCE 4 REVERB 0 MASTER 5
KnobSetting (0–10)
Gain3
Bass4
Mid5
Treble6
Presence4
Reverb0
Master5
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Guitar
PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10
Signal chain

01Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor

Run DS-1 in the NS-2's effects loop (Send/Return) to gate the high-gain buzzy signal

Threshold 4 · Decay 5

02Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive

Substituting for Boss DS-1 — SD-1 has similar clipping circuit; push Level hard, keep Tone from getting too harsh. This is the main distortion source; amp stays clean

Level 10 · Tone 4 · Drive 7

03BOSS CH-1 Chorus

Substituting for EHX Small Clone — engage only on clean verses and pre-chorus; bypass during main riff/solo

E.Level 7 · EQ 5 · Rate 5 · Depth 7

04Boss GE-7 Equalizer

Optional but recommended — replicates Andy Wallace's mix EQ: cut low-mids (400-800Hz), boost upper-mids (3.2kHz). Place after drive

100Hz 5 · 200Hz 4 · 400Hz 4 · 800Hz 4 · 1.6kHz 5 · 3.2kHz 7 · 6.4kHz 6 · Level 5
Why these settings

Cobain ran his Mesa preamp clean and used the DS-1 as his only gain source—your DSL40CR's Classic Gain channel on clean mode replicates this platform. Your SG's humbuckers are hotter and warmer than his JB-equipped Strat, so I dropped amp gain to 3 and treble stays moderate at 6 to avoid mud. The SD-1 is close enough to the DS-1's hard-clipping character; crank Level to push the clean amp hard.

PRO TIPCobain's attack was loose and aggressive with a thin .60mm pick—use a lighter pick and dig in sloppily on downstrokes for that raw, slightly out-of-control grunge chunk. Roll tone knob to 8 to tame the SG's bridge harshness without losing bite.

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