Tone library / Nirvana / Smells Like Teen Spirit

Smells Like Teen Spirit amp settings — Orange Crush 20

The Nirvana guitar tone for “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, dialed in for a Orange Crush 20 with a Fender Player Stratocaster. Studio version, Nevermind (1991) — Main distorted riff and chorus

Original rig

Fender Stratocaster with Seymour Duncan JB humbucker, Boss DS-1 Distortion, Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp (Rhythm channel), Crown Power Base 2, Marshall 1960B 4x12 with Celestion G12T-75s

Aggressive, raw, scooped-mid grunge distortion with bright bite and tight low end

Amp settings — Orange Crush 20

CHANNELDirty

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

Don’t have a Orange Crush 20? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE10 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss DS-1 Distortion

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned; with the pedal, switch the amp to Clean channel, gain to 3, and engage pedal

Tone 6 · Level 7 · Dist 9

Why these settings

Because you own no pedals, the Crush 20 Dirty channel carries the heavy grunge saturation with gain pushed to 8. The Orange voice has thick low-mids, so mids are pulled back to 4 to emulate the scooped Mesa preamp and DS-1 rasp, while treble is pushed to 7 to give your single-coil bridge pickup the aggressive cut of Kurt's bridge humbucker. Clean verse: flip the amp channel switch to Clean with guitar volume at 8.

PRO TIPHit the four muted percussive strums (chucks) strictly with aggressive down-up forearm motion right over the bridge pickup to get that signature sharp, explosive percussive snap before the chords ring out.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Orange Crush 20. ToneAdapt matches any song to whatever amp, guitar and pedals you own — first match is free.

Get ToneAdapt on Google Play

More tones for the Orange Crush 20

SchismTool sweet child o mineGun N' Roses Twist and ShoutThe Beatles Radio freindly unit shifterNirvana Segundo PremioLos Planetas ДЕВОЧКА С КАРЕMUKKA

Find your amp

Browse

Orange Crush 20 settingsALL SONGS FOR THIS AMP Smells Like Teen Spirit on other ampsSAME SONG, YOUR AMP Nirvana tonesALL SONGS Nirvana on the Orange Crush 20SAME ARTIST, SAME AMP Fender Player Stratocaster tonesSAME GUITAR Tone libraryEVERYTHING

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.