Tone library / Nirvana / Smells like teen spirit

Smells like teen spirit amp settings — Squire Pr 357

The Nirvana guitar tone for “Smells like teen spirit”, dialed in for a Squire Pr 357 with a Fender Player Plus Stratocaster. Studio version, Nevermind (1991) — main distorted riff/chorus

Original rig

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

Aggressive, abrasive grunge crunch with tight low-end and upper-mid bite

Amp settings — Squire Pr 357

CHANNELOverdrive Channel / Gain Select In

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

Don’t have a Squire Pr 357? See this song on other amps → Match your own rig →

Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE8 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Boss DS-1 Distortion

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned

Tone 6 · Level 8 · Dist 8

02Electro-Harmonix Small Clone

RECOMMENDED — not currently owned (use for clean verse)

Rate 6 · Depth 10

Why these settings

The Squier PR 357 practice amp has a small speaker and solid-state clipping, so push its built-in drive channel to 7 to deliver the aggressive grunge saturation without turning to fizzy mush. Treble is pulled back to 5 and the Strat's tone knob to 8 to compensate for single-coil brightness versus Cobain's bridge humbucker. Clean verse: disengage the overdrive push-button switch on the amp faceplate.

PRO TIPHit the muted 16th-note chucks hard across all six strings between chords with a heavy down-up strumming motion to nail the signature percussive snap of the riff.

Get this tone on your amp

These settings are for a Squire Pr 357. 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.