Tone library / Nirvana / Smells Like Teen Spirit

Smells Like Teen Spirit amp settings — Yamaha GA15II

The Nirvana guitar tone for “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, dialed in for a Yamaha GA15II with a Sqoe Selp 110. Studio version, Nevermind (1991) — iconic main riff/chorus distortion

Original rig

Fender Stratocaster (Seymour Duncan JB bridge humbucker) → Boss DS-1 Distortion (Tone: 4, Level: 10, Distortion: 7) → Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp (Rhythm channel, clean setting) → Crown Power Base 2 → Marshall 1960B 4x12 with Celestion G12T-75s. Small Clone chorus on verses only, not the riff.

Scooped, aggressive mid-cut grunge crunch with upper-mid bite around 2.5-3kHz and diffuse layered width from studio overdubs

Amp settings — Yamaha GA15II

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	6
Bass	5
Mid	3
Treble	7
Master	5

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Guitar

PICKUPbridge TONE6 VOLUME10

Why these settings

The GA15II is a basic 15W solid-state practice amp with limited gain and a small 6.5" speaker — it cannot replicate the Boss DS-1's saturated distortion. I've maxed usable gain at 6 (higher gets fizzy on this amp), scooped mid to 3 to approximate Cobain's mid-cut, and pushed treble to 7 for the upper-mid bite. The original tone is NOT fully reachable without a distortion pedal; a Boss DS-1 or any basic distortion clone would get you 80% closer. With pedal, set amp gain to 2-3 and let the pedal drive.

PRO TIPRoll your tone knob to 6 to tame the harsh high frequencies from the small speaker — Cobain's recorded tone had a 2.5kHz presence peak but was cut below 1kHz, which the scooped mid and partial tone rolloff approximates on your rig.

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These settings are for a Yamaha GA15II. 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.