Tone library / Nirvana / The Man Who Sold The World (Live In Los Angeles, Great Western Forum - December 30, 1993)

The Man Who Sold The World (Live In Los Angeles, Great Western Forum - December 30, 1993) amp settings — Line 6 Pod Go

The Nirvana guitar tone for “The Man Who Sold The World (Live In Los Angeles, Great Western Forum - December 30, 1993)”, dialed in for a Line 6 Pod Go with a Epiphone Les Paul Studio. Live at Great Western Forum, Los Angeles, December 30, 1993 (In Utero Tour)

Original rig

Martin D-18E acoustic with Bartolini 3AV pickup through Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion, Tech 21 SansAmp, Electro-Harmonix Small Clone chorus into Fender Twin Reverb. DS-2 used on acoustic for this song specifically.

Gritty, lo-fi distorted acoustic tone with subtle chorus shimmer - raw and haunting with compressed midrange bark

Amp settings — Line 6 Pod Go

CHANNELUS Double Nrm (Fender Twin model)BRIGHToffBOOSToff

Knob	Setting (0–10)
Gain	2
Bass	5
Mid	6
Treble	5
Presence	4
Reverb	2
Master	7

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Guitar

PICKUPneck TONE6 VOLUME10

Signal chain

01Scream 808 (DS-2/TS-style block)

Use Scream 808 or Deranged Master block - DS-2 was primary dirt source on this song; amp stays clean

Gain 7 · Tone 6 · Level 7

0270s Chorus (Small Clone model)

Subtle movement - not heavy modulation

Speed 4 · Depth 6

Why these settings

Cobain used DS-2 into a clean Twin for this acoustic cover - your Les Paul's neck humbucker approximates the warm, compressed acoustic-through-pickup tone. Amp block stays clean (gain 2) because the Scream 808 block provides all the grit. Rolled tone knob to 6 softens the humbucker's brightness to approach the D-18E's darker piezo/magnetic blend.

PRO TIPPick closer to the neck and use lighter attack during verses, then dig in hard on the chorus - Cobain's dynamics on this song came from pick aggression, not pedal changes. The lo-fi character comes from the distortion compressing the acoustic's transients, so don't fight the squash.

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