Drain You
Thick, layered grunge guitars around a noisy breakdown of squeaky toys.
What is the Drain You guitar tone?
The Drain You guitar tone is thick, layered grunge guitars around a noisy breakdown of squeaky toys, heard on Nirvana's 1990s grunge recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and Nirvana reportedly tracked it with Kurt Cobain's main Nevermind guitars, a 1969 Lake Placid Blue Fender Competition Mustang and a modded 1965 Fender Jaguar with DiMarzio humbuckers, across what producer Butch Vig calls more guitar overdubs than any other song on the album: one clean track and five distorted ones, two through a Mesa/Boogie, two through a Fender Bassman and a "super grunge" track with a pedal in front of the Bassman; the breakdown, worked out in a spring 1991 session with Melvins drummer Dale Crover in San Francisco, is Cobain's squeaky toys and a rubber duck with delay added by mixer Andy Wallace, and the song was recorded with Vig at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys in May 1991. The point here is a raw, barely controlled tone, so cleaning it up too much moves it away from the record rather than towards it.
You do not need that exact gear to land in the same place. What carries this sound is the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup choice and the order of the effects, and all four can be rebuilt on equipment that costs a fraction of the original. The numbers change from amp to amp, because a high-gain head and a small practice amp reach the same voicing from different knob positions. That translation is what Tonelify works out for the rig you actually own.
Drain You amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 6, Bass 6, Middle 4, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 6
- Bass 6
- Middle 4
- Treble 6
- Presence 5
- Reverb 2
- Signal chain
- Distortion pedal into the Bassman on one layer → Delay on the breakdown noises (mix)
- The control that matters most
- Layers, not one sound. Butch Vig says the song stacks one clean and five distorted guitar tracks, split between a Mesa/Boogie and a Fender Bassman, so no single amp setting is on the record. On one amp, aim for the blend: a thick, mid-heavy drive rather than a scooped one, and a cleaner sound for the opening, where Cobain strums alone before the band comes in.
These positions are free and they are a starting point. A Katana, a Spark and a valve head reach this voicing from different knob positions, so Tonelify rewrites every value above for the amp and guitar you own. Your first match is free with an account, and needs no card.
Adapt these to my amp- Pickup
- Bridge pickup
These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. If you tell Tonelify which amp you own, it rewrites every value above for the controls that amp actually has.
What gear did Nirvana use on Drain You?
Kurt Cobain's main Nevermind guitars, a 1969 Lake Placid Blue Fender Competition Mustang and a modded 1965 Fender Jaguar with DiMarzio humbuckers, across what producer Butch Vig calls more guitar overdubs than any other song on the album: one clean track and five distorted ones, two through a Mesa/Boogie, two through a Fender Bassman and a "super grunge" track with a pedal in front of the Bassman; the breakdown, worked out in a spring 1991 session with Melvins drummer Dale Crover in San Francisco, is Cobain's squeaky toys and a rubber duck with delay added by mixer Andy Wallace, and the song was recorded with Vig at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys in May 1991.
Sources: Wikipedia: Drain You, Guitar.com: the gear Kurt Cobain used on Nevermind
Tonelify reads that chain and translates it to the amp and guitar you already own, returning gain, bass, mids, treble and presence values along with a pickup position.
How do you get the Drain You tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Drain You
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Drain You tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Drain You?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 6, Bass 6, Middle 4, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup. These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. Tonelify rewrites the same values for the specific amp and guitar you own, because a high-gain head and a small solid-state combo reach the same thick, layered grunge guitars around a noisy breakdown of squeaky toys from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Drain You tone?
Layers, not one sound. Butch Vig says the song stacks one clean and five distorted guitar tracks, split between a Mesa/Boogie and a Fender Bassman, so no single amp setting is on the record. On one amp, aim for the blend: a thick, mid-heavy drive rather than a scooped one, and a cleaner sound for the opening, where Cobain strums alone before the band comes in.
Can you get the Drain You tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with Kurt Cobain's main Nevermind guitars, a 1969 Lake Placid Blue Fender Competition Mustang and a modded 1965 Fender Jaguar with DiMarzio humbuckers, across what producer Butch Vig calls more guitar overdubs than any other song on the album: one clean track and five distorted ones, two through a Mesa/Boogie, two through a Fender Bassman and a "super grunge" track with a pedal in front of the Bassman; the breakdown, worked out in a spring 1991 session with Melvins drummer Dale Crover in San Francisco, is Cobain's squeaky toys and a rubber duck with delay added by mixer Andy Wallace, and the song was recorded with Vig at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys in May 1991, but the parts that define the sound are the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup position and the effects order. Those translate to other equipment, which is what the adaptation step does.
Is Drain You a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a riff part with a distorted character, from Nirvana's 1990s grunge catalogue.
Does Tonelify cost anything to try?
Your first match for your own gear is free with an account, and needs no card. After that both plans start with a 7-day free trial: Stage is $6.99 a month for 20 matches, Headliner is $10.99 a month for unlimited matching within a fair use limit of 150 new matches a day, and yearly billing works out cheaper on both. Reading this page and the rest of the library costs nothing and needs no account.
