Something in the Way
A quiet, low strum on an old acoustic guitar with five strings.
What is the Something in the Way guitar tone?
The Something in the Way guitar tone is a quiet, low strum on an old acoustic guitar with five strings, heard on Nirvana's 1990s acoustic rock recording. It is a clean riff tone, and Nirvana reportedly tracked it with a 12-string Stella acoustic strung with only five nylon strings, a guitar Kurt Cobain had never tuned, miked in the control room of Sound City's studio A with no amp involved; producer Butch Vig says the band first tried the song in the main room, where the drums were too big and loud and Cobain could not play it on acoustic, and that Cobain tried an electric guitar before coming into the control room out of frustration and playing it on the couch; Vig cleared the room, brought in a microphone, turned off the fans and unplugged the telephone, and recorded the guitar and the vocal there, with the first vocal take used for the verses; Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl overdubbed bass and drums in the smaller studio B, where Novoselic had trouble tuning his bass to the guitar and Grohl kept getting louder until a quiet take five or six tries in, and Kirk Canning added cello on the last day of the sessions, again fighting the guitar's tuning; Vig calls it by far the hardest song on Nevermind to record; it was recorded in May 1991 in Van Nuys, California, is the last listed song on the album, and first reached the charts in August 2020, after it was used in the trailer for The Batman; on stage and at a BBC session in November 1991 the band played it as a heavier electric song. Here there is no amp at all: an acoustic guitar with five nylon strings, miked in a control room and played very quietly, so a clean sound, a soft touch and tuning to the record by ear matter more than any knob.
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 clean channel on a modelling combo 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.
Something in the Way amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 2, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3, with the neck or middle position.
- Gain 2
- Bass 5
- Middle 6
- Treble 6
- Presence 5
- Reverb 3
- Signal chain
- No pedals or amp: an acoustic guitar and a microphone
- The control that matters most
- Volume and touch. There is no amp on the record, only an old acoustic guitar played quietly on a couch, so on an electric use a clean sound with the gain low and the treble eased back, and strum softly. The guitar was never tuned, and the bassist and the cellist both struggled to match it, so tune to the record by ear rather than to a tuner.
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
- Neck or middle position
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 Something in the Way?
A 12-string Stella acoustic strung with only five nylon strings, a guitar Kurt Cobain had never tuned, miked in the control room of Sound City's studio A with no amp involved; producer Butch Vig says the band first tried the song in the main room, where the drums were too big and loud and Cobain could not play it on acoustic, and that Cobain tried an electric guitar before coming into the control room out of frustration and playing it on the couch; Vig cleared the room, brought in a microphone, turned off the fans and unplugged the telephone, and recorded the guitar and the vocal there, with the first vocal take used for the verses; Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl overdubbed bass and drums in the smaller studio B, where Novoselic had trouble tuning his bass to the guitar and Grohl kept getting louder until a quiet take five or six tries in, and Kirk Canning added cello on the last day of the sessions, again fighting the guitar's tuning; Vig calls it by far the hardest song on Nevermind to record; it was recorded in May 1991 in Van Nuys, California, is the last listed song on the album, and first reached the charts in August 2020, after it was used in the trailer for The Batman; on stage and at a BBC session in November 1991 the band played it as a heavier electric song.
Sources: Wikipedia: Something in the Way, NME: Butch Vig on recording Something in the Way, Wikipedia: 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 Something in the Way tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Something in the Way
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Something in the Way tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Something in the Way?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 2, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3, with the neck or middle position. 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 quiet, low strum on an old acoustic guitar with five strings from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Something in the Way tone?
Volume and touch. There is no amp on the record, only an old acoustic guitar played quietly on a couch, so on an electric use a clean sound with the gain low and the treble eased back, and strum softly. The guitar was never tuned, and the bassist and the cellist both struggled to match it, so tune to the record by ear rather than to a tuner.
Can you get the Something in the Way tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with a 12-string Stella acoustic strung with only five nylon strings, a guitar Kurt Cobain had never tuned, miked in the control room of Sound City's studio A with no amp involved; producer Butch Vig says the band first tried the song in the main room, where the drums were too big and loud and Cobain could not play it on acoustic, and that Cobain tried an electric guitar before coming into the control room out of frustration and playing it on the couch; Vig cleared the room, brought in a microphone, turned off the fans and unplugged the telephone, and recorded the guitar and the vocal there, with the first vocal take used for the verses; Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl overdubbed bass and drums in the smaller studio B, where Novoselic had trouble tuning his bass to the guitar and Grohl kept getting louder until a quiet take five or six tries in, and Kirk Canning added cello on the last day of the sessions, again fighting the guitar's tuning; Vig calls it by far the hardest song on Nevermind to record; it was recorded in May 1991 in Van Nuys, California, is the last listed song on the album, and first reached the charts in August 2020, after it was used in the trailer for The Batman; on stage and at a BBC session in November 1991 the band played it as a heavier electric song, 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 Something in the Way a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a riff part with a clean character, from Nirvana's 1990s acoustic rock 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.
