Guitarist
Kurt Cobain's amp settings and rig, album by album
Kurt Cobain is Nirvana's singer, guitarist and main songwriter. His rig on 5 records and periods from Bleach (1989) on, with the sources for each, and 9 of his songs with starting points.
What amp does Kurt Cobain use?
Kurt Cobain never settled on one amp, and most of his distortion came from pedals. On Bleach (1989) he played a Univox Hi-Flier through producer Jack Endino's Fender Twin Reverb with a Boss DS-1. On Nevermind (1991) producer Butch Vig used a Mesa/Boogie, a Fender Bassman and a Vox AC30, the AC30 for most of the clean parts, with Cobain's Fender Mustang and Jaguar, an Electro-Harmonix Small Clone for the watery chorus sound and a Big Muff on Lithium. On In Utero (1993) Steve Albini says a Fender Quad Reverb with broken tubes was on pretty much every song, with a Tech 21 SansAmp for most of the drive. On stage from 1990 he played through a Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp, a power amp and Marshall 4x12s, with a DS-1 and later a DS-2. The table below goes record by record, with the sources for each.
Tonelify's library has 9 songs with Kurt Cobain on guitar, each with a reference starting point on a generic five-knob amp. They run from Gain 2 on Come As You Are to Gain 6 on Lithium, so set the amp for the song, not for the player.
Sources: Guitar.com: the guitar gear used on Bleach; Ground Guitar: Kurt Cobain's Boss DS-1; Guitar.com: the gear Kurt Cobain used on Nevermind; Guitar.com: Steve Albini on Kurt Cobain's setup; Ground Guitar: Kurt Cobain's In Utero guitars and gear; Ground Guitar: Kurt Cobain's Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp
Kurt Cobain's rig by album
| Record | Guitar | Amp | Effects |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bleach1989 | GuitarUnivox Hi-Flier with stock humbuckers | AmpJack Endino's Fender Twin Reverb, through Cobain's sealed-back 2x12 with Celestions | EffectsBoss DS-1 |
| Nevermind1991 | Guitar1969 Fender Competition Mustang; 1965 Fender Jaguar with DiMarzio humbuckers; Stratocasters with bridge humbuckers | AmpMesa/Boogie, Fender Bassman and Vox AC30 (the AC30 on most clean parts) | EffectsBoss DS-1, Electro-Harmonix Small Clone, a Big Muff on Lithium, possibly a ProCo Rat |
| In Utero1993 | GuitarAccounts differ: a Univox Hi-Flier and Steve Albini's aluminum Veleno by Albini's memory, the 1965 Jaguar by Guitar.com's | AmpA 1970s Fender Quad Reverb with broken tubes and a Randall by Albini's account; Guitar.com names a Fender Twin Reverb | EffectsTech 21 SansAmp for most of the drive, a Boss DS-2 now and then, an Electro-Harmonix Polychorus on the Heart-Shaped Box solo |
| MTV Unplugged in New York1993 | Guitar1959 Martin D-18E with a Bartolini 3AV pickup | AmpHis Fender Twin Reverb, hidden behind a box, as his own monitor | EffectsBoss DS-2 and Electro-Harmonix Small Clone |
| Live, 1990 to 19941990 to 1994 | GuitarFender Mustangs, Jaguars and Strat-style guitars; the Jag-Stang a handful of times in 1994 | AmpMesa/Boogie Studio Preamp into a Crown Power Base 2, then two Crest 4801s from January 1992, through Marshall 4x12s | EffectsBoss DS-1, then a DS-2 from late September 1991 |
From interviews with Kurt Cobain, producers and guitar techs, and from gear histories. Where they disagree, the table gives both accounts. Each row's sources are in its section below.
1989
What amp did Kurt Cobain use on Bleach?
Bleach was recorded in about 30 hours over six days at Reciprocal Recording in Seattle, with producer Jack Endino. Cobain played a Univox Hi-Flier with stock humbuckers, a guitar Endino remembers looking "sort of like a Mosrite". His solid-state Randall was in the shop, so he played through Endino's Fender Twin into his own sealed-back 2x12 with 70 or 75-watt Celestions.
Endino also remembers "a little orange Boss DS-1 distortion pedal" in front of it.
- Guitar
- Univox Hi-Flier with stock humbuckers
- Amp
- Jack Endino's Fender Twin Reverb, through Cobain's sealed-back 2x12 with Celestions
- Effects
- Boss DS-1
Bleach songs in the library
- About a Girl · clean riffStart at Gain 2, Bass 5, Middle 5, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3, with the neck or middle position.
Gear pages for this rig or its current versions: Boss DS-1 Distortion.
Sources: Guitar.com: the guitar gear used on Bleach; MusicRadar: the Fender Twin Reverb Kurt Cobain used on Bleach; Ground Guitar: Kurt Cobain's Boss DS-1
1991
What amp did Kurt Cobain use on Nevermind?
Butch Vig's own words cover the amps: "Kurt had a Mesa/Boogie, but we also used a Fender Bassman a lot, and a VOX AC30 on Nevermind," with the AC30 on most of the clean parts. Cobain's main studio guitars were a 1969 Lake Placid Blue Competition Mustang and a 1965 Jaguar already fitted with DiMarzio humbuckers, plus Stratocasters with humbuckers in the bridge.
The Small Clone made "the watery guitar sound" of the Smells Like Teen Spirit pre-chorus and Come As You Are, and a Big Muff gave Lithium its "dark, thumpier sound". The distortion is usually given as a Boss DS-1, though Ground Guitar points out that no magazine names a source for that. The album was recorded at Sound City in Van Nuys in May and June 1991.
- Guitar
- 1969 Fender Competition Mustang; 1965 Fender Jaguar with DiMarzio humbuckers; Stratocasters with bridge humbuckers
- Amp
- Mesa/Boogie, Fender Bassman and Vox AC30 (the AC30 on most clean parts)
- Effects
- Boss DS-1, Electro-Harmonix Small Clone, a Big Muff on Lithium, possibly a ProCo Rat
Nevermind songs in the library
- Smells Like Teen Spirit · distorted riffStart at Gain 6, Bass 6, Middle 4, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup.
- In Bloom · distorted riffStart at Gain 6, Bass 6, Middle 4, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup.
- Come As You Are · clean riffStart at Gain 2, Bass 6, Middle 4, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3, with the neck or middle position.
- Lithium · distorted riffStart at Gain 6, Bass 6, Middle 4, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup.
- Drain You · distorted riffStart at Gain 6, Bass 6, Middle 4, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup.
- Something in the Way · clean riffStart at Gain 2, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3, with the neck or middle position.
Gear pages for this rig or its current versions: Fender Player Mustang, Vox AC30C2, Boss DS-1 Distortion, Electro-Harmonix Small Clone, Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi, Pro Co RAT 2.
Sources: Guitar.com: the gear Kurt Cobain used on Nevermind; Ground Guitar: Kurt Cobain's Boss DS-1; Wikipedia: Nevermind
1993
What amp did Kurt Cobain use on In Utero?
Steve Albini recorded In Utero at Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, in February 1993. "He had a couple of amps, a Randall Switchmaster and a Fender Quad Reverb that he mostly used," Albini says. "The Quad had a couple of broken tubes, so its overdrive sound was really raspy and unpredictable. He liked that sound and it featured on pretty much every song." Guitar.com names his Fender Twin Reverb as the main amp instead.
Most of the drive came from a Tech 21 SansAmp, with a Boss DS-2 now and then and Earnie Bailey's Electro-Harmonix Polychorus on the Heart-Shaped Box solo. The guitars are disputed too: Albini recalls mostly a Univox Hi-Flier and his own aluminum Veleno, Guitar.com the 1965 Jaguar. Cobain's Mesa live rig was tried and dropped: "it sounded awful and we never used it."
- Guitar
- Accounts differ: a Univox Hi-Flier and Steve Albini's aluminum Veleno by Albini's memory, the 1965 Jaguar by Guitar.com's
- Amp
- A 1970s Fender Quad Reverb with broken tubes and a Randall by Albini's account; Guitar.com names a Fender Twin Reverb
- Effects
- Tech 21 SansAmp for most of the drive, a Boss DS-2 now and then, an Electro-Harmonix Polychorus on the Heart-Shaped Box solo
In Utero songs in the library
- Heart-Shaped Box · distorted riffStart at Gain 6, Bass 6, Middle 4, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2, with the bridge pickup.
- All Apologies · clean riffStart at Gain 2, Bass 6, Middle 4, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3, with the neck or middle position.
Sources: Wikipedia: In Utero; Guitar.com: Steve Albini on Kurt Cobain's setup; Ground Guitar: Kurt Cobain's In Utero guitars and gear; Guitar.com: the gear used on In Utero
1993
What guitar did Kurt Cobain play on MTV Unplugged?
Nirvana taped MTV Unplugged in New York on November 18, 1993. Cobain played a 1959 Martin D-18E he had bought weeks before, with a Bartolini 3AV pickup added in the soundhole. Instead of running it straight into the desk, as the show normally did, he ran it through his Fender Twin Reverb as his own monitor, and producer Alex Coletti had a box put in front of the amp to hide it from the cameras.
He also used a Boss DS-2 and a Small Clone, both on The Man Who Sold the World. The Martin sold at auction for over six million dollars in 2020.
- Guitar
- 1959 Martin D-18E with a Bartolini 3AV pickup
- Amp
- His Fender Twin Reverb, hidden behind a box, as his own monitor
- Effects
- Boss DS-2 and Electro-Harmonix Small Clone
Gear pages for this rig or its current versions: Electro-Harmonix Small Clone.
Sources: Wikipedia: MTV Unplugged in New York; Guitar.com: the gear used on MTV Unplugged in New York
1990 to 1994
What amp did Kurt Cobain use live?
From May 2, 1990, the day after he trashed his Sunn amps, Cobain's stage rig was a Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp, at first into a Crown Power Base 2 power amp and from January 1992 into a pair of Crest 4801s, through Marshall 4x12s. He switched from the Boss DS-1 to the DS-2 during the Nevermind tour; the DS-2 is first seen on September 28, 1991.
The Fender Jag-Stang, which he designed by cutting Polaroids of a Jaguar and a Mustang in half and pasting them together, reached the stage only a few times: "between two and five times", his tech Earnie Bailey says.
- Guitar
- Fender Mustangs, Jaguars and Strat-style guitars; the Jag-Stang a handful of times in 1994
- Amp
- Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp into a Crown Power Base 2, then two Crest 4801s from January 1992, through Marshall 4x12s
- Effects
- Boss DS-1, then a DS-2 from late September 1991
Gear pages for this rig or its current versions: Boss DS-1 Distortion.
Sources: Ground Guitar: Kurt Cobain's Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp; Guitar.com: the gear Kurt Cobain used on Nevermind; Ground Guitar: Kurt Cobain's Boss DS-2; Wikipedia: Fender Jag-Stang
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.
What amp settings did Kurt Cobain use?
The one set of numbers a named source has printed is below, with who printed it and how far it reaches. It is kept apart from the starting points above.
What amp settings did Kurt Cobain use on Smells Like Teen Spirit?
Volume 6, master 5, treble 6, bass 3, middle 8 and reverb 0 on the rhythm channel of a Mesa/Boogie Studio preamp, with the rhythm bright switch on and the graphic EQ in at 80Hz +3, 240Hz -2, 750Hz 0, 2.2kHz +5 and 6.6kHz +3, into a Crown Power Base 2 power amp and a Marshall 4x12. The distortion is a Boss DS-1 with the tone on 4, the level on 10 and the distortion on 7, and the chorus an Electro-Harmonix Small Clone with the rate on 5 and the depth switch up. That is the settings box in Chris Gill's 2021 Guitar World feature on the song, which does not say where the numbers come from, so read them as the magazine's reconstruction rather than a note from the session. The feature puts a Japanese Fender Stratocaster with a Seymour Duncan JB at the bridge on the take, judging from live videos shot just before and after the sessions, where other accounts give a Mustang or a Jaguar.
Source: Guitar World: the secrets behind Kurt Cobain's tone on Smells Like Teen Spirit · Smells Like Teen Spirit page →
How do you get Kurt Cobain's tone on your amp?
1.Get the drive from a pedal
Cobain's distortion came from a Boss DS-1 on Bleach and on stage until 1991, a DS-2 after that, and a Tech 21 SansAmp on most of In Utero. Set a clean or barely breaking amp and let the pedal do the work, rather than turning the amp's gain up.
Sources: Ground Guitar: Kurt Cobain's Boss DS-1; Ground Guitar: Kurt Cobain's Boss DS-2; Ground Guitar: Kurt Cobain's In Utero guitars and gear
2.Put chorus on the clean parts
The Small Clone made the watery sound of the Smells Like Teen Spirit pre-chorus and of Come As You Are. A chorus with the depth up and a moderate rate, on the clean sound only, gets most of the way there.
3.Use the bridge humbucker
His Jaguar had DiMarzio humbuckers, his 1969 Mustang got a Duncan Hot Rails in the bridge in 1992, and on the Jag-Stang he used only the bridge pickup. A bridge humbucker into the pedal is closer than a single coil.
Sources: Guitar.com: the gear Kurt Cobain used on Nevermind; Wikipedia: Fender Jag-Stang
4.Tune for the song
Smells Like Teen Spirit is in standard tuning, Come As You Are and Lithium are a whole step down, and the Stella 12-string on Something in the Way was tuned down a step and a half.
Sources: Guitar World: the secrets behind Kurt Cobain's tone on Smells Like Teen Spirit; Guitar World: how to play Come As You Are; Wikipedia: Lithium (Nirvana song); Guitar.com: the gear Kurt Cobain used on Nevermind
Tonelify rewrites any of these songs for the amp and guitar you own. Match a Kurt Cobain song on your gear →
Kurt Cobain gear questions
What amp did Kurt Cobain use on Bleach?
Producer Jack Endino's Fender Twin Reverb, because Cobain's solid-state Randall was in the shop, with a Univox Hi-Flier and a Boss DS-1.
What amp did Kurt Cobain use on Nevermind?
Butch Vig used a Mesa/Boogie, a Fender Bassman and a Vox AC30, the AC30 on most clean parts, with Cobain's Fender Mustang and Jaguar, a Small Clone chorus and a distortion pedal usually given as a Boss DS-1.
What amp did Kurt Cobain use on In Utero?
A Fender Quad Reverb with broken tubes that Steve Albini says was on pretty much every song, driven mostly by a Tech 21 SansAmp. Guitar.com names a Fender Twin Reverb instead.
What guitar did Kurt Cobain play on MTV Unplugged?
A 1959 Martin D-18E with a Bartolini pickup, run through his Fender Twin Reverb as a monitor, with a Boss DS-2 and a Small Clone on The Man Who Sold the World.
What amp did Kurt Cobain use live?
A Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp from May 1990, first into a Crown power amp and from January 1992 into two Crest 4801s, through Marshall 4x12s, with a Boss DS-1 and from late 1991 a DS-2.
What distortion pedal did Kurt Cobain use?
A Boss DS-1 on Bleach and on stage until September 1991, then a Boss DS-2. On In Utero most of the drive came from a Tech 21 SansAmp, with the DS-2 now and then, and Butch Vig used a Big Muff on Lithium.
What guitar did Kurt Cobain play?
Mostly short-scale Fender offsets: a 1969 Competition Mustang and a 1965 Jaguar with DiMarzio humbuckers on Nevermind, and the Jag-Stang he designed. On Bleach it was a Univox Hi-Flier, and at MTV Unplugged a 1959 Martin D-18E.
What are good amp settings for a Kurt Cobain tone?
On a generic five-knob amp, Smells Like Teen Spirit starts at Gain 6, Bass 6, Middle 4, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2; Heart-Shaped Box starts at Gain 6, Bass 6, Middle 4, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 2; Come As You Are starts at Gain 2, Bass 6, Middle 4, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3. These are starting points for the kind of part, not Kurt Cobain's own settings. The one set of numbers a named source has printed is for Smells Like Teen Spirit, on the song's page.