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Suede·Social·Issue No. 20
Tone recipes·2026 · JUL
Rock1991easy to fake

01Nirvana

Smells Like Teen Spirit

The quiet-verse / loud-chorus contrast lives in the pedal. Clean chorused tone (Small Clone) on the verses, then a wide-open Boss DS-1 into a Mesa Boogie Studio Preamp slammed for the chorus. Distortion is sharp, slightly fizzy on the top, but the lower mids are scooped enough that the bass and vocal can sit underneath. The chord voicings (power chords with the high E open) ring through the distortion like a bell because they're so wide-voiced.

02Signal chain

Guitar to amp, 2 pedals between.

  1. In
    Guitar

    Fender Mustang (left-handed) or Univox Hi-Flier, humbucker bridge

  2. 01
    Verse chorus — slow, deep modulation for the underwater feel
    Electro-Harmonix Small Clone

    Rate: slow, Depth switch: on

  3. 02
    Chorus distortion — set extreme
    Boss DS-1 Distortion

    Dist: maxed, Tone: noon, Level: noon

  4. Out
    Amp

    Mesa Boogie Studio .22+ / Fender Bassman pairing

03Field note

The secret sauce

Cobain played 'F' chord voicings with the high open E ringing — those open strings cutting through the DS-1's compressed midrange is what makes the chorus sound massive instead of just loud.