No. 0041991·grunge·5 blocks
Smells Like Teen Spirit
The tone that defined a generation. Cobain's approach to guitar tone was anti-perfectionist: a cheap offset guitar, a Boss DS-1 cranked for maximum aggression, and a Small Clone chorus adding an underwater shimmer. The genius of Teen Spirit is the quiet-verse/loud-chorus dynamic. The verses are clean with chorus; the choruses slam the DS-1 for a wall of scooped, angry distortion. The mid-scooped character is key to the grunge sound: heavy lows, biting highs, and a hollow midrange.
NevermindSignal path · input → output · 10 blocksLive values · Line 6 Helix
Guitar
Fender Mustang
Pickups
SS
Tuning
bridge
Strings
standard
Volume Pedal
Deluxe Comp
Deez One Vintage
Industrial Fuzz
PlastiChorus
Cali Texas Ch2
1x12 US Deluxe
Dynamic Plate
Tilt
Volume Pedal
← Volume pedal
Pedal
100%
Deluxe Comp
← Studio compressor
Threshold
-32dB
Ratio
2:1
Knee
6dB
Attack
38s
Release
200s
Mix
50
Level
0dB
Deez One Vintage
← Boss DS-1
Distortion
8
Tone
5
Level
7
Industrial Fuzz
← Russian Big Muff
Sustain
6.5
Tone
5
Level
7
PlastiChorus
← EHX Small Clone
Rate
0.4Hz
Depth
0.7
Mix
60
Level
0
Cali Texas Ch2
← Mesa/Boogie Studio .22 preamp (clean channel pushed)
Drive
5.5
Bass
6.5
Mid
3
Treble
5.5
Presence
5.5
ChVol
7
Master
10
Bias
5.5
BiasX
5
Sag
5.5
Hum
5
Ripple
5
1x12 US Deluxe
← Mesa 1x12 combo
LowCut19.9Hz
HighCut20100Hz
Level
0dB
Pan
0.5
Delay
0
Dynamic Plate
← Studio plate (Sound City Studios sound)
LowCut150Hz
HighCut8000Hz
Mix
18
Decay
1.5s
Level
0
PreDelay
20ms
BassFreq
100
BassBoost
0
VarDelayAmpl
0.5
Damping
4500
MatrFreq
0.3
Tilt
← Tilt EQ (global brightness)
Tilt
0.5
CenterFreq
1000Hz
Level
0
Engineer's note
File 004
The tone that defined a generation. Cobain's approach to guitar tone was anti-perfectionist: a cheap offset guitar, a Boss DS-1 cranked for maximum aggression, and a Small Clone chorus adding an underwater shimmer. The genius of Teen Spirit is the quiet-verse/loud-chorus dynamic. The verses are clean with chorus; the choruses slam the DS-1 for a wall of scooped, angry distortion. The mid-scooped character is key to the grunge sound: heavy lows, biting highs, and a hollow midrange.
— Kurt Cobain
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