Big time respect for admitting when you had something that wasn't quite right previously (i.e. HB vs Single coil bridge pickup). That shows humility and a true commitment to getting it right! 👍👍
Thank you so much Lomic! We are all striving for historical accuracy and it's only right to admit when you have something that's not 100% right 😁hoping to correct this soon though!
Love it mate! I’m a lefty I’m thinking the closest I could get to Kurt’s one is replacing the pickups and getting the headstock painted seems I can not for the life of me find a left handed fender comp like Kurt’s, l
That part where you discovered the pickup thing was so relatable. I used to think Ron Asheton from The Stooges, used a Marshall supa fuzz pedal until I messaged his sister and she told me that he the used vox tonebender. It was mind blowing news to me because I knew exactly what I needed to get.
Yes so you get it! Once you get over the disbelief of realizing what you thought was right is wrong, it is relieving to know you finally have the correct and definitive answer haha!
@@NirvanaGuitars It surprised me when I found Ricky Wilson (B-52s) was using an _Epiphone ET-290_ (1970s, Crestwood / Olympic / Wilshire type) for some tracks on the debut B-52s album. (Planet Claire and 6060-842.) Kate and Cindy played it as a 2nd guitar on 3 other tracks, though I knew about a Gibson or Epiphone for those tracks.
Damn, UA-cam recommendations didn't fail me this time, and I am happy that I clicked on this video. This video is really comprehensive and it really helps. Thank you for making this video man, you rule.
This really made me want to listen to kurt and rest of the band play in the current year.. my first live performance ever was blitzkrieg bop by the ramons and smells like teen spirit by nirvana.. RIP kurt.. It's really a pity that I won't be able to listen to them playing live..
I love the detail and research on the tone. I am also a nirvana fanatic who spend most of my day researching or looking at Kurt’s gear lol That Fender really does nail the tone. I think what a lot of people get wrong is the clean, Kurt’s clean really wasn’t very clean lol (live anyway)
Thank you! I have fun putting these videos together and it’s all for the fellow Nirvana gear nerds 🫱🏻🫲🏼 I agree that Kurt’s live clean wasn’t very clean. Especially Nevermind era, that breakup and bit of crunch he had is a huge component to his sound! I always start with replicating his cleans, once that’s figured out the distortion settings come easy
Thanks for the video man! I saw the requests on your instagram and had to throw breed on the vandalism strat in there as the paramount 1991 tone is my personal favorite.
You are "killing it" Awesome!!!! Lol sounds great..They played a lot of good music that tour. If I had this video when I was 13 I would have practiced/learned each piece.. All we had were books and they were just an educated guess most the time not always right. Music teachers couldn't just look up how to play the newest music also. So it took a lot of time to learn how to play a song off the radio back in 91.. I had a tuff time back then but didn't care. I knew I would learn eventually.. Guitar is a lifelong journey you can keep learning and progressing. Muscle memory.
I love that you even waited to turn on the small clone for a sec which he does at paramount haha I never knew if that was a mistake or on purpose (in teen spirit)
Thanks! Pretty sure that was a mistake, but I listen to live shows way more than I do the studio albums so those little variations are ingrained in my mind!
Well, I love these videos so much. Where are you do history tones of stuff in the never mind era tones in the history videos you do is my favorite personally I think it is just amazing. Also, I love the instrumental background music you have where you got to tell me where that music is because it instrumentals awesome.
Fantastic tone recreation! Loved the whole vid from start to finish. I knew about that part where Earnie bailey said it had a hotrail since early 92' but I doubt him because from the the shows that have been posted online It surely doesn't sound like a stock pickup in the bridge of that mustang, and clearly the info that Earnie provided us on about the Jagstang's humbucker was wrong, I mean I dont blame him for that since that was almost over 30 years ago but he was still fairly inconsistent in giving the right info if you ask me. Honestly I'm still confused about the neck hotrail being in the bridge, It could be that It just was a random seymour duncan box but I would doubt it since kurt never really had any hotrails in the neck position of any of his guitars. Anyways great video!
Thank you I'm glad you enjoyed it! Honestly when I first read about the Hot Rail being installed in early 92, I was hoping that Earnie was misremembering but zooming in on pics from 91 of Kurt using the Comp Stang, it does look it's flat like like a stock pickup. I don't see the two raised lines that Hot Rails have. It's really hard to tell when you zoom in that far, so I could be wrong. I am confused about it being a neck pickup too, so I am anxious to get a neck hot rail myself and to compare it to the sound of the bridge hot rail!
@@NirvanaGuitars I already replaced the bridge hotrail in mine with a neck hotrail, I was expecting a little brighter sound and maybe a little less output but they really sounded exactly the same tonally. I'll probably put the bridge hot rail back in, I think it sounds better.
Couple things. Last time, on julian’s auction, when they were sellling a skystang, there were a couple of big mistakes in the description (obvious for nirvana fans, but can happen for them, they list like 500 items a week), so I wouldnt be so categoric about that 1992 date. I think he installed it by the end of 1991, which coincide with the time EBailey started working with them. Search « nirvana tree club 1991 » you will see a picture where the stang already has the tuneomatic (concert is october 1991). So I think he made him install the pickup probably at the same time (which explains why by that time he only took it out twice: SLTS video shooting + beehive records showcase). Then he started to use it live in 1992 and 1993. And it adds to the info that for Nevermind recording he predominantly used the endless nameless black strat (with the TOM) and maybe the jaguar (which he bought during the nevermind sessions when he was in california; got it from a dude in the san fernando valley, and probably the mustang too cause he already had it in august when filming the videoclip) but i dont think he used the mustang that much on nevermind, if he did: that dude never played singlecoils, and was already installing hupbuckers on all his guitars since he was like 16 years old, so i dont see him using singlecoils when he’s making the most important album of his life. Regarding the hotrail box, maybe Ernie just had a set of neck+bridge set, and put back the stock 69 pickup in the neck HR box after changing it, but installed the bridge PU. If only we could send a mail to the dude… :-)
You bring up several great points! I just looked at the pics from the Trees Oct 91 show that are on LiveNirvana.com and I can't tell which bridge is there, and zooming in on it doesn't help make it any clearer lol 😂 but that is a great point that Kurt very rarely used single coils and probably wouldn't have used it when recording his band's major label debut. That's a good guess too about Earnie with the hot rail box! I could see that being right cause Kurt used Hot Rail bridge pickups on other guitars. Even though we got new info from the auction listing, it left us with more questions then answers 😅 I'm hoping someone will have chance to clarify this with Earnie!
@@NirvanaGuitars For the mustang bridge picture, when i type « nirvana tree club » on goog pictures, one of the first i see is a picture taken from kurt’s left side, kurt is in the first plan, you can see krist playing on the background, and on the left side of the picture you can see turner van blarcum the security guy with the ponytail mohawk (which will soon get his head cracked open with a 65 jag :-)) he’s grimacing, struggling to push back the crowd surfers. Kurt has his hand just above the bridge, to me you can see that’s a tuneomatic for sure. Funny thing the only time Kurt mistreated that guitar was that particular night, smashed it on the mixing board. And few weeks ago, when i first time saw close up pictures of that stang, for the auction, i could see the damage on the guitar, there were like little circle / dot traces. I think that’s the mixing desk knobs that left those marks :-))
Wow. That sounds great. I know Butch Vig kind of "cleaned up" Cobain's noisy guitars on Nevermind (which Kurt got away with on In Utero), but I enjoy both albums and different tones. I think you pretty much got it!
sounds good. Kurts gain and mid ranges were pushed to the extreme by the Mesa Boogie Studio Pre settings. It's an imperative component to get Kurt's live sound.
As far as I know, "Bleach" was a Fender Twin and Boss Ds-1. Nevermind was more a mix of things. Kurt wanted to use his premap/poweramp/cabinet/DS1 for everything. He and Butch Vig sort of compromised here and there as Vig didn't want just a distortion pedal sound (he wanted tube amp distortion from various amps). You can bet a Fender Twin made it on the recordings for much of the clean tones. "Territorial Pissings" had a ProCo Rat with his chorus, apparently. Apparently, he used a Big Muff on "Lithium." He started using the Boss DS-2 live, though, he had it set to the Boss DS1 setting usually.
Awesome guitars, awesome playing and awesome tones! Btw, I know you're trying to get as close as possible and I was trying as well at some point but the tune-o-matic really felt like a downgrade to me I like the stock bridge way more And the stang's stock pickups are so good together I couldn't bring myself to swap them!
Interesting thanks for sharing that insight! When I put in a TOM bridge on my Jag-Stang, I saw a big improvement over the stock bridge. So I think I'm gonna give the TOM on the comp stang a shot for accuracy sake, and if it feels like a downgrade I'd go back to stock
Kurt also used a neck 59 in the bridge of his vandalism Strat. Could be intentional or could be just on the road and buying whatever the store had at the time.
So, I’ve been digging a little bit into that Mesa/Boogie preamp . And I came to this. It’s a tube preamp. Starts with a 7025 tube a few 12ax7 and a ECC81( can be a 12at7 )For the reverb tank. This all is in essence is a preamp circuit that. Takes the signal. Sends it either directly through. Ore through a 5 band eq. Than sends it either through again ore does an addition through a reverb tank and feeds it back into the clean signal. And splits it out into two outputs. I’m not sure if Kurt ever used reverb. But if he did it was very slightly and this is where it came from. Cause there is no other place where there is a reverb tank. Ore a reverb in any regards. The circuit is pretty simple and easy to build by the looks of it. It’s a fender “esq” circuit, a very clean boost. And I think probably this is only used to boost the signal high enough to put it into a power amp. Which is that Crown. And after digging into that. It’s simply a transistor power amp for disco, venues, rave, etc etc. But the output can be bridged for a mono high output. I wouldn’t fuzz about that. Pretty much any decent power amp with a push-pull config will do. This was just to feed the Marshall cabinets enough power to feed the room with sound. So, I’m not sure which twin reverb you have there. I’m assuming it the transistor one. However if it is the tube based. You could check to see which preamp tubes you have. And maybe check if you can substitute these for 12ax7. If you allready have those. And regardless if its a tube amp ore not. You can stick a multiband eq in your fx chain on the back of that Twin. To further tweak the sound. But all in all. You’re very very close. I think most of the “sound” came from fiddling the knobs on the pedals rather than specific output gear. Cause for as far I can see. That was all ment to get the sound out as clean and loud as possible. Well in that regard. That twin you’ve got there will do the job just fine. 💪🏻 But then there is also recording techniques. Which mic was used and the placement of the mic in front of that cabinet. How far from it and how far from the center etc etc. Anyways, I hope you find this info useful.
El chico es muy bueno tocando y buscando el sonido de nirvana. Pero lo que realmente me produce un orgasmo es todo el equipo que tiene para sacar el sonido de la banda.
@@NirvanaGuitars Yea Man , you even play Spirit PERFECTLY that chord part when Kurt squawls YAY , that bit , i've noticed alot of players simplify it good attention to detail
These exact tone settings work just as perfect on a stock squire bullet mustang HH and a marshall MG15cdr! Attention to detail is perfect and can probably get even more on point with pickups and specific amps, but for the average low budget player you can still have tons of fun with your favorite tones with whatever is available
So happy to hear the settings translated well to your set up! I put them out there in hopes it'll help people get Nirvana tones, glad to hear they worked for you!
11:37 were can I buy the road worn vandalism stratocaster with his details such us the bandalism póster and the adhesive tape, were do get that vandalism poster??? Were do you get it I love that guitar, and the fender competition mustang (ive been trying a lot to get it)
I use a digitech tone driver (gold model) pedal set to a specific location, gain just barely up (on a cruddy solidstate stage 112se) and a digitech multichorus set to full chorus. Gives a very nirvanaish sound with various guitars and amps.
Ok, knowing he didn't always have the hotrails humbucker in the competition Mustang, until early '92 or so, is a relief. I got a candy red competition Mustang about a month ago, and had been considering doing the hotrails humbucker in it, but ultimately decided to leave mine as-is, since I like how mine sounds ("the pickups were replaced with custom Curtis Novak Duo Sonic pickups, which Curtis copied from his original guitar. A major upgrade and not cheap." is how mine was described when I bought it). Also not going to get a Gotoh tune-o-matic bridge, mine came set up as a hard-tail (springs removed, washers added to lock it into place), and it plays good as it is.
The noise interlude in Drain You is a little bit different. Look at how Kurt plays it live. Index finger is right, but then middle finger goes on the fifth fret A string, ring finger goes sixth fret D string and the pinkie 7th fret G string (and also he switches it up to seventh fret B and high E strings). On the 2nd part of the interlude(the climax), he does play the power chord like you're doing, but for the first part he's playing that extremely dissonant chord. Having said this, good job! I especially like the "Polly" tone (and not to be a pain in the ass, but look at how Kurt plays the G chord...no B note on the A string ;) )
I have since learned and started it playing like that 🙂 from my Paradiso tone video and on, I play it the interlude exactly as you describe it! At the time of this video, I was still playing it like the studio version
Idk what to because I just got the ds1 and I love it im just wondering if I should trade it in for a ds2 for these nirvana tones, cause Idk... btw I love your tone they are so spot on!
Fantastic! Particularly fond of Floyd the Barber, Dive, and this era the live tone for Smells Like… it’s the only way I can stomach listening to that song. And you nailed it. (Honestly, usually I skip any recording of Teen Spirit, but this was spot on Del Mar!!)
This is amazing. As someone rediscovering Kurt’s amazing work as an adult, and now guitarist, I’ve been really interested in his tones. This is such an amazing resource for me. Any plans to do 1994 MTV Unplugged?
Hi guy! I'm trying to know what the width of the stripes is on the fender mustang competition, could you measure it for me? I have a Classic Vibe '60s Competition Mustang and it is 4,5cm (1,77165 inches) wide. I want to sand it to paint it like Cobain's so I bought a sonic blue stripes sticker but it is 3cm (1,1811 inches) wide. So I was wondering what the official width was on 1969 Mustang Competitions, could you answer that? Thank you very much and congratulations for your work
I was going to correct your mistake 😂 about the bridge pickup on Kurt's Mustang as this is a common knowledge of Nirvana fans , standard Single coils Kurt used in 91.
@@NirvanaGuitars lol 😜 your kidding me ? I'm sure I saw you at Reading when they played the UK lol 😂 but seriously I was there as a kid it was an experience I'm still in awe 🎸🤩
@@NirvanaGuitars it’s a great pedal. Not really nirvana tone though. It has a tight, beefy, and chunky tone that I love but a bit too modern sounding for replicating nirvana in my opinion.
can i request a song by nirvana? its a cover of the wipers, but nirvana covered it, its called D-7 its a really great song, can you cover it? i would love if you would
@@derekk.1750 This is my Nevermind tour tone video, in which I play Pennyroyal Tea with only A minor as Kurt did in late 1991. I assumed you were trying to tell me that I did that wrong, my bad. That's correct, after In Utero came out he did switch between A minor and A major in the verses I think every single time he played it
@@NirvanaGuitars no, you're right, I forgot about your video title which is in line with the way you play it and just focused on the live versions after in utero, so it was my bad, sorry, your tone is spot on btw.
It’s from the overall volume! On a twin reverb, the gain comes from how high you set the volume. You get a slight taste of distortion around 4/5, and it gets real crunchy around 6/7+
Well, you’ve been honest in saying you thought you had it right. And then didn’t and you said so. And I wouldn’t fuzz about it. Cause Kurt was constantly changing parts in his sound chain cause he just couldn’t find the right sound. Also we don’t know what was used in the studio. But I think you are very very close. The crown amp is just a stage audio amplifier. So in essence any power amp should do. It’s just an amp. That pre amp is something I would be more concerned about. Cause that might give more shape to the sound. Anyway, now I want to dust of my peavey red line.
You put me to shame and I’m pretty good with these same songs.. you play some differently to me as I use power chords almost exclusively. But I can tell yours is the better way. Bet your younger than me too lol if I’d had UA-cam back in 2005 when I bought my candy apple red competition stripe fender mustang made in Japan, crafted lol but it didn’t have matching headstock, pawned it for things I shouldn’t of been doing within a few years. I have two guitars now a MIM fender Strat limited edition with matching black head stock it’s HSS all black black pickguard and ebony fretboard, sick.. and then a player Jaguar in tidepool and that’s HS which is cool. I prefer Kurt’s but all jaguars are gorgeous.. cool channel
Wow finally, just the channel I needed to find out all about Kurt's gear, thanks. Just curious why you have the small clone set the way it is, since I've read he used the rate around 9 o clock and the depth was always in the up position
Great guitars and great sound! I realised that the Fender was a Tone Master only after watching the whole video, it really gets the job done, doesn't it?
wow insanely good man sounds just like it
Thank you!
I'm 9 years old and I'm a huge fan of Nirvana can u do a foo fighters one like this one
@@NirvanaGuitars😊😊
Big time respect for admitting when you had something that wasn't quite right previously (i.e. HB vs Single coil bridge pickup). That shows humility and a true commitment to getting it right! 👍👍
Thank you so much Lomic! We are all striving for historical accuracy and it's only right to admit when you have something that's not 100% right 😁hoping to correct this soon though!
@@NirvanaGuitars Also super cool you started the vid with The Moon show. Love that one! 🌛
@@lomicguitars212 That one is such a great show!!
Love it mate! I’m a lefty I’m thinking the closest I could get to Kurt’s one is replacing the pickups and getting the headstock painted seems I can not for the life of me find a left handed fender comp like Kurt’s, l
@@NirvanaGuitars Hey its somewhat accurate for 92 and on even if its a neck pickup in the bridge position but for me its as long as it sounds right
That part where you discovered the pickup thing was so relatable. I used to think Ron Asheton from The Stooges, used a Marshall supa fuzz pedal until I messaged his sister and she told me that he the used vox tonebender. It was mind blowing news to me because I knew exactly what I needed to get.
Yes so you get it! Once you get over the disbelief of realizing what you thought was right is wrong, it is relieving to know you finally have the correct and definitive answer haha!
To be fair, a Marshall Supa Fuzz and Vox Tone Bender are the exact same pedals, both are rebranded versions of the Sola Sound Tone Bender.
Happened to me with Frusciante and SSL1’s…
@@gabrielledebourg2487 Bit more complicated than that, but essentially yes
@@NirvanaGuitars It surprised me when I found Ricky Wilson (B-52s) was using an _Epiphone ET-290_ (1970s, Crestwood / Olympic / Wilshire type) for some tracks on the debut B-52s album. (Planet Claire and 6060-842.) Kate and Cindy played it as a 2nd guitar on 3 other tracks, though I knew about a Gibson or Epiphone for those tracks.
Damn, UA-cam recommendations didn't fail me this time, and I am happy that I clicked on this video. This video is really comprehensive and it really helps. Thank you for making this video man, you rule.
I sincerely appreciate the kind words 🙏🏻 happy you enjoyed it!
Massive fan of the bootlegs from this era. You did an excellent job!
Thank you so much! Nirvana were a force of nature on the brink of taking over the world in this time, the bootlegs from this era are incredible!
Bro if these youngsters only knew how hard it was to find em before UA-cam and other media outlets
I love how you even rushed through teen spirit like kurt did. Definitely accurate lolol
Okay, this was super impressive dude, you definitely got close with Kurt's tone
Thank you!
Great to see you showing us in detail what Kurt used for his gears. Awesome video. Thanks for sharing ☺️
Thanks for watching 😀
Awesome video man, love the effort you put in to this. nailed the tone.
Thank you! Happy you enjoyed it 😁
About as perfect as you can get. Great job
32:00 this sounds like it’s an isolated guitar track it’s insanely accurate
Thank you!
The tempo is way too fast though.
@@jeffersonaraujoelcristiano played these using the live tempos. Nirvana sped up a lot of their songs live
@@NirvanaGuitars you destroyed him 💀
I thought so too
I like how obsessive you are at finding his tones I live less than 50 miles from Aberdeen,WA so we're finally not sick of all the nirvana hoobaloo
Kurts songs look like they're so much fun to play. And it looks like you're having fun playing them.
This really made me want to listen to kurt and rest of the band play in the current year.. my first live performance ever was blitzkrieg bop by the ramons and smells like teen spirit by nirvana..
RIP kurt.. It's really a pity that I won't be able to listen to them playing live..
I love the detail and research on the tone. I am also a nirvana fanatic who spend most of my day researching or looking at Kurt’s gear lol
That Fender really does nail the tone. I think what a lot of people get wrong is the clean, Kurt’s clean really wasn’t very clean lol (live anyway)
Thank you! I have fun putting these videos together and it’s all for the fellow Nirvana gear nerds 🫱🏻🫲🏼
I agree that Kurt’s live clean wasn’t very clean. Especially Nevermind era, that breakup and bit of crunch he had is a huge component to his sound! I always start with replicating his cleans, once that’s figured out the distortion settings come easy
As a huge Nirvana fan it was awesome to watch this. Thanks!
Thanks! Happy you enjoyed it 😁
The 59 neck in the bridge of the strat sounds epic. I think the vandalism strat has to be my favorite Cobain guitar.
Thanks for the video man! I saw the requests on your instagram and had to throw breed on the vandalism strat in there as the paramount 1991 tone is my personal favorite.
Thanks for watching and for the request!! Breed on the vandalism strat with Paramount tone is on my to do list 😉
the 'aneurysm sound' is very accurate, from someone whos listened to that live version many times over the years
You are "killing it" Awesome!!!! Lol sounds great..They played a lot of good music that tour. If I had this video when I was 13 I would have practiced/learned each piece.. All we had were books and they were just an educated guess most the time not always right. Music teachers couldn't just look up how to play the newest music also. So it took a lot of time to learn how to play a song off the radio back in 91.. I had a tuff time back then but didn't care. I knew I would learn eventually.. Guitar is a lifelong journey you can keep learning and progressing. Muscle memory.
I love that you even waited to turn on the small clone for a sec which he does at paramount haha I never knew if that was a mistake or on purpose (in teen spirit)
Thanks! Pretty sure that was a mistake, but I listen to live shows way more than I do the studio albums so those little variations are ingrained in my mind!
@@NirvanaGuitars the nirvana lives are just too good
I loved the dive solo great guitar playing I enjoyed every second of the video
Well, I love these videos so much. Where are you do history tones of stuff in the never mind era tones in the history videos you do is my favorite personally I think it is just amazing. Also, I love the instrumental background music you have where you got to tell me where that music is because it instrumentals awesome.
This was great! It sounded very close to Kurt in my opinion. Also if you can, I would love to see how you would tackle the mtv unplugged tone!
Thank you! I’ve wanted to build a Martin D18e copy for YEARS, hopefully one day!!
I really enjoy these videos.
🙏🏻
Aneurysm sounds AMAZING!
Endless nameless !!! Awesome brother,, ty
Man you’re like the Nirvana super fan totally awesome
1992 Pacific Tour would be awesome too, amazing as always!
I need to get a tele with hot rails for that haha! I love the tone on that tour, especially the tele songs
Excellent work bro. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for watching 🙂
Fantastic tone recreation! Loved the whole vid from start to finish. I knew about that part where Earnie bailey said it had a hotrail since early 92' but I doubt him because from the the shows that have been posted online It surely doesn't sound like a stock pickup in the bridge of that mustang, and clearly the info that Earnie provided us on about the Jagstang's humbucker was wrong, I mean I dont blame him for that since that was almost over 30 years ago but he was still fairly inconsistent in giving the right info if you ask me. Honestly I'm still confused about the neck hotrail being in the bridge, It could be that It just was a random seymour duncan box but I would doubt it since kurt never really had any hotrails in the neck position of any of his guitars. Anyways great video!
Thank you I'm glad you enjoyed it! Honestly when I first read about the Hot Rail being installed in early 92, I was hoping that Earnie was misremembering but zooming in on pics from 91 of Kurt using the Comp Stang, it does look it's flat like like a stock pickup. I don't see the two raised lines that Hot Rails have. It's really hard to tell when you zoom in that far, so I could be wrong. I am confused about it being a neck pickup too, so I am anxious to get a neck hot rail myself and to compare it to the sound of the bridge hot rail!
@@NirvanaGuitars I already replaced the bridge hotrail in mine with a neck hotrail, I was expecting a little brighter sound and maybe a little less output but they really sounded exactly the same tonally. I'll probably put the bridge hot rail back in, I think it sounds better.
Ahh so happy to hear you’ve already compared them! I would also expect the neck to be brighter, surprised to hear that wasn’t the case
@@AaronRashI think it's a matter of if it's closer to the bridge or not if thats the case
@@NirvanaGuitars Yeah we really don't have any good pics of the guitar from that time period that really allows us to properly inspect it.
Thanks for this well researched video man, I really love to see such dedication and passion.
Thank you for watching 🙂
Couple things. Last time, on julian’s auction, when they were sellling a skystang, there were a couple of big mistakes in the description (obvious for nirvana fans, but can happen for them, they list like 500 items a week), so I wouldnt be so categoric about that 1992 date. I think he installed it by the end of 1991, which coincide with the time EBailey started working with them. Search « nirvana tree club 1991 » you will see a picture where the stang already has the tuneomatic (concert is october 1991). So I think he made him install the pickup probably at the same time (which explains why by that time he only took it out twice: SLTS video shooting + beehive records showcase). Then he started to use it live in 1992 and 1993. And it adds to the info that for Nevermind recording he predominantly used the endless nameless black strat (with the TOM) and maybe the jaguar (which he bought during the nevermind sessions when he was in california; got it from a dude in the san fernando valley, and probably the mustang too cause he already had it in august when filming the videoclip) but i dont think he used the mustang that much on nevermind, if he did: that dude never played singlecoils, and was already installing hupbuckers on all his guitars since he was like 16 years old, so i dont see him using singlecoils when he’s making the most important album of his life. Regarding the hotrail box, maybe Ernie just had a set of neck+bridge set, and put back the stock 69 pickup in the neck HR box after changing it, but installed the bridge PU. If only we could send a mail to the dude… :-)
You bring up several great points! I just looked at the pics from the Trees Oct 91 show that are on LiveNirvana.com and I can't tell which bridge is there, and zooming in on it doesn't help make it any clearer lol 😂 but that is a great point that Kurt very rarely used single coils and probably wouldn't have used it when recording his band's major label debut. That's a good guess too about Earnie with the hot rail box! I could see that being right cause Kurt used Hot Rail bridge pickups on other guitars. Even though we got new info from the auction listing, it left us with more questions then answers 😅 I'm hoping someone will have chance to clarify this with Earnie!
@@NirvanaGuitars For the mustang bridge picture, when i type « nirvana tree club » on goog pictures, one of the first i see is a picture taken from kurt’s left side, kurt is in the first plan, you can see krist playing on the background, and on the left side of the picture you can see turner van blarcum the security guy with the ponytail mohawk (which will soon get his head cracked open with a 65 jag :-)) he’s grimacing, struggling to push back the crowd surfers. Kurt has his hand just above the bridge, to me you can see that’s a tuneomatic for sure. Funny thing the only time Kurt mistreated that guitar was that particular night, smashed it on the mixing board. And few weeks ago, when i first time saw close up pictures of that stang, for the auction, i could see the damage on the guitar, there were like little circle / dot traces. I think that’s the mixing desk knobs that left those marks :-))
Goddamn!
Puro fuego, hermano. 👌
Wow. That sounds great. I know Butch Vig kind of "cleaned up" Cobain's noisy guitars on Nevermind (which Kurt got away with on In Utero), but I enjoy both albums and different tones. I think you pretty much got it!
very good info and playing
Thank you!
That was really great. Only song that was kinda weird was negative creep.
Dude you actually get the feel and grime and grunge out of those fingers
sounds good. Kurts gain and mid ranges were pushed to the extreme by the Mesa Boogie Studio Pre settings. It's an imperative component to get Kurt's live sound.
I have a laney cub head with v30 cab and even an mxr eq and i can t have a decent tone :/ it's good enought for me but not like this one lol
this video was made on my birthday :)
My birthday present to you 🎉
This is sick 🤘🤘🤘
Thanks!
As far as I know, "Bleach" was a Fender Twin and Boss Ds-1. Nevermind was more a mix of things. Kurt wanted to use his premap/poweramp/cabinet/DS1 for everything. He and Butch Vig sort of compromised here and there as Vig didn't want just a distortion pedal sound (he wanted tube amp distortion from various amps). You can bet a Fender Twin made it on the recordings for much of the clean tones. "Territorial Pissings" had a ProCo Rat with his chorus, apparently. Apparently, he used a Big Muff on "Lithium." He started using the Boss DS-2 live, though, he had it set to the Boss DS1 setting usually.
sick video dude
Thank you!
Kurts tone is so easy to recreate, but you went all the way down))
I just got a DS-2, sounds so much better than the amp distortion that I was previously using
I like your pfp
@@Ian-qs3fz thanks man!
omg drain you is so perfect
Thank you! One of my favorites to play 😃
That tone on “Jesus doesn’t want me for a sunbeam” was spot on.
That was so awesome and informative keep it up man!
Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Awesome guitars, awesome playing and awesome tones!
Btw, I know you're trying to get as close as possible and I was trying as well at some point but the tune-o-matic really felt like a downgrade to me
I like the stock bridge way more
And the stang's stock pickups are so good together I couldn't bring myself to swap them!
Interesting thanks for sharing that insight! When I put in a TOM bridge on my Jag-Stang, I saw a big improvement over the stock bridge. So I think I'm gonna give the TOM on the comp stang a shot for accuracy sake, and if it feels like a downgrade I'd go back to stock
I agree. A tune-o-m bridge is great on a jazzmaster but not on a mustang. I think it’s a scale thing…
Great video, mate! Keep rocking!
Thanks a ton!
Good video, missed opportunity to do the best live Nirvana tone, live in rotterdam
cool video man keep it up
Thank you!
...I'm a nirvana fan since 91 ...thank U for this ... and I have the same amp 😂🤟🤟🤟
Thanks for watching! The Twin Reverb is an AMAZING amp
Kurt also used a neck 59 in the bridge of his vandalism Strat. Could be intentional or could be just on the road and buying whatever the store had at the time.
Pretty dang close sounding to me man! Rock on.
Thank you!
Outstanding ‼️😎🔥🎸
Nailed it!
Thank you!
Great tone, great job!
Thank you!
You are awesome!
I'm serious about jamming together someday...
Thank you for the kind words! Will hit you up if I go to GA 😁
So, I’ve been digging a little bit into that Mesa/Boogie preamp . And I came to this.
It’s a tube preamp.
Starts with a 7025 tube a few 12ax7 and a ECC81( can be a 12at7 )For the reverb tank.
This all is in essence is a preamp circuit that. Takes the signal. Sends it either directly through. Ore through a 5 band eq. Than sends it either through again ore does an addition through a reverb tank and feeds it back into the clean signal. And splits it out into two outputs.
I’m not sure if Kurt ever used reverb.
But if he did it was very slightly and this is where it came from. Cause there is no other place where there is a reverb tank. Ore a reverb in any regards.
The circuit is pretty simple and easy to build by the looks of it. It’s a fender “esq” circuit, a very clean boost.
And I think probably this is only used to boost the signal high enough to put it into a power amp. Which is that Crown. And after digging into that. It’s simply a transistor power amp for disco, venues, rave, etc etc. But the output can be bridged for a mono high output.
I wouldn’t fuzz about that. Pretty much any decent power amp with a push-pull config will do. This was just to feed the Marshall cabinets enough power to feed the room with sound.
So, I’m not sure which twin reverb you have there. I’m assuming it the transistor one.
However if it is the tube based.
You could check to see which preamp tubes you have. And maybe check if you can substitute these for 12ax7.
If you allready have those. And regardless if its a tube amp ore not.
You can stick a multiband eq in your fx chain on the back of that Twin. To further tweak the sound.
But all in all. You’re very very close.
I think most of the “sound” came from fiddling the knobs on the pedals rather than specific output gear. Cause for as far I can see. That was all ment to get the sound out as clean and loud as possible.
Well in that regard. That twin you’ve got there will do the job just fine. 💪🏻
But then there is also recording techniques.
Which mic was used and the placement of the mic in front of that cabinet. How far from it and how far from the center etc etc.
Anyways,
I hope you find this info useful.
El chico es muy bueno tocando y buscando el sonido de nirvana. Pero lo que realmente me produce un orgasmo es todo el equipo que tiene para sacar el sonido de la banda.
i want to recreate the vandalism strat so bad! it’s probably my favorite kurt guitar besides the competition mustang
GREAT playing and sound , sounds like the real McCoy
Thank you so much!
@@NirvanaGuitars Yea Man , you even play Spirit PERFECTLY that chord part when Kurt squawls YAY , that bit , i've noticed alot of players simplify it good attention to detail
These exact tone settings work just as perfect on a stock squire bullet mustang HH and a marshall MG15cdr!
Attention to detail is perfect and can probably get even more on point with pickups and specific amps, but for the average low budget player you can still have tons of fun with your favorite tones with whatever is available
So happy to hear the settings translated well to your set up! I put them out there in hopes it'll help people get Nirvana tones, glad to hear they worked for you!
Great playing awesome information thanks
Thanks for watching 🙂
You organically made it into my UA-cam and instagram reels now uh you uh like uh should give me uh a jagstang
I'll pass!
11:37 were can I buy the road worn vandalism stratocaster with his details such us the bandalism póster and the adhesive tape, were do get that vandalism poster??? Were do you get it I love that guitar, and the fender competition mustang (ive been trying a lot to get it)
I use a digitech tone driver (gold model) pedal set to a specific location, gain just barely up (on a cruddy solidstate stage 112se) and a digitech multichorus set to full chorus. Gives a very nirvanaish sound with various guitars and amps.
I also believe Kurt used both pickups on the mustang during the Argentina show and in Rio 1993
Could be!! Would explain why his Rio tone is particularly unique at that show
Great video and informativ, love em!
Happy you enjoyed it! 🙂
Oh maaan, do you have a strato signed by Krist? It's so amazing. By the way, great job, mate. Cheers.
I do!! I have the original squire neck that he signed 🤩
Bloody amazing, regards from argentina
actually i bought brand new Squier Contemporary Jaguar and
its sounding exactly like kurts jaguar (i didnt swap the pickups)
god i hate how expensive the kurt jaguar is, i would like to have one someday
It’s annoying how any piece of gear associated with Kurt is instantly super expensive because of the connection to him 😣
@@NirvanaGuitarsikr? Pretty sure the man himself would be upset by the price of the gear. It would definitely go against his punk rock ethos.
Ok, knowing he didn't always have the hotrails humbucker in the competition Mustang, until early '92 or so, is a relief.
I got a candy red competition Mustang about a month ago, and had been considering doing the hotrails humbucker in it, but ultimately decided to leave mine as-is, since I like how mine sounds ("the pickups were replaced with custom Curtis Novak Duo Sonic pickups, which Curtis copied from his original guitar. A major upgrade and not cheap." is how mine was described when I bought it). Also not going to get a Gotoh tune-o-matic bridge, mine came set up as a hard-tail (springs removed, washers added to lock it into place), and it plays good as it is.
You know, putting a 12’’ radius tuneomatic on guitar with a 7.25’’ radius, it’s useless and makes it play worse
The noise interlude in Drain You is a little bit different. Look at how Kurt plays it live. Index finger is right, but then middle finger goes on the fifth fret A string, ring finger goes sixth fret D string and the pinkie 7th fret G string (and also he switches it up to seventh fret B and high E strings). On the 2nd part of the interlude(the climax), he does play the power chord like you're doing, but for the first part he's playing that extremely dissonant chord.
Having said this, good job! I especially like the "Polly" tone (and not to be a pain in the ass, but look at how Kurt plays the G chord...no B note on the A string ;) )
I have since learned and started it playing like that 🙂 from my Paradiso tone video and on, I play it the interlude exactly as you describe it! At the time of this video, I was still playing it like the studio version
Wish I chose Kurt Cobain’s tone! I’m going for David Gilmour’s 😅😅😅 Keep up the good work!
Idk what to because I just got the ds1 and I love it im just wondering if I should trade it in for a ds2 for these nirvana tones, cause Idk... btw I love your tone they are so spot on!
Fantastic! Particularly fond of Floyd the Barber, Dive, and this era the live tone for Smells Like… it’s the only way I can stomach listening to that song. And you nailed it. (Honestly, usually I skip any recording of Teen Spirit, but this was spot on Del Mar!!)
Thank you!! Honored that the tone made you want to listen to Teen Spirit instead of skip it 🤩🥳
Also COMPLETELY agree with Dive. The fall 91 performances of it are some of my favorite Nirvana moments, so I had to include it!
This is amazing. As someone rediscovering Kurt’s amazing work as an adult, and now guitarist, I’ve been really interested in his tones. This is such an amazing resource for me. Any plans to do 1994 MTV Unplugged?
Happy you're enjoying my videos 😃 and yes, I plan to have an Unplugged video!
1993😊
Great!!!
in 11:26 sound is great very accurate
Hi guy! I'm trying to know what the width of the stripes is on the fender mustang competition, could you measure it for me? I have a Classic Vibe '60s Competition Mustang and it is 4,5cm (1,77165 inches) wide. I want to sand it to paint it like Cobain's so I bought a sonic blue stripes sticker but it is 3cm (1,1811 inches) wide. So I was wondering what the official width was on 1969 Mustang Competitions, could you answer that? Thank you very much and congratulations for your work
Great tone! Could you please do live in Paris, France (Nulle Part Ailluers) 1994
Legendary performance!! I don’t have an Oranj-Stang but I’ll try it with my skystang 😁
@@NirvanaGuitars Great! Can't wait to see
I had a Mesa Boogie Studio rig for a while. It was a great sounding preamp. I eventually sold it to downsize my collection.
Could you play it at a comfortable volume?? I’ve read that it’s ungodly loud, which makes sense with it being a touring rig.
@@NirvanaGuitars I guess follow up keeps getting deleted.
I was going to correct your mistake 😂 about the bridge pickup on Kurt's Mustang as this is a common knowledge of Nirvana fans , standard Single coils Kurt used in 91.
I am not a Nirvana fan so I wasn’t aware
@@NirvanaGuitars lol 😜 your kidding me ? I'm sure I saw you at Reading when they played the UK lol 😂 but seriously I was there as a kid it was an experience I'm still in awe 🎸🤩
Since I don't have the Turbo Distortion DS-2, I'm gonna try to REPLICATE it and use my Distortion DS-1X pedal
I haven't tried the DS-1X but I've heard good things about it!
@@NirvanaGuitars it’s a great pedal. Not really nirvana tone though. It has a tight, beefy, and chunky tone that I love but a bit too modern sounding for replicating nirvana in my opinion.
can i request a song by nirvana? its a cover of the wipers, but nirvana covered it, its called D-7 its a really great song, can you cover it? i would love if you would
Omg it’s here 💀
Thanks for your patience!! Would’ve been up sooner but my 1 year old keeps me very busy lol 👶🏻
Kids gonna have hella inheritance
If you move the Kurt Cobain jaguars bridge pickup closer to the bridge you'll get a closer tone
I want to eventually get a different pickguard for the Jaguar so the pickups can be placed more accurately!
I've never seen anyone but kurt play teen spirit like that.
On pennyroyal tea Kurt used to play a round on A minor and a round with A major during the verse live at least
Not in the nevermind era he didn’t
@@NirvanaGuitars I didn't say he did in that era, but he seemingly did it every time after in utero was released
@@derekk.1750 This is my Nevermind tour tone video, in which I play Pennyroyal Tea with only A minor as Kurt did in late 1991. I assumed you were trying to tell me that I did that wrong, my bad. That's correct, after In Utero came out he did switch between A minor and A major in the verses I think every single time he played it
@@NirvanaGuitars no, you're right, I forgot about your video title which is in line with the way you play it and just focused on the live versions after in utero, so it was my bad, sorry, your tone is spot on btw.
the only thing that would make this video better is the drum tracks in the background
Dude Killer!!
Thank you!
Can someone explain to me please how you get that like small distorted sound on Come As You Are please I’m just puzzled on how to get that
It’s from the overall volume! On a twin reverb, the gain comes from how high you set the volume. You get a slight taste of distortion around 4/5, and it gets real crunchy around 6/7+
Hi mate, awesome video love all the effort you put in! Just wandering what tuning each guitar was in? Cheers
Well, you’ve been honest in saying you thought you had it right. And then didn’t and you said so. And I wouldn’t fuzz about it. Cause Kurt was constantly changing parts in his sound chain cause he just couldn’t find the right sound. Also we don’t know what was used in the studio. But I think you are very very close.
The crown amp is just a stage audio amplifier. So in essence any power amp should do. It’s just an amp. That pre amp is something I would be more concerned about. Cause that might give more shape to the sound.
Anyway, now I want to dust of my peavey red line.
You put me to shame and I’m pretty good with these same songs.. you play some differently to me as I use power chords almost exclusively. But I can tell yours is the better way. Bet your younger than me too lol if I’d had UA-cam back in 2005 when I bought my candy apple red competition stripe fender mustang made in Japan, crafted lol but it didn’t have matching headstock, pawned it for things I shouldn’t of been doing within a few years. I have two guitars now a MIM fender Strat limited edition with matching black head stock it’s HSS all black black pickguard and ebony fretboard, sick.. and then a player Jaguar in tidepool and that’s HS which is cool. I prefer Kurt’s but all jaguars are gorgeous.. cool channel
Wow finally, just the channel I needed to find out all about Kurt's gear, thanks. Just curious why you have the small clone set the way it is, since I've read he used the rate around 9 o clock and the depth was always in the up position
Great guitars and great sound! I realised that the Fender was a Tone Master only after watching the whole video, it really gets the job done, doesn't it?
It really does!! I can’t say enough great things about that amp, I really love it