Recreating Nirvana Smells Like Teen Spirit Guitar Tone | Nevermind Tone
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- čas přidán 21. 07. 2024
- Breaking down exactly what I used and what I did to recreate Kurt Cobain's iconic Smells Like Teen Spirit studio guitar tone
Full cover: • Nirvana Smells Like Te...
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - Intro / thank you!!
1:08 - What guitar I am using
2:31 - New verified information regarding Kurt's competition mustang courtesy of Earnie Bailey
4:29 - What pedal I used / pedal settings
4:39 - What amp I used / amp settings
5:10 - In-depth mix explanation, what is going on in my audio software
GEAR USED:
1993 Fuijgen Fender Mustang repainted and refinished as a Fender Competition Mustang
- Stock mustang single coil bridge pickup
- Stock mustang bridge
- Dean Markley 10-52 strings
- Orange Dunlop Tortex .60mm pick
1992 Boss DS-1
Electro-Harmonix Small Clone
Fender Tone Master Twin Reverb
Audio recorded and mixed in Pro Tools
My amazon storefront where you can buy gear/parts Kurt used: www.amazon.com/shop/nirvanagu...
Vandalism Strat Stickers - use coupon code "nirvanaguitars" to get 2 for the price of 1:
khristore.com/product/kurt-co...
Lomic Guitars - Where I got my custom 2021 Jag-Stang Pickguard:
ebay.us/4Luq0j
Learn Nirvana songs with Fender Play!
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Follow me on instagram at @nirvanaguitars
Check out my progressive punk band at ithomiid.com
Check out my acoustic project at atlasmn - Hudba
This is perfect! You made the exact same tone!
Thank you so much!! 🙏
@@NirvanaGuitarsI don't know about you but I noticed my epiphone et sounds really dead on for the intro for slts. Try it without the boost switch on
Two things that really affect the sound that I don't think people talk about enough is a) Kurt was left handed (more on this after) and b) he generally started Teen Spirit (according to live videos) with an upwards stroke, which changes the tones of the muted (chicka chicka) sounds as well as the casual aggressiveness of his sound by leaning into power chords starting with higher notes/strings using the lower strings/notes as more of a bottom end, if that makes sense. Watch him play it live - and you'll see what I mean. He did that sort of thing all the time as well as varying where he was striking the chords - playing almost diagnoally from the bridge to the neck with each strum - to pull out those sorts of tones. It varies depending on his equipment/setup on any day but it's something to pay attention to as - going back to a) left handed guitarists have right brained strumming control. Hendrix did similar things in his own way. It's not the chord but how it's played with the strumming hand.
You're right
You know
Very interesting
You know you’re right
He played it differently live all the time sometimes with the upstrokes sometimes just normally it all depends on the footage you're viewing
Curmudgeon would be really fun if you wanted to start recreating tones of the more "obscure" stuff
I'm wanting to get a phase pedal just for that!
Yup, and Even if his youth
@@NirvanaGuitars Swap meet is a good lesser known bleach song
@@PalmettoStateSirens he did the entire bleach album
@@NirvanaGuitars Scentless Apprentice (live rio 1993) please
Great tone, also love that you included info about the hotrails pickup! I've always loved the clean intro riff tone in this song, and you got it down very close!
Thank you so much JQ! That means a lot coming from you 🙂🙏🏻
Wow, so much work put into this cover, sounds awesome!!
Thank you!
I’m very impresses by your work and dedication
0:10 No, we should be thanking you for the amazing content dude!
You are too kind!! 🙏
The reason smells like teen spirit is such a hard tone to recreate is because of the hidden guitar in the chorus and post chorus (in the mix its not very audible because it matches so well) and the amount of guitar layering going on in the studio.
btw, here is the hidden guitar kinda moved up in the mix during the chorus czcams.com/video/P4PQ1auOfno/video.html
I’ve seen that! That hidden track is so tucked away that I’d say it’s difficult more because of the possible layering and all the studio processing
@@NirvanaGuitars true. Im pretty sure they did 2 tracks left and right on the hidden guitar (isolated hidden guitar: czcams.com/video/CJjvUO3COwU/video.html) from the sounds of it. Its mainly noticable in the first post-chorus where the levels are moved up a bit, and near the very end of the song. I downloaded the full stems (because for some reason the isolated track here on youtube ends too early) and found out the hidden guitar track was the track that creates the feedback at the very end of the song, on top of the pre-solo feedback.
Sorry if thats alot but i'm a huge nerd when it comes to nirvanas tone and production as well lol
awesome video dude! it can be pretty difficult to get a "studio recreation" tone because of all the fine-tuning and EQing you have to do, but I'd say you nailed it!
Thank you!! That’s what took me so long to get this tone, lots of trial and error with the plug ins and EQ settings
Dude…this is PERFECT.
Like Misad said thank u so much for the amazing content mate! :)
Thank you so much for the support!
I've just followed your settings on my cheap marshall mg15dfx, with a cheap strat, and a cheap humbucker, going through a Behringer chorus pedal and a ds1. it sounds absolutely motherfucking fantastic, and the distortion tone sounds quite like the record. congratulations Eric, on this old video i keep coming back to
This is such a good cover! Please make more!
Thank you so much! Goal is to recreate every song on Nevermind 🙂 have done 4 others so far!
czcams.com/play/PL_BjLJXaLwLADXhRUcqF1NPl3TtMe8ElD.html
@@NirvanaGuitars I wish you the very best of luck! Also your videos are helpful to me I am trying to play these songs and I love playing them with an accurate tone!
really really freaking awesome. not just saying that as a nirvana fan but you are TALENTED. hope you know that.
Wow thank you so much! 🙏🏻
it’s amazing man!
Thank you!
This was pretty spot-on with the equipment you had available, but I would suggest bending the pitch of the feedback like on the original studio track as it adds to the eeriness after the solo. You can find isolated tracks online, but the best I've seen is Rick Beato's video on SLTS where he shows the feedback and it's effects. But brilliant job - well done!
Fabulous! I'm really looking forward to "In Bloom"
Thank you! Still fine tuning that one 🙂
@@NirvanaGuitars speakers might help on that one like, Vintage Celestion G12T-75s.(the ones Kurt used on nevermind.) Speakers are really integral that song in particular, you'd be surprised how much they change the tone 🙀
Sorry I’m late m’lord , another banger , cheers mate
No need to ever apologize man 🙂 thanks for the support!
This really demonstrates the huge difference between digital and analog!
amazing video man
Thank you so much 🙂
Your awesome man, it was worth all that hard work! The smells like teen spirit tone is just amazing!
Thank you so much I really appreciate that!
Yay! On my birthday an new video
Happy birthday!! 🥳
Just wanna say love ❤your videos please keep it up must take a lot of effort 😄
Love and appreciate your support! Thank you 🙂
Pretty spot on.
One thing, when I listen to this song though, that I never understood how either Kurt or Butch Vig got was that extremely unique high-pitched, squeaky sound when Kurt does the chky-chky rhythm part of the power chords. I've never heard a guitar sound like that before or since Nevermind, and on that particular song too. In Bloom kinda has it as well, and its a LITTLE noticeable on Drain you as well, but since SLTS actually has him muting the strings it's most obvious there.
I've always been curious how they got that particular type of tone out of that guitar - either by Kurt's amp/pedal settings or even what equipment he modified or used for amps/speakers, or if that's a post-processing/FX rack thing. To me that's the definitive Nevermind sound.
with certain distortion tones it's easier to get that squeaky chika chic
Its probably the combination off all the expensive Equipment and the technique that Kurt used.
its the pick, strings, pickups and the way you play that create that squeak
that awesome, Dude. that recreation just blew my mind. loved the distorted tone but it's also my favorite guitar tone. Did Kurt uses the fender amp/Marshall amps during the recording?
Cool video bro!😎
Thank you!
This is so awesome
Thank you!
love this brother
Thank you!
This is the closest sound I’ve heard to the real teen spirit that I’ve heard helped me a lot with my reacreation of it to start my music career
I actually thought I was listening to the original smells like teen spirit, awesome tone!
🤯 that really means a lot man thank you!
Is the riff acually played with a upstrum instead of the typical downstrum if you know what i mean???( the first strum of the first and second part of the riff?)
Great video & tone. Curious did you mic your amp or use a cab sim of some kind? Regardless what kind of mic do you think was used?
Did you do a Story video about SLTS blue mustang ? Dont find one
dude i have a kc jaguar and the distortion sounds very different, i think that is because the humbucker its more powerful than the singlecoil of the mustang or whatever it is called haha
Do you know what distortion settings sounds good for the Jaguar?
Sick video!
Thank you! 🤩
@@NirvanaGuitars no problem man!
What colors was kurt comp mustang ? Ive been wanting to paint my own oneday...
Are all the distorted guitars have chorus on it?
It would be cool if you did Come As You Are. I think it has a unique sounding guitar track even though it’s a little hard to isolate completely because of the way the song is produced.
Yeah, that and they never bothered releasing an isolated guitar track for the song
Are you micing the amp or you're using the direct out from the Tone Master?
Amazing video as always 😊 #SLTS
Thank you!
I don’t understand how you can get around the hum with the stock pickups, I have a MIJ Mustang, when the stock pickups are distorted they hum, AN ABSURD amount when I dial in the DS-1, how did Kurt get around this in the studio version, it there a sound gate added? I would love to put a hot rail but it feels like I’m defacing the guitar, do you got any tips how to control the hum?
he didn't use the mustang for the distorted parts, most likely strat with humbuckers
You did a really good job with this, also have you ever thought about recreating any type of tones from their demos or the smart sessions?
Thank you! Yes I have 🙂 just concentrating on album tones for now before I go to more rarer stuff like demo sessions, but it’s on my radar!
Can you make a video where u show different pedals that are similar to the poly course
This is perfect
Thank you 🤩
Are you thinking about re painting your 69 comp Mustang?
Interesting that you got this close to the tone with the Tonemaster Twin Reverb considering that Butch Vig in the Beato interview says that the clean parts on Nevermind and specifically Teen Spirit where a Vox AC30..
I did this before that Beato interview, I believe that’s the first time Butch got that specific about the amp.
Plus, there are multiple ways to skin a cat 🐈 I don’t believe there is only 1 absoutle combination of gear to recreate specfic sounds, especially now in the digital era
do you think he tuned the mustang down to D standard for drain you and verse chorus verse?
or is your vote on it being the Jaguar, or if the guitar tracks are from an earlier session in 91 do you think it was the mosrite gospel
This is impressive. Does this mean you could do a live performance with the studio sound?
Thanks! Theoretically yes, especially if whoever is running the soundboard is replicating the studio tricks/EQ that is happening in the studio version
Can you do the You Know You’re Right at the Aragon Ballroom ??
It would be cool if you could do some of your tones in a studio!!! i think it would sound just like the original
What about the part in the song at 2:44 - 2:46? Is that just feedback going through the small clone? I have never seen or heard anyone replicating or even talking about that part in any video or cover.
Not exactly sure what feedback you are referring to? If you mean the feedback before the start of the solo a few seconds later at 2:52-2:54, I did attempt to recreate that in my cover by just playing the first note of the solo while subtly bending it
@@NirvanaGuitars sorry I never saw this reply. I never got any notification that you replied to me... Just to be clear with the timestamps, we are talking about the actual song right? The time 2:44 I wrote corresponds to the the time in this video which is the official one on Nirvana's CZcams page.
czcams.com/video/hTWKbfoikeg/video.html
And the solo starts 2 seconds later at 2:46
And yes, I mean that just before the solo. I never realized until I wrote that question that that might be feedback. I always assumed it was some kinda after effect done in post processing but now I'm thinking its just feedback. Am I right? heh heh... But I mean I've never seen anyone explain that in a tutorial video, or in tab or whatever, they just ignore it. As I'm looking at your recreating video, yes I do see you do it at 3:48 ish in your bottom right inset. But yeah, now I think it's just feedback swelling up before the solo? What if we can't play loud in our apartment to get feedback, just use a feedback simulator pedal?
How in the world do i find my own Sound on my guitar playing,, i play guitar but cant do all this stuff
I loved that recreation video, you should do some more on bleach if you haven’t already👌
I have a video for Bleach's overall studio tones, but am wanting to eventually have a video for each song like I am doing for Nevermind
czcams.com/play/PL_BjLJXaLwLDS181QzoC_gOFp6xHdyY4N.html
Da para trazer Full álbum Nevermind? Desde já agradeço.
I’m working on it! Currently have videos for 5 the of the songs 🙂
czcams.com/play/PL_BjLJXaLwLADXhRUcqF1NPl3TtMe8ElD.html
Woah the mids completly scooped???
You’re fuckin awesome man! I’ve been seeing that you’ve been getting a lot of hate but don’t let that bother you they don’t know nothin! Keep rockin it man!
I appreciate the kind words man, thank you!! 🙏🏻 if you don’t mind me asking, where are you seeing this lots of hate? 😰
@@NirvanaGuitars Just from you posting it on your insta stories and such of all the wacky people saying you’re wrong about stuff and just being mean in general y’know.
@@kylegendreau1801 oh I see haha! When you said a lot I got worried there was something said somewhere I hadn’t seen lol 😅
Those annoying people are loud, but they are the few. I keep going because of the many positive and supportive people such as yourself 🙏🏻 can’t thank you enough!
@@NirvanaGuitars Of course man! Seeing gear videos of one of my all time favorite bands with all the nerd stuff included is always the best!!
How did you match the drums and bass so well too!?!?!?!
They're stems taken from one of the Guitar Hero games.
You should do sappy I bet it would sound so good
Been getting that one requested a lot lately! Will definitely try to recreate Sappy
You work hard with the software since you start using it. Too many trick but at least nevermind is so producced record. Nice practice for when you will perform drain you. 👍🏻💪🏻
Exactly! Nevermind is a very produced record with a lot going on in every song's mix. I'd love to recreate these songs with just a guitar, amp and pedals but haven't been able to without at least some studio magic.
Imagin how hard worked Butch Vig for produce nevermind with this era studio board + cheating Kurt whit "Jhon Lennon did it".
@@Arkaitz.M.A Yes! and how hard Andy Wallace worked on the mix. I think Nevermind is one of the best mixed rock records
Check out Chris Liepe's video on the smells like teen spirit multitracks there's a lot more happening in the mix than you'd imagine
Do you plan to recreate all nirvana tones or just nevermind tone
All Nirvana tones is the long term goal! Just focusing on Nevermind at the moment, I get a lot of requests for Nevermind tones
you should get a 59' bassman!
There's a spx 90 plug in!
Only 1 middle?
cool 😎
Thanks! 🤩
Fantastic recreation! Amazing! Also i Think you played verse wrong dont want to be an ass just pointing it out.
Nirvana Live and Loud Tone?
Yes! Hoping to do that soon
what if you used a mesaboogie like kurt did...
check out Aron rash's channel, he nails it, if you plug ya fender amp into a old marshall cab loaded with a good set of T75's you'l nail it :) and really push the midrange, its all in the speakers! great work dude x
I’m a huge fan of Aaron’s! I’ve been wanting to experiment with different speakers too, but yeah he absolutely nails it
Kurt used his Jag for the distortion part and the Jag neck pickup for the solo. If you do this you might not need to use the one knob fattener.
Butch, Dave or Krist has officially confirmed that?
@@NirvanaGuitars No, but the Mustang sounds a bit weak in the distorted parts. The Jags humbucker sounds way more powerful and will get you closer to the original. And in the solo the guitar sounds more „round“ which is an indication that its the neck pickup. Just try it out and see for yourself how close you get with the Jag. BTW I love the Oranj Stang Video. Keep up the good work!
Just as nerdy! Fun fact…partied at Smart Studios last week (exact spot Butch was sitting in the video - he even wished me happy birthday through a friend of a friend!) Was in a Nirvana trance for 5-days. I’ve probably watched 20-hrs of video since😂
What?? invite me to the next Smart Studios party, I’m next door in MN 😉
@@NirvanaGuitars Sounds like a plan. So talking of studios, you’re in In Utero territory! What a legacy for WI and MN!!! Nevermind and In Utero (even though Polly was the only original Madison that made the record)!!! You in a band? And BTW. your channel and content is absolutely outstanding. Gonna get myself probably a Jag based on your videos! Thank you 🙏🏻
Yes and I’m even just a few hours away from pachyderm! I tried years ago to arrange a studio tour. it got planned twice, they canceled day of both times and then I stopped hearing back 💔 I am in a band, have a solo acoustic project too! Thanks for asking and thanks for the kind words 🙏🏻 and congrats on the new Jag!!!! 🥳
Using a neck pickup in the bridge position wouldn’t “change the phase and polarity” - that viewer had no idea what they were talking about.
DF-2 for the solo ;)
Can you please recreate drain you its my favorite song of nirvana and in general and it would be súper cool if you do it please do it
Yes I will! Still working on Drain You, that one is tricky
I found that Kurt used the Mustang for the clean tone and his Jaguar for the distortion.
Interesting! Where did you find that? I’d love to read more
IMO it sounds like his Jaguar is in the clean intro
my dream is to have a mustang or a jaguar, but they are so expensive lol
Mmm. The feedback solo is the only sad face but I appreciate your effort and feel like when jr. woke up and went to school daycare etc race home and recreate some real feedback no? Cheers great content and well layout out mixer on screen.
I'll get you a Morgan ac-40 so you can get the tone quicker Idk how but I'll try
The distorted tones were a little too harsh and you have the rate on the small clone up too high. Otherwise sounds good. Oh and the solo was played with a neck humbucker
Source for where it says the solo was neck humbucker?
Mtv unplugged tone please
Trying! Been in the works for many months. There are some D18e parts that are nearly impossible to find 🫠
@@NirvanaGuitars haha no problem
☺👍👍👍👍
🤩🤩🤩
Dude how old are you?
come on please tons from reading festival 1992
I have an older tone video for the Jaguar’s Reading 92 tone. Once I have a strat with hot rails, I will do a video for the whole show
I really think you should break down pat's tone for the in utero your, because you kinda overlook it a lot in videos. After all, the channel name is nirvana guitars (PLURAL).
I’ve been on the search for a red Hagstrom HIIN for a long time but they are not easy to find. Can’t breakdown what I don’t have. I can breakdown the multiple Kurt Cobain guitars I have, hence the (PLURAL) name
i cant hear it
czcams.com/video/hqGq_xINs6Y/video.html
Too bad your contact with earnie didnt ask about kurt’s jag neck radius and settle that debate once and for all
Nice try! It sounds close to the original guitar. But the main riff sounds quite metallic and bright
Oh the guilt tone?
Yes! Been meaning to try for that one, definitely a top 5 song
Dude were you fifteen at your wedding no offense
No
sir, you are too concerned about specifics and not substance.
How so Derek?
Whoever painted that guitar did a terrible job. But, of course, that would make it more authentically like Cobain's because his instruments were mostly junk held together with duct tape.
It is a rough paint job 😪 still love the guitar dearly though!
@@NirvanaGuitars Kurt never cared what a guitar looked like. As a left handed player, his choices were rather limited and he chose Fender offsets because they're so easy to mod to get whatever sound you're looking for.
tone is in the fingers and if that's how your playing it. I can see why your having a hard time.
How should I play it?
Tone isn't in the fingers 😂
Only missing a Neve board and a bottle of prometh… and tons of pot
Still searching for a neve board 🔎
@@NirvanaGuitars one day my friend! If you’re ever in the Philly area we should link up. Looking for a fellow nirvana head to jam with!
Tutorial on how to create the worst tone of all time
This song was not successful at all it must’ve been the terrible tone
@@NirvanaGuitars Hats off to you for faithfully recreating it though, good tone or not-and opinions aside, it’s always a challenge nailing a tone just right.
@@MightKillDawn thank you so much!
Lemme help most of all, get a Mustang, with actual Mustang pickups. That's the sound.
This is an actual mustang with actual mustang pickups. Thanks for the big help
I appreciate your videos as a die hard fan of almost 40 years, but I gotta say man, your strumming and timing is typically way off. You play everything off key, too fast or slow. You should use a metronome when you play
Those are some huge critiques. I play EVERYTHING off key, too fast or slow? Everything? Gonna need some specific examples. Without trying to sound cocky, everything in this Teen Spirit cover is played like the studio version. Same key, same speed.
Please check your instagram messages!
Just don’t
That’s very vague. Don’t what?