Nirvana Sound

johnnykazz

Someone asked for the Nirvana / Kurt Cobain sound.

Here's my setup...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mfrGoiD650

feedbackismyfriend

Your tone needs some work, like I understand that you're going for the whole Nirvana sound, but your tone is like pretty bad. The bassier notes sound really like floppy clean (almost like you're playing a noodle) and the bends seem to sound really off, my guess is that you have the action set way the frick too low. Secondly when you kick on the DS-2 it sounds kinda bad I'd recommend finding an amp with good distortion and just using that (line 6 and boss are both in my opinion crap for the most part). Furthermore, I'd say the "Nirvana sound" is actually more of an attitude than an actual sound cuz I run a fuzzface into an old magnatone and people LITERALLY ALWAYS tell me that my music reminds them of Nirvana. Also, think about this, would we have remembered Kurt at all if he was trying to sound like someone else? My guess is probably not, we remember him because of how he expressed himself through music. What I'm getting at is it is my opinion that you should use music to express yourself and you're kinda failing at that if you are trying to emulate the "Nirvana sound"

Marlonmm

It's not that bad. The only thing flabby is the noodling part at the start of the video.

On a side note, I thnk this guy sounds pretty close.

johnnykazz

Marlonmm said:
It's not that bad. The only thing flabby is the noodling part at the start of the video.
On a side note, I thnk this guy sounds pretty close.

Once again, someone asked on these forums in a different discussion how to sound like Nirvana.

I never once said that I MUST SOUND LIKE NIRVANA. In fact, I don't play on these settings at all

unless I'm doing Nirvana songs and when I do I like to have the backing tracks going with me

to have the bass. Please fully read before being an ####.

johnnykazz

Thank you Marlon.

One extra note is that I am poor and do not have money for #### to intentionally sound like Nirvana, if that were

my goal don't you think I'd have them? Also, this is a microphone on a CAMERA, this is not a condenser microphone,

nor is it a piece of Shure gold.

HNB

johnnykazz4l said:
Thank you Marlon.
One extra note is that I am poor and do not have money for #### to intentionally sound like Nirvana, if that were
my goal don't you think I'd have them? Also, this is a microphone on a CAMERA, this is not a condenser microphone,
nor is it a piece of Shure gold.

Hard to get an accurate sound using a camera mic. I know this from my guitars on ebay. It gives a baseline at least. 😀

johnnykazz

HNB said:
Hard to get an accurate sound using a camera mic. I know this from my guitars on ebay. It gives a baseline at least. 😀

I wish I could have good recording equipment to mess around with. I was looking at those Tascam handheld ones, and they look

pretty cool. I've heard that they have pretty good sound quality. Also, don't let Feedback fool you, the Line 6 amps have great

sound for someone on a budget and a lot of variety all things considered.

HNB

johnnykazz4l said:
I wish I could have good recording equipment to mess around with. I was looking at those Tascam handheld ones, and they look
pretty cool. I've heard that they have pretty good sound quality. Also, don't let Feedback fool you, the Line 6 amps have great
sound for someone on a budget and a lot of variety all things considered.

Totally. I almost got a Spider IV. I kind of want one of those computer adapters that you can plug a jack into and it switches it to usb. A teacher buddy of mine has it in his class.

johnnykazz

HNB said:
Totally. I almost got a Spider IV. I kind of want one of those computer adapters that you can plug a jack into and it switches it to usb. A teacher buddy of mine has it in his class.

Yeah I was looking on one of those, one of the Line 6 foot controllers (I believe the FBV Express MkII) is under $100, and has the USB adapter to plug it into your computer, and I believe the software is free from their website.

HNB

johnnykazz4l said:
Yeah I was looking on one of those, one of the Line 6 foot controllers (I believe the FBV Express MkII) is under $100, and has the USB adapter to plug it into your computer, and I believe the software is free from their website.

Good deal! I forget what the teacher I know has. I will check tomorrow. I know it goes in to garage band with Macs.

foxyloxy

johnnykazz4l said: Also, don't let Feedback fool you, the Line 6 amps have great
sound for someone on a budget and a lot of variety all things considered.

This is a good point, but they are very frustrating when you show up at a gig wtih $3000 bucks worth of amps then the tell you you can't use them and you have to use the in house gear they provide and it's line 6. it's a good starting off point but they can never compair to an vox AC30 or a Plexi stack.

HNB

foxyloxy said:
This is a good point, but they are very frustrating when you show up at a gig wtih $3000 bucks worth of amps then the tell you you can't use them and you have to use the in house gear they provide and it's line 6. it's a good starting off point but they can never compair to an vox AC30 or a Plexi stack.

I am sure you could make a Line 6 sound good. 😀 Gear can help, but talent and skill can often overcome some equipment issues. 😀

johnnykazz

foxyloxy said:
This is a good point, but they are very frustrating when you show up at a gig wtih $3000 bucks worth of amps then the tell you you can't use them and you have to use the in house gear they provide and it's line 6. it's a good starting off point but they can never compair to an vox AC30 or a Plexi stack.

Yeah, but for me, I will never have $3000 dollars worth of amplifying equipment.

I am on the tightest budget you could imagine. Imagine yourself having no money,

and multiply that by 10. Vox & their $3000 dollar amps can blow me.

johnnykazz

feedbackismyfriend said:
Also, think about this, would we have remembered Kurt at all if he was trying to sound like someone else? My guess is probably not, we remember him because of how he expressed himself through music.

Just so you're aware, Kurt openly admitted on more than 5 occasions that all he did was

rip-off Scratch Acid and The Pixies.

Marlonmm

Line6 is a good choice if you would like to get a certain sound from a certain artist or genre. I have a Line6 Toneport UX1 plugged to my PC. With a good monitor, it can sound insanely good.

Of course, you can still distinguish the digital-ness of these emulating softwares. But like I said, it will get you near to the sound you are after without costing you huge bucks!

KillaKishdogg

F E N D E R---SUPERCHAMP XDTUBE AMP

foxyloxy

johnnykazz4l said:
Yeah, but for me, I will never have $3000 dollars worth of amplifying equipment.
I am on the tightest budget you could imagine. Imagine yourself having no money,
and multiply that by 10. Vox & their $3000 dollar amps can blow me.

Dude im poor as well, i have zero income i can't even pay for smokes or beer it #### sucks 😵 .

Yes im sure you can get a good sound out of a line 6 if you have a chance to play it for a few hours, i had to walk on stage settup all my pedals then just plug into this beast with a total of 10 seconds for tweaking.

johnnykazz

foxyloxy said:
Dude im poor as well, i have zero income i can't even pay for smokes or beer it #### sucks 😵 .
Yes im sure you can get a good sound out of a line 6 if you have a chance to play it for a few hours, i had to walk on stage settup all my pedals then just plug into this beast with a total of 10 seconds for tweaking.

I have zero income as well, currently unemployed. I've been unemployed trying to get a job now for 3 months, they aren't kidding

when they tell you there is no one hiring.

HNB

For the Nirvana sound, is the neck pickup used? Seems like people only talk about the bridge humbucker.

johnnykazz

HNB said:
For the Nirvana sound, is the neck pickup used? Seems like people only talk about the bridge humbucker.

I don't use the neck pick-up in my Jag-Stang.

I would honestly just use whatever sounds as close to YOU as possible,

because it seems to me like it varies from ear to ear what the correct

"Nirvana" sound is. If it sounds good to you, it's ALWAYS perfect 😁