Numbers match the 0 to 10 scale printed on the amp in Amp Designer.
Our stand-in for Cobain's Small Clone, and the only pedal on the board. Values as GarageBand shows them when you adjust each control on the pedal. Rate and Depth matter most.
The real rig behind this tone
Everything on the card above is our own GarageBand recreation, not a set of documented studio settings. Here is what is actually known about how the original was recorded, and how confident we are in each part of it.
Track three on Nirvana's Nevermind, released as the album's second single. The album was recorded at Sound City in Van Nuys, California, starting in May 1991, with Butch Vig producing.
This is the best documented part. Vig has credited Cobain's Electro-Harmonix Small Clone with the watery guitar sound on Come As You Are, the same effect heard in the verses of Smells Like Teen Spirit.
Just two controls, Rate and Depth. That is why the Heavenly Chorus numbers above were tuned by ear against the record rather than converted from Small Clone settings.
Vig has said Cobain had a Mesa/Boogie, and that he rented a Fender Bassman and a Vox AC30, the AC30 because he liked its clear tones. A Marshall stack was also rented but barely used. Which amp recorded the clean intro is not documented.
Vig recalled Cobain playing a left-handed Mosrite a lot during the sessions. Which guitar and pickup are on the clean intro is not documented.
For the song's distorted parts, Vig layered guitars, asking Cobain to crank his Mosrite through a Fender Bassman. That is a separate sound, not this clean setup with the gain turned up.
The recording is in D standard, every string a whole step down: D G C F A D. It is not drop D, where only the low string changes.
What is not documented
- Which amp recorded the clean intro. The AC30 is a reasonable guess, not a confirmed one.
- Which guitar and pickup Cobain used on the clean track.
- Where the Small Clone's Rate and Depth were set.
- Any amp knob positions, microphone or placement. None of the numbers on this card come from the session.
- Live Nirvana: MOJO #54 (May 1998), the Nevermind recording sessions
- Guitar.com: Butch Vig on recording guitars for Nirvana and more (2020)
- Guitar World: how to play Come As You Are, including the tuning
- Electro-Harmonix: Small Clone
- Apple: Amp Designer models
- Apple: Amp Designer cabinets
- Apple: Heavenly Chorus controls and stereo routing
Playing it
The chorus does most of the work here. Get Rate and Depth right first, comparing against the riff where it plays alone at the start of the record, and only then fine tune the amp.
Slow is the key. Our earlier attempts ran the chorus at around 0.8 to 0.9 Hz, which sounded like an ordinary chorus pedal. The long, drifting, almost underwater movement on the record only appeared once we slowed it to 0.25 to 0.30 Hz with Depth around 90%.
Keep the amp mostly clean. Turning up the gain to chase the record's character only adds crunch; the darkness comes from the D standard tuning, the neck pickup and the guitar's tone control at about 7. A little amp reverb adds space without washing out the movement.
Apple describes the British Combo as an early 1960s British 2×12 combo, which makes it GarageBand's closest match to a clean Vox-style amp. Treat it as a tone-matching approximation, not the amp Cobain used. If you want more attack and note definition, a Gibson SG with P-90s is a good alternative to the Les Paul.
- It sounds like an ordinary chorus pedal
- The Rate is too fast. Bring it back down to 0.25 to 0.30 Hz.
- It sounds muddy
- Raise the guitar's tone control toward 8 or 9 before you add Treble on the amp.
- It sounds bright or shimmery
- Check that Bright is off on Heavenly Chorus and that you are on the neck pickup.
- It has started to crunch
- Bring Gain back toward 3. The amp should stay mostly clean.
- The movement is washed out
- Too much reverb. Keep it at about 2.
- The pitch sounds off against the record
- Check your tuning: D standard, every string a whole step down, not drop D.
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