Nirvana Nevermind (1991)

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 (last updated: 17/06/24)

Nirvana Nevermind gear

Instruments

Guitars:

  • Fender Mustang
  • Fender Jaguar (sunburst)
  • Fender Stratocaster (Japanese ones)
  • Harmony Stella H-922 converted to 5-string: e.g. “Polly”
  • Mosrite

Guitar rig:

  • Amplifiers:
    • Fender Bassman – hired in for sessions
    • Mesa/Boogie .22 /w Marshall 4x12 cabinet
    • Vox AC30 – hired in for sessions, used for clean, edgy sounds
  • Effects:
    • Electro-Harmonix Small Clone chorus: “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Come As You Are”
    • Electro-Harmonix Big Muff distortion: e.g. “Lithium”
    • Pro Co RAT distortion

Bass rig:

  • Gibson Ripper (70s)
  • Ampeg SVT 400T bass amplifier

Drums:

  • TAMA Granstar kit – hired in for sessions from the ‘drum doctor’:
    • 16” x 24” bass drum /w drum tunnel
    • 12” x 15” rack tom
    • 16” x 18” floor tom
    • 6” x 14” snare
    • Ludwig Black Beauty 6” x 14” snare – used for every track except “Polly” and “Something In The Way”
  • Zildjian A cymbals (likely the following):
    • 15” hi-hat
    • 18” crash
    • 20” crash
    • 22” ride
  • DW 5000 turbo pedal

Recording & studio equipment

Microphones:

  • AKG:
    • C414 EB: drum overheads, acoustic guitar (e.g. “Polly), guitar amplifiers
    • C451: snare, hi-hat, acoustic guitar
    • D112: kick drum, bass amplifier
  • ElectroVoice RE20: bass amplifier
  • Neumann:
    • KM84: drum overheads
    • U47 FET: kick drum (end of tunnel), bass amplifier
    • U67: lead vocals
    • U87: drum ambience (x3, 20 feet distance), guitar amplifiers (e.g. “In Bloom”)
    • U89: vocals on “In Bloom”
  • Sennheiser MD421: kick drum, tom-toms, guitar amplifiers (occasional)
  • Shure SM57: snare, guitar amplifiers, guide vocals kept on unlisted song “Endless, Nameless”

Tape recorders:

  • TASCAM 85 16B 16-track: “Polly”, Smart Studio sessions
  • Studer A800 Mk. 1 24-track: Sound City
  • Studer 24-track (specs unknown): Scream Studios
  • Studer 2-track: Scream Studios, mixdown

Outboard (partial list):

  • Multi-effects processors:
    • AMS DMX 15-80S digital delay/harmonizer/sampler – probably for triggering samples to enhance drums in the mix by Andy Wallace
    • Eventide H910 Harmonizer
    • Eventide H3000SE Ultra Harmonizer /w sampling
    • Yamaha SPX90
  • Delays:
    • Korg SDD-3000 (Smart Studios, “Polly”)
    • Lexicon Prime Time
  • Reverberation:
    • AMS RMX-16 digital
    • Lexicon 480L digital
    • Roland SRV-2000 digital
  • Compressors:
    • Teletronix LA2A: vocals
    • UREI 1176LN
  • Noise gates:
    • Drawmer DS201 Dual Gates
    • Valley People Kepex II
  • Other:
    • API 500-6B “Lunchbox” preamp
    • Summit preamp
    • Dbx 120 sub-harmonic synthesizer: bass effect on “Come As You Are”

Consoles:

  • Neve 8068: Sound City sessions
  • Solid State Logic SL-4056G /w Total Recall: Scream Studios (Studio City, CA), Andy Wallace mixing
  • TAC Scorpion 20/16: Smart Studios sessions, “Polly”

Monitors:

  • UREI 813B, Yamaha NS-10, Tannoy NFM8: Scream Studios

Sources

Musician, January 1992

Studio Sound, November 1996 (Butch Vig, PDF pages 82 & 86)

Butch Vig: Nevermind The Garbage (Sound On Sound)

Butch Vig Gearspace Q&A

Classic Rock Albums: Nevermind (1998) book

http://kurtsequipment.com/

Master tape photo

Mix, September 1991 (PDF page 166, Scream Studios info)

Mix, March 1992 (PDF pages 35 & 37, Digital signal processors used by Butch on Nevermind)

https://www.livenirvana.com/ 

Various photos

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