Kurt changing how he plays lithium over the years is so cool, it’s why it’s my favorite song to play along to. My guess is he plays the chord open cause he has played it millions of times and it’s a bit more convenient to play that d5 open instead of on 5 7 7.
@@NirvanaGuitars Uhm. Put either your headstock or the body on the cabinet. Vary with volume but also placement of the guitars contact with the speaker cabinet. That’s about as close as I could get it.
Man, this is my favorite nirvana song and imo there's a stunning work behind these original tones and you absolutely nailed it. I love how u explain every single detail in here, his guitars his picking techniques and even picking variations over the years. Man you're a beast at it I quickly become ur biggest fan cause I know the hard work behind these videos and I also love how much effort u put in every video, congrats man keep it up!!
The kind words and support truly mean a lot, thank you so much! I am happy you enjoy my videos 😃 I'm an obsessive fan making content for fellow obsessives 😎
you did a pretty good job undoubtedbly, the clean sound in the intro is a true mistery and it is almost impossible to recrate, and this adds to the beautey of it.
really appreciate the amount of research you put in these videos. especially enjoyed this one as lithium is my all time favourite nirvana song. just a fun fact on the side; if i remember correctly, butch said it was the only track on nevermind which they had to use a click track on during recording, as they were speeding up all the time.
Thank you for watching and for the kind words! I've been really enjoying doing the informational/history portions. You're correct on it being the only song they used a click for!
Super helpful man! Was trying to get the strumming down but every version I listened to it was different, good to know I was playing it right but he just had a different strum pattern each time lol.
It’s good to know I’m not the only person on the planet who chases after Kurt’s tone. I’ve watched your other videos and you and I have the exact same equipment. EVEN the vandalism strat with the 59 NECK that I cut up with a screwdriver and knife. Good job on the video!
@@kylehanson5175 lol. I just now realized it looks like I said I cut up the humbucker. I meant I cut up the guitar and used a 59 neck pickup in the bridge. Thanks for pointing that out!
I always thought the Lithium studio tone was the hardest to replicate, but you did it perfectly anyway. Do you have plans for In Utero tone recreations? I imagine that'd be much easier (and it's my favorite album) since it doesn't have much mixing to it, which I particularly think suits Nirvana much better than Nevermind's studio sound.
you don't have to listen to me, but listen to aarron rash. in utero had a few songs with his ferrington mustang that are extremely hard to replicate, and i think kurt used an aluminum guitar for very ape. most songs are still possible tho
Thank you so much! I do eventually want to do In Utero tones 😊 I've just been concentrating on doing Nevermind first, my goal is to recreate the whole album song by song!
I am also a Big Muff obsessive. The only Russian Muffs available in 1991 would have been the Red Army Overdrive (they briefly changed the name for legal reasons) or maybe a Civil War -era muff. That is a really similar circuit to the “tall font” version that EHX cloned for the green reissues.
Thank you that's great to know! I found some info on the Civil War muffs while researching but it honestly went over my head... getting into big muffs is overwhelming at first 😅 But now I'm gonna look up the red army overdrive!
honestly as a big muff guy, the diffrences between each model really are overstated, slight diffrence on some of them but nothing that comes across as anything that cant be easilly adjusted for with EQ and pedal settings, before trying to chase down a certan make and model of the same circut made 30 years ago tinker around with your amp, pedal, and guitar knobs instead. if totally maxed out is my Russian made one slightly bassier than my NY made one? sure, but, useing either maxed out is really not getting the fullest out of them, by the time you tinker with the knobs to dial them in, they end up sounding the same
If truth were told, I’m pretty sure Kurt didn’t care at all about any of this. That’s not to take away from what you do, I just think his approach was whatever came out came out. He was a punk rocker. Pretty cool that you’re able to recreate it though.
0:37: as successful as Type O Negative. Because that's what Type O Negative was, according to Peter Steele " Black Sabbath drunkenly playing Beatles in a warehouse". Good demo and explanation!
I remember reading and hearing about Nirvana before I listened to them - everyone was referring to them as some kind of punk band. But when I listened to Nevermind for the first time, for the most part I heard pop songs with really catchy melodies. Sure there’s distortion and heavy-hitting drums but ultimately they’re very carefully crafted pop songs (with the possible exceptions of songs like Territorial Pissings and Endless, Nameless).
Years ago when i dont even had pedals and a shitty amp and a strat,i put the middle position and two chord change later tought ..heyy thats lithium tone ...even with chorus, distorsion and others things,the basic tone that came out of your guitar Is so important and essential
i think it’s the quintessential nirvana song because it’s kurts best chord progression/ melody intertwining, the way the melody and the chord progression is woven makes it kurts’ most poignant pop masterpiece, come as you are comes close but lithium is just a great song in the most traditional sense, it’s also his most original pop riff which is such an achievement to write a never used chord progression and apply it in a populist sense
Buy a 100 watt Marshall Plexi and dime every knob. That’s literally it. It’s gonna kill all the wildlife in your neighborhood. A variac helps with the volume and changes the tone maybe 10% at the most. If you have a Marshall style amp with a master volume, crank it up to 10 as well as all the EQ knobs (presence to taste maybe) but keep the preamp gain very low. This will get you in the same ballpark for the Van Halen tone. There’s not really another way to get there without blasting a tube amp full volume to get the power tubes distorting. I use a variac because it’s cheaper than an attenuator and will significantly lower the volume without changing the tone too much. Eddie was definitely onto something there. Try it!
2:21 Hey Eric, It sounds like Kurt used the Triangle Big Muff Pi for Lithium, and it also sounds like he used that on Breed as well, I asked jq what Big Muff was used on Breed and Lithium, and he told me himself that it could POSSIBLY be the Triangle Big Muff
JQ and I also talked about the possibility of the of Breed being with a Big Muff 😊 He said he thought he read it in an article with Butch but couldn't find it. I wish we had more verified info and quotes from those involved regarding this!
@@NirvanaGuitars Also great job on the Nevermind Tone Recreations! The songs you have not done yet (as of 2/18/2023) are In Bloom, Polly, Drain You, On a Plain, Something in the Way, and Endless, Nameless!! 😊 BTW, after you are done making the Nevermind Tone Recreations, are you going to be moving on to the In Utero Tone Recreations?
The fun part of a big muff is also how it was built. My friend builds quiet a few most notably has one to get the j mascis sound another to get the blue album weezer sound. About a decade ago I was with him and he brought out his collection of muffs they all sound different. The green muffs he had all were different in sound he had a few Black Russian muffs they we’re different too. So pin pointing the muff is hard unless you had the one he used. Trying different ones from say like a line 6 helix or the new muff pedal they make would be key to finding it even than tho you’ll probably be missing something.
Great video! I recently covered the song and really struggled to come close to the clean guitar tone. I tried many guitars, but I had no strat (and no middle single coil pickup) available at the time and it must be a strat as you showed.
Here is my 10 or maybe 50 cents based length. I think the NYC Big Muff gets really close to the Lithium sound so it is and was a widely available pedal to use. However, I do agree that a russian big muff was most likely used on the album, especially after knowing what Vig said. The timeline supports the availability of the russians and the sound on the album (yeah I know there was multitracking so kinda guessing here but listening with my ear) was thumpier with smoothness layered over the grit of the muff. This sounds very much like the russians to me. And to be more specific, the "civil war" and "tall font" green russians, were often bassier/thumpier and smoother than the "bubble font" greens and black russians. The Tall Font green supposedly was a rehoused Civil War which was also very similar to the Red Army Overdrive and I think the Civil War and the Red Army would have been available at the time of Nevermind, and I am not sure the greens or blacks were out, yet. All could sound very similar, but the civil war and tall font green had the smoother, thumpy, and bassier sound more forward than the others. Red Army was very very close to a Civil War but not as quite as bassy, but could have been used too, as when I hear Lithium, I feel like I hear that bass forward sound and a layer of smoothness over the rearward grit from this era and it's never harsh sounding. I have or have had bubble fonts, tall fonts, and civil wars. I recently played my Stomp Under Foot, "SUF", Civil War (based on the EHX Civil War and Tall Font green), SUF Green Russian (based on bubble font green), and EHX NYC and Op-Amp. After playing them back to back to back to back for Lithium, the Civil War seems by far the closest to the sound to my ears. The furthest one was the OP-Amp. Stomp Under Foot built by Matt Pasquerella is in my opinion the very best at recreating the best examples of all of the many versions of muff's from the Electro Harmonix muff era. Check his stuff out. I don't believe EHX makes a Civil War version, today. Also, the Kit-Rae website is VERY INFORMATIVE and INVALUABLE for Muff history.
Big ups for gassing up the Russian big muff. I don't know much about big muffs either, but it seemed like the right choice here as it's easily the darkest and most saturated of the muffs.
I will not claim to be a Nirvana gear expert. However, I remember watching an interview with Nirvana where Kurt specifically talks about using the Russian Tank steel Big Muff. It was a comedic moment as he talks about having to smash the button with his foot to get the overdrive to come on. That's my two cents and why I bought one when Big Muff reissued them.
I love the tone its very accurate but (and correct me if im wrong) but the 'Green Russian' Big Muff wasnt released until 1994 but an *incredibly* similar Big Muff, also made in Russia, known as the Civil War Big Muff was released in 1991. They sound practically identical and im fairly certain they are the same circuit so i wouldnt recommend trying to hunt one down as they are horrifically expensive but i thought it was something you might want to know, Nirvana gear wise.
Watching videos like these kinda makes me wish i kept my Fender, used to have a 2006 60th Anniversary strat but i sold it 12 years ago and switched to Ibanez since then but to this day still deeply regret selling that guitar goes for up to or over $1,000 now...
I have a Big Muff that I never use, but I just can't bring myself to sell it. The quickest most effective way of talking myself out of selling it is plugging it in for a few minutes. It just sounds so huge. I just say to myself that it's time will come. Someday I will have the need to drop a title wave of sound on people heads, I will have the means to get it done. I also have an SPX90 I can probably sell. I needs some work though. Last time I plugged it in, smoke was coming out of the power button, so I quickly unplugged it. That was about a year ago. I asked some people about it and the leading theories are a transistor or something blew, or the electricity ignited some dust inside the unit.
The videos of how do you do + history are going to be essential because they complete the tone recreation. Great. For more muff options you have jhs muffuletta. It has (73 Rams Head, Triangle Muff, Pi V3, Russian Muff, Civil War, JHS Mode) in one. If you want al rat pedals in one you have jhs PackRat ( OG V1, White Face V3, Turbo V5, BRAT V6, Dirty V7, LA, Landgraff MO'D, Caroline, JHS Mode)
I appericate that! My channel used to be only about tones and gear, but I've really been enjoying doing the history/informational stuff too 😃 Thanks for the recommendations! I'm still learning to explore the huge world of big muffs haha
Kurt was an incredible songwriter, but he struggled to play the guitar "properly", so he would often opt to play things in an easier form, so as to not make a major mistake playing a clean tone guitar part, especially in instances where there were no vocals like the beginning of Lithium. I think Kurt probably didn't want to miss his mark sliding from B to D since it was a bit longer of a slide to try and nail properly while standing, not looking at the guitar neck, and in a live setting.
How about this idea for a guitar sticker: “Innovate, don’t imitate” Maybe you could even sell it to thousands of rock guitar players if it becomes a trend😄
in a matter of replacement guitars, it was possibly he used one of the other two strats he had before recording nevermind his white strat or his black strat with tune o Matic or with the jaguar
Hey man you should try a few things I’m no pro so just trust me here 1. Play it on you jag I’m trying to figure out if it’s on the bridge or if it’s on the middle position. 2 try using 7.5 treb, 10 mid and 5 bass (my settings I use on my bass man) love to see it!
I’m addicted to your videos! Do you have any info on the first lithium music video that was never finished? I understand it was going to be a claymation type video similar to tools sober but before they did it.
One thing no one talks about that might seem insignificant but isn't is what kind of pick did he like to use because there are so many diff types and thicknesses for example i like a thin and flexible nylon pick at .46mm
I cant play the guitar due to nerve damage in my hands, but I have a 1993 Mexican Standard Strat which I have always thought has a very nirvana tone to it when I have had friends play it for me since I cant and I dont want to sell it.
Quintessential Nirvana song? What are people smoking? Nevermind, great video as always! 😀 PS: let me pick a quintessential Nirvana song too, lol, let's see, i say School or On A Plain, so fight me 🤪😜
May I ask what a Strat neck cost you? I’d really like to find one with a rosewood fingerboard and vintage frets. Seems like 85% of Fenders have medium jumbo frets these days.
Do we know why he chose to have come as you are, lithium and drain you tuned down to D? Gives the songs a great depth. But never reproduced live. Surprised kurt didnt have an already down tuned guitar for those songs on tour
Check out any of the early 1992 Pacific Rim tour shows. They are tuned a full step down and played Lithium, Drain You and Come As You Are at every show!
