Best Amp for Nirvana Tone? Mesa Boogie Studio .22+ VS Fender Twin Reverb | Kurt Cobain Guitar Sound

The Fender Twin Reverb and Mesa Boogie Studio .22+ are often regarded as the best amps for Nirvana tone. But which one is better?
In this video, I compare them with different guitars, pedals, and even through a Marshall 4x12. I also show the difference between a Mesa's EQ being on and off.

TIME STAMPS:

0:00 Intro & Gear Used

2:38 MESA About A Girl
3:20 TWIN About A Girl

3:59 MESA Aneurysm
4:55 TWIN Aneurysm

5:43 MESA Drain You
6:24 TWIN Drain You

7:03 MESA Heart-Shaped Box
8:17 TWIN Heart-Shaped Box

9:33 MESA Rape Me
10:29 TWIN Rape Me

11:21 MESA EQ Comparison On VS Off

11:28 Mesa Through 4x12
11:46 Twin Through 4x12

12:27 Outro
TIME STAMPS:

0:00 Intro & Gear Used

2:38 MESA About A Girl
3:20 TWIN About A Girl

3:59 MESA Aneurysm
4:55 TWIN Aneurysm

5:43 MESA Drain You
6:24 TWIN Drain You

7:03 MESA Heart-Shaped Box
8:17 TWIN Heart-Shaped Box

9:33 MESA Rape Me
10:29 TWIN Rape Me

11:21 MESA EQ Comparison On VS Off

11:28 Mesa Through 4x12
11:46 Twin Through 4x12

12:27 Outro

[mirata]

Mesa definitely has the edge over the twin when used with some grit and distortion in some songs, but the twin is a very open, wide and clear sounding amp when used clean, both sound great in their own terms. But the EQ on the Mesa really shapes the tone of the guitar so that's why i prefer it over the twin, but at the same time i really dig the atmospheric sound of the twin.

[Toology]

"Kurt only used the Mesa Boogie Studio .22 Preamp Combo Amp once which was on October 24, 1991 at Off The Record, San Diego, CA where Nirvana was This was supposed to be an acoustic show, with instruments supplied by the record store, but since they didn't have any left-handed guitars, the band ended up using their own instruments and playing an electric set. So the Mesa Boogie Studio. 22 Combo Amp Belonged to the Record Store."

[TotallyNotTony_]

Would love to see a quad reverb comparison next! The Mesa definitely sounded better to me across the board

[TempleOfUtopia]

Mesa sounds amazing for both clean and distorted tones, I love how saturated it sounds

[bigmuffmelvin]

Mesa definitely hits that live tone for 91 and on. The reverb I think is better for recording and studio tones

Awesome video

[kakashunKi]

I love how twin sounds in Heart Shaped Box, but in the others mesa is better

[Arkaitz.M.A]

It all depends on what you are looking for. We know that the mesa boogie amplifier has a very powerful working range and that it works better with distortions. It also has a good clean. The twin reverb amp has the best clean with a bright and melodic sound, but I think it overdrives with distortion or at least doesn't handle it as well as the mesa boogie. In the end you have to come to a compromise of what you want. It's like choosing a single coil or a humbucker, everything will depend on the sound because for distortion you need the humbucker. Therefore the commitment to nirvana is difficult because you need clean and dirty both powerful. I would bet on the mesa boogi because nirvana needs the most distortion possible and that it works as it should but keeping in mind that the twin reverb has a beautiful sound.

[Maxhuertas]

I want that univox so bad but my wife won’t let me buy more guitars right now, so I’ll have to be happy with the Kurt Jaguar and jagstang for now 😭

[raider]

Great job man! I have the Fender now looking for a Boogie- thank you for making!

[BrunaHera]

Omg the Mesa Boogie sounds unreal, I need to buy one, fr such a fantastic tone, it's clean but distorted at the same time, exactly what I'm looking for

[-cobainism-]

did you use the eq sliders on the mesa?

[BradleyMcTaggart]

I had a Mesa Boogie Studio .22+ and I never could bond with it. Twin Reverb wins for me.

[williamdickson]

The twin going into a 4x12 is a tone i didn't know i needed

[nbl]

I wouldn't be surprised at all if he was using both together. The Mesa has that "thrust" that I associate with Nirvana's choruses, but the fender tone just sounds so spot on too.

[ksnp]

I think Mesa Boogie better for Bleach era, and fender twin reverb for nevermind and in utero era
I'm love you sound tone and you videos:)

[williamthomas]

I think the Fender sounds better clean, then the transition to distortion is not smooth or even. The Mesa transitions better, resulting in the volume maintaining an even quality. I think that makes the Mesa a better pick for this demonstration. Otherwise I think the Fender generally sounds more dynamic.

[Disorder]

great video, it was interesting to compare!
twin reverb somehow wheezes a lot. is it his feature? I tried to wind up the sound of the Bleach in Amplitube, even with different speakers, but it turned out the same.

[edwaaard]

I like the fender one more. When your amp hast a nice clean sound, then you can do what ever you want. It depends also on a lot other things like pedals, pick ups and so on how the the distortion is handling. I think over all you can do more with the fender amp.

[baskah]

Very interesting. I must say that the Mesa sounded best in most scenarios.
Bleach with Univox: Mesa wins by a mile
Nevermind w Jag: Slight advantage for Mesa
In Utero w Mustang: Equally good or maybe 1 point more for the twin (10/10 vs 9/10)

That would be my personal opinion.

Awesome video, I would like to see more of those especially with the Quad

[joesmith]

Great comparison man! I can’t decide which one I prefer haha. I have a boss nextone artist which I really like and I find it gets a decent nirvana tone especially with my mustang which has a hot rail in the bridge and pedals. Love your content btw 😊