Top 10 Heaviest Nirvana Riffs

Playing through 10 of the heaviest/darkest Nirvana riffs. Using era accurate guitars and tones
Part 2: • 10 More of The Heavies...
GEAR USED:
Eastwood Hi Flier Phase IV (Univox Copy)
Epiphone ET270
Vandalism Stratocaster
Fender Kurt Cobain Signature Mustang (Modded to Skystang I Replica Specs)
Boss DS-1
Boss DS-2
Sansamp Classic
Electro Harmonix Small Clone
Dandy Horse Electro Flanger (Electro Harmonix Clone)
Randall Commdaner II RG120-210
Fender Tone Master Twin Reverb
Like what I do? Buy me a coffee so I can stay awake while I mix audio and edit videos 😴
www.buymeacoff...
My amazon storefront where you can buy gear/parts Kurt used: www.amazon.com...
Lomic Guitars - Where I got my Skystsang I replica pickguard:
ebay.us/4Luq0j
Vandalism Strat Stickers - use coupon code "nirvanaguitars" to get 2 for the price of 1:
khristore.com/...
Follow me on instagram at @nirvanaguitars
Check out my progressive punk band at ithomiid.com
Check out my acoustic project at atlasmn

[@NirvanaGuitars]

For more heavy riffs, check out part 2! kzbin.info/www/bejne/qoOpe3inpJalkM0si=Kz3El0fOaIdFHEBn

[@guitarrilho502]

Kurt went pretty heavy in the early years, I also love swap meet, awesome song, awesome riff

[@s0n4r56]

I feel like swap meet doesn’t get talked about enough, the studio version is so damn heavy I can’t get over it

[@Doyle-fq7we]

They jammed a lot of Celtic Frost and of course the Melvins influence.

[@D17-official]

Best love song ever written!

[@monotonespeaker8347]

He was jamming and listening to quite a few Doom, Sludge and even early Black Metal bands at the time. Celtic Frost, The Melvins and Black Sabbath to be specific.

[@monotonespeaker8347]

He was also listening to some Thrash Metal through Metallica

[@WadeNY]

Blew blew my sock off. ET-270 into DS-1 into Twin is the best tone in your collection, IMO. And one of the best distortion tones ever

[@PripyatPlayground]

Agreed

[@satanism_rocks]

hairspray queen is also probably one of the funkiest nirvana songs

[@NirvanaGuitars]

so much happens in those 4 minutes, such a beautifully chaotic song

[@kagamiryo615]

WORD

[@Doyle-fq7we]

A friend of mine said what’s this? Nirvana Peppers?

[@rxt1991]

goated song

[@kagamiryo615]

@@rxt1991real

[@Noscooters]

Big long now is such a unnerving song tbh. It sounds like something is creeping up behind you, and you just feel it coming

[@Akirathebeastt]

Fr

[@theMenace985]

Its honestly one of their best songs, so dark, distorted, and dissonant. Reminds me of Sludge Factory and 4th of July.

[@deadroses19]

Paper cuts is badass, such a sludgy nasty riff. Good job on the tone and playing!

[@grunge_guy]

We're never disappointed by NirvanaGuitars. Thanks so much for your videos.

[@NirvanaGuitars]

🥹 🙏 that really means a lot, thank you so much for watching and for the kind words!

[@grunge_guy]

@@NirvanaGuitars Thank you for the amazing content.

[@JesonWu-z9d]

Kurt was an awesome riff writer in rock, those riffs are absolutely KILLER!

[@SonnyBedwell-w6i]

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE MRS. BUTTERSWORTH 😭😭😭😭❤❤❤❤

[@adamterry77]

I’m going to open myself up a flea market 👍

[@101Volts]

The song's more intricate than I realized. Not that I've listened to it for over 10 years, though.

[@abox8362]

It’s very Metallica.

[@DavidLopez-up3qm]

Love all of Nirvana but early Nirvana will always be the most intriguing to me in terms of riffs and general songwriting

[@TestMeatDollSteak]

Before watching the video, my choices would be (in no particular order): Negative Creep Scentless Apprentice Milk It Stain Breed Pen Cap Chew Aero Zeppelin Paper Cuts Blew Sifting

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Awesome list!

[@kluiverdt]

omg, that tone on blew 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 i love it so much

[@andrewpappas9311]

Kurt definitely wrote some absolute headbanging riffs, man, some of which I still say he doesn't get enough credit for because those sound just awesome. I'm also not sure if it's gonna be included in Part 2 (although it could be) but I'll always love the breakdown in Drain You, which sounds so damn cool, definitely looking forward to Part 2 when it happens (Also as a side note I can remember writing a guitar riff a few years ago that sounded a lot like Big Long Now (never heard of the song at the time) but now I realize I think I might've just ripped off a Nirvana song I've never heard of lol)

[@CPF_PZ]

YESSS IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THISS

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thanks for your patience! Hope you enjoy my list 😃

[@spidermanfan.3161]

3:23 😈😈😈 you can't have endless Nameless without vandy with the humbnail goes hard with it, keep it up NG! 👍👍

[@interpic]

What the vandy?

[@spidermanfan.3161]

@@interpic oh that’s a nickname ive called Kurt cobain’s Vandalism strat cause its my Personal favorite guitar of he’s.

[@spidermanfan.3161]

@@interpic its like Billie joes guitar called blue or pat smears strat guitar called Blackey or tony iomi’s Gibson “monkey”

[@_julianguitarz1992_]

I love Mrs. Buttersworth. its such a groovy riff!

[@NirvanaGuitars]

and a lot of fun to play!

[@TaiFlurfy]

Was honestly expecting Floyd The Barber to be on this list somewhere, but awesome video nonetheless!!

[@noelwhite6650]

The Epiphone into the DS-1 sounds outstanding. Just such an amazing tone.

[@Doyle-fq7we]

Nice choices and you played them well! When people say grunge, these are the types of songs I think of. Nirvana’s heavy stuff, Melvins, Tad, Mudhoney.

[@EdgicHedgicOfficial]

I absolutely LOVE Negative Creep. It's #1 favorite from Bleach! Another favorite is Scentless Apprentice as well! Great tones, Eric! 🔥

[@pedrov.8087]

judging by your profile picture, id guess your favorite album is incesticide

[@MylesBANG]

I LOVE Anorexorcist. So glad it was included on this amazing list 🤘

[@DudeBro76]

I love videos like this because no matter how long I search there will always be songs I don’t know by memory

[@Polishcountryman]

hey eric! i not that long time ago buy my first elecrtic guitar!, all thanks to you,you inspired well and i leanirg now how to play floud the barber from your top 30 nirvana riffs video but i cant tune it like you did in wideo, even i try recreate your tone, and now im gonna trying to make the vandalism strat from my guitar cuz its my favourite ,you are w, dont give up, peace!

[@ilgarisnotme5001]

Now im sure that this guy is living at Kurt Cobain's studio there is no way tones that accurate except he is livin at Kurt's studio

[@Valuuu]

Amazing how accurate these tones are

[@LEBOURQUIPERFORMANCE]

Make a cover of “you know you’re right”. It’s the best song of nirvana

[@zxdistortion]

Anorexorcist always was my favourite riff and its crazy to hear the exact tone from you

[@NirvanaGuitars]

One of my all time favorites to play! That song needs more recognition

[@MightyALX]

I always felt that Swap Meet's intro riff was the heaviest Nirvana riff out there from the studio albums. In my opinion Swap Meet played live didn't sound as heavy compared to the studio version. There is just something about the studio version that makes it so good.

[@user-wn8wg4fb9m]

Kurt's 87/88 riffs are nearly early grindcore. The dude was seriously special.

[@juakoko7880]

that endless nameless riff was so good, we need a cover 🐧

[@brois3124]

This informed me about the 10 hardest riffs👍

[@Silverfan97]

Great vid dude keep it up!

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thank you so much for the continued support! I don't take it for granted, love seeing your comments 😃

[@Silverfan97]

@@NirvanaGuitars thanks man love the vids!

[@krisfrederick5001]

Jack Endino had to remind Kurt about "Big Long Now" When Frankensteining Incesticide. They totally forgot about it. That's how you know you're a legend in hindsight,

[@AlexSuxssss]

Your guitar skills are 🔥

[@idunno7166]

U always make a very great videos

[@NirvanaGuitars]

That seriously means a lot thank you!!

[@obioce]

another amazing upload, kurt shines through you

[@JojoFryrocks]

Some of these could easily be early Metallica or something, when you listen to them out of context like this. Love it ❤

[@user-ib3gj3ty9k]

Big Long Now’s my true favorite Incesticide riff… Love listening it around the afternoon sunset 💙

[@tickedoffnow]

Kurt was a big Metallica fan

[@heighwaymusic]

@AwsomNirv98you're thinking of Dave mustaine of megadeth, who was in Metallica for a short period of time in their early career but is better known for megadeth

[@Maxonhodge3687]

That is true☺️☺️

[@gabrielramos5338]

Damn, that ET-270 + DS1 + Twin Reverb combo sounds heavy AF

[@idiotwithaguitar3]

AGHHHHH YESSS HE UPLOADED!!!!

[@NirvanaGuitars]

I upload every Friday!

[@idiotwithaguitar3]

@@NirvanaGuitars Oh ok! I never knew that! Also, the tone is so accurate AGHHHH :)

[@Anonymouspersoniguess]

Thanks so much for this. I learned scentless apprentice by ear and i thought one of the parts was 4474-4444474 but now i see its 4404-4444404. tysm

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Live I think Pat played it as 4474, and Kurt dud 4404!

[@Anonymouspersoniguess]

@@NirvanaGuitars tysmmmm

[@charizardmaster13]

For not being huge on technical stuff early nirvana riffs have a very thrash almost slayer esque feel to some of the parts

[@AlexCitroen-zt8xv]

30 years later and not one guitar player can't play as passionate as Kurt, many had tried ✌🏻

[@primus6677]

Anorexorcist could legit be a classic Doom track, I quite enjoy this heavier side of Nirvana! 🤘

[@tsg_frank5829]

These are all amazing riffs, and a lot of them are also from the early years. I would have included some of the riffs from Fecal Matter as well

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thought about including Fecal Matter, but decided to just to stick to Nirvana songs!

[@bootitup6927]

Love this! What song is the hardest to play out of these 10 for you in your opinion?

[@tiredcitizenz1925]

Amazing video as always!

[@pennsy77]

Yet another banger!! Started off strong with 2 of my favorite pre bleach songs, too! Agreeable list, playing is top-notch, especially on the pre-bleach stuff Also, did you see my message? Regarding the history of the TOM strat

[@Paper_Cuts350]

Gotta show off the stella guitar in the back😂

[@ShaylanJBoi]

Sorry I couldn’t be here on time . Love your vids 🎸

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Like what I do? Buy me a coffee so I can stay awake while I mix audio and edit videos 😴 www.buymeacoffee.com/nirvanaguitars

[@beefgravy4006]

Do a video on pats guitar and krists bass

[@cdoutdoors8207]

@@beefgravy4006 great idea

[@bigmuffmelvin7388]

Awesome recreation of some of the heaviest riffs of all time. My only criticism is maybe kick that reverb down to zero. I know you have talked about that in your videos in the past. Yeah it does give your recordings some production value but it makes the riffs sound slightly off from the recordings

[@theMenace985]

Great vid, Id add If You Must. So heavy and distorted

[@dhilan9946]

Best friday when you uplod

[@THE-CRT]

Another one, outa nowhere!

[@NirvanaGuitars]

New video every Friday 😉 🥳

[@mrlost470]

@@NirvanaGuitarsfr? yesss

[@NirvanaGuitars]

@@mrlost470 Yes! I've been uploading weekly videos since 2022

[@Silverfan97]

@@NirvanaGuitarsthe certified goat

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

This is awesome, thanks!

[@muhammadshafiq8717]

Papercuts is my favourite song to play ... I love that riff..

[@juakoko7880]

no way, raunchola 🗣🗣🔥🔥❗️❗️❗️

[@cdubdoesstuff4870]

Next build, will you make the Farrington Mustang?

[@kkrsnn5632]

Nice selection😊

[@catmobile20]

Endless, Nameless is definitely the heaviest thing in Grunge

[@Georgeisjawa]

Is Big Long Now just Nirvana's version of Sister Europe by the Psychedelic Furs?

[@Doyle-fq7we]

Kurt loved psychedelic furs and He did not hide what inspired a song much. Most bands do it so not knocking Nirvana. They’re one of my favorites.

[@Georgeisjawa]

@@Doyle-fq7we One of mine to. I mean Psychedelic Furs are one the best bands in the world.

[@user-jr2jn7rm4b]

Great video! I really enjoyed seeing the Epiphone ET270. I was wondering where you find your tabs? The ones I come across aren't always accurate.

[@Japan82a]

i think he learns from ear

[@ethanjpetch]

Hell yeah, sounds awesome!

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Thank you!

[@Roseland11]

Can you also make Hollywood rock festival tone please?❤

[@antares1102]

glad you got paper cuts to #2

[@MuscleCarLover]

Next up would be Top 10 Most Expensive Riffs, then it's only variations of Endless, Nameless

[@bobowrathsovine.]

This guy should do a cover of The Stooges: LA Blues. I'm pretty sure it inspired Kurt to come up with Endless Nameless

[@moxcide2901]

Underrated opinion but i think blew is the best one out of this selection

[@Napkin_story]

big long now mentioned🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@Hav0cShark]

you know you're right with the hi flier would sound so good

[@Mr.Conservative4376]

Negative creep is my favorite one ❤❤🎉🎉

[@Nirvana_Guitarist91]

Very nice vid! Those riffs are surely heavy and sound so cool! Hoppefully we'll see the Compstang soon!

[@PickledPreserves123]

That Epiphone sounds fantastic

[@Savior-GuitarVocalDemosCovers]

big long now in my opinion is grunge at its purest

[@onehandslinger1475]

I was playing Milk it with the band in C standard. I think it's one of the heaviest Nirvana song.

[@Eoghan_guitar11]

Amazing as always!!! And could you do a bleach tour tone video like what you did with the nevermind and in utero tour please???

[@rschw76409]

I’d put Scoff on my list. Check out Tension by Killing Joke. You’ll notice that Scoff sounds similar.

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Part 2 is coming soon! I'm not leaving out Scoff 😉

[@--thatbih]

For endless nameless, you need the chorus on for the entire song, not just the verse. Trust me bro makes an epic difference. Kurt did it that way as well Also, when Negative Creep came in, I see why you like the Epiphone a lot

[@juju16game41]

Big long now ❤❤❤❤ Kurt Cobain le meilleur de toussssss

[@mateopb1644]

Even In His Youth but the Demo one

[@squibtheghost]

paper cuts is definitely a dark and heavy song and a good one at that.

[@rarestnirvana]

My top 2 would be Paper Cuts and IHMAWTD

[@mrNobody100]

i kinda wish mrs. butterworth stuck around longer than just practice (or if they did do it at some show) . its one of the highlights of the boxset for me..... also, negative creep kind sounds like on homage to "ride the lightning." figures, since he was a big fan of that...

[@the3boys2s74]

If you must and blandest are some of the heavyest ones

[@chmurixoklol]

Eric on paper cuts chorus you should go straight from F to B. if you want listen to original track and you should hear it. Big love !

[@averylangs]

Honorable mention goes to Swap Meet, that song rips

[@vibetech89]

Nirvana's Nevermind actually ended long guitar solos.

[@Morbid0007]

Blasphemy!!! Not only was 'Floyd the Barber' not number 1, it wasn't even on the list!!! Unforgivable!! Also missing: 'Scoff' and 'Mr. Moustache"

[@NirvanaGuitars]

Wait for part 2! Coming soon

[@Morbid0007]

@@NirvanaGuitars OK, but only if you publicly admit that this video is actually 'Heaviest Nirvana Riffs: #20-11."

[@NirvanaGuitars]

This one is my top 10 haha part two would be 11 - 20

[@gurtysaiyan760]

your the boss

[@dylfps]

I believe Pen Cap Chew is the heaviest Nirvana song

[@interpic]

Oh, yes! Paper Cuts is still my favorite song from Bleach, so heavy, so dark, so broken.

[@B166ER-]

I never liked Nirvana but #10 is a sick riff.

[@sh333cks]

Please, full cover of endless nameless!!

[@Michiganvideoswithmyfriends.]

Blew is the heaviest it’s in Drop C and endless nameless is all different tunings so there the heaviest

[@rickthemartian130]

Is that DS1 just dimed through the Twin? Thats INSANE how good it sounds on Blew

[@pamosutil]

Here there are some of the best Nirvana songs

[@Hákuntransfølkerugay]

You should also do a nirvana most happy riffs

[@leonardodynamite5997]

waited for anorexorcist😂 after paper cuts came as a runner up i was pretty bummed. but i'm glad it came as the heaviest!