One Love came out between the first album and the long silence, and it is the most explicitly funk thing the Roses released - Squire leaning hard on the wah, layering rhythm parts, and letting the groove run.
What makes the tone. Clean-to-crunchy with a wah doing most of the tonal movement, plus layered rhythm parts that are damped and percussive. There is chorus and delay in the mix, but the wah is the identity.
The analogue recipe. A Strat-type guitar into a lightly driven amp with a wah in front, worked slowly rather than in fast sweeps. Layer a damped rhythm part underneath it. Delay in time with the track, moderate reverb.
On a Boss GT-100 / GT-1000 / GX-100. An edge-of-breakup model with a wah block assigned to the expression pedal, a compressor in front, and a delay synced to the tempo. Keep the gain low - a wah on top of high gain loses the funk.
On a Kemper. A crunch profile with a wah on the expression pedal. Half the sound is how slowly Squire moves the pedal - it is a filter for the groove, not an effect he stamps on.
Get it dialled in. The Soulster Tonebook for fans of The Stone Roses → has the chords, capo positions and dialled-in settings, and the John Squire tone guide → goes deeper into how this player gets there.
See all 80 Stone Roses prints →
Off the record, onto the wall. The "One Love" Northern Life print → is the same song, printed. Also on the Practice print → and the Studio print →.
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