A live favourite and Ferguson's walk-out song, This Is The One is a slow-building anthem — John Squire starting with chiming clean arpeggios and swelling into a wall of jangly drive by the finish. The tone journey is the whole point.
What makes the tone. Squire's clean parts are bright and compressed with a shimmer of chorus or reverb, very much in the Byrds-via-Manchester tradition. As the song lifts, he layers in a driven rhythm that's still articulate — never a mush of gain. The overall feel is Rickenbacker-ish chime meeting a warm, slightly overdriven amp.
The analogue recipe. A bright, jangly guitar into a Vox or Fender-style amp, clean for the verses with light compression and reverb. For the build, kick in a moderate overdrive so the chords ring out with grit but keep their definition. Layering a clean and a driven part is what gives the ending its size.
On a Boss GT-100 / GT-1000 / GX-100. A clean Vox model with compression and reverb for the intro, and a scene that adds a transparent overdrive for the climax. Keep the top end bright and the mids honest. A touch of chorus helps the clean parts shimmer.
On a Kemper. A jangly Vox profile with a compressor and reverb, plus an overdrive stomp for the build. The chime lives in the guitar and the bright amp voicing — resist scooping mids or over-gaining the driven part.
Skip the guesswork. The Soulster Tonebook for fans of The Stone Roses → breaks down Squire's chime-to-drive approach with settings and chains — and our John Squire guitar tone guide → goes deeper on his sound.
Put it on the wall. The "This Is The One" Northern Life print → and Northern Life t-shirt → celebrate a Manchester anthem.
In Bloom Guitar Tone: Nirvana's Thick Distortion
I Am The Resurrection Guitar Tone: Squire's Jam