Waterfall Guitar Tone: John Squire's Jangle

"Waterfall" lives up to its name — cascading, bright, chorus-soaked arpeggios that shimmer and tumble. Here's the tone.

What makes the tone. A clean, bright guitar (Squire's sparkle) with chorus and reverb, played as cascading picked arpeggios rather than strums. A little tone-shaping colours the lead. It's jangly and psychedelic — all clean headroom, no dirt.

The analogue recipe. Bright clean amp, chorus, reverb, light compression. Pick out the arpeggios; keep gain at zero.

On a Boss GT-100 / GT-1000 / GX-100. A clean Fender-style amp, chorus + reverb, optional light overdrive for the lead lines.

On a Kemper. A sparkly clean profile, chorus and reverb in the loop.

Skip the guesswork. The Soulster Tonebook for fans of The Stone Roses → has the settings for Boss GT and Kemper. More in our John Squire guitar tone guide →.

Put it on the wall. The "Waterfall" print → and t-shirt →.