Wonderwall
A layered acoustic strum with a capo on the second fret and two ringing top strings.
What is the Wonderwall guitar tone?
The Wonderwall guitar tone is a layered acoustic strum with a capo on the second fret and two ringing top strings, heard on Oasis' 1990s acoustic rock recording. It is a clean riff tone, and Oasis reportedly tracked it with an acoustic guitar, overdubbed in three parts by Noel Gallagher with a capo on the second fret, and no electric guitar or amp on the track; producer Owen Morris says each song at the sessions began with Gallagher playing acoustic guitar and a guide vocal to a click, a method Morris borrowed from an article about how T. Rex recorded, with Alan White overdubbing the drums afterwards and Gallagher usually putting down the bass himself; on this one the drums and bass were finished by about midday, Gallagher overdubbed the three acoustic parts, and Liam Gallagher, who had chosen it over Don't Look Back in Anger, sang four takes for Morris to compile; Paul 'Bonehead' Arthurs did not strum his usual chords and instead played the root notes on a Mellotron's cello sound, which Morris picked out for him, a piano line went on a few weeks later and Morris added Kurzweil strings in the mix; the song is in F sharp minor, and with the capo the main riff is fingered as Em7, G, Dsus4 and A7sus4 with the third and fourth fingers held on the third frets of the top two strings; neither account names the make of the acoustic guitar; Gallagher first wanted to record it on a wall outside Rockfield Studios in Wales, a take that survives as the snippet at the start of Hello, and the finished version was done in half a day in May 1995; it came out as a single on 30 October 1995, reaching number two in the UK and number eight in the US. Here there is no amp at all: the track is three layered acoustic guitar parts, so the capo, the ringing top strings and an even strum carry it, and an electric guitar needs only a clean, bright sound.
You do not need that exact gear to land in the same place. What carries this sound is the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup choice and the order of the effects, and all four can be rebuilt on equipment that costs a fraction of the original. The numbers change from amp to amp, because a clean channel on a modelling combo and a small practice amp reach the same voicing from different knob positions. That translation is what Tonelify works out for the rig you actually own.
Wonderwall amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 2, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3, with the neck or middle position.
- Gain 2
- Bass 5
- Middle 6
- Treble 6
- Presence 5
- Reverb 3
- Signal chain
- No pedals or amp: acoustic guitars with a capo on the second fret
- The control that matters most
- The capo and the two held notes. Put a capo on the second fret and keep your third and fourth fingers on the third frets of the top two strings through every chord, which is what makes the changes ring into each other. The record is three acoustic parts layered together, so on an electric use a clean, bright sound with the gain low, and strum evenly rather than hard.
These positions are free and they are a starting point. A Katana, a Spark and a valve head reach this voicing from different knob positions, so Tonelify rewrites every value above for the amp and guitar you own. Your first match is free with an account, and needs no card.
Adapt these to my amp- Pickup
- Neck or middle position
These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. If you tell Tonelify which amp you own, it rewrites every value above for the controls that amp actually has.
What gear did Oasis use on Wonderwall?
An acoustic guitar, overdubbed in three parts by Noel Gallagher with a capo on the second fret, and no electric guitar or amp on the track; producer Owen Morris says each song at the sessions began with Gallagher playing acoustic guitar and a guide vocal to a click, a method Morris borrowed from an article about how T. Rex recorded, with Alan White overdubbing the drums afterwards and Gallagher usually putting down the bass himself; on this one the drums and bass were finished by about midday, Gallagher overdubbed the three acoustic parts, and Liam Gallagher, who had chosen it over Don't Look Back in Anger, sang four takes for Morris to compile; Paul 'Bonehead' Arthurs did not strum his usual chords and instead played the root notes on a Mellotron's cello sound, which Morris picked out for him, a piano line went on a few weeks later and Morris added Kurzweil strings in the mix; the song is in F sharp minor, and with the capo the main riff is fingered as Em7, G, Dsus4 and A7sus4 with the third and fourth fingers held on the third frets of the top two strings; neither account names the make of the acoustic guitar; Gallagher first wanted to record it on a wall outside Rockfield Studios in Wales, a take that survives as the snippet at the start of Hello, and the finished version was done in half a day in May 1995; it came out as a single on 30 October 1995, reaching number two in the UK and number eight in the US.
Sources: Sound On Sound: Classic Tracks, Oasis' Wonderwall, Wikipedia: Wonderwall
Tonelify reads that chain and translates it to the amp and guitar you already own, returning gain, bass, mids, treble and presence values along with a pickup position.
How do you get the Wonderwall tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Wonderwall
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Wonderwall tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Wonderwall?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 2, Bass 5, Middle 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3, with the neck or middle position. These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. Tonelify rewrites the same values for the specific amp and guitar you own, because a high-gain head and a small solid-state combo reach the same layered acoustic strum with a capo on the second fret and two ringing top strings from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Wonderwall tone?
The capo and the two held notes. Put a capo on the second fret and keep your third and fourth fingers on the third frets of the top two strings through every chord, which is what makes the changes ring into each other. The record is three acoustic parts layered together, so on an electric use a clean, bright sound with the gain low, and strum evenly rather than hard.
Can you get the Wonderwall tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with an acoustic guitar, overdubbed in three parts by Noel Gallagher with a capo on the second fret, and no electric guitar or amp on the track; producer Owen Morris says each song at the sessions began with Gallagher playing acoustic guitar and a guide vocal to a click, a method Morris borrowed from an article about how T. Rex recorded, with Alan White overdubbing the drums afterwards and Gallagher usually putting down the bass himself; on this one the drums and bass were finished by about midday, Gallagher overdubbed the three acoustic parts, and Liam Gallagher, who had chosen it over Don't Look Back in Anger, sang four takes for Morris to compile; Paul 'Bonehead' Arthurs did not strum his usual chords and instead played the root notes on a Mellotron's cello sound, which Morris picked out for him, a piano line went on a few weeks later and Morris added Kurzweil strings in the mix; the song is in F sharp minor, and with the capo the main riff is fingered as Em7, G, Dsus4 and A7sus4 with the third and fourth fingers held on the third frets of the top two strings; neither account names the make of the acoustic guitar; Gallagher first wanted to record it on a wall outside Rockfield Studios in Wales, a take that survives as the snippet at the start of Hello, and the finished version was done in half a day in May 1995; it came out as a single on 30 October 1995, reaching number two in the UK and number eight in the US, but the parts that define the sound are the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup position and the effects order. Those translate to other equipment, which is what the adaptation step does.
Is Wonderwall a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a riff part with a clean character, from Oasis' 1990s acoustic rock catalogue.
Does Tonelify cost anything to try?
Your first match for your own gear is free with an account, and needs no card. After that both plans start with a 7-day free trial: Stage is $6.99 a month for 20 matches, Headliner is $10.99 a month for unlimited matching within a fair use limit of 150 new matches a day, and yearly billing works out cheaper on both. Reading this page and the rest of the library costs nothing and needs no account.
