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The recording
“As It Was” was written rapidly at producer Rob Stringer’s country-house setup: Tyler Johnson joined Harry Styles as Styles worked at a Moog One, Kid Harpoon supplied the double-time beat, and the record was largely in place after three or four days. Johnson asked his Nashville guitarist friend Doug Showalter to add electric guitars and transition sounds; Showalter improvised a sliding-octave melody and a scratchy rhythmic figure, then sampled and looped them through the second verse. Mitch Rowland contributed live drums rather than guitar, with chopped fills intensifying the ending. The guitars therefore function as textural, rhythmic counterpoint around the dominant synth hook and vocal rather than as a conventional featured solo.
Signal chain · Riff
Original gear
G&L Legacy Stratocaster
Guitar · Doug Showalter · Riff & solo
Showalter played the electric-guitar material, including a sliding octave melody and a scratchy rhythmic part used as sampled loops in the second verse; the source does not assign the two parts to separate guitars.
Fender Vibro-Champ
Amp · Doug Showalter · Riff & solo
The amplifier recorded Showalter's guitar for the second-verse octave and rhythmic textures.
Strymon El Capistan
Delay · Doug Showalter · Riff & solo
The El Capistan supplied the delay/tape-style ambience that complemented the vocal around Showalter's second-verse guitar parts.
Strymon BigSky
Reverb · Doug Showalter · Riff & solo
Showalter reprocessed the direct signals from both guitar parts through the BigSky to add reverb and create the layered texture heard in the final combination.
Alternatives
Practical playing approach
Recreation guidance, not a claim about undocumented studio control positions.
- 1.Play the sliding octave melody with a smooth, sustained attack to blend into the synth textures.
- 2.Keep rhythmic parts scratchy and muted to fit the sampled loop aesthetic of the second verse.
- 3.Use a tape-style delay with subtle modulation to mimic the background ambience.
- 4.Layer lush reverb behind clean single-coil pickups to achieve the spacious final tone.
Frequently asked questions
What gear was used for the As It Was guitar tone?
The available research points to G&L Legacy Stratocaster into Fender Vibro-Champ. The full reported signal chain and evidence links are listed on this page.
Are the original As It Was amp settings documented?
Exact historical knob positions are not reliably documented for most recordings. ToneTwin does not publish generated values as studio fact; it creates playable settings only for the amp and pedals a player selects.
How do I recreate the As It Was tone on my own gear?
Use the reported pickup, gain character, effects and signal-chain order as the target, then translate that target to your equipment. The matcher models controls for your selected rig rather than copying undocumented studio numbers.
Researched and reviewed by the ToneTwin Research Team.
Sources
