The Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist spills the beans about his love of Eddie Van Halen and his attraction to clean tones, with a first-hand dive into seven guitars behind the group’s hits. John Frusciante’s tech, Henry Trejo, and former tech, Dave Lee, fill in the details
Back in April 2022, the Red Hot Chili Peppers released Unlimited Love, their 12th studio effort and, more significantly, their first with John Frusciante, arguably their most fan-beloved guitarist, in more than 15 years. Given that, this time, the Chili Peppers entered the studio with a clutch of ideas and came out with not one but two new albums – and double albums at that, including the 17-track follow-up, Return Of The Dream Canteen – it can be surmised that Frusciante’s return has borne plenty of fresh creative fruit. As the band has headed out on the road to play the new music and the classics on stage, that renewal has only continued.
Helping to fuel that renewal is, as always, John’s eclectic and characterful collection of vintage guitars – which each occupy specific roles in his soundworld. We joined John to discover how his unique viewpoint on music-making informs his choice of guitars and vice versa. As you might expect, locking in with bassist Flea is a key consideration for Frusciante and for that he favours the ‘punchy’ quality of clean tones for which he uses a variety of vintage Fenders, among other guitars. Those, and Marshall amplification, are the bedrock – but there is much more to discover in his collection, so we also enlisted Frusciante’s current tech, Henry Trejo, and former tech, Dave Lee, to shed extra light on how John’s guitars connect to his stellar body of work.
Looking at the hallmarks of your style, one thing that has always stuck out is your use of space.You hear it on songs like Eddie and Shoot Me A Smile on the new album, and also in some of the band’s classic tracks, like Scar Tissue as well as Californication. Another obvious one would be Otherside, where, for much of the rhythm track, you’re playing maybe two or three notes. Where does that approach come from?
“It really comes from trying to figure out what I can do that makes Flea and Chad sound as good as they can. Back in the time of Mother’s Milk, I was trying to fill up more space and it just sounded too busy. It wasn’t as busy as Flea, but Fle
