GUITARS
1962 FENDER JAGUAR
Frusciante lost his extensive collection of guitars in a house fire prior to his rehabilitation. The only guitar he owned when rejoining the band was this stock vintage Jaguar in Fiesta red, with a matching headstock. This guitar mainly saw its bright, poking tones in certain live tracks – ‘Around the World’ being one of the most prominent. While Frusciante has been documented to adore the unique and quirky facets of the Jaguar, it definitely wasn’t the guitar he was most famously associated with.
1962 FENDER STRATOCASTER
Without a doubt, this is Frusciante’s most iconic guitar in his arsenal, with its relic finish and slab rosewood fretboard. After rejoining the band with barely a penny to his name, Frusciante asked singer Anthony Kiedis for a loan to buy a new guitar – and it had to be a Strat. After picking up this gorgeous 1962 sunburst Stratocaster from a Guitar Center, the guitar quickly became his number one, and was used in all future Chili Peppers’ records and live shows up till his second departure in 2009.
1955 FENDER STRATOCASTER
This 1955 Stratocaster was another one of Frusciante’s acquisitions after his return, with its all maple neck and similar two-tone sunburst finish. This particular axe saw its fair share of use in the creation of Californication, and its subsequent world tour. Frusciante bought this guitar second-hand, and believed it to be all stock. However, upon opening up the guitar with his tech, they discovered it contained a set of Seymour Duncan vintage Stratocaster pickups. Eventually, this drove Frusciante to replace the stock pickups in his ’62 Stratocaster with Seymour Duncan SSL-1’s in later years.
1955 GRETSCH WHITE FALCON
Last but not least, is Frusciante’s absolutely stunning Gretsch White Falcon. This guitar was most commonly seen live for the slower jams – ‘Otherside’ and ‘Californication’ in particular.
MODULUS FLEA BASS
Flea primarily used an original Modulus Flea bass to record Californication, occassionally swapping to a Fender Jazz Bass and Taylor acoustic bass guitar for ‘Road Trippin’. The inimitable bassist was often seen on stage with his Modulus Flea bass finished in a flaky, silvery glitter.
AMPLIFIERS
MARSHALL MAJOR 200W, MARSHALL JTM-45, MARSHALL SILVER JUBILEE, FENDER BLACKFACE SHOWMAN, MARSHALL SUPERBASS
Frusciante’s love for Marshall amplifiers extends all throughout his playing history. While recording Californication, the venerable guitarist preferred to use the Marshall Major in addition to the Super Bass in the studio. When playing live, Frusciante would often mix and match the different amps to his taste, save for the Fender Showman – which was almost always paired with his White Falcon.
EFFECTS
Frusciante’s board was in its infantile stage at the time of Californication‘s recording, compared to the sprawling monstrosities of the Peppers’ Stadium Arcadium era. His board featured the now obsolete Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble and Ibanez WH-10 Wah (which has since been reissued, then discontinued again). On the contrary, the remainder of Frusciante’s board consists of commonly-found stompboxes. An MXR Phase 90, Electro-Harmonix Russian Big Muff Pi, and a pair of Boss Distortions – the DS-2 Turbo Distortion, and the DS-1 – complete his touring pedalboard. Note the markedly absence of a tuner.
Flea toured with a modest selection of pedals, mainly using them for his explosive bass intros or solos. His “board” includes an Electro-Harmonix Q-Tron envelope filter, MXR Microamp, Boss ODB-3 Bass Overdrive, and a Jim Dunlop 105Q Wah pedal.
What are some of your favourite moments from this seminal album? Let us know in the comments below.
