A Pinch Of Metal And A Whole Bag Of Funk
…It’s hard to imagine the Red Hot Chili Peppers without the distinctive style of John Frusciante’s playing, but there was a period when drugs took him out of the picture. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom to climb back up again, and now RHCP are on top of the world for the second time.
THE MAN
John Anthony Frusciante (pronounced Froo-shon-tay) was a big Red Hot Chili Peppers fan from the first time he saw them. He set about learning every song and every riff, getting as close to the spirit of the band as he could. And then the unthinkable happened: RHCP’s guitarist Hillel Slovak died. It was inevitable that John would be asked to try out for the band, and he blew them away. At 18, he was hired, mainly because he started out as a Slovak clone, but soon his own musicianship, ideas and playing took the band on to bigger things. Their first major release, Mother’s Milk, was a success, but their second, BloodSugarSexMagik, now ranks among the all-time greats. It saw Frusciante find his style, a clipped funk, punctuated with harsh overdrive, with a wonderful line in melody, chordal structure and sheer riffery to boot.
Unfortunately around the time of BSSM, heroin took over his life and half-way through the tour in 1992 he quit, to be replaced by Dave Navarro. How his life was almost ruined is well documented, but he kicked the habit and rejoined the band in 1998. In the years in-between he hardly played, and the effect it had on his technique was telling. With weaker wrists he could not play as hard as before, and this brought out new musical thinking as he opted more for choice note decisions on Californication. This forced growth as a musician was beneficial, as his technique came back with more playing, but his style often seems more angular, and in some cases distinctly disjointed.
The Gear
A major part of Frusciante’s sound comes from the tried and tested partnership of a Fender Strat, and Marshall half-stack. There are a few effects in-between the two, but that clipped, dangerously loaded-with-treble tone comes straight off the Strat’s single-coil bridge pick-up. It’s a sound that leaves little room for error.
Unsurprisingly, his main guitars are Fenders, and classics at that. His Strats come from ’62 and ’55, with rosewood and maple necks, respectively. He also has time for a Tele or two [one a ’63 Fender Telecaster Custom], not to mention Jaguars, all of which hail from the 1960s. The final guitar in his arsenal is slightly unusual, a [1950s] Gretsch White Falcon, loved by all manner of guitar players the world over.
The amplifiers for the Fenders are a Marshall Major 200 and a 2550 Jubilee, both going through 4×12 Marshall cabs.
The effects are pretty standard, adding colour to his tone, but the way John Frusciante sounds mainly comes from the way he plays, with just a little help from Leo (Fender) and Jim (Marshall)!
John Frusciante’s Rig
*1962 Fender Stratocaster
*1955 Fender Strat
*1960s Fender Tele x2
*1950s Gretsch White Falcon
*Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble
*Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi
*Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion
*Marshall Major 200-Watt and two Marshall 4×12 cabs (Celestion speakers)
*Marshall Jubilee 25/50 and two 4×12 cabs
*Boss DS-1 Distortion
*Fender Silverface Showman
*Two 4×12 cabs
The Frusciante Tone
Track: Under The Bridge
Album: BloodSugarSexMagik (1991)
An obvious choice, but just in case anyone thinks it’s an All Saints song, we’ll remind you that it isn’t! You could argue that his playing on other parts of this album are livelier, but here you get a clear indication of his tone. Listen to the daringly clear intro – how many of us would choose to saturate that with reverb? There’s a touch of compression that helps with evenness and sustain, then a twist of the volume knob brings in a slight crunch for the verse, while the chorus shows off his excellent rhythm skills that take much from Hendrix, albeit nailed with more modern groove. And while we’re on the subject of chorus, listen to how the sound changes as he brings in the chorus pedal as the choir comes in, taking away some of the clean bite and replacing it with a supportive musical wash.
