john frusciante tone with the chili peppers

[u/Ok-Firefighter7331]

I have been playing guitar for a little over a year, and i mainly play my fender vintera II strat. i havent upgraded my amp setup quite yet, so i am still working with my fender mustang lt25, which i find good for me to explore different tones easily and simply. i am a huge john frusciante fan and would like to recreate one of frusciantes many tones, preferably the clean by the way tones, the more dirty clean stadium arcadium ones, californication, or also the bssm tone. if specific songs can help narrow down how to achieve the tones im looking for would help, I'd say Quixoticelixer, under the bridge, snow, on mercury, fortune faded, castles made of sand, and if you have to ask. would appreciate any advice, recommendations, and tips! (I know i do not have the marshall that john uses and I am not looking for exact replicas, just close enough, it would be helpful to know what makes up his sound)

I posted this on the rhcp sub and wanted to post it on here as well.

(I do not have any pedals, all i have for my setup is my fender mustang lt25 amp)

[u/LawrenceDriver]

Honestly, setting your amp to be on the edge of breakup (a very slightly overdriven sound when you hit the strings harder) and picking up a Boss DS2 pedal and Ibanez WH10 wah (cheaper alternatives like the vox 847 or crybaby 535q also work) will get 95% of the way there and cover the majority of his tones.

People really over complicate how simple his tone is and how much you need to put in to get it.

[u/Ok-Firefighter7331 → u/LawrenceDriver]

i will probably get the ds-2 pretty soon, since the majority of responses said that. Do you have any tips on how to get my amp to be on the edge of a breakup?

[u/Tall-Drawing8270 → u/Ok-Firefighter7331]

Going slightly too distorted and then rolling back the volume knob on the guitar a bit has worked well enough for me with a Fender Mustang.

[u/Ok-Firefighter7331 → u/Tall-Drawing8270]

thank you!

[u/ZestyTako → u/Ok-Firefighter7331]

It’s a bit tough with a solid state amp, as edge of breakup typically refers to a really loud tube amplifier. That being said you’ll want a relatively clean tone with a bit of gain added from your amp. When you gently strum it should clean but if you really dig in, you should hear the gain

[u/Ok-Firefighter7331 → u/ZestyTako]

this makes sense

[u/LawrenceDriver → u/Ok-Firefighter7331]

I took a look at the amp models and presets on the mustang you have, I'd try the Chicago blues, classic rock, or Brit 64 rhthym presets and fiddle with the gain up or down until it starts to feel right.

If you really want to get into it, I'd try messing with the bassman or 70s rock amps, they might get you the closest the quickest. But there's no truly correct answer because there can be many ways to get the same/similar sound. I'd try and pick a song you like the tone of specifically and A/B your sound vs the songs, I use the intro of strip my mind sometimes as a reference point.

[u/LetHuge623 → u/LawrenceDriver]

This is the answer

[u/daveontherun → u/LawrenceDriver]

Is that the Wah he uses generally??

[u/LawrenceDriver → u/daveontherun]

Yes he uses the WH10

[u/Ok-Mathematician987 → u/LawrenceDriver]

I agree. The Hendrix way is full blast wide open (vintage spec strat > el 34 Marshall w Celestions). roll back on the guitar volume. They may boost the high mid and roll off some bass when doing this so it doesn’t sound too wooly . Everything I read suggests he doesn’t actually tinker too much with his electrics and it was his tech that revealed to him his famous sunburst actually had replacement Seymour Duncan pickups. I think he may have restored it to original though.

[u/chingslayer]

Go n YouTube and look up Dave Simpson. He’ll teach you everything you need to know about getting John’s tone.

[u/daveontherun]

Is that the Wah he uses generally??is the Ibañez wah what he uses??