Bio: Josh Adam Klinghoffer was born on October 3, 1979 in Los Angeles, California, US. As a multi-instrumentalist Josh played in couple of bands, including Dot Hacker, Ataxia and The Bicycle Thief, and toured with Gnarls Barkley, Sparks, PJ Harvey, Beck, The Butthole Surfers, Golden Shoulders and Vincent Gallo as a session musician. He became publicly known after replacing John Frusciante in the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2009. Klinghoffer was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Red Hot Chili Peppers on April 14, 2012, becoming the Hall of Fame’s youngest-ever inductee.
Josh Klinghoffer’s Electric Guitars:
1966 Fender Stratocaster
 | This is Josh’s main strat. It is called “Nero”, and it has the ’68 neck instead of the original. |
1974 Fender Stratocaster
| | Josh’s second black stratocaster nick-named “Gus”. This guitar has a very thin neck, which is what Josh prefers. |
1963 Fender Stratocaster
 | Chad’s strat which he borrowed to Josh. It’s cherry sunburst model, and Josh used on “I’m with you” as his main guitar. As opposed of his black strat, this guitar has a very thick neck. He also has another sunburst Stratocaster from the 60s, with heavily worn-out color. |
1967 Fender Telecaster
 | This guitar was previously owned by John Frusciante who gave it to Josh before he (Josh) joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers. |
19?? Fender Telecaster
 | Used in the pre-RHCP days. Can be seen on Gnarls Barkley’s Basement performance with Josh (link). |
1964 Fender Jaguar
 | Custom red color. Josh uses it for late Frusciante-era songs like “Wet Sand”. |
Fender Coronado (12-string)
 | In burnt Orange and tuned half step down for “Breaking the Girl.” |
Gretsch White Penguin
 | Reissue model; Josh uses it guitar for few songs from the Califonication era. He refers it as a “sort of an homage to John’s White Falcon.” |
Gibson ES-335
 | Josh uses this guitar on live performances of “Everybody knows here is nowhere” and on the “Universaly Speaking”. The guitar is nicknamed “Yogi”. |
Gibson Firebird
 | Josh also owns twelve-string prototype model, which he occasionally uses for jams on live gigs. |
Magnatone Tornado
 | Used on “Did I Let You Know”. |
Rickenbacker 360
 | Used on a few songs on “I’m with you”. |
Josh Klinghoffer’s Amps:
– Fender Super Six Reverb
– Silvertone model 1485
and Silvertone Sears cabinets from 1963.
– 1970 Marshall Major 200W
and Marshall cabinet with Celestion G10 40W speakers. In more recent time Josh has switched the cabinet for the Marshall 810.
It’s important to note that Josh keeps all of the amps on, and effects are applied through them all together.
Josh Klinghoffer’s Effects:
Quote from the interview with Total Guitar Magazine in June 2012: “I’m not totally settled with what I’m using. But I’m using the DOD – the old yellow [preamp overdrive] that Yngwie Malmsteen used – and I’m using the Pigtronix PolySaturator. And then fuzz, I’ve been using for solos mostly, [is from] this custom guy out of Cincinnati called Wilson Effects. With my wah pedal it’s the same one that Frusciante used: it’s the Ibanez WH10, made in a sh***y plastic case, but it’s the greatest Wah I’ve ever heard. I’ve got tons of other effects – probably too many – and I’m trying to get rid of as many I can. We started big and are trying to scale down.”
Here’s a list of effects that had their place on Josh’s pedalboard:
– Ibanez WH10 Wah Pedal
– Boss DD-3 Digital Delay
– Boss DD-6 Digital Delay
– Boss DM-2 Analog Delay
– Boss CE-2 Chorus Pedal
– Boss CS-2 Compression Sustainer
– Boss VB-2 Vibrato
– Boss RV-5 Digital Reverb
– Boss SG-1 Slow Gear
– Boss TU-2 Tuner
– Boss DS-1 Distortion Pedal
– MXR Micro Amp
– Line 6 DL4
– Line 6 FM4
– Jean Baudin Expressionator
– Moog Music EP2 Expression Pedal
– Moog MoogerFooger MF-101 Lowpass Filter
– Moog Moogerfooger MF-103 12 Stage Phaser
– Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb
– Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man w/Tap Tempo 1100
– Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man
– Electro-Harmonix Cathedral Stereo Reverb
– Electro-Harmonix Freeze Sound Retainer
– Wilson Effects Fuzz
– Wison Effects Uber Haze
– Xotic Effects EP Booster
– Pigtronix Polysaturator Distortion Pedal
– LastGasp Art Laboratories Cyber Psychic FX Pedal
– Framptone 3-Banger
– Lo-Tech-No-Fi-Bot Pocket-Synth
– Marshall Guv’nor Guitar Pedal
Josh Klinghoffer’s Guitar Strings:
– D’Addario EXL115 (.11-.49) for the Gretsch
– D’Addario EXL150 Nickel XL 12-string set for Firebird and Coronado
– D’Addario EXL110 (.10-.46) for all other guitars
Josh Klinghoffer’s Guitar Picks:
– Dunlop Tortex .60mm, Orange