1960s Fender Jaguar (white, Roland synth)

John acquired this guitar presumably sometime in 1998/99. Although this is purely just a guess, this could possibly be the same Jaguar that he used during the Californication sessions in 1999 to record Around the World, although at that time, the guitar belonged to the studio engineer, Jim Scott. It could also be that this is a completely different guitar.

That’s a Fender Jaguar I borrowed from our recording engineer Jim Scott. I like Jags-they get a real cool, cheap sound. I played it through two Marshalls: a JTM 45 and a 100-watt SuperBass. That SuperBass is great. It’s so thick sounding”.

Guitar Player (UK), 1999

Converted to Synth

By 2009, John converted this guitar (if it indeed is one same guitar) to a Roland GR-300 guitar synthesizer. This basically required doing some changes to the body to fit the circuitry and the control knobs from what we assume was a stock Roland GR Controller.

I love Fender Jaguars. The guitar I’ve owned the longest is a red Jaguar from around ’61. It has a matching headstock. I also have an old white one I transformed into a GR-300 guitar synthesizer.

VintageGuitar magazine – John Frusciante Red Hot On The Empyrean

John’s reasoning behind doing this instead of just using one of the stock synth guitars is probably that he felt more comfortable on a Jaguar. If you happen to find any quotes of John talking about it, or any photos of the guitar in its current state, please be leave it in the comments.