From the time John rejoined the band until the release of Californication in 1999, he acquired a significant number of new guitars. Among them was a 1954 Fender Stratocaster—the only maple neck Strat that John would ever use.
Specs
This Stratocaster features a two-tone sunburst finish and a one-piece maple neck. When John bought it around 1998 or 1999, the pickups had already been replaced with Seymour Duncan SSL-1s—the same pickups John thought were in his main 1962 Stratocaster (more details about this on the ’62 Strat page).
I had my ’62, which has the original pickups, and then I had the [’54] with the Duncans, and the sound was very similar. The differences had more to do with the guitars than the pickups. Eventually, I had to get Duncans in the ’62, as well.
VintageGuitar magazine – John Frusciante Red Hot On The Empyrean
2022 Update
In an interview with Total Guitar published in May 2022, John revealed that the guitar now has custom-wound pickups made by Paul Waller of the Fender Custom Shop.
Usage
It’s been reported several times that this is John’s second favorite guitar, and he used it extensively on Californication, possibly more than his ’62 Stratocaster. Since then, it’s often been used on slower, mellower songs, such as “The Zephyr Song” from the By the Way album.
(talking about recording the Californication album:) I used a ’56 Stratocaster for most of the basic tracks, and a ’62 Stratocaster- the sunburst one- on some stuff.
Guitar One (USA), September 1999
I only used my ’57 and ’62 Strat, because those two are my favorite guitars and I don’t think I used any other guitars. Those two make most of the sounds I’m looking for or hear in my head. I’ve been playing these Stratocasters for a long time, so they are like a part of my body. If I play other guitars, I feel like I’m playing with a toy.
John Frusciante talks about his new solo album, The Empyrean, 2009
The guitar also featured on Stadium Arcadium, most notably on “Dani California.”
To avoid confusion, John sometimes refers to this guitar as a ’57 or ’56 Stratocaster. However, based on its serial number, it is definitely a 1954 model. It’s also possible that in some instances, such as the video mentioned above, John was referring to his Shure SM57 microphones rather than the guitar itself when discussing the recording process for “Dani California.”
It could be 54′ as well. If you take the serial number from this site http://www.jfeffects.com.br/2019/07/o-ano-de-fabricacao-das-principais.html and run it thru this site https://www.guitarinsite.nl/serienummers-fender_eng.php you will get the year 1954
Sorry for the late reply, I changed the page to say it’s a 54. It’s funny though that even that magazine has it labeled as a ’55, even though they had the serial number right there.