John Frusciante’s 2000s Performance Corsair Custom

John used this guitar to record the song Wayne, which he released in April 2013, and dedicated to one of his friends that passed away. According to an interview that John gave to Guitar Player magazine in 2014, he really liked the guitar and started preferring it over the Yamaha SG that he mained after leaving the Peppers.

I also have a Performance guitar, made by a guy named Kunio Sugai in North Hollywood. I played it on a ten-minute solo on a song called “Wayne” that I recorded a few months ago when a friend of mine died. It’s kind of like a Strat, and has a great whammy bar system that stays in tune really well. After three years of mostly playing the SG, I’ve found myself playing that guitar more and more.

John Frusciante, Guitar Player magazine, March 2014
John playing his Performance guitar, with Dewa Budjana sitting right next to him.
John playing his Performance guitar, with Dewa Budjana sitting right next to him. Photo source: Dewa Budjana Instagram

Specs, Model

The guitar was made by the same guy who made John’s first guitar that he used with the Peppers, way back in 1988. The brand is called “Performance”, and the guitar is basically a hand-made Stratocaster on steroids, featuring a custom tremolo, and two humbucking pickups.

John’s model in particular seems to be a Corsair, with some relatively unique features. These include the uniquely colored pickguard, double humbucking setup (could also be HSH, hard to tell from the photo), and the white binding around the body and the headstock (which as you can see in the photo below are not that uncommon).

A Performance Corsair guitar ready to be assembled. Photo source; Performance Guitars Facebook.

Submitted by: Mikołaj

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