John Frusciante’s 1961 Gibson ES-335

This guitar was photographed during John’s interview with Vintage Guitar magazine in 2009, and on a few other occasions just sitting around his house. It’s one of the guitars he doesn’t use that much, and among the few that he bought mainly because Stevie Howe (from the band Yes) played them.

The Les Paul is a ’69, but I’m not sure what years the ES-175 and 335 are from. I don’t play those much; I bought them because Steve Howe played them, but they don’t really go with my style that well. I feel like Strats are an extension of me, and a Jaguar feels like the next closest thing to being an extension of me. Les Pauls and SGs seem like a further stretch.

John Frusciante, Red Hot On The Empyrean

Dave Simpson’s Video

In 2020, the guitar was sold to Matthieu Lucas from Matt’s Guitar Shop, an Argentinian guitar collector. Dave Simpson, who you probably know already if you’re researching John Frusciante, recently had a chance to actually play this exact guitar (video below).