John Frusciante’s 1970s Les Paul Custom
John likely acquired this 1970s Les Paul Custom sometime before the Mother’s Milk sessions and may have used it to record Higher Ground, Good Time Boys, and Knock Me Down. This assumption is based on the fact that John occasionally played the guitar during live performances of these songs. However, he never explicitly confirmed its use in the studio, so this remains speculative. It’s also possible that John used a different guitar for recording and only brought this one on tour.
I played mostly Strats and Les Pauls on the record. (continued) For a while, my main guitar was a ’68 Strat, but it was stolen. Since then, I’ve gotten a couple of others that I’ve fallen in love with. But our basic philosophy is that our tones are in our fingers, and the particular instrument you play, or what kind of pick you use, doesn’t matter much.
John Frusciante, Guitar Player (USA), April 1990
Specs
Unfortunately, there’s little detailed information about this guitar. From photos, it appears to have wide body binding, a feature typical of models made post-1975. This suggests John’s Les Paul was not a high-value vintage model from the 1950s.
The guitar was also mentioned by Robbie Allen in a 2020 interview with the JF Effects website, although he didn’t provide any significant new details.
He had a Les Paul too, when he first got his money, he bought two ’69 Stratocasters and a brand-new black Gibson Les Paul Custom [Black Beauty].
JF EFFECTS INTERVIEWS: ROBBIE “RULE” ALLEN (2020)
Feedback
We value your input at GroundGuitar! If you spot any inaccuracies or have additional info, leave a comment below.
For direct communication, use the Contact Form. (Dan)
I actually asked Dave Navarro on an Instagram story a while back about any interactions he may have had with JF and what his relationship with him was like given the One Hot Minute situation. He posted a very interesting and somewhat detailed response about this Les Paul, stating that he gifted JF a Les Paul (this one) and it was sold for drugs. Much later after JFs return, he felt bad and gave Dave Navarro the exact same guitar as a peace offering. Very interesting story, and I believe Dave talks about it somewhere in his podcast.
*correction. It appears I’m mistaken in saying this guitar was originally gifted to him by Navarro. The correct version of this story is that Navarro gave him a different Les Paul that was sold for drugs and that JF later gave Navarro this guitar to make up for it. Still a touching and fascinating story!