Quick Answer: On the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ 2002 By the Way album, John Frusciante relied heavily on his iconic 1962 Fender Stratocaster as his main guitar, with some of his other guitars, like the 1957 Gretsch White Falcon and 1960 Fender Custom Telecaster, appearing on select tracks. His amp setup centered on a 200-watt Marshall Major and a 100-watt Marshall Super Bass, often run in stereo alongside a Fender Bassman or a Marshall Silver Jubilee for added tonal range.
For effects, By the Way marked the introduction of several new pedals into Frusciante’s rig, including the Line 6 FM4 Filter Modeler, Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler, Digitech PDS 1002 delay, and Moog MF-103 Phaser. He continued to use his trusted staples as well, such as the Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble (primarily as a preamp and splitter), the Ibanez WH-10 wah, and the Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion.
Gear Used by John Frusciante on By the Way
John’s Guitars on By the Way
John Frusciante’s guitars on the By the Way album included his 1962 Fender Stratocaster, a 1957 Gretsch White Falcon, a 1961 Gibson SG/Les Paul Custom, a 1960 Fender Custom Telecaster, and a borrowed Taylor acoustic.
The 1962 Fender Stratocaster is Frusciante’s most iconic instrument and the guitar most closely associated with his sound. He purchased it in 1998 with Anthony Kiedis’ help, shortly after rejoining the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and it has appeared on every album he recorded with the band since then.
When the guys asked me rejoin the band I said that I really need a Stratocaster. So Anthony lent me some money and we went to Guitar Centre and I got one with the rosewood neck. It’s a ’62 and I used that one on pratically every track on By The Way.
John Frusciante for Guitarist, June 2003
That ’58 has a bit of a cleaner sound and it always seemed to sound better for what I wanted on Califonication, but for this album, the ’62 just sounded right straight away – the sustain’s better – so I stuck with that pretty much all the way, apart from and SG on a couple of songs.”
John Frusciante for Total Guitar, August 2002
The 1957 Gretsch White Falcon was used only on one song, Tear. Compared to the previous album, where John used it on the two biggest songs, Californication and Otherside, this album saw much less use of the Gretsch.
I only used the [Gretsch White Falcon] on Tear.
John Frusciante for Total Guitar, August 2002
The 1960 Gibson SG/Les Paul Custom was used on a song called Strumming In D On J, which was never released.
We had some more rocking songs which didn’t make the album where, for a distorted sound, I used an SG through a Marshall that’s cranked with distortion, To me that’s the ultimate kind of distortion sound. I have a really nice SG from 1960 – Vincent also found that for me – that’s got P90s in it and it’s really great. We also did a 15-minute track called Strumming In D On J; the title literally means Strumming in the key of D on the Jaguar. I hope that we put it out, as it’s a really good funky song.
John Frusciante for Guitarist, June 2003
The 1960 Fender Telecaster Custom was most likely used on Can’t Stop, although we couldn’t find any direct quotes from John on that. He does, however, play the song live almost exclusively with that guitar, so it would make sense. He also stated that he used Telecasters a lot on the By The Way studio sessions, but he unfortunately never went into details on what exactly that means.
The Taylor was used on both acoustic tracks on the album, Cabron and Venice Queen. John’s main acoustic guitar is, of course, his Martin 0-15, but Rick Rubin convinced him to play a Taylor guitar on this album instead.
I don’t even own one, we just rented them. They sounded good for recording. On the song ‘Cabron,’ the acoustic guitar is capoed. I really love having the capo. I’ve been learning a lot of Johnny Marr things recently, and it seems he always used a capo. There’s also a lot of capoed acoustic guitar on the Jethro Tull album Aqualung, which I was listening to before I wrote ‘Cabron.
John Frusciante for Guitar World (USA), July 2002
John’s amps on By the Way
On By the Way, Frusciante used a 200-watt Marshall Major and a 100-watt Marshall Super Bass. He generally ran one of these in a stereo configuration with another guitar amp, typically a blackface Fender Showman or a Marshall Silver Jubilee 2555.
The use of the Marshall Silver Jubilee is not entirely confirmed, but it is very likely, since it was part of John’s setup on Californication and on nearly all of the live tours he played with the Peppers.
John’s Pedalboard and Effects on By the Way
John’s pedalboard on By the Way was built upon his Californication-era setup, and consisted of (bottom row in the photo) a Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble, an Ibanez WH-10 Wah, a Dunlop Cry Baby 535Q Multi-Wah, a Moog MF-103 12-Stage Phaser, an Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb, an MXR Micro Amp, an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi Fuzz, and a Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion.
He also added more unique pedals during this period, including (top row) a Line 6 FM4 Filter Modeler, a Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler, an Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress Flanger, and a DigiTech PDS 1002 Digital Delay.
I was using a lot of effects. We wanted to create a real sense of atmosphere. I used a few Line 6 echo pedals, an Electro-Harmonix flanger and the Big Muff a lot.
John Frusciante for Total Guitar, August 2002
John also used a Doepfer A-100 analog synthesizer on Don’t Forget Me and Throw Away Your Television (this exact synthesizer was also used by John later on on Stadium Arcadium), and he used an Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail reverb during the overdubs.
Towards the completion of the album, for some overdubs, I started using the Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail reverb pedal.
John Frusciante for Guitar World (USA), July 2002
Song-by-Song Breakdown
1. “By the Way”
The opening song of the album, By The Way, was recorded on John’s 1962 Fender Stratocaster, played clean. The verses have John put his Ibanez WH-1 wah pedal in a fixed position, which creates that unique muted rhythm guitar sound.
2. “Universally Speaking”
Universally Speaking is also pretty much played clean. When playing the song live, John often uses his 1960 Telecaster, so it could be that he recorded the track on it, too. John also used his Boss CE-1 Chorus in the parts of the verse. The solo sounds like it could be just the MXR Micro Amp.
3. “This Is the Place”
The main riff of This is The Place, that “wobbly” chord is played with a little bit of EHX Electric Mistress Flanger and a little bit of Boss CE-1 Chorus, and the same effect setup extends into the choruses. The solo is played with a similar setup but with some distortion added.
The bridge part is played on an acoustic guitar, most likely the Taylor 314ce.
4. “Dosed”
The song Dosed came as a result of John playing with the looper function on the Line 6 DL-4 pedal, and as a matter of fact, the working title of the song was “The Loop Song” before it got renamed to Dosed. Most of the tracks were played clean with some slight reverb, most likely on John’s 1962 Fender Stratocaster.
Actually, [on “Dosed”] I got that sound when the rest of the band was out of the studio taking a break during rehearsal. I was messing around with that green Line 6 loop pedal [DL-4] and I looped a guitar part, and added another and another. I had three guitar lines recorded, and I was playing over them. By the time everyone else came in [to the studio], I had this beautiful loop going, and that’s what the song is. On the album, I played each part on its own, so we could put them together in stereo.
Total Guitar (UK) – April 2004
5. “Don’t Forget Me”
Don’t Forget Me is one of the most effects-heavy songs on the album. For most of the track, Frusciante used a DigiTech PDS 1002 Digital Delay to create that echo that drives the song.
In the verses, he played steady 16th notes – four notes per beat – on just the high E string. At the same time, his delay pedal is set so the repeats fall in triplet timing, meaning three echoes per beat. Because his picking and the delay are running at different subdivisions, the two patterns weave together and create a hypnotic, shifting groove.
I’m playing [double picked] 16th notes, but the echo is set to where it’s doing triplets. That whole song, by the way, is played on only the high E and B strings.
John Frusciante for Guitar World, July 2002
He also relied on a volume pedal to create smooth swells, fading notes in and out instead of striking them with full attack. This sound is most noticeable in the first solo.
For Don’t Forget Me, I used and envelope filter and I was using the volume pedal a lot on that song too – and that Line 6 pedal in one of the analogue delay settings to where it’s constantly feeding back. Just as it was about to feed back, I’d just turn the knob as I’m playing to prevent it from going into full-on feedback. It gives it that spooky kind of feeling.
John Frusciante for Total Guitar, August 2002
On the choruses, he seemed to have used the Ibanez WH-1 wah in a fixed position to create that trebly tone.
[The WH-1 wah is] on the song Don’t Forget Me, but there’s not as much wah on By The Way as previous albums. I just turned it on and kept it in a trebly position. I only really needed a little bit of wah for that song.
John Frusciante for Total Guitar, August 2002
Frusciante also mentioned using a “large German-made modular synthesizer” to process parts of the track, most likely referring to the Doepfer A-100.
6. “The Zephyr Song”
The Zephyr Song was played mostly clean, possibly on John’s 1954 Fender Stratocaster, since that’s the guitar he most often uses to play the song live. However, John did not mention using that guitar specifically on the album.
John most likely just added some reverb throughout the song and some sort of distortion on the solos.
7. “Can’t Stop”
Can’t Stop is the only song on the album that was played on John’s 1960 Fender Custom Telecaster. The main riff is played on the bridge pickup, with full attack of the pick, and most of the strings muted. A lot of the sound also has to do with the Boss CE-1 preamp
EHX Electric Mistress Flanger was used in the second part of the bridge, for those wobbly sounds, and a Big Muff Pi was used on the solo.
8. “I Could Die for You”
I Could Die for You is a pretty simple song in terms of effects. John seemed to have played his 1962 Fender Stratocaster clean with some slight reverb, and that was pretty much the whole song.
9. “Midnight”
Midnight follows a similar approach to I Could Die for You, built around a clean Stratocaster tone with just a touch of reverb for depth.
10. “Throw Away Your Television”
In the main riff of Throw Away Your Television, played behind the verses, John used a DigiTech digital delay set to a short slapback with a single repeat, along with reverb and possibly an MXR Micro Amp. The same setup was used for the “scratchy” part, where he simply ran his pick across the strings.
On the choruses, he added reverb and the Doepfer A-100 modular synthesizer to create the phasing effect. In live performances, this part was replaced with a Moog MF-103 12-Stage Phaser pedal.
I was using this big Fender spring reverb from the 60’s, I used it with a modulation synthesizer – that’s the sound you hear on the Throw Away Your Television chorus. As you’d expect by the name, it has ‘great reverb’ but also a really thick sound and a great tone. I listen to a lot of surf compilations and there’s a lot of really cool surf music that came out of the early 60s that was made by 15 year old kids and that’s how they sounded.
John Frusciante for Total Guitar, August 2002
The solo on Throw Away Your Television was played through a Line 6 FM-4 Filter Modeler, using the “Obi Wha” mode.
11. “Cabron”
Cabron was played on a Taylor acoustic guitar, most likely a Taylor 314ce, with a capo. The slide parts were probably recorded on John’s Stratocaster.
12. “Tear”
Tear is the only song on the album where John used his 1957 Gretsch White Falcon. It can be heard during the solo, while the verses are played on a synthesizer.
Vincent Gallo found that one for me. It’s a ’57 that used to be his but he had sold it to somebody and he had to buy it back from them. He’s really a wheeler and dealer, you know?”He’s known as an actor and director but his real profession is a wheeler and dealer! He just argued with this guy and caused an ugly situation to get it back.
John Frusciante for Guitarist, June 2003
13. “On Mercury”
On Mercury features a ska-style guitar riff, most likely played on John’s 1962 Fender Stratocaster with the bridge pickup.
14. “Minor Thing”
Minor Thing is one of the simpler songs gear-wise, built around John’s Stratocaster played clean on the neck pickup. The first solo has a warm, fuzzy tone, though there is no confirmed information on how it was achieved – possibly with the Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion. The second solo and outro use the same sound but with heavy reverb added.
15. “Warm Tape”
Warm Tape has an experimental feel that makes it stand out on the album. The verses are built around a keyboard part, while the choruses feature guitar – one track with heavy reverb, and another that is slightly overdriven and trebly.
16. “Venice Queen”
Venice Queen is one of the most complex songs on the album. Unfortunately, there are no direct quotes from John about the exact process or gear he used to create its layered sound, but some elements can be pieced together by listening closely and watching live performances.
The song opens with a clean Stratocaster riff, accompanied by overdubbed delay parts that Frusciante shaped with a volume pedal to create swelling textures.
The acoustic sections were most likely recorded on a Taylor 314ce, which was his main acoustic guitar during the By the Way sessions.
In the second half of the track, additional electric guitars can be heard behind the main acoustic track. One can be heard with a delay, while another seems to carry a more echo- or reverb-heavy effect.
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