How I Get My John Frusciante Tone - Everything You Need To Know

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[@MuddySump]

I bet you’re on of the rare guitarists who’s neighbours tell you to turn the music up instead of down 🔥

[@kreykelly]

Next video- How I get my Dave Simpson tone

[@davepocock3055]

daves tone shoud be bottled !

[@dustinwilloughby296]

Dave in a box... It would be a Zoom DS-3 (Dave Simpson 3 bc you can't use DS1 or DS2). The wah function would include the Ibanez Wah and the DS-2 and Jackhammer would be built in. I'd buy it!

[@BoyleJr]

only discovered you an hour ago dave and youre incredible.frusciante is the main reason i picked up guitar in 1999.thank you

[@dooshmagee2165]

Welcome to the Dave Simpson community!

[@400_billion_suns]

Welcome!!! You're in luck, you've got hundreds of hours of past videos to watch, and pretty much every one starts with an amazing improvised intro jam. Dave's the real deal and a good guy too👍

[@varlok9448]

conclusion 1 25:10 Conclusion 2 40:24

[@Nic-tg2ei]

2:47 this moment is glorious to watch! Seeing someone who is clearly just a great guy and down-to-earth person losing himself in the music is such a joy to watch. Would love to play a gig with Dave!

[@mohammedfarija8758]

Completely agree on MXR Microamp not being essential to Frusciante’s sound. I bought it and it completely failed in that regard. But... I loved it as pure clean boost, it’s turned into a nearly always on pedal for MY tone, which is the result of trying to sound like John and failing spectacularly but turning out okay because I found MY tone doing that and when my friends hear any of my recordings they instantly know it’s me. Keep up the good work Dave. I offer you a gracious salute all the way from the Middle East

[@HenritheHorse]

The Microamp is there just to boost the signal and to bring some treble back after long cabeling and lots of pedals.

[@guiillhvieira925]

John Mayer says that when we fail to sound like our heroes, we discover how to sound like ourselves

[@MrMiguanion]

Don’t forget Dave is using ceramic pickups here and still sounds utterly incredible. Love this, thanks Dave

[@callumbruce2057]

a good tradesman never blames his tools

[@MindsetMastery75]

Nothing at all wrong with ceramic pickups anyway. That is a fallacy, one of the many us guitarists believe in. That they have to be alnico 2's or 5's or they are shit pickups. That is more voodoo bullcrap. There are lots of ceramic pickups that sound really good! True story.

[@KyleSmiff]

I stumbled on your channel about a month ago and you inspired me to get my electric guitar out of the loft after 18 years. Thank you.

[@darrendevereux5666]

Hey Dave, I've watched all your JF videos over the years. I often revisit them because they are better than anything else found KZbin. That was until this evening. This was fantastic! Very well done mate!

[@jorge.az07]

Also,I want to contribute to the community telling that in my case,I have 3 more ways to tame the DS2 and Wah 1.My old Korg multiFX preamp (It has an input/output control,and by cranking the input I get crunch and compression,i think several models own that preamp) 2.Joyo Deluxe Crunch/Crunch Distortion/Hot Plexi with the Gain low (I've tried all those models and I prefer the Deluxe Crunch,I think it's based on a JHS Angry Charlie pedal so it may work too ) 3.An amp model from my VOX Stomplab IG multiFX pedal (gives me a Californication-ish tone) And,2 multieffect pedals that also work like Dave's Zoom G2 are the VOX Stomplab (I get most of my sounds from there,nice Chorus Ensemble simulation) and the Zoom G1xON (It doesn't have big quality sounds as the VOX or the Zoom G2 but it's cheap and it can get you around there)

[@ci4pp3r]

Hello Jorge, thank you for the contribution, I want to confirm as regards #3: the stomplab is absolutely remarkable. I got it a couple month ago out of curiosity and it is stunning, it keeps the dynamics of the guitar to such a excellent level that getting decent a Frusciante sound is totally achievable. Do you remember which amp model you like to use? Cheers from Italy;)

[@nelsonvontitfuk1471]

It’s the ce-1 high impedance that fixes it. Its not just a chorus. Im really shocked this guy doesn’t use one. That IS johns sound, with a crunchy Marshall, or a showman for scar tissue, then a ds2 for leads. Clean Marshall + ce-1 + ds2 = Frusciante. Adding micro amp would get you even closer.

[@jorge.az07]

@@ci4pp3r Hi my friend! I use the Treble Booster (o3) overdrive model,there are several great tones but that's the one I dig the most (been using it for 3 years non-stop) and it's my core sound PDL off AMP o3 (8.0/8.3) Lo 10 Mid 10 Hi 5 Presence 7 CAB Cu (12) and Mod,DLY and REV off The Stomplab is an amazing pedal,I can even get a close approximation to the CE-1 and the Moog Low Pass Filter John uses in Dani California! Greetings from Peru!

[@jorge.az07]

@@nelsonvontitfuk1471 Yes and No,I mean,they are "the" John pedals,but as you can hear on Dave's tone,you can approximate that tone without them If you dissect what each piece of equipment does (WH10 Trebly,Boosted Wah with loads of sweep,DS-2 High Gain Fuzzy Distortion pedal with loads of mids. CE1 Line-Level Overdrive/Compressor preamp) you can get away with replacing them for wallet safety's sake It's obvious that a Boss DS2 MIJ,an Ibanez Wah V1 and CE1 are better than my Boss DS2 MIT,My Behringer HB01 and my VOX Stomplab,but as those pedals are what I have at hand,I work with them

[@viniciusferreira256]

Man, I have one zoom g1xon. Could you please help me to get the frusciante's tone on It? I found it hard to find that crunchy sound from the pre amp, the ds2 sound and the fuzz. I'd be very glad if you help me with these configs. Ps: the pedal is plugged into a clean amp.

[@FecklessCretin]

The amount of knowledge & passion you've got for the subject is inspiring mate, you're a Frusciante professor

[@jorge.az07]

I NEVER TAPPED A VIDEO NOTIFICATION SO FAST

[@jamescarey3995]

Whoa! Way to give that Paddlecaster a workout 😎

[@egoandy1188]

GOLD !! Not only the video that I have yet to watch but have been waiting for but the INTRO ! The EMOTIONAL intro with everything being released , this should be everyone’s form of release / meditation especially during this time . My two Stratocasters have been my mental & emotional meditation & helped with my anxiety & depression.

[@antonioblanco1637]

Cant get tired of this, for real, taking JUST SOME of the pros apart, like for example the real John Frusciante himself, this is the best guitar that youtube has ever listened.

[@EduardoAbantoB]

Look buckethead is listening too!

[@arbazann]

Buckethead is explaining.

[@GrimKage]

Frusciante is also my biggest guitar inspiration. Great videos on the JF style as always, Dave!

[@fordism.01]

Gorgeous playing. That guitar sounds fkn epic . Well built good sir. Its dam good gravy indeedy

[@SarpKaraarslan]

Cute headstock. It's a Stratoshovelcaster :)

[@jon12639]

For me, this is the most useful video about getting John's tone. I'm going to try the amp compression on my MG (so gain at 4) to solve my harsh DS2 problem. Thank you very much!

[@joshuasurridge8018]

The intro jams are just always so distinctively DAVE SIMPSON

[@gedcanonizado]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge, Dave. Your enthusiasm is contagious. You are a gift. Cheers! 🍻

[@chrispearson1109]

Love it Dave, great breakdown and analysis of the great man, by a great man. Just a damn shame that you have to deliberately skirt around the proper chords to escape the bloody copyright police. These times man, these times 🤦‍♂️

[@chiendefeu1]

Hi Dave... Nice to hear you.

[@pjo1964]

Oh wow! The BucketHead mask is right there on his amp! All this time BucketHead has been our Dave!!! 😮

[@gianttreeproductions3947]

One of the best intro jams I think you’ve ever done Dave, great video as always

[@lorenzowijker4200]

I have waited for this to heppend Thank u Dave!

[@MadGunny]

Man, that intro touched my soul. Thanks for that, much needed

[@raoulkuratle9522]

That intro was beautiful man, the wah part really went hard at the perfect time. This is the level I strive to be at some point haha :)

[@yungmief08]

I can't believe I haven't found this guy until now. This is the most informative video on frusciantes sound I've found yet. I am the type of person who wants to know every little detail like this. Amazing. Down to the height of the single coils. And so humble and speaking the truths from the heart. Love it man thank you for this video. I've wanted John's sounds for a long time now and I'm so confident I know what I need to do now to achieve it so I can jam. In fact I've been able to adjust my gear that I have to get that much closer to the tone already! Still going to order a couple more but I can't believe how much I learned just from you speaking about it. Really truly thank you

[@MichaelDonlinAwesome]

God that intro was perfect. (That poor guitar.)

[@acanthor]

Dave, I want to thank you so much for this video! I'm here to say that when I just took a Sire S7 Vintage, I adjusted the height of the pickups exactly as you said, I turned on the drive channel of my H&K Tubemeister 20 Deluxe head with gain on 2, treble & bass to 0, middle and master volume to 2 o' clock and OMG, THAT sound! You are to the point! I don't think I even need a jackhammer or something else (perhaps I will experiment with my EHX Glove if i need something more), but that's it! Next step is the Ibanez WH10 and the DS2, but for now I'm checking my Boss MS-3 integrated drives to see what can I do about the DS2, Comp (if needed sometime) and Fuzz sound. Thanks again!

[@nomine8428]

this is definitely my favorite intro jam

[@hendrixson_2806]

this is just a gem of the internet- you rock!!

[@immanuelbou-harb8869]

Unbelievable intro Jam Dave. Stunning as always. Your videos are a gift and we're forever grateful. (P.s. don't forget the DL4 video you were going to do ❤️ )

[@glennmink3131]

Always amazed at your gift my friend!

[@LemonMeIon]

How about changing the pedal order of the compressor? Running comp -> drive limits the attack and volume of the overdrive, but drive -> comp allows for the initial attack and compression of the overdrive and the comp can be set up more subtly to round off the clean tone and add headroom and sustain.

[@frankiec2765]

Cheers from Liverpool NY! Great presentation Dave, much appreciated. You are the man!! :)

[@sasransistem9970]

This introjam spoke to me like nothing else. You're my frusciante .

[@CellAmen]

I think, you Dave Simpson are a master guitarist/technician.👌🏻one example,tremolo bridge adjustment tips,perfection.

[@jeromecorral1825]

So many guys on KZbin with a 2 meters board, using Moog and CE-1 to get the same tone you get with a cheap board.... You are a fantastic guitarist and an inspiration for me. Thank you for your advices

[@johnnorth9355]

Some people don't like me making appreciative comments on your videos Dave. So in the interests of balance here goes - WEIRD headstock on the intro jam. Otherwise up to it's usual awesomeness.

[@PooNinja]

John North 🤣👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[@paddymaxwell]

I saw that nonscense this morning John. I just put it down to someone being stressed, theres a lot of stress around these days....dont you let it change you, you really seem like .....one of the good guys . Be well.

[@RichardOfYork1967]

@@paddymaxwell Well put :)

[@dooshmagee2165]

I've grown accustomed to seeing a nice comment from John North on every dave vid

[@Pauld62]

I think the headstock looks like a chefs meat knife lol

[@neildobbs7278]

might be the most useful hour i've spent during lockdown. Great video Dave

[@troutmask9111]

All you need is a Stratocaster, Ds-2, Ibanez Wah (Vox v847 Wah works for John too) and a chorus (I use a Behringer UC200 and its ok)

[@EdCoombesDogs]

Your HB guitar is look and sounding good man 🤘🏻👌🏻👍🏻

[@neilfotheringham2090]

Excellent video and I learned a good bit too. You’re spot on about not needing the CE-1, I bought one around 2005 when they were cheaper (£160) and really wanted to love it. I didn’t and so sold it on, MASSIVE let down. I’m one of those who chased his BSSM album tone, so it was great you touched on that. I tried CS1s, CS2s and the closest sound I got was actually with a CS3 (much cheaper than the vintage black label pedals), a Japanese HH jaguar special, lead circuit, neck pickup, SOLID STATE MARSHALL MG15MSII micro stack (2x10 cabinets) and the CS3 with the attack up high. At the time I had a Marshall DSL head and a Boogie F50, yet the 15W solid state cheapy and the CS3 nailed it. Sorry for the long comment btw 🎸 Good work though mate

[@clove-splintered-shards]

Dave!, you’re my hero, seriously man this is simply amazing, you make so many great points throughout this entire Frusciante tone series of videos you have posted! The first quality amp I ever purchased was a Marshall MG100dfx head and cabinet back in 2005 and I love how much you support those amazing amps! God Bless You Dave!, for everything!!!!!

[@XavierAdamsGuitar]

I know I'm a little late to the party here but MY GOD that intro was INCREDIBLE! Good Gravy! Love your work Dave!

[@lemonteasy]

lovely. thanks for this, dave!

[@ivanm9186]

I have a dedicated KZbin playlist called “David Simpson”. Cause the sound ideas on this channel are amazing. by the way.. The Jackhammer have been kicking a lot of pedal’s asses over the years for me.. I have tried to find my basic cleanish tone in many pedals, but the CHEAPEST pedal in my arsenal THE JACKHAMMER is still the best. Well, at least better than lots of pedals three-four-five times more expensive… HUGE and MASSIVE thanks to you David!!

[@guitarjr]

You are a treasure Dave! I’m so glad I discovered your channel. Great playing and tone advice always!

[@KickflipGnasty]

This is fucking incredible. You are an unbelievable player. Beautiful work my friend.

[@dooshmagee2165]

great video Dave, very helpful and well put together!

[@douglasdog1]

I find my Orange Rocker 30 with the dirty channel set around +/- 12 o’clock on gain, and a strat gives me a realllly good Frusciante tone. It likes pedals around there too.

[@tomdameek]

Fantastic intro and a brilliant breakdown of the setup Dave. - cheers

[@g.v.4776]

Thanks for this video, learned alot! Much love from Belgium!

[@theabnormalguy7800]

headstock in the intro looks like a table tennis racket

[@the-chameleon]

I really enjoyed those Blue Cold Soup Capsicum riffs

[@400_billion_suns]

Lol...that took me a second 😂👍

[@joshuasurridge8018]

incredible, and ive only watched 2 mins so far... why on earth would anyone dislike this haha, how could you possibly dislike this

[@400_billion_suns]

At this point I'm convinced there are bots that crawl around KZbin just to give dislikes, lol

[@jimsy5530]

It's Frusciante, Green and Hendrix getting annoyed at Dave for giving away their tone secrets.

[@Al-vt9hg]

50:15 just a reference for amp settings

[@Guidojackson1965]

Amazing tones and priceless info as ever. That axe has the ugliest headstock I’ve ever seen but it seems to do the job. Keep ‘em coming pal👍🎸

[@pjo1964]

Dave is on the headstock!!! Brilliant!!! 🤣

[@kevind3094]

Absolute gold! You are amazing and much appreciated, Dave!

[@thedavesimpson]

Thank you very much. :)

Hey Dave, love your videos!

[@ferramirez4570]

You're the real deal as a player and as a content maker, still at 60k takes the time to read the comments and like them.

[@KickflipGnasty]

You are dead right about how dirty his live tone is. One minor but(lol)... I actually think Blood Sugar is by far John's most unique sound. Californication was certainly his most personalized playing style up to that point, but I never thought the tones on that album were very difficult to achieve. It sounds very 'strat-to-amp' to me. Blood Sugar is his Holy Grail imho for studio sounds mainly because of the way he uses chorus and compression. The tones on that album are so specific and intentional. Live, I would have to agree it's the Californication era, for which he did base many of those tones off of the Blood Sugar sound.

[@VBarre]

That was one awesome solo, damn good way to kickstart my day!

[@CM-eo1rp]

It makes me very angry when you don't wear the Mr Flibble t shirt. You must wear it 24/7 please! Great vid. Pretty much built a pedal board based on your recommendations during isolation from money saved on petrol lol.

[@vincit1813]

I wondered earlier what you were up to, nice playing, cheers :)

[@janneelias]

Thank you for this, Dave. Although it's quite scary what you did to Mr. Dobbelganger. He is somewhere playing 'mindless' solos right now

[@Vincebuscus]

Hell yea

[@elliotskunk]

mad how knowledgeable u are about this g, keep it up

[@diwomancer]

I hope you and John gets a Jam when this pandemic is done 😁❤

[@danielhendriksen9232]

When you are demonstrating the ds 1 with and without compression, you are also going from neck to bridge pickup. You should of stayed on the same pickup.

[@eleonorapidus6064]

that chorus pedal with F chords reminds me of The Heavy Wing all the time, you were in the future!

[@Yallow974]

Thank’s for your amazing job!🙏

[@iMPRE7ed]

Incredible, loved the jam in the beginning, and love your videos, so much actually useful information. So happy I subscribed, mate :)

[@chrisniess1274]

THANK YOU SO MUCH 🎸🤘🏻

[@TheALyon8]

You really know your shit, Dave. Love the vids always. Thank you again for what you do! :)

[@akjl01]

Your tone is unbelievable! 👌

[@loo524]

Beautiful man. Simply beautiful. 🌅

[@lcerretti]

You're a amazing Guy 🤘🎸🔥❤️

[@400_billion_suns]

Fantastic vid Dave!!! I've learned so much about tones from you. I use a Line 6 Helix but all your advice works just as well with it. Intro jam was incredible. That Paddlecaster looks and sounds great too!

[@redroverthefngamecat]

The knowledge throwdown. Astounding!

[@davedynamite77]

You should try the Marshall DSL 20...head all the tones are there

[@matheusfellipe9206]

i love you dave

[@lesfrithdidier2745]

Mode Turbo 2 ' sounds like a fuzz🔥🔥✌️. Good

[@Ryansick11]

Not gonna lie, you won my respect at the intro. Amazing,

[@theyrecousins]

Long time viewer, first time commenter (I think). I so dig and appreciate your videos, I came to them by happenstance both from my dad’s recommendation and from just looking up videos about Frusciante sounds. Your recommendation helped me to buy a Marshall MG series half stack last year when I got a wild hair to finally get a somewhat John-capable amp set up. Leading up to the new record I’ve been dialing in my guitar set up to get THAT tone. I’ve been a real reverby Jazzmaster guy for the last decade so coming back to the meaty, dry, chewy strat thing has been wild and so fun! I need to invest in a DOD fx65, but my cheapo Nux chorus has a surprisingly warm and a robust character, and certainly gets sounds of that tech era (it’s a dead ringer for that Crowded House chorus). My old DOD Milkbox really gets that chewy second pickup position for rhythm stuff. But I’ve gotta land one of those Ibanez wahs. Sorry for the long ramble, just very happy to watch this video while I’ve been reorienting my rig back to the JF specs.

[@thedavesimpson]

Thank you very much for watching. :)

[@haydendouglass06]

Amazing video as always!! And I’m really liking the beard! :)

[@RichardOfYork1967]

Kit build sounds good Dave :) , I suspect it's the player tho not the guitar

[@tom.guitar22]

I have a pretty close dirty clean tone preset for the boss katana 50 if anyone needs

[@riz1697]

TheTominator yes!

[@matthewmp111]

TheTominator yes please! Can you share?!

[@chan9041]

please share!!!! I just got a 50 mk ii and im having a really hard time finding a good john-ish tone

[@JasonTsimplakos]

ill take it

[@BRZguy]

I think the DSL's might sound shrill to you because of their stock speaker. A lot of people consider the 70/80 to be a harsh speaker. Mine is upgraded with a Celestion G12M 65 and it sounds perfect. Warm and vintage sounding.

[@paulcowart3174]

Love the 65s

[@-rubbersoul-]

what is the right speaker to get clean sound? probably maybe john mix 2 different kind of models?

[@samcarrejo3590]

Hey Dave I have an mg 100 hdfx head running into a raven cab with Celestine type speakers 412, what I do is run a green joyo tube screamer ( vintage overdrive) into the effects loop. What I set the pedal to from there is drive at about 15 percent , volume at 70 percent and tone at half or so maybe a bit more. From there the amp is on the dirty channel with the effects mix at 10 o clock, and the eq bass and mid at 6 and 8 respectively and the treble at 8 ish . The gain at 1 ( or the first little notch) contour at half( noon). Channel volume at 2 . The master at 7 or 8 . It’s the best I’ve got my amp to sound and it’s like a cool preamp and revoice to the mg it gives it a little more body and lively ness . I have a start and my only two pedals are the wh10 and the ds2 . I use the chorus from the amp . P.S. I first got the amp when I was 13 when a family friend gave it to me and I had know idea what to do or use it . Thanks to a good chunk of your vids I got to understand it , I’m 17 now and I practice a decent amount and I can understand more intricacies of the sounds and the speakers and the combinations of the equipment and stuff. Thank you Dave u helped a lot and I mean that very much . If I could be honest I would like to demo the sound one day probably soon so I’ll probably put a video on KZbin . But I would like to demo you some of my chili tones soon thanks Dave ur awesome man 👍🏽👍🏽

[@ToppaliniTube]

tweed amps are great for his tone in my opinion, especially with the ce-1 preamp coloring. also i think his tone is generally cleaner than people think

[@ph2234]

I fully agree, in contrary to what Dave preaches, that it is more dirty If you listen to the multi tracks, guitar isolated, sound board audio, live or anything, is tone is supper clean but has a little bit of crunch in it. It is often more dirty but that is almost always with the micro amp engaged or the ce1 pre amp turned up.

[@ToppaliniTube]

@@ph2234 this may be part right, but i think that's more the case with his live tone. in the studio, who knows what he's doing. that could be true, or he could only be using the ce-1 when he's using the chorus. so no preamp. and in the studio he'll be adjusting his amp a lot so. also yeah his tone is prettty dang clean. hendrix is a better example of a dirty/clean thing, but some of his songs are really clean too.

[@neilfotheringham2090]

Please can you do an in depth video on John’s “widdly-whoop” bits? I can do a fairly good impression of his style but you make the little sparkly bits sound brilliant!

[@KickflipGnasty]

That's a fairly standard rhythm and blues guitar technique. If you look up Hendrix rhythm guitar style on KZbin you could literally find hundreds of videos which explain that. It's very common.

[@LarryLido]

Amazing video. You basically took all the snipets of JF tone tips you’ve discussed in 20 different videos and put it all together in one nice tidy package. This is going to be one of your top viewed videos. If I was being critical i’d say that you never discussed the workaround for not having an Ibanez wh-10 wah (but I assumed it’s the Vox Silvertop and you’ve talked about that in other videos) that you mentioned you would discuss here. And that you sometimes repeated things when you could have used that time to talk about JF tone through other amps. I apologize if you dont want the constructive criticism. Either way congrats on the growing subscriber count and thank you for being authentic.

[@jonahmatos1253]

i didn’t even put the SSLs you gave me on my strat yet! i’ll be sure to have em high

[@Gtraxx1]

making that thing sing Dave! Love it

[@hatacamadaba]

Great work !! Now I have another vision about the frusciante's tone. Thank you! Can you do something like this but with the Hendrix's tone?