The Story Of John Mayer's 1964 Strat - The "Slow Dancing" Guitar

[@asehauDLM]

I've had the honor of hearing John play his '64 Strat live in Amsterdam from 2014 to 2019 (5 times total) and I truly believe it's his best sounding Strat. The BLK1 sounded weak in comparison (still great tho). Thank you for this great video, those 40 minutes went by way too quickly!

[@thashilramdass]

I think the black1 excels more in that 4th position slinky sort of sound. The 64 sound aggressive and massive with some gain on it. Always liked the Black1 for Gravity.

[@AQkju92]

The best performance with that guitar is his cover of „you don’t know how it feels“ Tom Petty cover 👌🏻

[@adamrae6579]

Couldn’t agree more, that was phenomenal! Another great one that has a similar vibe is Goin Down The Road Feelin Bad, the Grateful Dead cover from letterman

[@jonathanlong9176]

It’s one of the best performances I’ve seen out of him.

[@gabrielmaneiro]

one of the best videos so far! the 64 is a truly gem for those who know appreciate it! the slow dancing guitar! my fav mayer guitar, not even a doubt!

[@adamrae6579]

The 64 is my favourite of Mayer’s guitars. I was able to shoot my 2018 silver sky to a real vintage 64 (mint guard, transition logo, lam board) and sound and felt so close to each other. Neck shape was identical and pickups were voiced so similarly with a high-end that I think is missing from the current silver sky pickups

[@DaveRodriguez]

One of my favorite videos you've produced so far. Thank you, sir!

[@Tonetwisters]

My second guitar was a 1964 Stratocaster I bought used, in 1965. My first guitar was a 1954 Stratocaster, my dad gave me for Christmas of 1963. I was very fortunate.

[@joshscus]

I’m writing this comment while watching through the video, and it’s about the 12/3/08 Grammy Nomination show with BB King and John using the ‘64 for that performance. I would bet all the money I have (not saying much 😂), the the reason he used the ‘64 Strat is because he was quoted as saying his favorite BB King record, even his most favorite blues record of all time, is BB’s “Live at the Regal”, which, was recorded in…you guessed it: 1964. 😉 Absolutely killer video so far Justin!! This will forever serve as the perfect reference material for this guitar!

[@Gabriel-zk9gb]

Amazing content as always! So much interesting information! Can you do a story video on his Srv strat?

[@darrenjenkins6300]

Great video! Love the sheer amount of research you put into this 🙌🏼

[@hangingchad_]

I judt finished your excellent documentary on the Black 1, and now I'm here, and I'm subscribed. Phenomenal work!

[@Giballi24]

Great vid! Enjoyed it buddy, keep ‘em coming!

[@brandonmarriott6456]

alright. so. i clicked on this video both because i enjoy your content and i spoke to who i believe to be behind the reverb listing. The story he told me at the shop he had in Vegas when i stopped in was almost identical to the one in that listing. He worked at Manny’s for years and has a comment under a groundguitar article about johns ‘64 claiming this as well. He said to me that he was John’s go to “guitar guy” when he lived in NY during the early to mid 2000’s. He told me stories of John’s collection(including him having 2 Monterey strats, one just as a collectible, and him walking into johns apartment to a room that had about 8 Dumbles in it), meeting up with him before or after his shows, had a guest pass for the 2018 world tour (with pics of him, Pino, and Steve Jordan), i find it all too elaborate to have any desire to fabricate. He showed me pics of him back stage with the stones, told me stories of other huge guys that would come into Manny’s like Prince with endless stories to accompany. He also claimed to have sold John a early CBS strat with pics on his ipad to support all of this (i can’t confidently say it was the hendrix strat but it may have been, it was in the same setting as the pics of John with the Hendrix strat, same guitar tech in the background, etc). He also showed me physically a master built replica of one of his personal ‘50s strats (with pics of them side by side) so that aligns with that story. I just find it extremely elaborate if it was a lie and he had all of these things together long before I showed up and had tons of other pics and videos with other big names. He has also sold his fair few guitars to Bonamassa. Just wanted to say what I heard of the story!

[@JustinJeske]

So the guy who made the reverb listing isn’t the original owner of the 64. He’s someone who bought it off of the guy who sold John his 64 (as the story goes) and had it for a few months then decided to sell it again. I wouldn’t doubt the person you are talking about sold John the ‘64. Like I said in the video it seems like a very odd thing to make up and someone did have to sell it to John. That said the story seems partly lost in translation with the date being one thing where we have John saying multiple times 2005/2006. But that easily could be an easy and honest mistake on the sellers end. I’d have a way easier time believing all of it if that Cruz ‘64 actually was an accurate replica of John’s. That’s the one thing in the whole story that has no actual explanation as to why it is the way it is. That story by itself pretty much checks out, the guitar… not so much.

[@brandonmarriott6456]

@@JustinJeske definitely fair!! I remember him telling me a timeline closer to ‘05/‘06 but a lot of what he was talking about seemed to be memories he had to kinda dust off. I’m sure the custom shop also has to be a little cautious with certain trademarks like with the BLK-1 and it could just be a matter of not doing the due diligence, the dot spacing could be fairly easily overlooked but the logo and burst (if anything the ‘64 would’ve been more vibrant when he got it) are troubling.

[@JustinJeske]

@jessegago7163 Hi Jesse. There was zero intention to show no respect or research into that part of the story. I think my work speaks for itself that I always approach things with that in mind. Hence the nit-picking. If I’m going to the level of detail that I do in attempt to get everything correct, I’m going to point out anything that appears to be a discrepancy. Did I nit-pick a bit too much? Sure, I can see that. Like I said in my response to Brandon a while back, if the guitar matched the look of John’s 64 (in my opinion of course) I probably wouldn’t have nit-picked the story to the level that I did. And why my questioning of the story had much more to do with the replica guitar itself. So there was no intention to show no respect for the story. I was just trying to point out that here is a guitar that is supposed to be a replica and the seller is retelling a story in their listing, but to me this doesn’t quite look like John’s guitar, so that opens up the story in the listing to some questioning to see if we can get anything else that might help figure it out. I think that’s a fair thing to have done. Again, no disrespect at all was meant. I can also offer to cut that part of the video out entirely if you would like. It’s no trouble to, and hopefully that shows my intentions as well. Cheers!

[@jessegago7163]

@@JustinJeske I appreciate your message. I'm sure things sometimes get lost in translation, and sometimes dates get mixed up. I sold many, many vintage guitars to working musicians, collectors, and many guitar legends in my 30+ years in the business. I feel lucky, grateful, and humbled to have met and been able to connect people with such amazing instruments. I have since retired from the guitar business. So when I share a story with someone, it's just fond memories, nothing more. I have nothing to gain from it. As far as the 1964 Strat is concerned, I did sell that guitar to John Mayer. He was a very regular customer at Rudy's Music starting in the early 2000's. When we acquired that guitar, we all liked it very much. So much so, that I decided to call John about it that same day. He came over that afternoon, instantly bonded with it, and bought it on the spot. The guitar was all original, including the pick guard. It was in much better cosmetic shape when it was sold. John played it quite a bit. He told me himself that he had it re-fretted at Fender with larger frets. John was always a very cool guy, and purchased many beautiful instruments from me at Rudy's Music. I also was the person that introduced him to the Two Rock amp line. Sold him his first two, and introduced him to the owners of the brand. Not long after they collaborated and came out with his signature model. He was a great customer of the shop. The Masterbuilt replica was made by the Fender Custom Shop. I requested it to be as close to John's guitar as possible. I did request a flatter radius, modern wiring, and larger frets, as they were more popular among our customers. I never sold the guitar as a John Mayer replica. I sold it as a 1964 Strat inspired by the guitar I sold John. Also, the color on that picture looks very off. Perhaps bad photo-shop, bad lighting, or bad photo. I don't know, as I didn't take those photos. These were taken after it left my shop. I would appreciate you cutting that out of the video, as I feel, it is inaccurate based on the info you had. I hope that my message here clarifies it a bit. All the best to you. Cheers!

[@JustinJeske]

@@jessegago7163 Hey Jesse, I appreciate the response back! You have some incredible tales, especially for Mayer fans, and have really sold John some of his most well known gear. That's unreal! I've clipped that part out (youtube takes awhile to update stuff like this) but it should be removed later today. I hope one day I can stop by the shop and we can chat more about these awesome stories in person! Cheers, and apologies for the confusion with the telling of that part of the story!

[@budgetguitarist]

Cool video! As big of a guitar nerd as I am, I've seen John five times and in concert I never once gave any thought to which guitar he was playing on which song, because they all sounded fantastic. That said, I am a big fan of the Silver Sky. Not as a player - I prefer a thinner neck. But the fact that John asked Fender to make some changes for him and they wouldn't do it so he left, and Paul came in and said roughly "We will work with you and use your ideas." And the Silver Sky got trashed at first as a Strat copy, but then it became a hit, and THEN they put out the SE version and it outsold everything else on the market. Players who want to be like John can get a used SE for $600. Are there sonic differences between his guitars? Sure. But I love that a kid can get a good copy of John's guitar for not much money. It is for that reason that I like John playing Silver Sky guitars on stage.

[@brendanmaher8267]

Incredible video, just finished it!

[@MintyBitesBack]

You are so so brave. And so so inspiring.

[@zitnbit]

blk1 -> 64 -> silver sky. What a journey. I like 64 the most but unfortunately it is hard to listen that guitar lately. I understand that it is too old to be played hard. But, I wanna hear some more. Btw, thanks for the great video!

[@echnaton2274]

Love it! Pumped to watch it. :)

[@ethannavarro943]

in the battle studies era, the 64 was used for performances of voodoo chile. my favorite was a performance where he used “machine gun” as an intro for the hendrix tune. it was epic.

[@jonasjacobsen9702]

Damn that London performance is absolutely insane

[@ThePandaProcrastinates]

Another great performance with the 64 is at Jones Beach 2017 playing Vultures! He takes a drum stick to it, Buddy Guy style.

[@thashilramdass]

The Silver Sky is cool but for me the Black1, Monterrey and 64 will always be the Mayer sound.

[@AntonioLopez-bc6qg]

Facts

[@jeffboles2470]

For as much as we love the black 1 it has a very particular sound that, myself also being a strat player understand, doesn’t cut in a mix so well. Don’t get me wrong, if you’re the feature like John is at his shows, they’ll carve out sonic space for it and have you cranked. I think the 64 has more midrange and sits in a mix better though. That’s why it cuts on the 2 and 4 position. That’s why it worked for the country phase. It has more utility in a variety of sonic spaces.

[@jeffboles2470]

Let me also add that, the black 1 being used live a ton for the continuum era, particularly on Gravity, has distorted our view on its place in John’s usage history. For all we know the 64 could have gotten much more mileage in the studio for that very album.

[@tomsandowtz]

@@jeffboles2470 John when talking about that album said that the BLK1 IS the sound of Continuum and was used all over the record. So your thoughts on that guitar having a distorted view due to its live use is inaccurate.

[@jeffboles2470]

@@tomsandowtz the OP used the words “the Mayer sound”. No one is debating that the black 1 was big during continuum, especially when touring. That actually exactly what I’m saying. It’s not the only key guitar for John though. Clearly his most notable signature guitar was made after this 64

[@adamhotrod]

I'm getting the idea that for live performances at least, John can get the tone he wants out of whatever Strat he happens to select. If we're all completely honest, it's a tough call to hear the differences between Vintage/Modern/Custom shop strats at the best of times, let alone in a live setting. The vast majority of our guitar preferences are about how are guitar feels when you're playing it rather than how it actually sounds. Who's playing it, the signal chain and the amp have a far greater effect than the nuances of 50 year old pickups and wood. Great video though, really enjoyed this one and the BLK1 video.

[@CraigMorin-k1q]

Love your channel.

[@misterbeane]

If I'm not mistaken, early SRV sigs actually came with brazilian rosewood boards, and then they transitioned to pau ferro when the conservation stuff started, so Mayer's could possibly have brazilian, but I'm not that eagle-eyed. Also, it's 100% obvious that in the original recording of SDIABR, it's the middle pup, and I honestly have no idea why any semi-talented/experienced guitar player would think otherwise. I mean...it doesn't sound like any of the other positions...like...yo. That said, I'd LOVE to hear John explain why and at what point he decided to always play SDIABR in position 4, which I bet has something to do with the phase issues with the 1/3/5 positions, which always are more problematic to use live. Also, fun fact, I always thought it was interesting how in the origin song of Belief, commonly referred to as "Simmering Melody" in a lot of the pre-Continuum bootleg live recordings, he almost always plays the entire song using only the neck pup.

[@misterbeane]

One last thing, I also think it's funny how absolutely terrible his tone on the 64 during Helpless on the Bud Light Dive Bar performance is. It must've been the micing or something, because I feel like that entire performance, not just Helpless, is full of less-than-average tones, and since we know the gear itself is legit, that had to have been it.

[@nathanw32]

@@misterbeaneJmods

[@guitarbygus]

I love that performance. Gets the Albert king thing going.@@misterbeane

[@misterbeane]

It's a great performance, it's just that that is one performance where I feel like his tones sound nothing like he normally does. The guy above commented that it's the JMOD PRS amps, and I don't remember what his setup was for that show, but either way that's just one of the only shows where I feel like his tone is unusually bad@@guitarbygus

[@adam159]

The bend at 4:32 though at the dive bar sounds sweet, probably Jmod about to blow 😂

[@bodenschatz10]

This is excellent. How in the world did the wear repair itself since John purchased the guitar?

[@mackenzievaillancourt4368]

Just want to make the most minor correction, but the Silver Sky debuted on April 9 in Boston, not April 11 in Chicago. Another great video Justin, keep it up!

[@JustinJeske]

100%! I always just think in my head it was Chicago for some reason 😅 but Boston makes sense to be the place as it’s a special city for him too.

[@60secondfrenzy93]

Oh yesss that '64. All these years I though this was the same guitar on the heavier things album cover and thought he just replaced the pick guard

[@RobbyFireTV]

Crazy long form, but very good dude!

[@AntonioLopez-bc6qg]

Do you think it’s difficult to switch back and forth? I personally need a moment to adjust when going back and forth between Fender Strat and PRS SS.

[@Larson357]

I wasn’t able to catch were he talks about the pickups? What pickups does John have on his 1964 please ? Do they sell the same type on guitar shops ?

[@garailac]

My favourite performance of him with that guitar is the 2013 Wembley Slow Dancing mid solo... Unfortunately the only recording on KZbin has terrible quality, but even still the playing and the tone was something else there

[@ryangunwitch-black]

I hadn’t realized 23 minutes of this was going to be about a guitar JM had absolutely nothing to do with. 😅😂👍

[@isiahkeithh]

I would love to see John play the SRV Strat

[@anexiole]

hmmm... This '64 strat was also used in the "wait til tomorrow" (in the 'Where the light is' gig) clip I believe?

[@gabrielmwangi6576]

That’s the 1966 Hardtail Strat

[@ianclevenger9714]

My favorite Mayer strat

[@SusanLewis-vb1fv]

Can you do a critique of the guitars John plays with Dead and Company?

[@photobouph]

Personally this is my favorite guitar he played, I like it over the Black1

[@1964vintage]

The custom shop version has a brown tortoise shell guard Johns has a red tortoise shell which is completely different.

[@AntonioLopez-bc6qg]

If I want to order a custom shop version closest to this, how should I go about that?

[@jovanhalim8408]

what pickup can get me closer to this 64 tones?

[@tylergorham7301]

Hi Justin! Loved this video, thanks for the deep dive! Hey--I have a BLK-1-inspired Xotic XSC-1 that you might think is neat. I'd love to send photos just to nerd out over it, but don't have Instagram. Let me know if there's a good way to get into contact. All good if you'd rather not!

[@SunnyKlein-vr7eh]

I would bet that the masterbuilt was not made as a replica because just like with Stevie John owns that guitar so that can't build an exact, they can do a build that is really close to John's 64 but not exact which is why the logo is different as well as the burst

[@Gretev1]

1:32 This statement is incorrect. In 1965 Fender used polysol coated wire in their Strat pickups and in late 1964 they used enamel coated wire pickups. These pickups are not the same. 65 Starts sound hotter and have pronounced mids and an upper midrange squawk. The late 64 Strats have very scooped mids and sound round and smooth and have a lower output. Essentially the late 64 pickups are the same as 69 Strat pickups.

[@mikem668]

Don't mean to be critical... But comparing colors from photographs is insane. Anyone who's prepared images for the web and PC versus Apple monitors knows it's a pain. With a live image, who knows what the lighting was, let alone the color balance in the camera. Also, you won't have the problem anytime soon, but I had cataract surgery in one eye and not the other. Looking at my cell phone I thought the surgery went wrong. The "new" eye sees blue, the "old" red and yellow. Basically the old lens is similar to the smoke that clouded Michelangelo's frescoes on the Sistine ceiling, before they were cleaned. I bought a Dragon Fruit Silver Sky SE from Sweetwater based on photos. I hate the color. With either eye. Didn't look anything like what I saw on the site on my phone. If someone had told me about this when I studied art history, I probably wouldn't have believed them. For me, the logo is more persuasive. That said, even though the "copy" it's a Masterbuilt, based on Fender's recent performance who knows. Fender apparently can't make a case that latches based on my Vintage II's and PRS can't make one you can lift. Anyway, like your channel and John Mayer. Thanks.

[@blahblahfaghrii3061]

John Frusciante video soon? ) 🎉

[@Utube-g3g]

Idk why I thought it was a 63 strat. Maybe because the pick ups are 63’s.

[@mikasihite5346]

I wonder why he chose the 64 instead of the black 1 as the basis of the silver sky

[@JordanAllenClark]

Black one was based on his SRV with the underwound/atypical pickups he had in there. The 64 is the guitar that made the records and his go to studio guitar, so that’s what he’d prefer to have as his only guitar he’d need. Ergo, the Silver Sky.

[@JustinJeske]

@TheJDawg117 BLK1 was based off of SRV’s No. 1, not John’s own SRV Sig. John’s Sig Strat was built based off of John’s SRV Sig with those under wound pickups. The BLK1’s pickups weren’t based off of those! I agree though that the 64 is John’s perfect version of what a Vintage Fender should be, so modernizing that over the BLK1 would make more sense.

[@tmmuscics2753]

@@JustinJeskeso does that mean that the black1 just has regular Texas specials?

[@JustinJeske]

@@tmmuscics2753 no, they aren't Texas Specials in that guitar! We know more about what they aren't, than what they are. There's some stuff I am not at liberty to say but they aren't Texas Specials or Big Dippers.

[@JAHarry6]

I recon he'll go back to playing strats one day.

[@Utube-g3g]

He has hundreds of them. He still loves them. I’m betting on that too.

[@JAHarry6]

@@Utube-g3g I actually talked to a very highly regarded guitar luthier and he said that anyone that really knows guitars knows that silverskys are just poorly constructed and won’t have the same longevity as fender guitars.

[@ctown6592]

@@JAHarry6lol, no. I have both. The core silver sky is constructed perfectly.

[@brendanmaher8267]

Looks like in that Helpless solo snippet he was on the bridge pickup even though it sounds like the 3rd position. hmmm.

[@brendanmaher8267]

OH WAIT. He totally switched from 3rd position to 1st position halfway through the solo. Nevermind!

[@hangingchad_]

I am nearly positive he was in position 2... And then switched to the neck.

[@brendanmaher8267]

@@hangingchad_I actually meant neck not bridge but I do think he was in 3rd

[@hangingchad_]

@@brendanmaher8267 lol I didn't catch that, but I knew what you meant. I meant bridge and middle when I said position 2. Anyway, I just listened back, and I don't know if I'm confused by what this guy is saying, but after listening closely and watching VERY closely, at 25:54 John switches from position 3 to position 2 (bridge and middle) to play the solo, and then he switches to position 5 (neck). At 26:59, when he's playing Good Love, that absolutely is the 3rd position. If you go back and forth, you can hear how much more nasal the tone is on Helpless, which comes from the out of phase bridge and middle position. It's hard to describe the middle position sound, but Good Love is it, for sure. It's not as nasal, but a lot woodier sounding, if that makes any sense at all...

[@Nordic_Sky]

Slab boards are better.

[@hangingchad_]

🤣sure man...👌

[@Andromeda2976]

Sorry 20:33 till 20:56 is false. But in overall, very informative and thankyou for sharing.

[@tomsandowtz]

That's literally a clip of John playing the guitar...

[@Andromeda2976]

Yes the notes are false, not saying this to impress but to be clear@@tomsandowtz

[@guitarbygus]

i dont get how the notes are false? are you sure its 20:33? @@Andromeda2976

[@andruwthompson]

what do you mean it’s false? lol there’s nothing true or false in that time frame

[@Andromeda2976]

sorry 26 years expertise so those notes are false, period. It´s still nice, but it´s false. That´s a fact.@@andruwthompson

[@redpanada]

A very nice video to watch but john’s tones and his sound are not affected that much by his 64 at all when everything is mostly from his fingers and his world class rig and settings. Love how you use your sentiments and delusions to make this video anyway… cheers

[@tubingforever]

In fact, I think it's one of his least iconic guitars. It's all about the Black1.

[@JarnoDamWichers]

Great research and good story! Nice job @justinjeske