The Top 5 Things People Get Wrong About John Mayer's Gear

After spending years researching and diving into John Mayers gear and tone, these are what I believe to be the 5 most commonly wrong beliefs people have when it comes to his gear. Hope you learn something and enjoy the video!
Instagram: @justinguitarist
Time Stamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:30 - The BLKI Has Big Dippers
02:23 - The Klon Was Used During WTLI
03:17 - Copying John's Aqua Puss Settings
05:31 - Always On Pedals
06:48 - The Black Klon Is A Ceriatone Centura
I believe all content used falls under the remits of Fair Use, but if any content owners would like to dispute this I will not hesitate to immediately credit said content or come to a mutually agreed upon decision. It is not my intent in anyway to infringe on content ownership.
All content on my channel expresses the views and opinions of myself and myself alone. All topics and discussion are intended for entertainment and educational purposes. I encourage my viewers to make their own informed opinions.

[@hjalmarconte4999]

Finally ... someone who actually has a clue about John Mayer's tone/gear. I have also been gathering info about JM's gear for years, and all of my findings match 100% with what you say. People chasing JM's tone take note: this is a GREAT video and 100% accurate.

[@JustinJeske]

Hey thanks dude!! I appreciate it a lot! I feel that, been researching his gear and tone for what feels like forever!

[@foggyblues13]

New to the channel. Your page is an amazing resource !!!! I very much appreciate your work.

[@JustinJeske]

Thank you!!! Happy to be of help!

[@AshishLimbu]

informative ... top notch quality ... subscribed and you deserve a lot more subscriber which i believe happen soon

[@JustinJeske]

Thank you Ashish!!! I really appreciate that!

[@codymarsh4138]

This is great stuff man. You earned a sub for sure. Keep it up!

[@JustinJeske]

Thanks Cody!!!

[@afterjoe3042]

Great video! 10 mins flew by!

[@JustinJeske]

Thanks Joey!!!

[@thiagocesaro]

Congrats dude! Great video! I have a theory abou blacked out pedals. Maybe stage lights were reflecting on some pedals and dazzling his eyes. I know it could be pretty disappointing gear-wise if confirmed, but that's what I think the paint is for.

[@JustinJeske]

Thanks dude!! I’d buy into that theory if only pedals that had reflective surfaces were blacked out. The Providence Delay 80’s and CE-2 were blacked out and don’t reflect much light, if at all.

[@imfanuvsport]

So to get the BLACK1 sound, which pickups should you get? And what if you wanted to get the 64' sunburst? or the Monterey? :) nice video and good info!

[@maxgreen3336]

Such great content, can’t wait for the demos...

[@Nocean831]

Great video! I'm sure you have tons of video plans already, but it'd be cool to see a video on gain stacking for JM tones at some point! Or just gain stacking in general, with combos of some classic OD types.

[@JustinJeske]

Yes I will totally do that dude!

[@George-nm8ec]

Absolutely agree with this.

[@sebastianbaigorria5165]

Suscribed! Great channel! Regards from Argentina.

[@JustinJeske]

Thanks Sebastian!! Cheers from Canada 🇨🇦

[@ParkerDeBaryshe]

Great video as always man! Keep 'em comin!

[@JustinJeske]

Thanks bro!

[@gabrielmatsumoto2628]

Great video!

[@JustinJeske]

Thank you Gabriel!!

[@janjakovljev]

Great video! Awesome information and great camera work.

[@JustinJeske]

Thanks Jan!

[@robertlevasseur8896]

Is John's board (particularly the delay) in a loop or w/d/w or is it straight into the amp?

[@johnying9451]

thanks for the information，but do you know what pedal he switched on in second solo of belief in WTLI to give the feeling of two guitar playing at the same time？

[@JustinJeske]

That was the EHX Micro Synth! The old big box version (the new one is terrible).

[@walrusroom]

so thorough, love it

[@JakeBisognin]

How many milliseconds is his slap back delay? I seem to just sound like I’m in the 50s whenever I use a slap back haha

[@JustinJeske]

I have no idea the actual time. It’s so close it should be barely audible. Like an extension of your note rather than a separate copy of it. If that makes sense at all.

[@CesarBoas]

great content ! thanks for sharing

[@JustinJeske]

Thanks bro!

[@simont4435]

I wanted this to keep going.

[@JustinJeske]

Thanks Simon!!

[@mickkraviz]

great video! really like the quality of your content. Would love to hear a better mic tho :D

[@JustinJeske]

Thanks Mick! Yes I’m gonna get a better audio setup for sure! New camera and lens was the first step lol!

[@mickkraviz]

@@JustinJeske looking forward :)

[@jamariopetitte6542]

do you think texas specials are a good option for jm tone?

[@mobydick3895]

I own a 1992 SRV Signature Strat. When these came out, this was the only guitar that had the Texas Specials. They are hotter than most strat pickups, and they do not do that tinselly, trebly kind of strat tone. They are ballsy!

[@kento203r]

Hi, do you know what pedal is used for belief second solo? Is it Roger Mayer Octavia?

[@JustinJeske]

Nope, John doesn’t use Roger Mayer stuff! It’s the big box EHX Micro Synth!

[@kento203r]

@@JustinJeske I see! Thank you so much!

[@tendulkarification]

Hey buddy what happened to ur older frusciante videos

[@JustinJeske]

Clean slate for new content! I’ll talk about the new Peppers album and JF’s rigs once we get some more information!

[@tendulkarification]

@@JustinJeske oh i see well good luck for the future

[@del-cerro-bellavista]

Thanx man!

[@Diax1324]

I have the Snouse, and had the mk1 bb. Snouse is literally precisely identical. Its my absolute #1 OD.

[@MMtrox]

hey. got the black box classic? do you put the snouse at 2-3-3 just like the mk1? Thanks!

[@Diax1324]

@@MMtrox I run it with volume at 100% and gain/tone at noon, usually.

[@adam159]

The secret to johns tone is 3 pedal boards

[@michaelf6147]

I just learned that you really only need a Keeley katana or clean boost if you’re playing with a low output guitar. Nice.

[@mobydick3895]

These little preamps or boosters often are just "pickup adjusters" and are valuable to boost the gain up to a level needed for subsequent pedals to work better. I think people over-analyze gain pedal stacking, because no two rigs are ever going to be the same, really, even the tubes in the amps drive a lot of what is going on.

[@searom]

Nice!

[@AP-ui7oi]

The secret to John’s tone are his hands.

[@JustinJeske]

Hands don’t make an amp respond better or worse, or make a delays repeats darker or brighter. Your hands need to be able to play the gear and you have to know what to do, but hands are maybe half the tone battle.

[@unodeldim3610]

This is god information, but I've learnt over time that gear details must be taken lightly. If you want to sound like John Mayer, your biggest investment will be practice time. People hate to hear this, but so may great guitarists get that great single coil yet they use different gear.

[@craiger2399]

You can still get new Klons from Bill. Perhaps he just had bill make him a black one?

[@benjaminbramlitt2557]

EVERYONE PLEASE LISTEN. FIND YOUR OWN TONE DONT COPY SOMEONE ELSES TONE EXACTLY!

[@JustinJeske]

You will never be able to copy someone else’s tone exactly. You can closely approximate though with the right gear. Even John said “in failing to sound like SRV, I created my own sound”. Most of the greats tried to sound like their idols and in the process created their own style and sound. It doesn’t matter, whatever makes you pick the guitar up and makes you happy.

[@christophernuzzolo5977]

I bought this the other day, not to sound like JM but because I am an idiot and need yet another delay pedal. The pedal really, really does suck shit. I don't know why anyone would use this thing as it is only "good" for one thing, a very short delay, which ofcourse JM uses it for. Unfortunatly I have 10 other delays that can do a just as good short delay plus a whole lot of other delay sounds. JM's tone is just to good to chase with gear!

[@JP-hs6ii]

Own two Klons. The best pedal I have ever had.

[@jrobtrader]

The secret to JM tone is his fingers

[@JustinJeske]

40% fingers 35% speaker and amp 25% guitar or something like that I'd say!

[@nate2629]

@@JustinJeske yup, John even said himself in a IG live that it’s mostly the gear & that he’d probably get hate for saying it LOL

[@94SexyStang]

Tone Chasing is an endless road, you just chase your tail in circles, and you realize it's NOT the tone, but the hands of the player!! You give John Mayer a crappy $500 budget and he will sound MORE John Mayer than you with his OWN rig setup!!

[@realkylehooks]

I experienced this in real life. I was working in a session in Nashville with a guy who won Nashville Guitarist of the Year multiple times. His tone, predictably, was amazing. I asked to play it. His guitar, his board, his settings...sounded totally different with me on it.

[@SimpleManGuitars1973]

The BIGGEST misconception about ALL tone is that even if you plugged right into the rigs of your favorite players you STILL wouldn't "sound exactly like them". True tone is just something that is straight up in the dna of each and every player and gear just adds texture to what is already naturally there. When I was a kid I thought all I needed was a Tube Screamer and a Strat and I'd be the next SRV. Now that I'm older I know there will never be another SRV and ultimately that's what makes SRV SRV. When new players ask me about how to "sound like" their favorite player I always try and encourage them to sound like themselves. It's certainly alright to be "inspired by" but it's another thing altogether to straight up copy. It's obvious John is an SRV fan and even more of a Clapton fan probably from a tone perspective but you can still instantly identify him when you hear him and that's the greatest accomplishment any player can ever reach in my opinion. To have your own voice on your instrument is extremely hard to do.

[@JustinJeske]

Yeah, of course. The ultimate goal is to sound like yourself inspired by those you looked up to. John said in his failed attempt to sound like SRV he found his own sound. But you can get at least 90% of the way there with the right gear. My buddies did this demo, and Jake has incredible touch (hands helping give tone) but playing through an exact replica of Johns rig they sounded 95% of the way there at some points. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oGqanXqIg6aYodk I don’t think anyone actually thinks that they will sound 100% like someone with the gear, but there is a total misconception that the hands are 100% of the battle. To get close you need both, but far too many also rule out the gear. At the end of the day we’re all doing what John did, finding our own sound while attempting to sound like our hero. How close we get all depends on those factors.

[@SimpleManGuitars1973]

@@JustinJeske Man that's awesome that he has a John Cruz version of that Strat! I've actually thought a lot about getting that Q-Ton pedal because it seems like it would be really fun to mess around with and I've always loved that tone on I Don't Trust Myself and also I've wondered if he wasn't using that on Rosie as well. Rosie is a big hidden tone gem from John in my opinion. It never really gets talked about but I think he got some really cool tones on that song.

[@JustinJeske]

You’re right, he uses the Qtron for Rosie too! Probably my second favourite song on TSFE, so underrated!

[@SimpleManGuitars1973]

@@JustinJeske Yeah it sounds like something off an old Chicago album or something. Great changes and really fun to play over. Out of curiosity, did you score a Boss Tone Bender? I was able to get one and they're absolutely awesome if you like fuzz. I made a few little vids with my cell phone of me playing it with my different guitars and my AC30 and I think even on there it sounds good. If you can manage to get one I highly recommend them!

[@JustinJeske]

I have one on order but have zero clue if I’m still getting it. Canada seems to be very delayed for their orders so we’ll see if I still get mine. Fingers crossed cause the people I know who have one love it!

[@shankrl1]

I heard JM used the black ceriatone klone in where the light is and it was always on

[@josephturner9012]

I know that he reseanaed a fart on the floor of the woods for that sweet tone.

[@stratjed]

Really appreciate you passion for guitar . Question your obsession with Johns tone . I get that right now for this generation there isn't much else out there worth worrying about . I honestly and kindly point out Johns tone is always changing materially (GEAR) to match the tone in his head like all creative artists . Unless you can read minds this is a search for the Holy Grail. A basic SRV, Clapton, Garcia tone is the closest anyone other than john himself will ever attain. Please CREATE NEW MUSIC PEOPLE CREATE YOUR TONE we need you .

[@JustinJeske]

You see my background right lol? All the guitars and amps that have nothing to do with his tone at all, 77 100w Marshall Full Stack, Hi Powered Twin, Les Pauls, etc. Just cause it’s what I currently focus on and discuss on my channel doesn’t mean it’s my whole world in music or my sole obsession. Just keep that in mind! And I have to respectfully disagree, John’s base tone in terms of sound and/or gear isn’t always changing. The same basic formula has been there since 2005 and the JM3. High headroom clean amps (Two Rocks being used consistently in his main tours save for 2017), a green overdrive, another one to push it, etc. While the gear and tone has changed and evolved, it’s not to the point of not being able to get close. Of course no one but him will get 100% of the way there. But in attempting to imitate someone like John, we develop our own sounds and styles along the way. There is no right or wrong way to go about your gear journey. Just playing the guitar and enjoying music is the most important part! 😎

[@stratjed]

@@JustinJeske All good man, keep up the good work thank you . Truth be told I nerd out right along with ya !

[@HiHello-ku1fl]

Oh who gives a shit!! A good song means more than anything else. Something lacking these days.

[@JustinJeske]

I mean “who gives a shit” is quite a lot of people 😂🤦🏻‍♂️

[@HiHello-ku1fl]

@@JustinJeske 350 to be exact. lol

[@JustinJeske]

Yup cause the amount of likes mean everything! You’re so right! Feel free to keep engaging with my channel! Helps a lot so I really appreciate it!

[@HiHello-ku1fl]

@@JustinJeske I didn't mean who gives a shit about John Mayer. I meant who cares about exactly what he uses. Spend more time writing songs and less time on this stuff. Great players can make anything sound good.

[@JustinJeske]

Oh I know exactly what you meant. I mean 4000 people in my facebook group seem to care. 3000 subs and growing at a rapid rate to learn about it. Just cause you don’t give a shit doesn’t mean others don’t as well lmao

[@unitoftemp]

It's all in the fingers.

[@jdl2180]

Even the distortion and delay?

[@stringtheoryguitars4952]

@@jdl2180 Yeah apparently Hendrix had some seriously fuzzy fingers.

[@emirozdemir2037]

most overrated player of our times