Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication
The music gear and equipment used by the artists, producers, engineers, and more involved in the making of the 1999 album Californication.
Music from Californication
Gear Used On Californication
Explore the instruments, equipment, software, and production tools used in the making of Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication (1999). Click more on each item to see exactly how it was used.
John Frusciante
Roles:
Guitars used by John Frusciante on Californication
Semi-Hollowbody Electric Guitars
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Gretsch G6136-CST White Falcon Electric Guitar
Avg price: $63,863.32
John Frusciante can be seen playing his Gretsch White Falcon Electric Guitar throughout this live performance of Californication with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, live at Slane Castle. A great close-up shot of the guitar can be seen at 0:39 into the video.
In an interview with Vintage Guitar magazine, when asked about some of his favorite guitars in his collection, Frusciante mentions his Gretsch White Falcons. In the same interview he talks about how he came to find it by purchasing different guitars thinking he would play a different way on each: "With the white Strat, it was a neat experience because it made me play different, and made the band sound different. If I hadn’t gone through a phase of buying, I never would have came upon the White Falcon..."
Avg price: $3,450.00
John acquired this guitar sometime in the early to mid 2000s. To our knowledge, the guitar is first mentioned in 2007 [Guitar Player, November 2006], although this could possibly be the same Jaguar that he used during the Californication sessions in 1999. At that time, the guitar belonged to the studio engineer, Jim Scott. [Guitar Player, September 1999]
By 2009 [VintageGuitar magazine – John Frusciante Red Hot On The Empyrean], John converted the guitar to a Roland GR-300 guitar synthesizer. This basically required doing some changes to the body to fit the circuitry and to control knobs from the what we assume was a stock Roland GR Controller. John’s reasoning behind doing instead of just using one of the stock guitars is unfortunately unknown.
Avg price: $2,999.00
John Frusciante plays his Martin 0-15 in the official music video for Road Trippin'.
Effects Pedals used by John Frusciante on Californication
Avg price: $134.00
John is clearly seen using a Boss FZ-3 on his 1998/1999 Californication recording session pedalboard and it remained on his tour pedalboard until 2000.
Avg price: $550.00
He has used the CE1 for all he's career for main chorus sound. I think he used also the CE2 but can't find nothing. This photo is from the Californication's recording sessions, but this pedal can be seen in every live video and pedalboard pic.
Guitars used by Josh Klinghoffer on Californication
Avg price: $2,725.41
"A new one at the beginning of this tour is the White Penguin. Josh just plays this on a few of the Californication era ones. In a way it's a bit of a tip-of-the-hat to John. And it's very shiny! A lot of people are very attracted to it. I get more comments about this than anything else. I'm not that keen on these bridges though because they just seem to fold a bit. I have a lot of spares to patch things together. I will say that Josh puts a lot of stress on things. So we spent a lot of time every day going around checking nuts and bolts and tidying things. it's just everyday maintenance," says Josh Klinghoffer's guitar tech.
Fender Custom Shop White Chicken Thinline Telecaster
Josh Klinghoffer plays a Fender Custom Shop White Chicken Thinline Telecaster, as seen in the Red Hot Chili Peppers' performance of "Otherside" during the 2016 Super Bowl 50 concert. He chose this guitar because he was dissatisfied with the high string action on his Gretsch White Penguin. This Telecaster is also featured in performances of "Californication."
Bass Guitars used by Flea on Californication
Avg price: $1,175.62
This is flea's most valuable bass. It is a fender 1961 shell Pink jazz bass. It is very rare because of its colour and age. He got this bass from a fan while on californication tour. Flea used this bass to record stadium arcadium. This bass can be seen in californication music video. Other apearences are in dani california and hump de bump. He used this bass on stadium arcadium tour, but later switched to his modulus bass. Fender later made a signature artist copy of this bass.
Music Accessories used by Flea on Californication
Dunlop Tortex Standard 0.73mm Guitar Picks
Avg price: $5.70
Flea, the bassist for Red Hot Chili Peppers, incorporates pick playing alongside his signature fingerstyle and slapping techniques. He began using a pick on the album "Californication" and continued on "By The Way" and "I'm With You." Notably, in the studio, Flea opts for a Dunlop Tortex Standard 0.73mm pick. However, during live performances, he often uses a 0.60mm Tortex, likely borrowed from bandmates John or Josh. Songs where Flea uses a pick include "Parallel Universe" from "Californication," "This Is The Place," "Don’t Forget Me," and others from "By The Way," as well as "Annie Wants a Baby" and "Even You Brutus?" from "I'm With You." This information is sourced from a 2002 article on the Red Hot Chili Peppers fansite, TheChiliSource.com.
Microphones used by Anthony Kiedis on Californication
Avg price: $112.54
"Anthony always used an SM57 for his lead vocals. We put it on a stand, but I'm sure he held it in his hand, and leant on it and swallowed it. That's how he gets his sound, but it meant that it was important to compress him, in order to protect the tape."