Rig Rundown: Red Hot Chili Peppers [2017]

Before the Peppers’ gig at Memphis’ FedEx Forum, techs Ian Sheppard (above left) and Tracy Robar spend some time with PG’s Chris Kies cataloging the guitars, basses, amps, and piles of pedals they babysit to help the band craft their brand of California funk-rock.

This is Josh’s 1960 Fender Stratocaster he coined “Dashiell” after RHCP drummer Chad Smith’s son because he bought this 6-string at Chicago Music Exchange the same week he was born in 2012. Ian believes Fender built this for a NAMM show because it has a worn sunburst finish on the guitar’s neck, possibly making it a one-of-a-kind instrument. Ian had to use a Dremel tool to route out the back cavity for more room for the trem block.

This 1959 Fender Strat is called “Chick” after famed L.A. Lakers play-by-play announcer Francis Dayle "Chick" Hearn. On a previous tour, Josh was playing the closing solo in “Give It Away” when he dropped his pick and resorted to strumming the strings with his fist resulting in a fierce blow to the Strat’s middle pickup. The price tag for an original ’59 pickguard was too steep—over two grand—so Ian put a Band-Aid on it and voilà.

Here is Klinghoffer’s ’74 Fender Strat with a hardtail bridge that is referred to as “Gus” after King Gustav of Sweden because he acquired it in the “Land of the Midnight Sun.” A recent trip to the Fender Corona factory proved that this guitar should’ve never left the builder’s workbench because the neck was impossibly thin, however, Josh prefers this neck profile for all of his custom Strat builds.

This Fender Custom Shop Masterbilt Strat is named “Monty” after Richard Griffiths’ character in Withnail & I and is played on “Go Robot.”

Here’s another Fender Custom Shop Strat that is used on “fiddly” songs like “Snow (Oh Hey)” because of its shorter strap.

This 1967 Fender Tele Custom was a gift from former Peppers’ guitarist John Frusciante and is used on “Parallel Universe.” The gaff tape on the guitar’s body was put there by John because he often cut or scraped his arm while playing because of the Tele’s slab body getting in the way of his ferocious downstrokes.

A 1974 Fender Starcaster that rides in E-flat and is used on the song “Encore.”

While touring the Fender Custom Shop, Josh noticed a this completely hollow T-style hanging up in the hallways and he inquired about it and was told it was a one-off known as the “White Chicken.” If you remember in the 2012 Rig Rundown, Josh had a White Penguin used on “Californication” and “Other Side,” but this oddball has taken its place. Interestingly enough, the headstock says Fender, but inside the upper f-hole their rests a Gretsch label.

Ian believes this is a 1965 Gibson Firebird VII that gets brought out for “She’s Only 18.”

Flying with a second bird—this 1966 Gibson Firebird V-12 is reserved for “Breaking the Girl.”

When we met with RHCP guitarist Josh Klinghoffer in the summer of 2012, his pedal rig was one of the largest, most sprawling we’d ever seen. As of early 2017, plenty of the pedals have changed, but the extensive scale remains. While Klinghoffer’s stomps were previously spread across three boards, they now occupy two, plus four rack drawers. The larger board contains a Catalinbread CSIDMAN glitch/stutter delay, Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man and Holy Grail Nano pedals, a Death by Audio Interstellar Overdriver, an Xotic Effects EP Booster, and a bunch of Bosses (DM-2, DD-3, and DD-6 delays, a VB-2, vibrato, a CE-2 chorus, an RV-5 reverb, a DS-2 distortion, and a couple of FS-5L footswitches for activating a vintage Tone Bender MK 1.5 and a Klon Centaur).

A Bright Onion Pedals router enables various effects combinations via a Voodoo Lab Ground Control Pro (right), and a Radial Engineering SGI-44 routes the signal from Klinghoffer’s wireless receiver (not shown) to the board. In addition to the Ground Control Pro, the smaller board features a Line 6 FM4 Filter Modeler, an EHX Cathedral, and an expression pedal.

Housed in the upper slot are two rare gems that his guitars hit first—a Tone Bender MK 1.5 Fuzz and a Klon Centaur. The drawer below is stocked with a Voodoo Lab brick driving a Robot Pedal Factory Brain Freeze filter, an Electro-Harmonix B9 Organ Machine, ’80s Ibanez AF201 auto filter and BS10 Bass Stack stomps, an Xotic Effects SP Compressor, a Wampler Tumnus, a JHS Firefly Fuzz, and a Boss SP-1 Spectrum parametric EQ.

The next drawer is home to a Boss CE-2 Chorus, an Electro-Harmonix Memory Boy, an EarthQuaker Devices Dispatch Master, a Boss PS-3 Pitch Shifter/Delay, an Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man, an Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb, and a Misty Cave Echo. And all these stomps are powered by Voodoo Lab power supplies.

While his pedal platform is still monstrous, Josh has scaled back from three amps to two since the 2012 episode. (They removed the finicky Silvertone head from the equation.) Here sits his main Marshall—a ’70s Major that provides the basis for his tone with an emphasis on low end.

Replacing the Fender Super Six is this Fender Tone-Master that is now the bedrock for Josh’s top-end, glassy chime with a bell-like clarity.

These cabs are powered by the amps offstage. (The heads sitting on top are fully-stocked and serviceable backups.) The Marshall is loaded with Celestion 75-watt Creambacks and the Fender has Celestion Vintage 30s.

Flea’s current No. 1 is this Fender Custom Shop Jazz bass built by Jason Smith. It has an active Modulus Lane Poor pickup that was out of production, but due to demand from Flea and other bassists, is now available again. The current models on the market are called Legacy Lane Poor. It’s also outfitted with an Aguilar OBP-1 preamp. He keeps his knobs taped at his preferred settings (bass almost full up, treble rolled off) and only uses his volume knob live. It has a graphite neck that allows Robar to set Flea's action very low—4/64" on the bass side down to a 3/64" on the treble side—and Flea uses his signature set of GHS Boomers (.045–.105).

The legendary bassist is a longtime L.A. Lakers fan as evident with this paint job on his Custom Shop Fender Jazz bass. (He’s even played the “Star-Spangled Banner” before a home game.)

During the band’s last world tour, this blacked-out Modulus bass was his No. 1 cruiser.

This is a Modulus bass with the Aboriginal national flag with the controls built into a cavity on the back (only an on/off switch on the face) tuned down a half-step for “Breaking the Girl.”

Arriving just hours before the shoot, this relic’d Fender Custom Shop Bass is one of two that Flea got while in Memphis. (Rumor has it that Flea would eventually pick one and the other one would become Josh’s.)

Very similar to the 2012 Rundown, Flea uses three Gallien-Krueger 2001RB amps, one controls the other two as slaves. The amps run into three Gallien-Krueger 410 cabinets and three 115 cabs. There are two additional 2001RB amps in the rack, one is used when Klinghoffer plays bass when Flea jams on a grand piano, and the other is simply a backup.

In the nearly five years since our previous Rig Rundown with Flea, the 4-string Renaissance man’s stomp station has hardly changed: Back then it had just four pedals, and today it’s got five—three of which are the same models as before. In addition to the MXR Micro Amp, Electro-Harmonix Q-Tron, and Malekko B:Assmaster mainstays (the latter of which now has a box preventing accidental knob changes), Flea’s current board has a Boss GEB-7 equalizer and a Wilson Effects Freaker wah. A Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus provides volts and amps, and a Radial Engineering SGI-44 gets the signal from Flea’s wireless receiver (not shown) to his pedalboard.