Red Hot Chili Peppers’ former guitar tech Dave Lee has revealed that Eddie Van Halen’s tech once helped John Frusciante source an elusive vintage wah pedal – but the electric guitar god wasn’t particularly impressed with his gear choice.
Lee joined the RHCP’s wider circle of behind-the-scenes pros during Dave Navarro’s short stint in the band, having originally been recruited by the Jane’s Addiction man. Four years later, though, Lee was helping Frusciante – who rejoined the band in 1998 – to assemble his Californication pedalboard.
“It was a relatively small pedalboard for John to begin with,” Lee tells Boss. Among its humble inclusions was an original Ibanez WH10 wah pedal borrowed from SIR (Studio Instrument Rentals).
“John liked it so much that we took it with us when we left the studio. He wouldn’t use anything else,” Lee expands. However, Froosh’s reliance on the pedal would eventually prove to be a bit of sticking point as the shows rolled on.
Lee continues: “At the time, I didn’t realize how fragile they were. They kept breaking because they’re made of plastic. I thought I could just keep buying more, but they became increasingly difficult to find.”
Not one to be defeated, Lee turned to his Rolodex of contacts to get hold of another example of the revered-but-feebly-built wah – and Van Halen’s own guitar tech answered the call.
“Eddie Van Halen’s tech, Matt Bruck, was a genius at locating hard-to-find gear,” Lee says. “He helped us get John a WH10 and a Marshall Major [amp head]. I was at John’s house when Matt called me and said, ‘I’ve found you a WH10. I’m at Eddie’s house. You can come on over and pick it up if you like.’
“So, I drive over to the Eddie Van Halen residence, and when I pull up outside, Ed is standing there with the WH10 wah in his hand, just kind of looking at it. He goes, ‘Why does John Frusciante want a piece of crap like this?’
“I laughed and said, ‘Yep. You’re right. It is made of plastic, and they break all the time. That’s why we need this one. We only have one left,’” Lee relays. “He looked at me very seriously and said, ‘Listen, man. You need to tell John this is the only one left. Because when I’m using a pedal, and I think it’s the only one I’ve got, I’m a lot more careful with it.’
“That was some good guitar tech advice from Eddie Van Halen. John thought that was hilarious.”
Frusciante would leave RHCP for a second time in 2009, with Lee saying “the writing was on the wall” long before that moment. 10 years later, Froosh asked Lee to fix up some of his neglected Stratocasters – a move that hinted he was about to return to the band yet again.
Frusciante was recently bestowed with his first-ever Fender signature guitar, coming in at an eye-watering $20K.
