“When he saw the guitars, he goes, ‘John’s going back to the Chili Peppers.’ I said, ‘No way is he ever going back’”: John Frusciante’s former guitar tech on the moment he realized the guitarist could be rejoining the Red Hot Chili Peppers

Top-tier guitar tech Dave Lee has rubbed shoulders with some bona fide rock and pop A-listers. His most well-known gig, though, is undoubtedly his long-standing role as John Frusciante’s guitar tech during his early Red Hot Chili Peppers days.

So, owing to the fact he was in Froosh’s inner circle, it might come as a surprise that the esteemed tech didn’t immediately suspect the famed guitarist was considering rejoining the Chili Peppers in 2019 – even after he was summoned to set up Frusciante’s neglected Fender electric guitars.

“Right before he returned to the Chili Peppers again in 2019, John called me up out of the blue,” Lee tells Boss. “I was in my garage when the phone rang, and ‘John Frusciante’ appeared on the screen. I hadn’t talked to him in years.

“I answered, and he said, ‘Hi Dave. It’s John.’ I paused for a second, and he goes, ‘Frusciante.’ It was the craziest thing. He said, ‘I haven’t played my Strats in years. I’ve been messing around with them lately, and I think they’re broken. They just don’t feel right. I’ve had them on a stand in my living room, and the sun gets on them. I think that might have ruined them.’

“So, I asked him, ‘Do you want me to come over and look at them?’ He goes, ‘Would you do that?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll come by tomorrow,’ and he goes, ‘That’d be great!’”

However, even after this call, it didn’t immediately cross Lee’s mind that Frusciante was seriously considering reuniting with Anthony Kiedis, Flea and Chad Smith.

“It didn’t occur to me,” he admits. “There’s a place I go to called Eric’s Guitar Shop, where I’ll take instruments for major repairs or maybe something I’m baffled about.

“At least, I thought it best to take some of John’s main Chili Peppers Strats to Eric’s for a second opinion: the Sunburst ’62 and ’55, the Olympic White ’64, and the Fiesta Red ’61. I also took the ‘60s Telecaster Custom.

“When Eric saw them, he looked at me and goes, ‘John’s going back to the Chili Peppers.’ I said, ‘No way is he ever going back to the Chili Peppers. I just spent two hours with him, and he’s the happiest I’ve ever seen him.’ But Eric goes, ‘I bet you he is.’ I guess he was right!”

Dave Lee String Changing Technique for John Frusciante - YouTube

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And while Frusciante did eventually ask Lee to rejoin his team, the in-demand guitar tech had to – regretfully – turn it down.

“I got a text from John. He wrote: ‘I know that you probably don’t want the job, but I’m just letting you know that it’s available to you if you want it.’”

He concludes, “Maroon 5 had so much work planned, so I texted him back saying, ‘John, I’ve committed to a bunch of stuff that I have to do. But I’ll gladly help you in any way I can to get stuff sorted out.’ It felt so weird having to turn that down!”

In recent John Frusciante news, the highly-respected guitarist's first-ever Fender signature guitar was recently unveiled – and it’s a $20k Custom Shop replica of his iconic 1962 Stratocaster.