Riff Tone

Minor Thing

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Guitarrock2000s

Original Gear

Guitar1962 Fender Stratocaster

AmpMarshall Major (studio), possibly Fender Tone Master blended

PickupsFender single-coil pickups (vintage spec, stock 1962 Stratocaster)

Amp Settings

gain5

bass5

mid6

treble7.5

reverb4.5

presence6

Effects & Signal Chain

reverbElectro-Harmonix Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb

fuzzElectro-Harmonix Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi

delayDigiTech DigiTech PDS-1002 Two Second Digital Delay

Notes

Studio recording, 2002. John Frusciante used his 1962 Stratocaster for most of By the Way, with Marshall Major as the primary amp and occasional Fender Tone Master for clean layering. Settings estimated based on era, genre, and forum/user reports for this specific song section.

Tone Character(10)

bright and articulatemid-scoopeddefined attackcrunchy edge-of-breakupslightly compressedwarm neck pickupdynamic responseclear note separationtreble-forwardopen and airy

Difficulty

The riff requires intermediate skill due to syncopated rhythm, dynamic picking, and maintaining clarity with a mid-scooped, crunchy tone.

Sources

Red Hot Chili Peppers – By the Way - Gear & Equipment Used on the Album | Equipboard 'minor thing' tone - forum topic Josh Klinghoffer on his Red Hot Chili Peppers relationship ...Hello everybody. Minor thing is one of my favourite songs. ...

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