John Mayer
John Mayer’s sound feels so fresh and new that it’s easy to forget he’s been making records since the late ‘90s.
As he’s evolved as a guitarist, so too has his sound, which stays true to his blues roots, while embracing new innovations and techniques along the way.
Image Credit: Christina
How to get the John Mayer Tone
The Mayer tone has evolved over the years, but at its core has consisted of a Fender Stratocaster (and later single coil pickup PRS guitars) through a Fender amp, though in recent years he has used Two Rock and PRS amps, along with 15 effects pedals to create a guitar tone that is unmistakably his own.
From his early years right the way up to the 2015, the guitar most commonly associated with John Mayer was the Fender Stratocaster, with Mayer owning a few notable Strats over the years.
In 2018 Mayer swapped his Stratocasters for the all-new PRS Silver Sky, built to his specifications
Fender Stratocasters
There are a few Stratocasters immediately recognisable as John Mayer’s, including a few which are recreations of other famous musicians’ guitars. These include his Jimi Hendrix Monterey Strat and numerous Stevie Ray Vaughan “SRV” Stratocasters and while not a direct copy, several “Crashocasters”, as popularised by Eric Clapton.
Between 2006-2014 Fender sold a John Mayer Signature Stratocaster, as well as limited run replicas of BK1, based largely on his Signature model.
“The Black One”
In November 2004 John took delivery of “The Black One”, a Fender Custom Shop model made by master builder John Cruz, built to similar specs as the Stevie Ray Vaughan Signature model.
This guitar has been used extensively by Mayer in live performances as well as in the studio, still making occasional appearances to this day. Most notably it was used almost exclusively throughout the recording Mayer’s third album, Continuum.
The Black One came in a roadworn finish as requested by Mayer, in order to give a greater resonance and improve the natural acoustics of the guitar.
Specs
Model: Fender Custom Shop model “The Black One”
Pickups: 3x Single Coil, custom spec
Fretboard: Rosewood, 9.5 inch radius
Frets: 21
Notes: Roadworn for greater resonance
PRS Silver Sky
In 2015 John switched from Fender Guitars to PRS, developing his first signature guitar for the company, the Super Eagle, before unveiling the Silver Sky in 2018.
The introduction of the PRS Silver Sky was more of an evolution of Mayer’s love for a Stratocaster than it was a complete departure, with stories of Mayer approaching Paul Reed Smith to build the guitar after failed attempts to get the exact specification he wanted from Fender.
By Mayer’s own admission “This guitar is based off the Strat” and in many respects pays homage to what he loved about the vintage spec models he had become so closely associated with.
In his words the main difference tonally between the two is that he wanted to “take out a lot of those frequencies that you sort of have to work to roll off” on a Strat.
The Silver Sky can be seen as a modern re-imagining of the Stratocaster, not dissimilar to the G&L Legacy model. Rather than being another company’s attempt to capitalise on the popularity of the Strat, the PRS took a ground-up approach to making an SSS configuration guitar.
As the Silver Sky is reasonably new (released in 2018) there aren’t many variations outside of colour and fretboard material to choose from, with all versions using the same pickups and specs otherwise.
Notable Appearances
Specs
Model: PRS Silver Sky
Body: Alder
Pickups: 3x 635JM Single-Coil Pickups
Fretboard: 7.25 inch Maple or Rosewood
Frets: 21
Affordable Alternatives
Squier Classic Vibe Stratocaster
The Squier Classic Vibe Stratocaster is the most affordable way to get vintage Stratocaster tones, but many argue it’s also one of the best.
For players whose last experience of a Squier was the one their roommate from college had with a broken input jack and the original, but very aged strings… these guitars have come a long way since then, and the Classic Vibe series are the best examples of that.
Fender Vintera ‘60s Hot
The Fender Vintera series offers a lot of guitar for the money: not only do the Mexican-made models often rival their American counterparts at a fraction of the price, but many of the models offer a Hot version, with higher output pickups.
The Vintera ‘60s Hot would be ideal for players wanting to replicate the tone of the SRV Stratocasters John Mayer played, which would later be used as the starting point for his PRS signature guitars.
SRV Signature Stratocaster
While this might not be a John Mayer Signature guitar, it is the same signature guitar that John Mayer used to play, making them perfect for people looking for the tone heard on his albums right the way up until the mid 2010s.
Fender no longer make Stevie Ray Vaughan Signature Stratocasters, but they can still be found on the second hand market for considerably less than a PRS Silver Sky.
Available From
Acoustic Guitars
Martin Signature Guitars
John Mayer has used a Martin OM28-JM as his main acoustic guitar for almost 20 years. As the JM initials at the end of the model number indicate, it is a signature model made by Martin Guitars for John Mayer. The guitar was limited to just 404 units.
Martin have produced a number of John Mayer signature guitars in recent years, including the D-45 JM Dreadnought and 0042JM-C Crossroads Cocobolo, with proceeds going to Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Centre.
Most recently Martin have released the OMJM John Mayer Signature Orchestra Model, which is again limited to 404 units, but still available from certain online guitar stores.
Available from
Specs
Model: Martin Guitars OMJM
Body Size: 000-14 fret
Body: Top: Solid Engelmann Spruce, Back & Side: East Indian Rosewood
Neck: Low Profile
Fretboard Radius: 16 inch
John Mayer uses Ernie Ball Regular Slinky Strings (0.010 gauge) on his electric guitars, and according to Ernie Ball’s advertising, has done “famously since 2005.”
For his acoustic guitars, Mayer sticks with the Ernie Ball brand, using Earthwood strings, which use an 80/20 Phosphor Bronze mix.
John has always embraced the potential of effects pedals, combining well-known pedals with new and sometimes unknown pedals to achieve his sound.
In 2019 Instagram account johnmayergear broke down the pedalboard (and it’s signal chain) used during the Dead and Company tour, which remains the most up-to-date and comprehensive look into John Mayer’s pedals.
The pedals are as follows:
(Guitar)
Xotic Wah XW-1
Keeley Katana (not shown)
TC Electronic Polytune (not shown)
Ibanez TS10
Klon Centaur
Electro-Harmonix Q-Tron+
Channel switcher for the ODS
MXR Phase 90
Strymon Volante
Source Audio True Spring
Tap Switch
Boss TU-3 for acoustic.
Sustain pedal
(Amp)
Pedals To Get The John Mayer Tone
JHS Bonsai
The Ibanez Tube Screamer is a long-used fixture of Mayer’s pedal board, used to add a bit more to the mids some find lacking in Fender amps.
There are a lot of tube screamers to choose from, with many costing hundreds on the second hand market, which is what makes the JHS Bonsai so brilliant: you can choose from nine different tube screamer styles with just the turn of a dial.
Available From
Electro-Harmonix Soul Food
John uses a Klon Centaur to get a ‘clean boost’ for his guitar tone. The Centaur has become a wildly collectable pedal in recent years, with prices in the thousands, leading to many companies creating functionally similar pedals, often called “Klones”.
The Centaur is effectively a clean boost pedal, which means there are plenty of alternatives to choose from. While each have their own unique properties and voicing, the Electro-Harmonix Soul Food is particularly well-suited to the blues tones favoured by Mayer.
Available From
Way Huge Smalls Aqua-Puss
The Way Huge Smalls Aqua-Puss is one of the pedals that John Mayer is most closely associated with. This pedal helps produce the delay effect heard on many of his songs.
While other delay pedals are available, the Aqua-Puss remains reasonably affordable and gets you an authentic John Mayer pedal.
John Mayer has used a number of amps throughout his career, starting with Fender, moving to Two Rock and later using a PRS amp.
Mayer is perhaps best known for his use of a Two Rock amplifier, so much so that a John Mayer Signature model was in production by the company with a 2x12 cab configuration, supposedly inspired by a 100W Dumble Steel String Singer.
Most recently he has used PRS’s own John Mayer Signature amp – the PRS J-MOD100 head, through a PRS JM 2x12 speaker cabinet, which was designed specifically to be used with the John Mayer Signature amp.
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