Scar Tissue
A mellow, clean Stratocaster riff answered by slide guitar solos.
What is the Scar Tissue guitar tone?
The Scar Tissue guitar tone is a mellow, clean Stratocaster riff answered by slide guitar solos, heard on Red Hot Chili Peppers' 1990s alt rock recording. It is a clean riff tone, and Red Hot Chili Peppers reportedly tracked it with John Frusciante's maple-neck 1950s Fender Stratocaster through a Fender Showman: he told Guitar Player in 1999 that most of the basic tracks were recorded with what he calls his '55 Strat, and that he thinks he ran it through the Showman because the Marshall was not clean enough; Ground Guitar dates the guitar to 1954 from its serial number and Mixdown calls it a 1955, a two-tone sunburst he acquired after returning to the band; for the solos Ground Guitar has him on a 1960 Fender Telecaster Custom, the first recorded clean and the second through a Boss FZ-3 fuzz, and the song's credits list him on lead, slide and rhythm guitar; his main rig for the rest of Californication was a 1965 Marshall JTM45 run together with a 200-watt bass head, which Mixdown gives as a Marshall Major and Ground Guitar as a Marshall Super Bass, split from the stereo outputs of a Boss CE-1 chorus; the song came out on 25 May 1999 as the first single from Californication, the album that marked Frusciante's return, spent a then-record 16 consecutive weeks at the top of Billboard's Modern Rock chart, reached number nine on the Hot 100 and won the Grammy for best rock song in 2000, and Guitar World ranked its solo 63rd among its 100 greatest guitar solos. Here the riff needs a properly clean amp: Frusciante says he chose a Fender Showman because his Marshall was not clean enough, so headroom and a light pick attack matter more than any drive.
You do not need that exact gear to land in the same place. What carries this sound is the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup choice and the order of the effects, and all four can be rebuilt on equipment that costs a fraction of the original. The numbers change from amp to amp, because a clean channel on a modelling combo and a small practice amp reach the same voicing from different knob positions. That translation is what Tonelify works out for the rig you actually own.
Scar Tissue amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 2, Bass 5, Middle 5, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3, with the neck or middle position.
- Gain 2
- Bass 5
- Middle 5
- Treble 6
- Presence 5
- Reverb 3
- Signal chain
- Clean into a Fender Showman; a Boss FZ-3 fuzz only on the second solo
- The control that matters most
- Headroom. Frusciante says he chose the Showman because his Marshall was not clean enough, so the riff needs a properly clean amp with the gain low, not a crunch channel rolled back. Play it on a Strat-style single coil if you have one, pick lightly, and save any fuzz for the second solo; the solos on the record are slide guitar.
These positions are free and they are a starting point. A Katana, a Spark and a valve head reach this voicing from different knob positions, so Tonelify rewrites every value above for the amp and guitar you own. Your first match is free with an account, and needs no card.
Adapt these to my amp- Pickup
- Neck or middle position
These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. If you tell Tonelify which amp you own, it rewrites every value above for the controls that amp actually has.
What gear did Red Hot Chili Peppers use on Scar Tissue?
John Frusciante's maple-neck 1950s Fender Stratocaster through a Fender Showman: he told Guitar Player in 1999 that most of the basic tracks were recorded with what he calls his '55 Strat, and that he thinks he ran it through the Showman because the Marshall was not clean enough; Ground Guitar dates the guitar to 1954 from its serial number and Mixdown calls it a 1955, a two-tone sunburst he acquired after returning to the band; for the solos Ground Guitar has him on a 1960 Fender Telecaster Custom, the first recorded clean and the second through a Boss FZ-3 fuzz, and the song's credits list him on lead, slide and rhythm guitar; his main rig for the rest of Californication was a 1965 Marshall JTM45 run together with a 200-watt bass head, which Mixdown gives as a Marshall Major and Ground Guitar as a Marshall Super Bass, split from the stereo outputs of a Boss CE-1 chorus; the song came out on 25 May 1999 as the first single from Californication, the album that marked Frusciante's return, spent a then-record 16 consecutive weeks at the top of Billboard's Modern Rock chart, reached number nine on the Hot 100 and won the Grammy for best rock song in 2000, and Guitar World ranked its solo 63rd among its 100 greatest guitar solos.
Sources: Ground Guitar: John Frusciante's gear on Californication, Mixdown: the gear on Californication, Wikipedia: Scar Tissue
Tonelify reads that chain and translates it to the amp and guitar you already own, returning gain, bass, mids, treble and presence values along with a pickup position.
How do you get the Scar Tissue tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Scar Tissue
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Scar Tissue tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Scar Tissue?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 2, Bass 5, Middle 5, Treble 6, Presence 5, Reverb 3, with the neck or middle position. These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. Tonelify rewrites the same values for the specific amp and guitar you own, because a high-gain head and a small solid-state combo reach the same mellow, clean Stratocaster riff answered by slide guitar solos from different positions.
What is the most important control for the Scar Tissue tone?
Headroom. Frusciante says he chose the Showman because his Marshall was not clean enough, so the riff needs a properly clean amp with the gain low, not a crunch channel rolled back. Play it on a Strat-style single coil if you have one, pick lightly, and save any fuzz for the second solo; the solos on the record are slide guitar.
Can you get the Scar Tissue tone without the original gear?
Yes. The original was tracked with John Frusciante's maple-neck 1950s Fender Stratocaster through a Fender Showman: he told Guitar Player in 1999 that most of the basic tracks were recorded with what he calls his '55 Strat, and that he thinks he ran it through the Showman because the Marshall was not clean enough; Ground Guitar dates the guitar to 1954 from its serial number and Mixdown calls it a 1955, a two-tone sunburst he acquired after returning to the band; for the solos Ground Guitar has him on a 1960 Fender Telecaster Custom, the first recorded clean and the second through a Boss FZ-3 fuzz, and the song's credits list him on lead, slide and rhythm guitar; his main rig for the rest of Californication was a 1965 Marshall JTM45 run together with a 200-watt bass head, which Mixdown gives as a Marshall Major and Ground Guitar as a Marshall Super Bass, split from the stereo outputs of a Boss CE-1 chorus; the song came out on 25 May 1999 as the first single from Californication, the album that marked Frusciante's return, spent a then-record 16 consecutive weeks at the top of Billboard's Modern Rock chart, reached number nine on the Hot 100 and won the Grammy for best rock song in 2000, and Guitar World ranked its solo 63rd among its 100 greatest guitar solos, but the parts that define the sound are the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup position and the effects order. Those translate to other equipment, which is what the adaptation step does.
Is Scar Tissue a rhythm or a lead tone?
It is a riff part with a clean character, from Red Hot Chili Peppers' 1990s alt rock catalogue.
Does Tonelify cost anything to try?
Your first match for your own gear is free with an account, and needs no card. After that both plans start with a 7-day free trial: Stage is $6.99 a month for 20 matches, Headliner is $10.99 a month for unlimited matching within a fair use limit of 150 new matches a day, and yearly billing works out cheaper on both. Reading this page and the rest of the library costs nothing and needs no account.
