How to Sound Like John Mayer With Guitar Pedals
John Mayer is one of the greatest guitar players of our time, thanks to his high skills and tasteful playing style. It's natural that guitarists across all music genres are influenced by his songs and want to emulate his sound. But how do you get John Mayer's tone?
They say tone is in the fingers, and that's true to a certain extent, but great gear can help you get there much faster. Mayer's tone is a combination of both: thousands (or perhaps millions) of hours dedicated to the instrument and a combination of state-of-the-art guitars, amplifiers, and pedals.
In this article, we will explore what are the guitar pedals and techniques behind John Mayer's iconic tone so you can use it as an inspiration to develop your unique voice with the instrument. We will also showcase similar effects units available on our website for you to easily replicate his sound. Let's get started!
In a hurry? Check out our quick guide with all of the featured pedals at the end of the article.
Which Pedals Does John Mayer Use?
John Mayer has a career that spans more than 20 years, so it's only natural to say that the guitarist has explored many different pedals over the course of his years as a musician, having a dedicated pedalboard for each album and tour.
However, there are a few staples on Mayer's setup that contribute to his renowned tone, which includes classic units such as the Ibanez Tube Screamer, the Klown Centaur, and the Electro-Harmonix Q-Tron Plus. Mayer is also known for having a maximalist setup, sometimes using multiple pedalboards while playing live.
Below, we're going to unravel some of the guitar pedals that currently are or have been on John Mayer's setup, and explain their role in his celebrated tone. We also prepared some alternatives that are worth exploring.
Overdrive
One of the key elements of John Mayer's tone is a good overdrive pedal. There are two particular units that he's been using for a long time on his setup: the Ibanez Tube Screamer TS10 and Klon Centaur. Both are renowned classics for achieving that bluesy mojo Mayer is famous for.
Ibanez Tube Screamer
The Ibanez Tube Screamer is praised for its mid-range tone and was made famous by Stevie Ray Vaughn, a key influence on Mayer's sound. Mayer has used different versions of the Tube Screamer throughout the years, including the TS808 and the TS9, but the TS10 was present on his most recent tour's pedalboard.
If you can only choose one pedal to emulate his tone, then a Tube Screamer style unit would be your best bet, thanks to the versatility you will get, and any version can get your sound pretty close. Currently, there are many boutique pedals based on the original unit, such as the Cusack Music Screamer V3 and the Spicy Pedals Jalapeno Screamer.
Alternative Option: Cusack Music Screamer V3
The Cusack Music Screamer V3 is quite faithful to the original Tube Screamer, but has twice the gain, allowing for even more tone flexibility. It also features a toggle switch that lets you choose between classic silicon diodes, LED, and Schottky diodes.
Another Alternative: Spicy Pedals Jalapeño Screamer
The Jalapeño Screamer is based on the TS808. It's a vintage-style pedal with a few more modern quality-of-life additions, such as a true bypass. It will work particularly well when paired with a more transparent overdrive unit, a key technique that's frequently employed by John Mayer.
Klon Centaur
Another legendary overdrive pedal used by John Mayer is the Klon Centaur. It's a transparent overdrive that gives just the right amount of boost while letting the amplifier's tone shine. The original pedal is rare to come across nowadays and can be quite pricey. Luckily many boutique alternatives sound just as good.
Alternative Option: Spicy Pedals Habanero Copycat
While not exactly a Klon Centaur clone, the Spicy Pedals Habanero Copycat is a somewhat similar germanium-based overdrive that's transparent and reliable, excellent for building a slightly overdriven foundational tone.
Fuzz
John Mayer has made use of fuzz in the past, largely influenced by Jimi Hendrix. Although we didn't see a fuzz pedal on the pedalboard of his latest tour, he mentions playing a Pete Cornish NG2 with the John Mayer Trio.
Pete Cornish NG2 Fuzz
A John Mayer favorite, the NG-2 is a handmade 3-stage fuzz with germanium transistors that sounds quite unique, as it isn't based on any of the classic fuzz styles we tend to see (Fuzz Face, Muff, etc). As is the case with other pedals on Mayer's setup, this particular unit is hard to find and can be a bit pricey.
Despite that, you can get a fuzz tone that's pretty close to Mayer's with any pedal that is based on the Fuzz Face, such as the Joe Gore Filth Fuzz and the Fuzz Lands, especially when you pair it with a Tube Screamer overdrive.
Alternative Option: Joe Gore Filth Fuzz
The Filth Fuzz, by Joe Gore, is very versatile and can deliver anything from bluesy fuzz face tones to heavier dirty sounds, making the pedal a great option to emulate the characteristics of Mayer's NG2.
Another Alternative: Wonderful Audio Technology Fuzz Lands
The WAT Fuzz Lands will certainly get you closer to that John Mayer tone since it's a combination of the classic fuzz styles and one of the most versatile dirt pedals on our website.
Modulation
When it comes to modulation, the phaser is definitely John Mayer's favorite effect, particularly the classic MXR Phase 90. In more recent times, he also used the Boss CE-2 Chorus for his 80's inspired ballads on his album Sob Rock and songs such as Last Train Home.
MXR Phase 90
The classic MXR Phase 90 can be seen on Mayer's pedalboard throughout his many albums and tours. The player uses it sparingly, to give an extra spice for riffs and solos. An example is on the intro riff to "Roll it on Home", which was probably recorded with a Phase 90 or similar phaser pedal.
Alternative Option: Mojo Hand FX Mr O Phase Shifter
The Mojo Hand FX Mr O takes inspiration from MXR's original unit and is a very reliable phaser unit, with three distinctive parameters and a switch to choose between four and six phase stages.
Boss CE-2 Chorus
The Boss CE-2 is a staple in the guitar community. According to the information we found, the vintage version was used by John Mayer on his album Sob Rock and can be heard on tunes such as Last Train Home. If that's the style you're looking to replicate, you'll definitely need a chorus pedal.
Alternative Option: BMF Effects Liquid Sky Chorus
Just like the CE2, the BMF Effects Liquid Sky is a simple and reliable chorus that's straight to the point, with the already-expected speed and depth parameters, plus a mix knob for added usability.
Delay and Reverb
When it comes to delay and reverb, there is one particular pedal that John Mayer seems to be a fan of: the Way Huge Aqua-Puss delay. It made an appearance on most of his pedalboards throughout the years. Another unit on Mayer's setup is the Strymon Flint Tremolo & Reverb.
Way Huge Aqua-Puss
The Aqua-Puss is an analog delay and tape-based echo with 20ms to 300 ms of delay time. It's designed for shorter and ambience-like echoes, which can add some dimension to a blues-inspired tone like Mayer's.
Alternative Option: Cusack Music Tap-a-Delay
The Cusack Music Tap-a-Delay is a perfect choice for a Mayer-based pedalboard, thanks to its analog tone. Apart from being able to emulate his sound, this unit also has a few extra features that are worth exploring, such as the built-in modulation.
Strymon Flint Tremolo & Reverb
The Strymon Flint Tremolo & Reverb has been seen on Mayer's most recent pedalboards. Each effect has three separate vintage voicings. The Tremolo stage offers harmonic band filtering, tube, and photocell-style tremolo effects, while the reverb section lets you choose between spring, plate, and digital reverbs.
It seems like Mayer switches between voicings depending on the song he is performing, and to be honest, it's hard to come across pedals that are as versatile as the Strymon Flint, but here are our recommended alternatives:
Alternative Option: Mojo Hand FX RVT
The Mojo Hand FX features tremolo, vibrato, and reverb in one single pedal. Despite being simpler than the Strymon Flint, its vintage-esque sound is perfect for giving that extra ambience to a bluesy/slightly overdriven tone.
Filter
A staple on John Mayer's setup is the Electro-Harmonix Q-Tron Plus, a classic envelope filter pedal that he uses on many riffs.
Electro-Harmonix Q-Tron Plus
The Electro-Harmonix Q-Tron Plus is seldom used by Mayer alongside the Tube Screamer and the Keeley Katana boost to achieve some funky tones. He also makes use of the FX Send and FX Return features to further tailor the sound.
Alternative Option: Mojo Hand FX Little Wonder
Just like the Q-Tron Plus, the Little Wonder is a classic envelope filter pedal that sounds good when paired with overdrive and units alike. It's smaller and more basic than the EHX version, but can still get you pretty close to Mayer's tone.
Boost
Using a boost pedal is a great way to give your tone that extra push. John Mayer is known for using the Keeley Katana alongside the Tube Screamer and the Klon Centaur. This combination can give you lots of mojo.
Keeley Katana
The Keeley Katana is a clean, simple boost based on a vintage doubled FET preamp. It's designed to not interfere with the frequencies of your tone and is best used alongside other pedals and a high-quality amplifier.
Alternative Option: Cusack Music More Louder
Just like the Katana, the Cusack Music More Louder is a simple boost pedal that can give you up to 25dB of clean boost, with an internal jumper that lets you adjust the range. A particular feature of this unit is that it won't color or affect your tone EQ-wise.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Kind of Guitar Strings Does John Mayer Use?
For the electric guitar, John Mayer uses the Ernie Ball Regular Slinky Strings (0.010 gauge). For the acoustic guitar, his choice is the Ernie Ball 2146 EarthWood Medium Light Strings.
What Guitar Picks Does John Mayer Use?
John Mayer used the Jim Dunlop Tortex Standard 0.8mm (the green ones) up until the mid-2010s. In more recent times, he switched to the Pickboy Rainbow Celluloid, and later to the Blue Chip picks, which are made out of Vespel (a special kind of plastic).
What Kind of Amp is Used by John Mayer?
John Mayer is known for using Dumble-inspired amps, particularly those by the brand Two-Rock, with the Custom Reverb being the most frequent model to appear on his setup. He also used various amps from Fender in the past, such as the '65 Super Reverb, the Vibro-King Custom, and the Vibrolux.
Conclusion
These are some of the guitar pedals used by John Mayer throughout his albums and tours. As we said, his career spans more than 20 years, so, naturally, he has explored many effects units in the past.
For that reason, we didn't base our list on any particular era, but rather on the pedals that make the base of Mayer's sound, such as Tube Screamer overdrives and effects like the Electro Harmonix Q-Tron. These units should get your tone pretty close to his.
Last but not least, we recommend that you use this guide as an inspiration to develop your own unique voice with the instrument.
|
Pedal Type |
John Mayer's Choice |
Alternative Option |
Price |
|
Overdrive |
Ibanez Tube Screamer |
$185.00 |
|
|
Overdrive |
Ibanez Tube Screamer |
$150.00 |
|
|
Overdrive |
Klon Centaur |
$150.00 |
|
|
Fuzz |
Pete Cornish NG2 Fuzz |
$229.00 |
|
|
Fuzz |
Pete Cornish NG2 Fuzz |
$190.00 |
|
|
Phaser |
MXR Phase 90 |
$159.00 |
|
|
Chorus |
Boss CE-2 |
$249.00 |
|
|
Delay |
Way Huge Aqua-Puss |
$195.00 |
|
|
Reverb/Tremolo |
Strymon Flint |
$149.00 |
|
|
Envelope Filter |
Electro Harmonix Q-Tron Plus |
$159.00 |
|
|
Boost |
Keeley Katana |
$105.00 |
You can check these and many other pedals in our store!
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