Over the years, John Mayer has proven his credentials when it comes to gear, with his best-selling PRS Silver Sky signature guitar arguably the most impressive feather in his cap. But long before he signed to Paul Reed Smith’s brand, Mayer was a Fender Stratocaster advocate. His Fender Custom Shop Black1 model was designed to meet his performance needs as his main guitar.
Crafted by Fender Masterbuilder John Cruz in 2004, the Black1 features a highly worn finish. Tonally, it drew inspiration from Mayer's Stevie Ray Vaughan Tribute Strat.
But when the guitar arrived, it wasn't exactly music to his ears.
“I started playing it and it wasn't there. I was heartbroken,” Mayer recalls in a documentary video centered on the guitar. “I started thinking to myself, This guitar, I know it can be something."
His desperation led him try something completely novel.
“I remember I put it in the freezer overnight because I was so desperate to have something molecular happen to this guitar,” he explains. “I said, ‘Something has to molecularly change with this instrument. I will not accept that this is the way this instrument has come out.’
“I had one of those freezers where it’s the whole length of the left third of the appliance. I took everything out of the freezer and sat the guitar in overnight. I was like, ‘You just sit in there and change.’”
Putting the pricey instrument on ice for the night didn’t have the desired effect.
“The next day, I took it out and started playing it… and it still wasn’t there. It was just cold,” he sighs.
It did, however, set Mayer down the correct path to rectify the problem. It turns out the fix was far simpler than he had anticipated.
“I opened it up and the ground wasn’t hooked up,” he reveals. “Something wasn't hooked up. As soon as it was hooked up, it started playing right.”
Mayer joined PRS’ ranks in 2015, consequently forcing his Strats to an early retirement, but there have been rare occasions that he’s flew from the PRS nest.
In late 2023, the Black1 returned from exile for a show at Madison Square Garden, as did his Jimi Hendrix Monterrey Strat several months earlier.
Last year, during his Las Vegas Sphere residency with Dead & Co., Mayer — with a little help from Joe Bonamassa — took Jeff Beck’s all-white Custom Shop Strat for a spin.
Those Las Vegas shows also saw Mayer having to get creative about his amp placement in order to play to the venue's strict rulebook.
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