With a couple of exceptions, I knew exactly what I was going to do. I think at that time I’m just completely improvising, and every solo has a real spontaneous, even haphazard feel to it. I’m not putting down my guitar playing, I just feel like I was capable of a whole lot of things instead of just cramming in every bit of technique that I possibly could. When I did Californication, I didn’t have any technique, but I was focused and trying my hardest. I’d rather hear someone play the best they’re capable of with the minimum amount of technique that someone with a lot of technique who plays without feeling."

What’s more important than technique to John now is creating soundscapes like the players he admires so much. "I was using a lot of effects. We wanted to create a real sense of atmosphere. I used a few Line 6 echo pedals, an Electro-Harmonix flanger and the Big Muff a lot."

And the Ibanez WH10 wah-wah he’s mentioned in previous guitar interviews. "I’m still using it, yeah. It’s on the song Don’t Forget Me, but there’s not as much wah on By The Way as previous albums. I just turned it on and kept it in a trebly position. I only really needed a little bit of wah for that song."

As for amps, "I was using this big Fender spring reverb from the 60’s" he continues. "I used it with a modulation synthesizer - that’s the sound you hear on the Throw Away Your Television chorus. As you’d expect by the name, it has ‘great reverb’ but also a really thick sound and a great tone. I listen to a lot of surf compilations and there’s a lot of really cool surf music that came out of the early 60s that was made by 15 year old kids and that’s how they sounded." Singling out another fine guitar moment, John reveals, "For Don’t Forget Me, I used and envelope filter and I was using the volume pedal a lot on that song too - and that Line 6 pedal in one of the analogue delay settings to where it’s constantly feeding back. Just as it was about to feed back, I’d just turn the knob as I’m playing to prevent it from going into full-on feedback. It gives it that spooky kind of feeling."

Frusciante’s been seen playing lots of different guitars - notably, Gretsches, SGs and a Jazzmaster in Under The Bridge video - but it’s with the Strat he’s most readily associated. Though he used a ’58 on Califonication, for By The Way, he opted for a ’62. "That ’58 has a bit of a cleaner sound and it always seemed to sound better for what I wanted on Califonication, but for this album, the ’62 just sounded right straight away - the sustain’s better - so I stuck with that pretty much all the way, apart from and SG on a couple of songs."

With Chilis album number four in the bag, it’s time for solo album number four, loosely scheduled for and October/November release and a collaborative effort with one of Frusciante’s guitar-playing buddies. If By The Way and his previous solo efforts are anything to go by, we can expect more moments of understated, off-the-wall, brilliant from this leftfield maestro.