@@JustinJeske hear me out. I have a wild theory. The uniqueness of the blk1 tone comes from the dummy coil situation! The tech put it in. From my research, you lose some output volume from doing so, and it maybe even changes the tone as well losing some highs (sounds like johns tone to me). This is why I think John’s pickups were raised so high to compensate for this. Those pickups were modeled after the Texas specials apparently (like SRV). So since the dummy coil lowers the output on the pickups already, he raises the pickups to his liking to bring back a little highs. Now the question is how the tech wired the dummy coil. In my research I’m guessing he just put it in between the switch and the volume like I’ve seen others do! What do you think? Love your videos. Please shout me out if you make a vid on this! I’m gonna experiment with this theory
64 will always be my favorite. Was glad I got to see it in 2019 in Kansas City :) Also recently rewatched “Someday I’ll fly” documentary about JM. If you haven’t watched it…it’s phenomenal!
Justin my man, I’ve been following your channel for a while now and the amount of effort you put into your videos is trully inspiring! Keep up the great work 🙌🙌
Just a side note for 32:12 when discussing the pole pieces and them getting pushed down vs changed- while I agree with you that it is indeed more likely that the pickup was changed, I can say from personal experience that pole pieces can and do get pushed down- especially in the case of falling off a wall hanger- without much more damage to the guitar than chips in the paint. I had to push the pole pieces of my bridge pickup of my main guitar back out after it was vibrated out of a wall hanger by the subwoofers at a venue right before a show.
Hey man, great job as always! Just a conspiracy theory…if you look at the footage at 2:00, it appears that John is spraying black onto a relatively bare Strat body. However, the actual black one has a yellow undercoat (mimicking a Homoclad undercoat?) that is very visible around the forearm area and with the checking around the guitar. If I recall correctly, JM and some of the FCS staff signed the inside of the cavity too. My thought is that John Cruz stripped the body, aside from the cavity, and then repainted it with a yellow undercoat and black on top, and did the relicing after that with his stencils and other techniques. JC has gone in the record that JM didn’t do that great of a job painting the body, in his opinion. What do you think about this?
Awesome video. Pause the Rig Rundown video where Caesar is holding the guitar with the back facing the camera. There are clearly holes drilled in the body for a backplate.
@davemish4163 I am just starting to do a bit of a deeper dive into pickups myself personally. The Foley or Genesis BLK1 clones would be my suggestion though as they are replicas of the pickups in the 1/83 BLK1's. Pickups aside, if you are able I'd seriously consider a Two Rock if those are the tones you are truly after. Those amps are a bigger component of that sound that'll get you a lot closer than a pickup swap.
@@JustinJeske I've had Mark Foley pickups , CM Daugherty's , Alexander Pribora , CS 65s , C's 69s , but the closest I've ever got to SRV ( which Mayer was chasing ) and I wish I'd never sold them were Dominger Hippie Pickups , absolutely hands down GREATEST I've ever owned imo 👍
It’s amazing to me that a strat can have such a distinct tone. The BLK1 is immediately recognizable for me. It has a warmth and sweetness other strats just don’t typically have. Love my Silver Sky, but I would kill to have a guitar that sounds like the BLK1.
I have read a few times that John has gone through a few necks on the BLK1. For example, the signature that you can clearly see on the back of the headstock at 10:46 doesn't appear to be there on the back shot of the guitar at 11:46. Thoughts on this? I haven't watched the whole video yet, so maybe you address this:) Well done on this expose.
The guy with SRV tech wanted a his spec like, SRV strat at the custom shop. Gets guitar from custom shop, has Rene mod the guitar to SRV spec, boom, tone done. End of story.
I tend to agree. Guitarist gear obsession is kinda funny and entertaining. Eddie grabbed b stock parts from the charvel shop when it was just a few guys making guitars and changed the world. It’s 99.99% the player and all that really matters about gear is that it’s setup properly and the electronics are appropriate for what you’re doing. You don’t want some war hammer active pickup with 4 rails, a 9v battery pack in the back and a 20k resistance if your playing clean jazz 😂 that’s about all that matters in gear 😂
So John went to John Cruz and ask for the black version of the SRV guitar. Legally Crus couldn’t do it so Instead, he made the black version of the SRV guitar. 😂
So they didn't QC the guitar 😂 not the first time the Custom Shop has stuffed up. They built Hank Marvin a strat with the bridge out of scale lenght. Yes it went back 😂😂😂
Absolutely unbelievable amount of effort, Justin. And I speak for everyone when I say, we appreciate it! I hope it means something that you managed to keep a drummer, such as myself, watching a video about ONE guitar for an hour and a half! I loved every second of it, so, so good!
After watching this video I listened back thru Continuum. It’s not a gear theory but I am just about 99.9% sure the female vocals on the end of Gravity are Alicia Keys. I’d love to hear Justin’s thoughts.
Call it bias, call it placebo, call it what you may - Not in any way dismissing the that he's achieved glorious tones countless times since - BUT...whether you want to call it "grit" or "gusto" or whatever, I can't help but claim the BLK1 just has way more BALLS than most of his other guitars (or at least he pushes it there) certainly more than the SS. I love plenty of his other tones - '64, Hardtail, JM Sig, SRV Sig, Monterey, Sonic Cruz, Hendrix...Call me nostalgic but to this say the BLK1 Mayer is still the single most iconic and aspiration-worthy tones he's ever put out there (fully acknowledging his amps, pedals and playing are all critical components, too) but that "Continuum era" and the decade or so he used that guitar will perpetually remain my personal aim in the way of guitar tone 🙌
Hey Justin, I was wondering if you could do a video on eric clapton's blackie strat, both clapton and mayer are big influences on me and love their black axes that they used and favoured
Got to see BLK1 on the Continuum night at MSG in 2019 and it’ll be a night I never forget. Have seen him at least half a dozen, or more times since and the only Fender to make an appearance was his ‘72. Both beautiful guitars, but the BLK1 will hold a special place. Hope he brings it back out one day and keeps it out.
at 10:30, shows a closeup of the bridge, the saddles look very odd in their placement, and I'm wondering how its intonnated? Also appears. to be sleeves over the E
Stayed up super late it’s 6 am & I see this pop up on my feed. First thing I look at is the time stamp and i see it’s a 1:22:00 video. I about busted in my pants Black one definitely deserves this hour 😂
When John tells the freezer story it’s hilarious because it’s not a good look for the Fender custom shop that they sent him this top-of-the-line custom shop guitar that didn’t work because it was wired wrong. Nice job Cruise 😂
They threw themselves at the lore of this guitar in spite of it which is a ballsy way to save face in the era when John Suhr etc. were starting to put out insanely high-quality production-model Strats
@@nimitz1739 Who knows. He lies all the time. Maybe because he thinks it makes a good story, or maybe he’s a pathological liar. He lied about his first SRV having broken pickups, not wanting his black1 to look like SRV’s Number 1, the black1 pickups being wired wrong, and his black1 pickup poles unstaggering themselves because he dropped it. 😂 And that’s just guitar related lies.
@@Snek03 I like the part where John Cruz said, legally they couldn’t make a black version of the SRV guitar. So instead, they made a black version of the SRV guitar. 😂
@Justin Jeske: great vid, so I just heard John Cruz saying Mayer's own BLK1 DOES have big dippers but the ones made after don't, wouldn't that prove that his guitar DO have big dippers ?
Justin, this is such a comprehensive and great video. Thanks for all of the hard work on this and your contributions to the JM gear community. Just one quick question: does the BLK1 have Big Dipper pickups?
Wood breathing, is still one of the most hilarious things musicians say. Its so dumb. You dont hear people saying "no! I dont want tolex over my cab.....the wood dude,...it needs to breathe" as ppl dont really give a shlt about their amps.and if you wanna go one further, you got all the tweed amps that where slathered in laquer, which was only cosmetic as a way to sorta seal the material like a leather or whatnot, its just a treatment.... Bmand you dont see ppl taking amps from the 60s and stripping the cab so the wood can breathe. The worship of the instrument itself, among guitarists is unhealthy. They believe in magic
Amazing video! Watched the whole thing and also hit subscribe🤘 you should do videos on other famous guitars and their full history!! Great research and just everything was spot on, I could watch videos like this all the time especially getting to see guitars I love up close👏 please do more!!!!!
John putting it in the freezer could of broke a already cold solder joint. Ive opened many guitars and found a broken ground or just bad grounding point. Its not that uncommon, it can happen.
Hi Justin, is the Silver Sky the guitar closest to the BLCK1? Because John made it after his favorite startspecs? Like the pick-ups are special made, maybe a copy of the black1 pu’s?
Plus he put the same tuning pegs on the black one that SRV had and there is nothing wrong with him wanting a guitar like SRV but for some reason John never acts like that's why he wanted his guitar to have that look, so I'm happy you pointed that out 👍
Just watched this video again. Brilliantly researched as always and I really appreciate you digging past rumours commonly states with absolute confidence on forums. Do you know if anyone has the DC resistance readings from one of the 83 black 1s? I am considering ordering the radioshop black one pickups that are based on those, but I am a bit sceptical that the bridge and neck output measurements are reversed from what you would normally find on a strat.
Hi Justin. Great video. I’d like to connect with you about a time where I met John in 2005 and was able to play the BLK1. (Too long for a comment thread). Where’s the best place to send you a DM?
Great stuff Justin, appreciate the time and effort you put in towards researching accurate information, the next guitar if you may please, would be the John cruz racing stripe Stratocasters, the charcoal frost metallic and specially the silver one with burgundy stipe from "bigger than my body'.
Great video! I play bass. I hope one day somebody will do an in depth video/ interview on Dela (David LaBruyere), his time with John Mayer and his gear. For me, he was the best bassplayer to ever play with John! I still love his playing, tone and his style the most! When ‘Heavier Things’ came out, my band was doing an album in a nice studio here in The Netherlands. I tracked almost all the bass parts. Then there was this little interview with David in Bassplayer Magazine. He talked about his gear too. His point was that he was using this tube SIB pedal called the FatDrive both live and in the studio to get his tone. Well, I got the pedal from the US and redid all of the bass parts on our than album with it. The engineer/ producer loved it! 🖖
Great video, man! Thanks for this, I'm sure had so much effort searching and recording. Please keep going, we've learned so much about John's music and tech through you. Greetings from Brazil!
A crazy level of detail here. Especially all the neck changing stuff. I'm not sure I want to contest this level of geek-ship ;-) but I remember JM saying that he had the fingerboard changed to Brazilian Rosewood on the BLK1... I'm assuming from the original Indian rosewood? Am I imagining this?
Great video Justin!!! alot of research and a complete and enlightening stuff from this iconic John Mayer guitar. Thanks for this video and kep doing youre stuff.
It’s so funny, the Custom Shop have made so many flawless guitars over the years, but they let the one that’s going to John Mayer have a loose ground😅 it’s funny how those things happen even to the best of us!
Hi Mike. It was and is not my intention to defame or claim that you were lying at all. I'm just trying to find some clarity in the mystery and details that seem to be mixed up. I'm a huge fan of you and your work and am sorry that part of my video has offended you. I have that sections removal currently processing in RU-vid's backend. I hope that helps to show my intentions.
I am not a musician, never picked up a guitar let alone played one, but I am here because I love your love of JM and his skills. You explain everything so clearly and enthusiastically. I went to John's Solo tour in Paris and he played Gravity on THE BLK 1! 🖤 John Mayer is phenomenal as your clip at 1.10.36 demonstrates ❤ Thank you! ❤
I don’t believe that it’s the guitar tech’s fault. Fender is notorious (Cruz included) for putting out bad craftsmanship out there. Cruz’ ego, and the ego of Fender people in Corona, will not let them admit it. My recommendation to Fender, learn from Paul Reed Smith’s factory.
It's because Mike Eldred has said on numerous occasions that the BLK1 DID have Big Dipper pickups, so what John Cruz said in the video, and what Mike Eldred, head of the Fender Custom Shop at that time said, seems to be contradictory, which is why you still have lots of confused people over what the BLK1s actually have.
Im sorry, but a guitar neck bending with in 10 years of it being factory New is honestly pethetic. It would eather have to be a mistake on behalf of somebody working on it or it being built badly. Thats the only reason i Can think of for a new guitar neck to bed from 🤷♂️
Dude you don't know how in time this upload is. I am currently just so fascinated about the Black One that i have been searching all around for the history of it. Thank you for all the hard work you have put into this.
Great video. Expansive :) Just wondered if you have any detail on John's tone pot settings on his guitars? Do these vary or are they static? Also, thought you might enjoy my video on his Don't Trust Myself With Loving You tone analysis: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KpZ7Rf55JRA.html
