1998/ 02 Total Guitar (40)

Many thanks to Iva for these scans.

 

Dave Navarro

The enigmatic guitarist with a penchant for serious art and spiritualism… in the Chili Peppers? STEVE ELLSWORTH delves into the mysterious world of one of rock’s greatest innovators.

During the late ‘80s when pointy guitars and poodle haircuts reigned supreme, Dave Navarro’s pioneering guitar work helped to establish Jane’s Addiction as one of the most influential alternative rock hands around. His blend of post-punk aggression and psychedelia filed their final outing Ritual De Lo Habitual.

Navarro joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1993. Unaffected by the success of Blood Sugar Sex Magik, the new apprentice carried his unmistakable style into the funksters camp, and recorded One Hot Minute. The resultant album displayed a giddy mixture of styles that showed a definite musical progression for the band.

GUITAR SOUND Dave has been placing Custom Shop Strats recently, through a Marshall JCM900. In terms of effects, he has developed a more simplistic approach of late, while still using a lot of overdubs for texture. He self-effacing about the effects he uses live: “Wah-wah and echo for me are a really good now to cover up mistakes – a very good mask.”

Despite being an accomplished lead player, he prefers-to create sounds using texture and tone rather than notes and scales. Dave’s rhythm ranges, from punk-influenced raw energy to fluid, clean textures. His lead style exhibits an early influence from Hendrix and Page, though he has cited Perry, Farrel (Jane’s frontman) as one of his greatest artistic influences. The band recently reformed for some dates in the US with the Chili’s Flea on bass. And for the UK? We can but hope…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.