Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers is one funky bassist. Not only does he play a mean slap bass, he also is know for his flashy bass guitar gear and music equipment. Flea has used many different bass guitars in his career. Let's take a look at what bass gear and equipment has been seen in Flea's bass rig.

Flea is getting funky on bass

Click the gear images for more info and specs at Musician's Friend

Bass Guitars

Notes: Flea's main basses have almost always been ones with active electronics. His signature live bass up until Californication was the Music Man StingRay, which he also used to record the album Freaky Styley. In the studios for The Uplift Mofo Party Plan and Mother's Milk Flea used a Spector bass. Blood Sugar Sex Magik was recorded with a Wal Mach II, Stingray 5 string and One Hot Minute with an Alembic Epic. From Californication onwards, he received a signature model from Modulus Guitars, which is based on the StingRay. For Stadium Arcadium, he used a '61 Fender Jazz bass. The Jazz Bass was initially used during the subsequent Stadium Arcadium tour, but Flea later decided that he wasn't cutting through enough, and went back to using his Modulus Signature.

Flea's basses feature BadAss II bridges, Aguilar OBP-1 preamps, and Lane Poor pickups (current Modulus Flea Basses have Basslines pickups).   

- Sunburst Modulus Flea Bass: This is Flea’s main Bass on tour. It has a “sunburst” body with the pickguard removed, a Carbon Fiber neck with a black headstock. The bass has stickers on the front of the body.

- "Circle Jerk Punk-Rock" Modulus Flea Bass: This is Flea’s most famous bass. It has a custom "Red, White & Blue" paint job with a custom shaped White Pearl pickguard. It has a Carbon Fiber neck with a white headstock to match the white on the body. The bass has stickers on the front of the body. The bass was used to record By The Way and on the subsequent tour for the album.

- Blue Sparkle Modulus Flea Bass: This bass has a “Blue Sparkle” body with a White Pearl pickgaurd, a Carbon Fiber neck with a matching Blue Sparkle headstock. Also, this bass has a black sticker under the bridge that reads "a flea still drinks the blood of those who wouldn't harm a flea". This bass was used extensively during the Californication tour.

Modulus Flea FB4 Bass:

- Silver Sparkle Modulus Flea Bass: This bass has a “Silver Sparkle” body with a White Pearl pickgaurd, a Carbon Fiber neck with a white headstock.

- Silver Sparkle "5-String" Modulus Flea Bass: This is Flea's only 5-String bass on tour. This bass has a “Silver Sparkle” body with a White Pearl pickgaurd, a Carbon Fiber neck with a white headstock. 

Modulus Flea FB5 5-String bass:

- "Shell Pink" '61 Fender Jazz Bass: This is one of Flea’s vintage Basses. It has a “Shell Pink” body with a Tortoise-Shell pickgaurd, a rosewood neck with a maple headstock. The body sports a sticker of D. Boon, former lead singer of the Minutemen, on the upper arm contour. The entire bass is stock and was given to Flea as a gift. Flea used this bass to record Stadium Arcadium and even toured with it for a short while. The bass is extremely valuable because it is one of very few original "Shell Pink" jazz bases ever produced by Fender.

New Old Stock '64 Bass at MF:


Amplifiers and cabinets

- 3x 1x15 115RBH Bass Cabinets

- 3x Galien Krueger 2001 RB amplifer head

- Galien Krueger 410RBH 4x10 cabinet

Effects and Accessories
- Boss ODB-3 Bass Overdrive (set for a highly distorted sound heard on "Around the World" & "So Much I")

- MXR Micro Amp (for a clean boost during heavy slap passages)

- Electro Harmonix Q-Tron (for filter sounds on "Sir Psycho Sexy")

- Dunlop 105Q Bass Wah

- Whirlwind DI

- Big Muff

- GHS Boomers guage .045-.105 (used before his signature string came out)

- GHS Flea Signature Series strings

- Dunlop Tortex 1.14mm pick (used when needed)

- Korg digital tuner

- Shure SM98 microphone
- Furman power conditioners

- Monster Cable

Go to the next page for pictures of Flea's Bass Rig