This was taken from an online article i found.
Mayer begs to differ with those who say all that matters about a guitar is how it sounds. "I believe that guitar players and creators, we're all too scared of sounding superficial, but the bottom line is that when something looks good, it brings things out of you. And so I'd say half of the guitar's qualities are sonic or physical and the other half are cosmetic. All those things factor into the level of inspiration when you pick something up."


Onstage, Mayer runs his Martin through a tuner and an Avalon U5 DI/preamp (www.avalondesign.com) and then straight to the PA with no effects. Mayer raves about the sound of the U5, which he calls a huge improvement over basic direct boxes and well worth the investment.


On the electric side, Mayer pays homage to his original guitar hero and cranks up a Stevie Ray Vaughan model Fender Stratocaster. He's been obsessing over amps lately, playing through hard-to-find Dumbles as well as Victoria's replicas of old Fender tweed amps (www.victoriaamp.com). In concert a MIDI-based Bradshaw switching system controls his delay, distortion, and tremolo pedals, keeping them out of line until they are actually switched on.


"This year has been all about learning the subtle sonics of things—the way that a top wood can change a guitar, the way a three-piece back will change a guitar," Mayer says. "I even learned how you can get a different sound out of an electric guitar by switching the direction of the cable, which I would never have bought into. Jack Joseph Puig takes me out into the control room and says, ‘Listen to this: play, unplug, switch this . . .' And they are totally different! So I've become a bit more of an audiophile."



Hope it helps.