Eric Johnson 2 - Signature Strat Interview

[skylineXpert]

and second question fender scn pickups or dimarzio area 58?

[skylineXpert]

question what pickups is in the strat ?

[bluesBro18]

man a set up start will not go out of tune, dive bombs all the way

[spider62able]

Eric uses a Fuzz Face into a 70's Marshall for his violin tone, he also uses tape and analog delays. Ther'e's also another video filmed at the same time as this showing his equipment setup.Check It Out!

[maripocita37]

I own this. If you like 50's les pauls you'll love this strat. The neck is silky until you sweat then it can get kinda sticky. It actually tapers as the neck goes up so shredding and playing accurate is easier. The tone is varied but think 50s with a unique modern feel. Sounds great through mediocre amps and epic through good amps. Go to a 9.5 radius after this 12" and it feels tiny. I love this guitar but I love les pauls and strats. Mine needs a single fret dressed and high e was not aligne

[maripocita37]

One of the best players ever but how is this strat? Is the neck silky like a maple american strat?

[JohnNortonMusic]

Heyy can anyone help me I want to buy this guitar tomorrow £1,740..... SHOULD I DO IT? how good is it? obviously I will try it out before buying I do with all good guitars I buy but just want some opinions...... should I save for a master built strat or is there no difference?

[ZeppelinRules]

"Putting on the back plate makes it sound more distortion"

Only EJ.

[MrDport17]

Whats the song at 2:43?

[WMDG3]

@MrDport17 Desert Rose

[toomanygittars]

Just got a 2006 Fender Eric Johnson Signature Stratocaster.... It's quite different than any other Strat I've tried... Now... if could only PLAY like EJ.... *sigh!*

:-)

[toomanygittars]

A used (2006) tobacco sunburst EJ signature Strat is on its way to my home via FedEx as I write this...

Tried out a friend's EJ strat and it's quite different than any other strat I've played. Just perfect for me!

[Sauron767]

@toomanygittars

I want to own one so bad man your so fuckin lucky LMAO

[MrAOKSS]

5:30 onwards is what so cool about him. He is so right! People are to busy in gear instead of composing music, good music.

[kevinmw57]

Not crazy about the neck radius...

[CoandCaSSTB]

3:56 "....can make a big difference. 'scuse me i have a phone call"

i read in some guitar player magazine that taking the back plate off changed the tone, so i do the same thing. I'm like Eric though, people look are me like i "need help."

[EmphaticItalic]

He's so talented how he understands how all these little changes effect the tone. What a gift. Just imagine how much time he's spent in his life just thinking about tone.

[bmkihs]

thanks for posting this o7; Eric Johnson's music isn't really to my taste (though I have great respect for his ability) -- but hearing him explain the rationle behind his design is really helpful in considering whether to purchase one and there are other videos on YouTube which get wrong (BH223Fo8kHA) the rationale behind a lot of the innovations behind the guitar being designed the way it is. Always best to hear it from the horse's mouth, I guess! Sweet guitar.

[xXCALLZXx]

wow he can do everything

[dbeater1]

nice one ,,,thanks for posting,very informative.

[FromMyEyesToYours]

Ya know.. as Eric and I are both tetering on old age, I have to wonder which I would choose if God gave me the choice. Would I want his guitar playing abilities.. or his hair? Lucky bastard.. but jealousy aside.. I still love him.

[MrBatch73]

I love mine. I got it in Candy Apple Red with the maple fretboard. My only complaint it the back of the neck gets sticky. Other than that I love it, sounds like bells ringing. Unplugged it is the loudest guitar I own.

[jamesmanortiz]

best strat ever.

this has to be fenders greatest strat

[timmy47]

i agree. i played one and it was great. the only maple fretboard strat ive actually liked. easy to play, sounds great, and has the tone control on the bridge which i like and have done to my strat.

[jamesmanortiz]

cool man ya this is a great strat!

are you gonna plan on buying one i definitly am.

[timmy47]

hopefully one day when i have enough funds. i migh have to try the rosewood model first though. no one seems to have it that ive been to.

[jamesmanortiz]

cool um try guitar center they carry em.

i played there great to just as great.

[timmy47]

i dont think we have guitar centre in canada.

[bartolemeo]

Wildwood Guitars in CO will ship to you. Wonderful people there, great, great service.

[ahhotdogg]

this is the nicest strat i ever played before by far

[TrevorWilsonHimself]

Eric makes so much sense to me.

His strat i am sure is the best strat in the world.

[jamesmanortiz]

@BrianGuitarShred fuck you show some respect to him hes a cool guy and i think he knows what hes talking about so fuck off. you obviously dont know what your talking dumb bitch.

[GuitarMusiq]

Man! I had no idea he could sing!

[JulianH21]

listen to him on "Friends" :)

[WoWandMetalFTW]

He should write a book "Brownsound diaries:how to lose your wife"

[BrianGuitarShred]

3:25 -- "I don't leave the backplate on because it effects the tone."

Am I the only one who thinks this guy should be locked up in a mental hospital?

[JustTVinc]

They say there's a fine line between "genius" and "crazy"

[BrianGuitarShred]

Very true -- not to mention his voice sounds so relaxed you'd think he was a serial killer who finds peace in playing guitar and slaughtering people.

[ahhotdogg]

@JustTVinc

like charles manson

[DarkMusician777]

"There is a fine line between genious and insanity. I have erased this line."

---Oscar Lavant

[severinsteelsmith]

It is true. If you can't hear the difference, than it probably doesn't matter for you. I noticed the same thing so the back plates are off all mine.

[cyclist4now]

Yes you are the only one!! Ever heard of a preference for cables or picks or strings. Everyones hears things differently. Show some respect for EJ.

[BrianGuitarShred]

preference for cables or picks are very reasonable, and very true...but backplate would change the sound of the guitar unplugged more then anything, not so much when it's plugged in.

[cyclist4now]

Whatever state the electric guitar is in (with or without the backplate) will in my and EJ's opinion affect the amplified sound that the guitar produces.The wooden body of the guitar and its accessories do have some acoustic properties that are of course transmitted to the amplifier.EJ has spent many years playing the guitar and he has accomplished far more than you and I with his instrument.All of those years of practice and playing change his perception. I'll respect his opinion.Shred in Peace

[serenetynowandlater]

yes you are as a matter of fact

[1954tele]

Actually, yes you are probably the only one, and furthermore to complement someone by saying "is voice sounds so relaxed you'd think he was a serial killer" is not only bizarre but sociopathic.

[popomczowzow]

You know this guitar kicks ass when the most anal person in the world when it comes to tone helped design it and uses it as his main axe on stage.

Now, what we need is a strat with tone control for ALL the pickups haha

[oryxfreeride]

lol @ 3:45

[kdjfnvjvd]

5 springs are just way too much for me haha

[b4rf3r]

i thinks satrianis singing fits his songs, except for "i believe". But Joe has several time said that he isnt an excellent singer, he is mainly a baritone

[kdjfnvjvd]

a small handfull were made with the figured maple neckand they go for around 1600-1700. I got mine for 1100. guitar center usually has a few that you can pickup for about 1200-1300. All of EJ's have the figured maple wich is awesome.

[nokie2]

I love this guitar. One great feature I don't see mintioned in this video is the light-weight body. That's a major plus. I prefer the very round 7.5" fretboards of some of the 50's strats , but this one with a flat radius does make for fast single-note licks and asier bending. What do they go for? I got mine used so check the interenet for new prices.

[redslownight]

how much is it?

[SwedishviKingohnoes]

how much do these go for?

[29396]

What's the song at 5:12?

[o7levi]

That's "When the Sun Meets the Sky".. it's on the Venus Isle album. One of my favorites.

[dannycorser]

@o7levi mine too the first time i seen Eric was in Denver at the Rainbow Music Hall , for $5.00 I told my wife he wont play for $ 5 .00 anymore he is so good , danny

[zodiacbluesbaby]

Love his accent... "the guitar has bigger freyuts".

[xdivinebladex]

anybody know how long his signature model has been in production?

[danny941016]

since january 2005...

[xdivinebladex]

k thanks

[deejack1414]

whhoooaaahh i didnt know he could sing like that. hes better than joe satriani........

[petar870602]

satriani is really bad singer :D

[chico280]

He's not that bad. Check out "Big Bad Moon"

[rentapec]

hes not good tho is he.....lol

[keithosaurus]

Does anyone know how eric gets that thick violin type sound, can it be put down to any one particular pedal or is it a combination of pedals and technique, i love that sound he gets.

[o7levi]

It's a combination of things. He usually goes very heavy on the treble and mids on his amps, but light on the highs. The rest is in his pedals/setup and fingers.

[keithosaurus]

Thank you for your speedy reply.

[johnathandk42134]

@o7levi i think u just wrote wrong but treble and highs are the same thing, i think u meant not much on the treble and a lot on the bass and mids though

[MarshallGunner]

BK BUTLER TUBE DRIVER - check it. It's wild and super expensive

[keithosaurus]

Thanks- have heard good things about this pedal, but i beleive it's only available to special order from their web site, is this correct do you know?. I appreciate you guys posting comments- i live in england, not to sure about availabillity here but it's bound to be very expensive. Cheers for your interest, i own a tonebone hot british, not sure how this compares to the butler or whether it's worth upgrading to.

[MattIsTheBest0522]

Yeah, those butlers are very expensive but give great drive and tone.

[NamretliF]

how much can cost one? thnks n.n.

[baseballnolie34]

$200 or so used. A brand new one is $300 and you can order them from the website.

[NamretliF]

:O!!!! is not so expensive i want one :P

[baseballnolie34]

I was talking about the Tube Driver, not the strat. Chill out folks. Why would I say you can order Strats from the website?

Anyways, used actually seems to vary in price a lot but you can get the new one for $299 or something like $425 through Butler's website. Just google "Butler tube driver" and you'll find it.

[coolcustomer31]

i think they're around $2300 new, i dont know what the other guy was talking about.

[NamretliF]

oh no T.T.............

[Hereistone]

I dont know exactly, but a lot of reverb and a digital delay with repeats is a start. Then a dark sounding fuzz/overdrive pedal should get you pretty close

[StardustRevolutionX]

compressor?

[CherokeeMusic]

A compressor does exactly what the name suggests. It compresses the signal, and thereby, gives you sustain. Think of it like rolling a ball of play dough into a snake shape.

[Sean2112bd]

Haha. That's a pretty good description.

[CherokeeMusic]

Thank you. *bows*

[magnumsteele]

To help you understand a little better... A compressor evens out the loud and quiet signal by a certain ratio. The harder notes you play will become softer, and the soft notes will become louder depending on you setting. Compression is used throughout most of the recording process, not just guitars.

[Stringprodigy]

@keithosaurus, Fuzz Face.

[joeytruelove]

@keithosaurus @o7levi How distinct between treble and highs? ;) I think what o7levi was trying to say is EJ usually cuts the presence and treble on the amp entirely and turns down the tone of his guitar by about 3/4s of the swing. Then it's just dimed German, fat sounding EL34s pushing a quad of Celestion G12Ms beyond their specs.

[MrYeswecan14]

@joeytruelove where did you get this info for eric's amps? I've been looking for so long and i didn't find anything!

[joeytruelove]

@MrYeswecan14 Been reading up on interviews and been hanging a lot over at the EJ forum and other forums on the internet. I'd really would love to make the EJ equivalent to the Gilmourish site.

[ejSignStrat]

@joeytruelove What brand are his EL34s?

[joeytruelove]

@ejSignStrat I believe he's a fan of Telefunkens, but that could have changed.

[ZeppelinRules]

@keithosaurus

He's a noted gear whore. He claims to be able to hear the difference between battery brands in his pedals. Almost his entire rig is vintage, and he's got a tone knob for his bridge pickup which smooths it out a lot. .

This guy explains how to get pretty close /watch?v=OtI5UWAQXLg

[azharkamal]

Eric is right. Lots of things make a different. Do you know that even the black Jazz 3´s sound different to the red ones? Honestly, I am not being anal or anything.

[xjaguar13]

Really?

Because I honestly cannot tell the difference and I have both. They are both the exact same thickness/flexibility too even though they're meant to be different. I can't tell anyway and I have been using them both for quite some time now.

[NamretliF]

i fell the black one are more hard and the red give a nother tone

[Mahavishnu80]

he is right you lose and gain with everything in guitar music and life. i think erics tonal insanity has prevented him from concentrating on being creative over the years. when i go into gear nut mode i really lose the drive and energy to play music.

[GUITARMAN2006JORGE]

I think you're right.....when you start trying all kinds of equipment to give you different tonalities you loose time in concentrating in your playing and that is a waist of time....I heard Steve Vai on a video saying that the tone of your guitar is in your fingers and that is all what it takes to achieve your own sound....but that takes a lot of playing and practice....anyway, Eric is a genius and one of my guitar heroes....he achieved is own sound and personal signature of guitar playing

[slashrocks768]

you are spot on my friend, so true and sad in a way, so much talent not being produced :P

[SwedishviKingohnoes]

i think maybe it would get to the point where you go, "dang, I cant make this idea come out unless i have this, this and this." and then your creativity just expands more and more and your gear is just part of your creativity. Not: "Oh I cant be more creative unless I have all this gear"

[biotoxin21]

eric johnson could play a plastic guitar from a cracker jack box and make it sound incredible.

[Ethatetheman1]

johsnon is a better designer then player,

and he plays pretty good

Im buying one for $1,300

Black

[o7levi]

He was just demonstrating the guitar. Pick up Tones, come back and comment again. :)

[JulianH21]

@o7levi this is soooo true! Tones is a wonderful album :)

[Sauron767]

@o7levi

Dude I SOOOOOOOO want this guitar fuckin 2K god dam -_-

[retal06]

@Ethatetheman1 LOL WUT ?? better then player? are you on drugs?

[RitchieBrinckmore]

I challenge God to design a better guitar than the Fender Eric Johnson Signature Stratocaster.

[sebace]

hey where are the other parts???

[hogjones]

I've always thought Eric Johnson plays the absolutely best instruments, but his sound is way to slick. That's Les Paul territory. Accidental tonalities are the province of fender guitars, and Johnson has no sense of that.

[steviesspankin]

Um... what on earth does all that mean?!

[RitchieBrinckmore]

Now that's a typical comment that gets "thumbs down" by people just because they're too stupid to understand it's contents.

[o7levi]

My personal thoughts are that in Eric Johnson's case, his tonal choices and chord voicings sort of seem to run in parallel with his personality. He makes music he feels and that speaks to him, how can you find fault with that? Leave the shredding to guys in black shirts and the blues to bluesmen. Country to guys in cowboy hats, etc etc.

[n2motocross]

I got my two-tone EJ for $1,345.00 at Guitar Center. You can talk them down.

[kroftkarl]

I have a black one

[kroftkarl]

They are wonderful guitars and very close to VOS for half the price, nitro finish and all

[ZombieDesertDeities]

How much dose one of these cost?

[purplexbuddha]

a lot.

[YogiSizzle]

Around $1700

[ZombieDesertDeities]

Thats not bad for a Eric Johnson guitar. EVH's costs $25,000 and Vai's is like $2,500. Cool guitar.

[FFXGuitar]

The EVH is a waste of money, but the Steve Vai and Eric Johnson Signature Guitars are definitely worth the money.

[ZombieDesertDeities]

Thats for sure I just got my Jem 7V on th 15th of November and it was worth every peny and the 2 1/2 year wait.

[logeybear5150]

the EVH is a limited edition guitar thats more of a collectors piece than a players instrument, im a big EVH fan but yeh, id probably take one of these or a 7V over the EVH, but its not a waste of money.

[blahman178]

I need some advice from some people with this guitar. I currently have an Am. strat with SCN noiseless pickups. It sounds great, but it doesn't feel or sound vintage-y like I would like. I like the jazzy, thick tones that I can coax out of the vintage strats.I am thinking of trading it for this guitar. Should I trade it?Would it be overkill to have an American strat and the EJ strat? I am worried that I would never touch my Am strat again if I got the EJ model. I am on a very limited budget btw.

[lucadepu]

i say keep the am and save money for the ej. at east if after enough time you have playied your ej you find it more vintagey sounding or you like one more over the other, then you can sell one.

[blahman178]

Ya that is a good idea. However....I recently earned a bunch of money, and I am thinking of buying a new amp head. I think a good 'bucker axe like an LP will be next afer that. But I love those EJ strats and I will get one some day.Thanks for the reply!

[joxter74]

Oh yes you can smartwood11. I just got one now, but it's because i've found THEE right one! Took ten years, and 20 some strats to find it though...

[prompen3]

WHeres the other parts?

[Beadlely]

I've played on two of his models are they are the nicest strat I have played on. It was better then a £6,000 hand built custom shop strat.

[smartwood11]

I need that guitar! I've got 5, but you can never have enough! lol

[shivkm]

Genius..... I need that guitar..... he says you can use the whammy a little. How much exactly?

[mikestguitar]

very good video.I've got my EJ strat six months ago and it's an incredible guit¡¡¡

[kdjfnvjvd]

Hey mikestguitar, I too got an EJ strat and I love it! The only set-back is the tough string tention.I've played a few others and they all seem that way....????

[mikestguitar]

i think so, but notice that these strat has the five springs on , you can take off one or two to get less tension.

[kdjfnvjvd]

Well,less tension on the trem maybe,but it's tough to do bends. I've always preferred to have the bridge sit flush on the body;don't use the trem bar much. I tried to use a little relief in the neck but it didn't make a difference. How does your EJ feel??

[mikestguitar]

mine feels very good,by the moment, i've made no other adjustements.

[kdjfnvjvd]

What color do you have? I've got the 2-tone.Man It's just beautiful and sounds so damn good. Nice and crisp!

[mikestguitar]

mime is candy apple red, simply spectacular¡¡, you can see the ej "in action" in one of my videos :D

[kdjfnvjvd]

Cool! I'm gonna check it out.

[mrburns031]

Very good videos...thank you for postings but and the other parts? Any chances for others parts?

[o7levi]

I'll try again.. my program kept corrupting the files. I originally planned to put all of them up here.

[1VanHalen1]

Wow! Thanx, Eric's such a down to Earth guy.

[nanker]

"...this guy needs help" haha oh man I lost it right there. EJ is a master

[1VanHalen1]

Couldn't have said it better...

[chriswalkerband]

Thanks you for posting this, EJ is truly an amazing musicians and a great guy. WTSMTS is one of my favorites as well.

[tractorKing]

When the sun meets the sky is such a great song.