Eric Johnson talks about his new signature guitar

From the first time I heard Cliffs of Dover I was an Eric Johnson fan, the blistering fast licks, catching riff, and smooth tone. Part of Eric Johnson's tone is his guitar, and now he's got another signature Fender Stratocaster out with a rosewood neck. One unique thing about this guitar the binding on the neck which you don't normally see from strats these days, Eric saw this in Fender catalogues in 1965. The shape of the Eric Johnson signature Fender stratocaster is based on Eric personal 1962 strat which he found had the perfect neck for him. Another unique feature tweeked by Eric is the headstock and tuners, they are at an angel to optimise tension and tuning without the need for string trees.

Eric Johnson Gear - Interview on his new signature

Eric Johnson Gear: Eric Johnson Signature Stratocaster RW

I was a fan of Eric Johnson since I first saw Cliff Of Dover tabbed out in a guitar magazine, then I bought a video of Eric with G3, this guy can really play, he knows his stuff with his funky jazz chords and unique soloing style.

Not all guitarists are gear and tone freaks, some just stick with their favourite guitar and thats what gives them their sound. But some are "tone chasers" as EVH would say, and Eric Johnson is one of them. He's constantly testing out gear and tweaking his sound. The newest addition to Eric Johnson's gear setup is the Eric Johnson Signature Stratocaster with Fender. Eric Johnson has another signature strat with a maple neck, but this ones with a Rosewood and some other tweaks to improve the guitar.

This guitar has a rosewood neck with binding for asthetics with fender doesn't do that often anymore, the idea came from the period when when Fender made Rosewood necks with binding in 1965-1966.

The pickups on this gutar are also tweaked to Eric Johnson's specifications. The guitar is called The Fender Eric Johnson Signature Stratocaster RW, RW for rosewood I guess. Check out what eric has to say about it:



Heres what Fender have to say about this great guitar:
"There is no greater example of guitar hero Eric Johnson’s devotion to his art than his new signature model Stratocaster guitar. With singular attention to detail, the new Eric Johnson Stratocaster RW features a two-piece alder body finished in thin-skin nitrocellulose lacquer, a quartersawn maple neck with bound round-laminated 12”-radius rosewood fretboard, a three-ply parchment pickguard, pickups voiced by Johnson himself, staggered vintage-style tuners, a custom tremolo block, and four brand-new finish options, three of which (Lucerne Aqua Firemist, Tropical Turquoise and Medium Palomino Metallic) are exclusive to this model. Deluxe blonde hardshell case included" (Fender.com_

Eric Johnson Guitar Gear

Fender Artist Series Eric Johnson Stratocaster Electric Guitar

Fender Artist Series Eric Johnson Stratocaster Electric Guitar
Price: $2,339.99

Shop for Guitars at GuitarCenter.com

Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster RW Electric Guitar

Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster RW Electric Guitar
Price: $2,509.99

Shop for Guitars at GuitarCenter.com

Eric Johnson on the G-DEC®

Fender® recently stopped by Eric Johnson's private studio where he played some of his signature tones through the G-DEC and the G-DEC 30.


The Fender G-DEC is a small 15 watt practice guitar amplifier. G-DEC stands for Guitar Digital Entertainment Centre. A great amplifier which Eric Johnson uses for practicing and warming up.


Features include:
- Easy recall of guitar tones from Heavy Metal to Jazz to Punk to Country-- at the twist of a knob!
- Drum beats, Bass lines, and other instruments provide musical backing in any styles and tempo. 70 Drum loops in all, plus Metronome. User may chang the key and tempo of each backing loop.
- Internal synthesizer with MIDI interface allows playing with MIDI song files via computer-play all the backing tracks through the G-DEC! Every instrument from Piano to Percussion is in there! MIDI keyboards can also be hooked up to G-DEC to play the internal sounds.
- Spicial effects like Reverb and Echo plus crazy, creative sound effects!
- The amp's top provides a flat surface for placing a portable CD or MP3 player; these devices can be hooked up with the G-DEC for "play along" capability
- Internal Phrase Sample can sample the incoming guitar signal to create loops, or song snippets from CD/MP3 may be captured for careful study.
- 15 Watts of power with a Special Design 8" speaker
- Future software upgrades can be loaded via MIDI
- Headphone Jack
- IEC Grounding Type Power Supply Cord
- Easi-to-use automatic guitar tune





Source: Fender.com