A buddy of mine was helping a friend work on his car one night. This guy walked up and said he bought the building and wanted to check it out. My Buddy said "Are you Eric Johnson?" It was. EJ bought the building to use a studio.They talked for a long time about music and cars. EJ was extremely nice and laid back. No ego at all. He gave the guy that was using the building as a garage plenty of time to move out.
Incredible musician/ composer with no ego , super nice guy and level headed , that blows my statement - musicians are 100% temperamental- 60 temper / 40 mental , great to see !
EJ and Mike Stern had played two back-to-back shows in Phoenix, and my wife and I attended the second show. We were literally the last people in line at the merch table, but Eric signed our concert poster and chatted with us as Mike yelled, "Hey, we gotta get going, man!" They're both great guys though, lol.
Ah Via Musicom came out the first year I started playing guitar (got my first guitar at age 12). Thanks to albums like that one, Passion and Warfare, Rust in Peace, And Justice for All, Operation: Mindcrime, and going back the first album to inspire me when I was 7, Van Halen's 1984, I was set on my journey.
It blows me away how many of my guitar playing friends don't know who Eric Johnson is. I cant think of a player out there who, if I had a genie in a bottle, I would want to sound like. A perfect combo of melodic and shred. Simply an amazing musician
Not that it really matters, because if you are a guitar player you should know who EJ is....even if it's just Cliffs, but how old are your friends? Do they know who SRV is?
Ah Via Musicom marked me as a 10yr old learning guitar in the early 90s, introd by an ex of my older sister who also played classical guitar. I could spend hours pre-internet figuring out the notes and work on my interpretation, way before tabs were available. I really appreciate what kids nowadays are exposed with all the tools at their disposal to potential their talents!
Eric has been a musical hero of mine since the day I heard Cliffs Of Dover on the radio. That’s right, on the radio!!!! Lol. Me and buddy literally pulled our car over as we were stunned. Immediately ran to the record store and bought the album. A few months later got to see him for the first time open for RUSH. I’ve been a super fan ever since.
Awesome story! I too was exposed to EJ for the first time hearing Cliffs of Dover. I had never heard anything like it. I kept thinking how thick his tone was and was amazed to see he was playing a strat. My favorite Cliffs of Dover performance is his performance on Austin City Limits. He vamps an extended intro and it's awesome.
My fav Eric Johnson solo is the end of the song Venus Isle. The way it builds is awesome and ends with that high chirp harmonic, goosebumps every time I listen to it.
I know it’s probably his most famous song but cliffs of Dover is still probably my favorite sound and playing by him. That song is one of the reasons I started playing. I used to play it beginning to end years ago. But I a lot of cheating by just hammering notes that he picks. Sounded good in front of people who didn’t really know anything about playing but I’d be embarrassed to play it in front of people who knew how to play and were familiar with the song. I think I’ll revisit that song and practice it the right way and see if I can nail it now after all these years
Rick just crushes these interviews. He always asks very thought-provoking questions and is able to lead his interviewee into giving these long, concise responses. EJ is such a technician. It's mind-boggling the grind these guys go through in the studio to capture a certain sound or tone. Rick and EJ are absolute Masters when it comes to this.
The childlike thing is spot on! The 1st time I plugged into a Marshall (a Plexi I think) I was all tingly inside and out. I always tried to retain that “musical innocence” to this day. The Ramsa thing was great too. I use a few unorthodox things in my rig as well that people laugh at. I just tell them it works for me! EJ has always been an inspiration! Thank you Rick! Peace ☮️
Ah Via Musicom marked me as a 10yr old learning guitar in the early 90s, introd by an ex of my older sister who also played classical guitar. I could spend hours pre-internet figuring out the notes and work on my interpretation, way before tabs were available. I really appreciate what kids nowadays are exposed with all the tools at their disposal to potential their talents!
Ian Paice of Deep Purple said the same sort of thing as Eric about being a "professional" and how to keep that spark of playing. Remembering that feeling when you first started playing and the excitement of it. What drove you to pick up the instrument. Also he said if he had never become successful in a commercial sense he would still be playing down at the local pub on the weekends. Those are all the right reasons to be in music. So I like what Eric says about having that child like quality and focus on the moments when it was pure joy.
I know a man in Texas named Bill Starett who told me about Eric Johnson. After that I couldn't wait to see Eric live. Then I got to get to the Satch/Johnson '06 Supper Colossal Tour at the Vancouver Commodore ballroom. Unbelievable. I'll never forget it. Thanks Rick for posting. Cheers from the north.
I bought a strat at the Austin store Eric was known to visit. While there, I asked about Eric. The gent helping me said he came in once and wanted just one of the speakers out of a cabinet he was playing through. Not the whole cabinet. Just one of the speakers. He told Eric “I’m sorry we can’t do that.”
I used to work at Mothers caffe in Austin Texas, and one time I was in the kitchen and I went out to the bar and a saw a guy that looked like Eric Johnson and I went back to the kitchen and I told my coworker that a saw a guy that looked like Eric, and he said “oh yeah that’s him he always comes” and he laugh, so I thought he was just kidding. A month past by and I was talking to Anne (one of the owners of the restaurant) and she was telling me that her ex husband makes music and plays guitar and I was like oh cool, and she show me a CD of her ex, and it was Fucking Eric Johnson! And I put 2 and 2 together and I was like no way! So, yes it was true that the guy I saw that looked like Eric it was actually Eric and he always go to the restaurant and he’s still great friends with Anne (his ex wife) and the next time I saw him, I said hi, and we talked guitars for a little bit. Sorry my story was long but I just have to say it! I’m a huge fan and I had the pleasure to meet him many times after that.
Im a percussionist from the 70's still jamming today, never hit the big time, but playing small town gigs and just jamming is fine with me, the best times I had were back in the old garage jamming and people just walking by and stopping to listen , 🥁👍.
I remember 2 or 3 times (back in "the day") poking fun at E.J. about how ultra-careful he was with cable choices, batteries in pedals, tuning alongside an acoustic piano player, voltage, etc. Then I had a handful of "nightmare" gigs where I prepped hard and then equipment malfunctioned in front of hundreds (or thousands!) of people. I'm so anal now about my gear and my tone that I don't even gig anymore.
This is so interesting. Though, these conversations remind me that, at the level I play, the weak link in my sound is me, not the gear or settings. It's like the way shaving my legs wouldn't help me a smidge as an Olympic swimmer.
Yeah. I just can’t see how you could improve it. Both his clean and lead sounds. Those Memory Man’s on his clean…such beautiful modulation. Ive got some legendary pitch modulation pieces, like the TC 1210 Spatial Expander and an Eventide H-3000 and a Rockman Chorus, but that modulation you get out of a Memory Man is just glorious. And his lead tone…the 1000 lb violin. More like a 1000 lb cello. What better way to describe it?
@@zenlandzipline i’m usually not a signature guitar or signature pickup kind of guy for my own playing… But I would definitely make an exception for Eric Johnson.
@@billgerazounis5610 his tones are more to do with pedals and amps, than guitars. On Cliffs, he actually used a 335 and a Stratocaster, and it’s hard to tell which one is which. It’s more about his signal chain. But then, yeah, you add a great sounding guitar to that, and you get tone Heaven.
@@zenlandzipline cool thing with his guitar, and his signature pick ups… It’s all to his very detailed specifications. He went out of his way to have the perfect guitar to get that sound. Not too hard to get a tube screamer, or some of the other tools at his disposal… But that guitar is 100% him. They play like a dream.
@@billgerazounis5610 no, it’s not hard to get a Tubedriver or Echoplex or amps. But it’s all of the experimentation and years of tweaking knobs that make it what it is. And the guitars.
The main solo on "Desert Rose" is amazing, but the outro solo of "Desert Rose" is just exquisite! I was hoping that EJ had said "Desert Rose" was his favorite because every time I hear it (even all these years later), I still get goosebumps.
When I was in college in the 90s my roommate and I would end up many late nights at Kerbey Lane Cafe on South Lamar in Austin to scarf down omelets and coffee. Eric Johnson was often there, too, sitting at a table with one or two other people. To be sure one night, I asked our waiter - our regular waiter, who's name was Darby - "That IS Eric Jonson, right?". Darby, lovable contrarian that he was, confirmed - with some disdain sprinkled on top with, "Yep that's Eric Johnson. I hate what the electric guitar has done to music, by the way." Nevertheless, he went over to EJ's table and got him to autograph a napkin for me. EJ is awesome. But so is Darby.
Whoa, I did not expect Eric to mention Ramsa! My dad still gigs with a 24-channel Ramsa mixer. We live in MX and he bought that in the US in the early 90s. He tells a story that when he brought it home some local musicians looked at it and ridiculed him, even told him he must have gotten it for free inside a cereal box (because it was a relatively unknown brand around here). Nearly 30 years later and that mixer keeps going and going!
I like the message that Eric conveyed to stay child like and keeping the passion, I live on the central coast of California and on any given weekend you can see the keyboardist who plays with U2 and countless other band’s (Terry Lawless) playing small gig’s at a local restaurant or park, Being a keyboardist myself we talk about music and gigs, Terry genuinely loves to play in front of people wether it’s 20 people or 90,000 at Wembly Stadium, if that’s not passion then I don’t know what it is. Thank you Rick for the great interview. Eric Johnson probably my favorite guitar sound!
Eric’s been one of my favorite and most inspiring guitarists from the time I discovered his music back in the early 90s. I’ve always admired his signature style and sound.
Eric shares this amazing revelation about getting back to loving music intrinsically without the need for fame, money, and recognition. Rick then quickly pivots to ask Eric about his favorite solo, like he wasn’t even listening to what Eric was saying. I really wish that Rick would have dug deeper, because I think Eric was trying to communicate a significant truth that a lot of musicians like myself need to hear.
@@moonloop6 Yeah. I just can't believe he missed that. I feel that there was so much treasure to uncover by following the thread that Eric started. Maybe Rick was nervous being in the presence of someone so accomplished.
Don’t measure “success” on some record deal you strive for in the future. Measure it on the love and passion you have for your craft in the present. The things you truly want, are the things you probably already have. Don’t overlook the things that are truly the most important. That’s what I got from his statement. $ and fame doesn’t equal success.
Wonderful insight, here. I've been thinking a lot about this as a guitarist recently.... I almost ruined my guitar playing for myself by getting too obsessed with getting better and practicing, but left no room for enjoyment, passion, love for playing. I became way too serious, self critical and therefore negative about my playing. The times when you're just playing and smiling and in the moment enjoying it are what it's all about. I think it's super important to think back to those times when I was 15 plugging into a 100 watt amp and a 4x12 for the first time. Pure enjoyment and passion. Love Eric's words here!
I lost my sense of wonder back in the late 90s. It had been almost 15 years of gigs and original stuff and it all sort of falling apart in the creative sense. Still playing for drunk bikers was hollow. It took stepping out of it for a while, moving to Baltimore and meeting Dave Diamond and joining his band ( Cyberstrike) in the beginning of that whole thing. I felt creative again, I was playing a lot and my chops were back up. Writing heavy prog was fulfilling but we ended up going off in different directions. It was OK and got me to a good place of wonder again. I owe Dave a lot.
mine is definitely Desert Rose. i know thats oviouse but i worked on that for months.. and never really got it. the tone changes in that song are remarkable and its such a powerful cut though your soul song that i can never listen to it once. even though I've heard it a hundred times.
Hey Rick! Check out the footage on RUclips called "session with Les Paul". Eric Johnson, Satriani, Slash, Zakk Wylde...had the opportunity to play the blues with the late Les Paul, in a very slow tempo. I'm interested in your opinion. It was real improvisation...no overdubs.
Rick, I see that you're rocking some Event monitors. I've just sold my Project Studio 6 for $120 on EBay. They've not held their value very well. I bought them new and had them for nearly 20 yrs. Their "boxines" eventually got to me, and I replaced them with Focal Alpha 65 Evo 6.5 inch. The Focal have a much broader and clearer top end, and the larger cabinet provides tighter and deeper lows. At $800/pair at Sweetwater, I couldn't resist. Rock on!
I am most certain that years ago I read an interview with Eric and he mentioned using felt picks. Listening to his tone and picking style it sounds very smooth.
YOU SHOULD GET AN INTERVIEW WITH G.E. SMITH🎵 a remarkable guitar player,a class act, and cool dude. One of the greats that has been appreciated by all , but not given much notice in the way of his interesting life stories. just his stories on SNL are legendary let alone everything.
Eric's tone has always been an integral part of his style. I wish more players cared about their tone. Eric doesn't compromise on tone. I can't think of any great players who don't also have great tone. Eric's got it all locked down. I remember the first time I saw him live opening for Satch in 1990. His tone was incredible. His set was far more enjoyable than Satch's which sounded very artificial at that point because he'd resorted to using racks and too many artificial screaming pinch harmonics. Eric was far more tasteful. I first saw Satch on the Surfing with the Alien tour in '88. The difference in his tone in those two years was tremendous, and not in a good way. Eric's tone was more my cup of tea. Still is.
So true, If you’re just chasing career and money but don’t have true passion for art, do something else, for all the true music lovers out there, stay childlike and play free.✝️
Hey Rick, thanks for having E.J. on. He's SO deep on being a guitar player/musician ,Such experience, (EARS),,Gotta love it, when he was talking about playing gigs when starting out,,,(memorable gig stuff/fun),,I can so relate to that,,,PLAYING GUITAR/SONGWRITING-,,,what's better than that. GOD BLESS YOU GUYS,,,,,thanks--RJ
Ah Via Musicom is amazing! Venus Isle is as well! Some people prefer Ah Via, some Venus Isle, just a personal preference thing at that point. I'd say Venus Isle is my favorite!
The first thing you need to learn to be a good guitarist, is to say ´you know´ all the time. Robben Ford also does that, but he adds a lot of ´eh´s also, so that must be the next level. And then practice, practice, practice 🙂
It's hard to imagine the hours spent dialing in the right pedal with the right tubes in the right amp, and discovering that an old SM57, not new, works best for him angled down in the lower right quadrant and not the left. Shit!
Eric is a great player but he plays mostly stuff that I don't want to hear much of. Just a matter of different tastes. Plus he has the weird ability to take one of the brightest sounding amps ever made and make it sound muffled.
@@jsullivan2112 I think the key word there is "waiting"....to me it means a lot since i have been listening to that album since 1976....it means not being a player in your own destiny, not working at something, waiting for your destiny to happen by pother than your own hand...Neil was a fucking eye opener and master on several levels. A life long influence and so is 2112
I agree on what Eric was saying on getting a tone, for me it seems that most kids in the last generation's have lost the beauty of actually having that elative sound that you strive for. These new guitarist that do not want to do the hard work and look for the easiest way out with the least amount of work now a days. They make mic's that you don't even need to learn about mic placement and it does for you. interfaces that you don't need to learn how hot you need to come in or how safe of volume going to the interface. Now with press a button and presto it does it for you and the level's are set. Things are not exciting anymore nobody wants to make the effort for anything anymore sad.
Love Eric's music. He has some interesting ideas about sound shaping. Fender amps have a peakiness in the 2.8-3kHz region? Maybe the JBL D120F speaker does. 3-3.5kHz is the most sensitive human hearing range. Maybe he's picking up on that? 4-5" away on a 4x12 with an SM57 is an interesting choice. I guess there's a spot he likes where there's a certain phase relationship.
One feature of the best interviewers is the ability to keep quiet and let the person being interviewed have plenty of time to complete their thoughts and speak their mind. Rick has become really good at that exact thing.
yes, that youtuber "profesor of rock" could learn a lot from rick. he was once interviewing steve kilbey from the church , and he was explaining why he put an F# over an Amsus4 and he started talking over him about something completely different and the look on steve's face, if looks could kill. Oh and he could smoke less before an interview, Rick is great
Rick, put the full video link up high in the caption. Maybe even add "Clip" in the title, so folks know more readily that it's from a long-form interview, and click on that link. Just a thought. "In this clip from the Eric Johnson Interview, Eric Johnson talks..."
EJ is right. I ran the same Tube Driver extensively beginning in the late '80's and when I finally had to replace its tube many years later it simply was not the same sound.
At age 40, my buddies and I jam every Friday. We won't be anything more than a bar band if we're ambitious enough to move a drum kit and speakers. That said, every week, we're loud and feel like rock stars. Their's nothing better than that feeling.
Honest question: Has there ever been a single guitar player that obsesses over every single element of their tone more than Eric Johnson? I've heard that he literally even pays attention to exact batteries in his fuzz pedals and things of that nature. I mean he is absolutely meticulous by all accounts and it comes across in the fact that pretty much literally no one sounds like him except for him. Despite the fact that he has been influencing players for literally decades now.
Eric really opened up when he was starting to talk about recording clean tones. Then I observed him pulling back a bit when he talked about the "Marshall". Almost like he was giving away secrets. Good interview!
Got to catch a pretty intimate gig at the MIM in AZ back in 2014, Eric, Mike Stern, and Anton Fig were doing a signing afterward, and even as the staff and bouncers were trying to hurry people along, Eric was super kind and took a minute to chat with everyone. What a great dude
+1 interview, always amazed at the way these fellas keep chasing the tone. God forbid they ever catch it because it would be a terrible loss to us mortals. 🏴👍👍👍🥃Respect to you fellas.
So true. You don’t have to be a rich and famous rock star. We can all get that feeling of creating music in our house just for the love of playing guitar
![Rig Rundown - Eric Johnson [2018]](/img/1.gif)
A buddy of mine was helping a friend work on his car one night. This guy walked up and said he bought the building and wanted to check it out. My Buddy said "Are you Eric Johnson?" It was. EJ bought the building to use a studio.They talked for a long time about music and cars. EJ was extremely nice and laid back. No ego at all. He gave the guy that was using the building as a garage plenty of time to move out.
I hope someday I get to meet a guy who uses a building as a garage.
Incredible musician/ composer with no ego , super nice guy and level headed , that blows my statement - musicians are 100% temperamental- 60 temper / 40 mental , great to see !
@@davelouis4004 Steve Vai is the same way too.
@@davelouis4004 can you elaborate?
EJ and Mike Stern had played two back-to-back shows in Phoenix, and my wife and I attended the second show. We were literally the last people in line at the merch table, but Eric signed our concert poster and chatted with us as Mike yelled, "Hey, we gotta get going, man!" They're both great guys though, lol.
Ah Via Musicom came out the first year I started playing guitar (got my first guitar at age 12). Thanks to albums like that one, Passion and Warfare, Rust in Peace, And Justice for All, Operation: Mindcrime, and going back the first album to inspire me when I was 7, Van Halen's 1984, I was set on my journey.
Super nice guy, super talented
Clean: Fender amp, compressor, reverb
If I had a pint for every time he said "you know", I'd be steaming.
It blows me away how many of my guitar playing friends don't know who Eric Johnson is. I cant think of a player out there who, if I had a genie in a bottle, I would want to sound like. A perfect combo of melodic and shred. Simply an amazing musician
I could not agree more bro. He is a true virtuoso. His lead tone is so dark its my favourite tone for sure
Not that it really matters, because if you are a guitar player you should know who EJ is....even if it's just Cliffs, but how old are your friends? Do they know who SRV is?
"A perfect combo of melodic and shred" on point!
Ah Via Musicom marked me as a 10yr old learning guitar in the early 90s, introd by an ex of my older sister who also played classical guitar. I could spend hours pre-internet figuring out the notes and work on my interpretation, way before tabs were available. I really appreciate what kids nowadays are exposed with all the tools at their disposal to potential their talents!
Eric johnson is guitar tone. The live in Austin gig is mind blowing even now 40 years later 👍
Back when he had an entire pawn shop of amps on stage? 🤣
Eric has been a musical hero of mine since the day I heard Cliffs Of Dover on the radio. That’s right, on the radio!!!! Lol. Me and buddy literally pulled our car over as we were stunned. Immediately ran to the record store and bought the album. A few months later got to see him for the first time open for RUSH. I’ve been a super fan ever since.
Awesome story! I too was exposed to EJ for the first time hearing Cliffs of Dover. I had never heard anything like it. I kept thinking how thick his tone was and was amazed to see he was playing a strat. My favorite Cliffs of Dover performance is his performance on Austin City Limits. He vamps an extended intro and it's awesome.
wow, I have seen both acts many many times... together on one bill? great show!
Can you imagine a collab between EJ and Rush, that’d be awesome
Great to hear his favourite moments are just playing
My fav Eric Johnson solo is the end of the song Venus Isle. The way it builds is awesome and ends with that high chirp harmonic, goosebumps every time I listen to it.
You read my mind. My favorite too.
Fantastic album !
I know it’s probably his most famous song but cliffs of Dover is still probably my favorite sound and playing by him. That song is one of the reasons I started playing. I used to play it beginning to end years ago. But I a lot of cheating by just hammering notes that he picks. Sounded good in front of people who didn’t really know anything about playing but I’d be embarrassed to play it in front of people who knew how to play and were familiar with the song. I think I’ll revisit that song and practice it the right way and see if I can nail it now after all these years
@@srficarraI kinda cheat out songs like that by using different chords and notes lol. Play how you wanna play :)
Yeah, Venus Reprise is unbelievable. So short but so powerful.
Rick just crushes these interviews. He always asks very thought-provoking questions and is able to lead his interviewee into giving these long, concise responses.
EJ is such a technician. It's mind-boggling the grind these guys go through in the studio to capture a certain sound or tone. Rick and EJ are absolute Masters when it comes to this.
❤❤❤
Interviewee
@nintony2994 That's from the RUclips make up a word club. Pretty clever, huh?
@@OriginalOldSkoolFunk yuhhh
The childlike thing is spot on! The 1st time I plugged into a Marshall (a Plexi I think) I was all tingly inside and out. I always tried to retain that “musical innocence” to this day. The Ramsa thing was great too. I use a few unorthodox things in my rig as well that people laugh at. I just tell them it works for me! EJ has always been an inspiration! Thank you Rick! Peace ☮️
Just playing an E chord does it for me… brings back that childhood wonder of the infinite possibilities of music
EJ talks about tone coming from the soul and heart and RB asks about equipment 😒
is it just me or does Eric sound a bit like Tom Petty when he talks? Seems like a sweet and mellow guy.
Ah Via Musicom marked me as a 10yr old learning guitar in the early 90s, introd by an ex of my older sister who also played classical guitar. I could spend hours pre-internet figuring out the notes and work on my interpretation, way before tabs were available. I really appreciate what kids nowadays are exposed with all the tools at their disposal to potential their talents!
Ian Paice of Deep Purple said the same sort of thing as Eric about being a "professional" and how to keep that spark of playing. Remembering that feeling when you first started playing and the excitement of it. What drove you to pick up the instrument. Also he said if he had never become successful in a commercial sense he would still be playing down at the local pub on the weekends. Those are all the right reasons to be in music. So I like what Eric says about having that child like quality and focus on the moments when it was pure joy.
Agreed
Tell Eric to look up the Tube Museum , owned by a monster guitar player in his own right, Marc Keweki. He has every unobtainable tube
This guy is something else. 🤘🏻🤘🏻
Jeez ya think such a "studio guru" could figure out how to close mic his subjects. ;-)
The guitar sound on Eric's solos in his song "Lonely in the Night" is beautiful and unique.
I know a man in Texas named Bill Starett who told me about Eric Johnson. After that I couldn't wait to see Eric live. Then I got to get to the Satch/Johnson '06 Supper Colossal Tour at the Vancouver Commodore ballroom. Unbelievable. I'll never forget it. Thanks Rick for posting. Cheers from the north.
I bought a strat at the Austin store Eric was known to visit. While there, I asked about Eric. The gent helping me said he came in once and wanted just one of the speakers out of a cabinet he was playing through. Not the whole cabinet. Just one of the speakers. He told Eric “I’m sorry we can’t do that.”
I used to work at Mothers caffe in Austin Texas, and one time I was in the kitchen and I went out to the bar and a saw a guy that looked like Eric Johnson and I went back to the kitchen and I told my coworker that a saw a guy that looked like Eric, and he said “oh yeah that’s him he always comes” and he laugh, so I thought he was just kidding.
A month past by and I was talking to Anne (one of the owners of the restaurant) and she was telling me that her ex husband makes music and plays guitar and I was like oh cool, and she show me a CD of her ex, and it was Fucking Eric Johnson! And I put 2 and 2 together and I was like no way! So, yes it was true that the guy I saw that looked like Eric it was actually Eric and he always go to the restaurant and he’s still great friends with Anne (his ex wife) and the next time I saw him, I said hi, and we talked guitars for a little bit.
Sorry my story was long but I just have to say it! I’m a huge fan and I had the pleasure to meet him many times after that.
one of the very best (possibly the best) tones in all of guitar.
Im a percussionist from the 70's still jamming today, never hit the big time, but playing small town gigs and just jamming is fine with me, the best times I had were back in the old garage jamming and people just walking by and stopping to listen , 🥁👍.
I remember 2 or 3 times (back in "the day") poking fun at E.J. about how ultra-careful he was with cable choices, batteries in pedals, tuning alongside an acoustic piano player, voltage, etc. Then I had a handful of "nightmare" gigs where I prepped hard and then equipment malfunctioned in front of hundreds (or thousands!) of people. I'm so anal now about my gear and my tone that I don't even gig anymore.
If your TONE ain't happenin' your TECHNIQUE is probably gonna go out the window - along w/ all your prep. PTGES post traumatic gig experience syndrome
This is so interesting. Though, these conversations remind me that, at the level I play, the weak link in my sound is me, not the gear or settings. It's like the way shaving my legs wouldn't help me a smidge as an Olympic swimmer.
"half on the cone, half on the cover". You never get these types of answers when other people interview artists.
Literally the perfect tone.
Yeah. I just can’t see how you could improve it. Both his clean and lead sounds. Those Memory Man’s on his clean…such beautiful modulation. Ive got some legendary pitch modulation pieces, like the TC 1210 Spatial Expander and an Eventide H-3000 and a Rockman Chorus, but that modulation you get out of a Memory Man is just glorious.
And his lead tone…the 1000 lb violin. More like a 1000 lb cello. What better way to describe it?
@@zenlandzipline i’m usually not a signature guitar or signature pickup kind of guy for my own playing… But I would definitely make an exception for Eric Johnson.
@@billgerazounis5610 his tones are more to do with pedals and amps, than guitars. On Cliffs, he actually used a 335 and a Stratocaster, and it’s hard to tell which one is which. It’s more about his signal chain.
But then, yeah, you add a great sounding guitar to that, and you get tone Heaven.
@@zenlandzipline cool thing with his guitar, and his signature pick ups… It’s all to his very detailed specifications. He went out of his way to have the perfect guitar to get that sound. Not too hard to get a tube screamer, or some of the other tools at his disposal… But that guitar is 100% him. They play like a dream.
@@billgerazounis5610 no, it’s not hard to get a Tubedriver or Echoplex or amps. But it’s all of the experimentation and years of tweaking knobs that make it what it is.
And the guitars.
The main solo on "Desert Rose" is amazing, but the outro solo of "Desert Rose" is just exquisite! I was hoping that EJ had said "Desert Rose" was his favorite because every time I hear it (even all these years later), I still get goosebumps.
This. That outro solo is my fave EJ solo. I still have a warm spot in my heart for the performance of "Cliffs of Dover" on Austin City Limits, though.
@@erich1710 I do have to say that the intro (with all the chimey chords) to COD on that recording is wonderful.
Those feedback notes in that second DR solo really just are so….I can’t even think of the word. Amazing. The whole solo. I agree, it’s the best.
Trans dimensional. That’s it.
@@erich1710 Trail of Tears is like that for me 40 mile town is awe inspiring
When I was in college in the 90s my roommate and I would end up many late nights at Kerbey Lane Cafe on South Lamar in Austin to scarf down omelets and coffee. Eric Johnson was often there, too, sitting at a table with one or two other people. To be sure one night, I asked our waiter - our regular waiter, who's name was Darby - "That IS Eric Jonson, right?". Darby, lovable contrarian that he was, confirmed - with some disdain sprinkled on top with, "Yep that's Eric Johnson. I hate what the electric guitar has done to music, by the way." Nevertheless, he went over to EJ's table and got him to autograph a napkin for me. EJ is awesome. But so is Darby.
Whoa, I did not expect Eric to mention Ramsa! My dad still gigs with a 24-channel Ramsa mixer. We live in MX and he bought that in the US in the early 90s. He tells a story that when he brought it home some local musicians looked at it and ridiculed him, even told him he must have gotten it for free inside a cereal box (because it was a relatively unknown brand around here). Nearly 30 years later and that mixer keeps going and going!
I like the message that Eric conveyed to stay child like and keeping the passion, I live on the central coast of California and on any given weekend you can see the keyboardist who plays with U2 and countless other band’s (Terry Lawless) playing small gig’s at a local restaurant or park, Being a keyboardist myself we talk about music and gigs, Terry genuinely loves to play in front of people wether it’s 20 people or 90,000 at Wembly Stadium, if that’s not passion then I don’t know what it is. Thank you Rick for the great interview. Eric Johnson probably my favorite guitar sound!
Why can’t guitar players all raise funds to get a quality tube factory up and running? I don’t understand.
Shout out to Rick for being able to remove his own ego from his conversations/interviews. True sign of greatness.
Yep, he just nods his head and let's the Artist speak.
Eric’s been one of my favorite and most inspiring guitarists from the time I discovered his music back in the early 90s. I’ve always admired his signature style and sound.
Eric shares this amazing revelation about getting back to loving music intrinsically without the need for fame, money, and recognition. Rick then quickly pivots to ask Eric about his favorite solo, like he wasn’t even listening to what Eric was saying. I really wish that Rick would have dug deeper, because I think Eric was trying to communicate a significant truth that a lot of musicians like myself need to hear.
Yeah that was a pretty weird move on Rick's part.
@@moonloop6 Yeah. I just can't believe he missed that. I feel that there was so much treasure to uncover by following the thread that Eric started. Maybe Rick was nervous being in the presence of someone so accomplished.
Don’t measure “success” on some record deal you strive for in the future. Measure it on the love and passion you have for your craft in the present. The things you truly want, are the things you probably already have. Don’t overlook the things that are truly the most important. That’s what I got from his statement. $ and fame doesn’t equal success.
This is a clip from a longer interview. It may be an edit.
I’ve never worked a show where I wasn’t impressed. A real gentleman.
3:07 ... that is what is all about
Wonderful insight, here. I've been thinking a lot about this as a guitarist recently.... I almost ruined my guitar playing for myself by getting too obsessed with getting better and practicing, but left no room for enjoyment, passion, love for playing. I became way too serious, self critical and therefore negative about my playing. The times when you're just playing and smiling and in the moment enjoying it are what it's all about. I think it's super important to think back to those times when I was 15 plugging into a 100 watt amp and a 4x12 for the first time. Pure enjoyment and passion. Love Eric's words here!
I lost my sense of wonder back in the late 90s. It had been almost 15 years of gigs and original stuff and it all sort of falling apart in the creative sense. Still playing for drunk bikers was hollow. It took stepping out of it for a while, moving to Baltimore and meeting Dave Diamond and joining his band ( Cyberstrike) in the beginning of that whole thing. I felt creative again, I was playing a lot and my chops were back up. Writing heavy prog was fulfilling but we ended up going off in different directions. It was OK and got me to a good place of wonder again.
I owe Dave a lot.
Hard to believe that guy is 68 years old
mine is definitely Desert Rose. i know thats oviouse but i worked on that for months.. and never really got it. the tone changes in that song are remarkable and its such a powerful cut though your soul song that i can never listen to it once. even though I've heard it a hundred times.
Eric is starting to look like Al Pacino
Will you be interviewing Eric again now that he's going back on tour to support a new album?
Eric Johnson played my club in tiny Opelousas, LA. in 1981. Almost no one knew who he was. They were shouting "Play some ZZ Top!" So... he did! 😂
Hey Rick! Check out the footage on RUclips called "session with Les Paul". Eric Johnson, Satriani, Slash, Zakk Wylde...had the opportunity to play the blues with the late Les Paul, in a very slow tempo. I'm interested in your opinion. It was real improvisation...no overdubs.
Rick, I see that you're rocking some Event monitors. I've just sold my Project Studio 6 for $120 on EBay. They've not held their value very well. I bought them new and had them for nearly 20 yrs. Their "boxines" eventually got to me, and I replaced them with Focal Alpha 65 Evo 6.5 inch. The Focal have a much broader and clearer top end, and the larger cabinet provides tighter and deeper lows. At $800/pair at Sweetwater, I couldn't resist. Rock on!
Love, Eric!🎸🎸👍👍
This guy messured up to Vai and Satriani at their best.
Check G3 concert, check it out...just check, dont question why. DO IT NOW😂
I am most certain that years ago I read an interview with Eric and he mentioned using felt picks. Listening to his tone and picking style it sounds very smooth.
YOU SHOULD GET AN INTERVIEW WITH
G.E. SMITH🎵 a remarkable guitar player,a class act, and cool dude. One of the greats that has been appreciated by all , but not given much notice in the way of his interesting life stories. just his stories on SNL are legendary let alone everything.
I've wondered if he regrets sending back the Trainwreck amp Kenny made after her claimed it wasn't loud enough for him.
Eric's tone has always been an integral part of his style. I wish more players cared about their tone. Eric doesn't compromise on tone. I can't think of any great players who don't also have great tone. Eric's got it all locked down. I remember the first time I saw him live opening for Satch in 1990. His tone was incredible. His set was far more enjoyable than Satch's which sounded very artificial at that point because he'd resorted to using racks and too many artificial screaming pinch harmonics. Eric was far more tasteful. I first saw Satch on the Surfing with the Alien tour in '88. The difference in his tone in those two years was tremendous, and not in a good way. Eric's tone was more my cup of tea. Still is.
So true, If you’re just chasing career and money but don’t have true passion for art, do something else, for all the true music lovers out there, stay childlike and play free.✝️
My favorite moments are when I've been playing music!!! Mostly at my house tbh!
Hey Rick, thanks for having E.J. on. He's SO deep on being a guitar player/musician ,Such experience, (EARS),,Gotta love it, when he was talking about playing gigs when starting out,,,(memorable gig stuff/fun),,I can so relate to that,,,PLAYING GUITAR/SONGWRITING-,,,what's better than that. GOD BLESS YOU GUYS,,,,,thanks--RJ
This just made me realize I don't have any Eric Johnson in my collection, so I just ordered Ah Via Musicom (to get started.)
That's probably his best one good choice!!
Ah Via Musicom is amazing! Venus Isle is as well! Some people prefer Ah Via, some Venus Isle, just a personal preference thing at that point. I'd say Venus Isle is my favorite!
@@ATX0705 Well, how about just playing them back-to-back and pretending it's a double album.
The first thing you need to learn to be a good guitarist, is to say ´you know´ all the time. Robben Ford also does that, but he adds a lot of ´eh´s also, so that must be the next level.
And then practice, practice, practice 🙂
It's hard to imagine the hours spent dialing in the right pedal with the right tubes in the right amp, and discovering that an old SM57, not new, works best for him angled down in the lower right quadrant and not the left. Shit!
PERFECTION….thanks Rick, EJ is the “Tone GOAT” ✌️
This was amazing! Just the perfect, laid back interview! Loved it!
Fkn hell, I almost fell asleep.
I'm looking for rock'n'roll...
✌️ Ciao
Eric is a great player but he plays mostly stuff that I don't want to hear much of. Just a matter of different tastes. Plus he has the weird ability to take one of the brightest sounding amps ever made and make it sound muffled.
Eric Johnson is a master of his craft - it reminds me of Neil Peart
Neil was definitely the same. Never betray that 13 year old kid inside you.
@@jsullivan2112 "...waiting for the winds oi change to sweep the clouds away"
@@joerectifier What does that line mean to you?
@@jsullivan2112 "waiting for the rainbow's edge to cast it's gold your way..." 🙂
@@jsullivan2112 I think the key word there is "waiting"....to me it means a lot since i have been listening to that album since 1976....it means not being a player in your own destiny, not working at something, waiting for your destiny to happen by pother than your own hand...Neil was a fucking eye opener and master on several levels. A life long influence and so is 2112
I agree on what Eric was saying on getting a tone, for me it seems that most kids in the last generation's have lost the beauty of actually having that elative sound that you strive for. These new guitarist that do not want to do the hard work and look for the easiest way out with the least amount of work now a days. They make mic's that you don't even need to learn about mic placement and it does for you. interfaces that you don't need to learn how hot you need to come in or how safe of volume going to the interface. Now with press a button and presto it does it for you and the level's are set. Things are not exciting anymore nobody wants to make the effort for anything anymore sad.
rick i would love too hear you disect the shawshank redemption soundtract great peice of music thanx
Love Eric's music. He has some interesting ideas about sound shaping. Fender amps have a peakiness in the 2.8-3kHz region? Maybe the JBL D120F speaker does. 3-3.5kHz is the most sensitive human hearing range. Maybe he's picking up on that? 4-5" away on a 4x12 with an SM57 is an interesting choice. I guess there's a spot he likes where there's a certain phase relationship.
Tone is something I love about EJ's sound.
One feature of the best interviewers is the ability to keep quiet and let the person being interviewed have plenty of time to complete their thoughts and speak their mind. Rick has become really good at that exact thing.
yes, that youtuber "profesor of rock" could learn a lot from rick. he was once interviewing steve kilbey from the church , and he was explaining why he put an F# over an Amsus4 and he started talking over him about something completely different and the look on steve's face, if looks could kill. Oh and he could smoke less before an interview, Rick is great
Rick, put the full video link up high in the caption. Maybe even add "Clip" in the title, so folks know more readily that it's from a long-form interview, and click on that link. Just a thought. "In this clip from the Eric Johnson Interview, Eric Johnson talks..."
Playing music, for music's sake. Great insight here!
Why Mr Johnson would waste any time with such an arrogant person is beyond me
When the old gear is gone, it‘s gone. Better capture it digitally while it works.
Would love to hear a conversation between Eric and Tom Scholz.
EJ is right. I ran the same Tube Driver extensively beginning in the late '80's and when I finally had to replace its tube many years later it simply was not the same sound.
I love to show people that aren't guitar people his cliff's of dover video.
It is funny: everyone had a guitar on his knees. I do it also now. Good: it is not a piano or a trumpet.
He is friends with Doyle Dykes. I hope Rick does a vid on him someday soon
That's quite the answer for the question "do you hunt around and find extra ones"
Watch out for the scammers saying you have won a prize.
This was 2 years ago. Or Eric’s wearing the same shirt from 2 years ago
At age 40, my buddies and I jam every Friday. We won't be anything more than a bar band if we're ambitious enough to move a drum kit and speakers. That said, every week, we're loud and feel like rock stars. Their's nothing better than that feeling.
Honest question: Has there ever been a single guitar player that obsesses over every single element of their tone more than Eric Johnson? I've heard that he literally even pays attention to exact batteries in his fuzz pedals and things of that nature. I mean he is absolutely meticulous by all accounts and it comes across in the fact that pretty much literally no one sounds like him except for him. Despite the fact that he has been influencing players for literally decades now.
💛 This guy really opened up on all the truths here! Thanks for posting
I like cliff of dover instumental.
Eric really opened up when he was starting to talk about recording clean tones. Then I observed him pulling back a bit when he talked about the "Marshall". Almost like he was giving away secrets.
Good interview!
Love all your interviews, but this one really resonated with me
Got to catch a pretty intimate gig at the MIM in AZ back in 2014, Eric, Mike Stern, and Anton Fig were doing a signing afterward, and even as the staff and bouncers were trying to hurry people along, Eric was super kind and took a minute to chat with everyone. What a great dude
+1 interview, always amazed at the way these fellas keep chasing the tone. God forbid they ever catch it because it would be a terrible loss to us mortals. 🏴👍👍👍🥃Respect to you fellas.
Venus Isle is my favorite solo
Didn't know people were called "cats" anymore. Awesome player.
Only the cool ones 😎
Playing with Mike Stern will cause you to say Cats a lot
Steve Lukather uses the same “term” a lot as well.
Kevin Smith uses that term all the time.
So true. You don’t have to be a rich and famous rock star. We can all get that feeling of creating music in our house just for the love of playing guitar
He was stating to relax great interview!
His tone is fine but he needs to turn up.
What a humble nice person.
😊😊
👍
Class of his own --->
Thank you!