The amazing thing about all your videos is that you sound like you even with the 'Eric Johnson' style cascading pentatonic licks. That's really the best thing. Nobody is going to be anybody else so be the best 'you' you can be.
I was going to comment THIS precisely. JNC sounds like himself even with an amazingly accurate EJ tone and playing those types of licks. Probably weird to say this, but I think that John might be a little smoother and more R&B-sounding than Eric.
So true. When I listen close, I hear the EJ tone, but it's not exact. It still sounds great. It's more of a EJ inspired tone. I have found EJ's lead tone to be very similar to early Steve Morse. I recall in the 70's, Morse also used a fuzzface. Again, not quite the same, but you see where the inspiration came from.
@@enickma The runs and tone are similar but John has his own feel. Much like when Carl Verheyen plays those kind of runs. Don't forget that most likely those lines came from listening to John McLaughlin back in his 'Mahavishnu Orchestra' days.
@@user-rs6eh3ke6k Sorry man, that's just me bugging JNC because Positive Grid is less mentioned here than Voldemort in Harry Potter. Actually, never mentioned lol Hope JNC doesn't block me
Pots were changed mainly cause the old ones were starting to fail. Bare knuckle only cause they do a 280kohm and i wanted values at the top end of what you could normally get with the standard tolerances on the normal 250k pots. The 500k prs volume pot was a bit of an experiment, but also i learned after that Eric used a 500k pot on Virginia to counter the slightly darker hs2 bridge pickup and i was basically doing the same thing to make sure the P90 i put in the bridge didn't get too dark. I like the taper on prs pots so that's why i picked it. The stainless steel frets are mainly cause they were getting quite worn and i just wanted the replacements to stay the same as long as possible
To preface, I'm not commenting as any authority, so please don't take anything that way. I love the search for tones, and especially the tones of people I admire. It's certainly a great jumping off point for learning what you like and don't like. Eric's lead tone has always been a little darker than I think people imagine. I think he's also said it before, and others have reiterated similar concepts, but the louder and more high gain the sound, the more he rolls off the high end. That's why you see the eq on the Tube driver almost off (or off). I also think the missing ingredient(s) are Eric himself, and we have to accept that there's always some added studio adjustments within the mix. So we're often chasing a recorded tone, that might be different from what was in the room at the time. Lastly, great playing. Love the Tube Driver dive. I've messed about with variants, but never with the real thing. And as you said, there are many paths to similar tones, and it doesn't have to be the exact gear. It's fun to do that, but you can also get in the ballpark with a variety of gear, and you might just find your own sound while you do it.
Having also experimented with the Tube Driver, I think it also has a lot to do with his touch and attack of the string. He seems to really pick lightly so the note doesn't ping in a bright way; it blooms. As soon as you start to get aggressive with the guitar is stops sounding like Eric. It is really a lot about how you approach it! Great video!
There are really two separate matters with Eric Johnson, when it comes to tone. There is what he does, up to and including the amp, then there is how it is recorded (mic -> tape/daw -> mixdown/busses -> mastering). He is pretty open about his guitar gear/rig. That's the solid foundation of his sound(s), but what he does in post is very important to the tones we hear on the LP's. In his interview w/ Rick Beato, he talks a little bit about what he does to blackface Fenders in terms of eq in post, but doesn't go through his process in great detail. To my ear, he uses a bit of plate reverb in post, which mixed with his lead tone, creates this impression of beautiful singing sustain. Obviously, he does a lot more than that - but that's one aspect that I've heard through the years... Great work JNC. You are rapidly becoming my favorite channel!
Exactly. I've been thinking about this for years. There's MUCH more going on in the studio than the "Fender/Dumble or 50-watt Marshall or Two Rock/Plexi + pedals thing" and very little has been publicly disclosed. He did say that he used a Panasonic Ramsa for all the lead tones on AvM but if you pay attention EJ has created at least a dozen distinct studio tones over the years that somehow all sound like him.
I think the feel of EJ is the key more than anything. I saw him last week in Lewiston NY, and he was playing a very stripped down rig with his SG. Still sounded like him. He even plugged into an old Silvertone amp in case. Still sounded like EJ.
I had one years ago, sometime in 1990-1991 or so. I don't know what happened to it. I don't remember selling it, but I may have given it away. I wish I had kept it - I didn't know how to make it sound good, but I might know better now.
I’m a big Gilmour fan and I’ve tried several TD and my go to TD now is the original version from 1986-1987. Bigger enclosures but really great. The new one are little bit harsh and not as smooth as the old one. On great option and very pricey is the Past FX TD-y (like Buffalo FX TD-X) and it’s very close to those old TD. But for me, the greatest OD pedal that I have is from Kingsley, the Harlot v3 is a beast. And for Dumble clean sound, the Maiden D is beautiful. You have to try those gem, they are truly the best thing on the market today for me. And for TD, try it with a compressor before!
Yes, you go down the rabbit hole and try to emulate all of your heroes and finally you get it, sound wise and playing wise. I did it for decades and you always find out that it just don't exactly fits you. So is it worthless? No! You develop your ear, plus playing technique, pick out what suits you, and all melts into your style of playing and out comes your personal touch. It is an experience which can not be bought or easily achieved. I recommend it to any player, listen and learn. It takes a lifetime and it's worth it. And of course it is fun. Then comes the time, you let go and just play. I really like your channel John and its never the topic. I loooovvveee the way you play. You've already arrived. Cheers and many thanks.
Great video John! This tone is the definition of a "driven" tone. Not distorted, just gainy and driven. Essentially, the Tube Driver is acting like a preamp, and it sounds fine. It would be useful if you explained the entire chain, including amp, delay/reverb, everything.
So your mention of the Fender instead of the Marshall base tone reminded me of Eric’s What’s on your pedalboard? showcase Sweetwater did a while back. Eric shows his clinic board setup which had a Zendrive, Dover Driver and Keeley DDR for his gain/drive going into a Belle Epoch and TC SCF hooked up to a Fender Twin. It was his same tone exactly that he’s always had with the echoplex going into the tube driver hooked up to the Plexi. Very shocked to see that it can be achieved with a non-Marshall amp as your base tone.
I've been chasing EJ for a long time and I've gotten close without the specific gear. I think around 7:42 you hit this short run that was spot on and it was so good!
Interesting stuff, couldn’t comment on the Eric stuff, to me you still sound very much like Cordy. I did find a thing with my first ever tube overdrive that it really opened up my perception to the guitar’s wiring and pickups. I think there is really something there with some tube overdrives, a sort of modulation when you mess with the dynamics that I hadn’t really felt with modelling. I still have and enjoy that little 50$ made in china thingy but it’s not often I use it, chugs power those things, what else can you tell us about your feelings with the tube driver ?
A Fuzz face helps. I've used a FF with the guitar volume backed off as a quick and easy EJ-ish clean. It gets that sparkly top end, then turn the volume back up to get the fuzz into a Marshall amp, pedal, modeler, etc. I think it got close here, but the P-90 in the bridge kept it from getting it even closer. It doesn't have the same attack as a single coil with the tone control backed off, so you have to compensate by adding it back in either at the amp or the pedal board. It just isn't the same🤷. The good news for people trying to nail it is that odds are they are playing single coils. I've been using Klones to under-drive for years, athough for me it was more to reign in volume than to get a tone. They tend to have more headroom than the other ODs that it might be normally pushing, and it stays together better at the end than they would. I can set it so that anything going into it would sound like it started clipping, with no change in volume at all. Granted Ive found other options in the last several years, but I'll still do it if I'm playing out with a stripped down rig.
Awesome tone there!! That being said, 2 of the most important pieces of the puzzle are things that nobody can get - his heart and his hands. But man, it's fun to try lol.
Hey John, James Santiago does some of the nicest demonstrations of getting Eric's tone in different ways. And then there is Eric himself getting it with random (?) pedals from Rick Beato's studio... I assume you've seen James' demonstrations at what time or another? There are a lot of great reasons to walk in someone else's "shoes." Beyond that, learning the underlying principles to not be tied to particular gear is even more desirable, and that's where I think Santiago's videos bear repeated viewing. Be curious to see you experiment with the combinations he shows in whatever way your collection affords. Cheers, D
p.s. You already get Eric's tones on a regular basis. I'm just thinking that it's the roles of the individual pieces and whether or not they succeed or do it better than an original piece of equipment. Cheers again. And not another bomb.
Brilliant work on the tone. Since you are "underdriving" the amp, I would think that would make the amp play less of a role than if it were being pushed. So I wonder if you could duplicate this tone with the driver into a modeler. I'd love to see you dig into that. -Tom
I agree with you @johncordy. you have a great tone here and I have chased the EJ and Duane allman tone for years but I agree now I have to think does this work for me and my playing style.
I posted 2 Eric Johnson presets on the Fractal forum and damn near all of them use the Tube Driver 4-Knob. Even through my coil-tapped JS, it’s very close. I never used one but it’s now on most of my regular presets.
4:31 about what you said there. I've done that with a Marshall BB2 pedal into a Fender DeVille 4x10 amp, where I crancekd the clean Chanel, drive the gain of the pedal and just reduced the amount of volume of the pedal. Really smooth cream tone with non of that wooliness that usually happens when you I sert a distorsion pedal.
For the price of a TD pedal, which runs the tube at very low V, you could get a high V pedal from various companies and have a much more dynamically sensitive sound with greater versatility in some cases. The TD is really a one-trick-pony.
i chased Yngwies early tone for YEARS, and kept ending up at a spot that isn't dead on, kind of a blend pf Yngwie and EVH, but i found worked much better for my playing. Do what works for you; your fingers and sense of timing likely isnt and will never be that of your heroes, so dont ignore yourself on that tone journey.
Check out Andy Wood’s “Decoding the Eric Johnson Tone. Woodshed Ep. 105” you have almost all the ingredients but you might get even further stacking the tube driver with a zen drive.
My favourite is his second appearance on ACL, in his marching band jacket and swoopy hair. There is a pick attack in that tone that has a sharpness/quick transient to it that is missing from most seekers...which is also missing in Eric's current tone! His playing too in that show - there is a precision that is almost surreal.....is he running more compression? Or just the stars aligning that gig and left/right hand sync was just MORE? Regardless of anyone's favourite preferences - great playing and great tone in this video - majestic!
@@tonystartup3817 Oh man - that first solo, neck pickup, switching from his fuzz/crunch tone to his lead tone with the feedback going......those are the moments on stage you live for and the reason you do it!
A little bit off topic here, but have you ever checked out the Kingsley Tube pedals? I feel like you might like them. Just awesome! Minstrel, Harlot and Page are my fav
What’s interesting to me is you seem to chase his lead tone, but not his other tones. Anyways… I do totally get it… for me I chased SRV… who chased Albert King… so then I chased Albert’s tone too, lol…Btw, saw Eric J live… great show!
When you’re 12 feet away from him, then walk about 25 feet away facing him in a fairly small venue like the picture dome In holmfirth. It actually did sound a violin,l was lucky enough to be let in to listen to his sound check, it was the first leg of his UK tour, lots of people try to get his tone none have successfully achieved it, try inventing your own
I've messed around with underdrive and found it unappealing when unnecessary. If you have to do it, it's a great solution but I think it just feels and reacts oddly. But I'm using Tube Works versions, a Real Tube now and a Blue Tube until recently. They're designed by the same buy, B.K. Butler, and are almost the same circuit, just have a mids control and smaller chassis.
In my experience, the best way to develop your own tone, is to experiment with replicating the tones you like. Eventually, as you figure out how different gear and settings shape your sound, you can use that to create your own sound.
@@BrunodeSouzaLino Yes, I remember this sound! He's often said that 'treble is trash' but he was rolling off too much for my taste. I remember seeing him in the city of Bath around that time and the leads were so different from those incredible albums of the 80s and 90s. His clean tones remained incredible though, and more than made up for the imbalance. In fact, I couldn't believe how good they sounded; like an orchestra!!!
The 5 knob Tube Driver gives you more control over the tone. He also uses a Dimarzio HS-2 in the bridge position. He replaced the echoplex with a Catalinbread Belle Epoch on his board. Your playing sounds great, EJ tone or not.
Funny what you say about chasing someone’s tone then finding it doesn’t work for you. I chased the tube screamer strat sound a long time but ultimately it doesn’t work for me because I don’t have a heavy right hand like all my favourite players
Have you ever tried a Suhr Badger 30? /its my favorite Marshall style amp and the built in wattage control is better than any other attenuator. Might be a shout since you like Suhr amps
Jon, you’re a nice guy and a great player, but for Gods sake, 15-20 years and $40,000 of dikin around with 200 different pieces of gear before you tried the real Tubedriver? I mean, it’s not like EJ kept it a secret hidden behind his amps. All you’re missing is a Belle Epoch Deluxe and a non-true bypass wha. The wha is more of a filter for Eric, as he doesn’t really step on the wha pedal very often. It’s also an impedance puzzle. The wha is a piece of that puzzle. Out of the wha into the BED. Yes: run the delay BEFORE the TD. You have to set the record level and output level just right, but when you do, the delays won’t fall into each other creating a big mess. It’s a very fine line: the output level has to be EXACTLY right. If you get it right, the delays will duck out of the way and just bloom out after a phrase is over. Also, you gotta get that amp overdriven. No clean amp sound will work. You need to get a lot of gain out of the amp, and then give it more with the TD. Add some reverb somewhere (post is best) and you’re there. You need that Echoplex preamp. The BED has it. A regular Belle Epoch will work, too. It adds that “compression/playability/gain” thing you were talking about at the end that you feel you are missing. You can take my word for it, or you can spend another 20 years and $40,000 and still wonder: “how does he get that sound?”
I noticed that Strat doesn't have a string tree. It also didn't have a trem arm. Are the two things related? The string tree is my most hated feature on Strats. It seems to do nothing but function as a binding point while trying to tune! Lots of friction.
Eric is one of my two favourite guitarists, and he has incredible tones, but I never wanted to have the same tone as him. The idea of slavishly following someone else's style/ sound/ tone etc is something I could never understand. I mean, I get that people can use someone else as a marker for something to use as a way of improving what they do, but shouldn't we be trying to be the best " ourself" that we can be, rather than coveting your neighbour's recorded sound. I've not seen Eric live, but when I see live clips on RUclips of his, his lead tone is much to dull for me. I know that he doesn't like the highs in a plexi Marshall's breakup, but to my ear he goes overboard in a search for warmth and smoothness in his tone. Maybe he gets used to the ever darkening sound of the fading filter caps on old Marshalls ( I had one that I didn't nitice how dark it was until I played a newer head.) One Ah Via Musicom, his sound on "Cliffs of dover" was ( probably 335 humbucker) but too dark and dull. If you're worried by the loudness of an old plexi, why not use an attenuated output straight to record.
Not interested in mimicking anyone wholesale. I want bits and pieces of many artists. I have a friend that would always compare ne to The Edge, and while I intentionally have a similar style, I borrow some from Lukather, Gilmour, BB King...least I try 😂. Beyond that I think it's good to find your own spin on that mix of influences as well.
Sovjet tubes old stock new stock... The SU didn't want to be jammed and tubes were a way of keeping communication going, hence the Sovjet NOS tube bargain finds.
The Butler TD in my experience doesn't play well with anything that isn't at least a 50 watt tube amp. You should check out the Buffalo FX TD-X. Sounds just like a Tube Driver but gets along with modelers and solid state MUCH better.
Er, yeah not too far off. You'd need at least a delay and probably a reverb. There's enough gain in the unit by itself as far as I remember to get a good lead tone, and with the delay and reverb you would be most of the way there to Eric's lead tone. But as you can hear here the tube driver adds a bit of fuzzyness to the tone so you could do this with the IR-D by setting it up with more of a plexi crunch sound which I think it's perfectly capable of doing, then boosting that with a fuzz face if you don't have access to a tube driver. You'd want to have the bias in the fuzz face on the higher side if you can adjust it, so it's smoother and more like an overdrive and less velcro like. I prefer high volume and lower fuzz settings on my fuzz face, but that should get you fairly close with an IR-D
He has, but I don't think it made it to many videos. Slightly different really to the tube driver as it's really trying to emulate his alternative lead sound of a fuzz face through his dumble amp. There are some similarities in the sound but they're not quite the same
The amazing thing about all your videos is that you sound like you even with the 'Eric Johnson' style cascading pentatonic licks. That's really the best thing. Nobody is going to be anybody else so be the best 'you' you can be.
I was going to comment THIS precisely. JNC sounds like himself even with an amazingly accurate EJ tone and playing those types of licks. Probably weird to say this, but I think that John might be a little smoother and more R&B-sounding than Eric.
@@TheMusicalSchizo I totally agree. Eric is a brilliant player but John is the next generation. Each successive generation builds on what came before.
So true. When I listen close, I hear the EJ tone, but it's not exact. It still sounds great. It's more of a EJ inspired tone.
I have found EJ's lead tone to be very similar to early Steve Morse. I recall in the 70's, Morse also used a fuzzface. Again, not quite the same, but you see where the inspiration came from.
Sounded like EJ to me. Those runs and TONE are unmistakable
@@enickma The runs and tone are similar but John has his own feel. Much like when Carl Verheyen plays those kind of runs. Don't forget that most likely those lines came from listening to John McLaughlin back in his 'Mahavishnu Orchestra' days.
Genuinely genuinely Genuinely one of the most beautiful tones you’ve showcased here. Btw, loved the PG Spark 2 vs Katana video.
can you link the PG Spark 2 vs Katana video? I searched for it but am unable to find it.
@@user-rs6eh3ke6k Sorry man, that's just me bugging JNC because Positive Grid is less mentioned here than Voldemort in Harry Potter. Actually, never mentioned lol Hope JNC doesn't block me
Pots were changed mainly cause the old ones were starting to fail. Bare knuckle only cause they do a 280kohm and i wanted values at the top end of what you could normally get with the standard tolerances on the normal 250k pots. The 500k prs volume pot was a bit of an experiment, but also i learned after that Eric used a 500k pot on Virginia to counter the slightly darker hs2 bridge pickup and i was basically doing the same thing to make sure the P90 i put in the bridge didn't get too dark. I like the taper on prs pots so that's why i picked it.
The stainless steel frets are mainly cause they were getting quite worn and i just wanted the replacements to stay the same as long as possible
Spot on EJ tone!
Wow that nice. I saw Eric twice last year. I close my eys and hear him.
To preface, I'm not commenting as any authority, so please don't take anything that way. I love the search for tones, and especially the tones of people I admire. It's certainly a great jumping off point for learning what you like and don't like. Eric's lead tone has always been a little darker than I think people imagine. I think he's also said it before, and others have reiterated similar concepts, but the louder and more high gain the sound, the more he rolls off the high end. That's why you see the eq on the Tube driver almost off (or off). I also think the missing ingredient(s) are Eric himself, and we have to accept that there's always some added studio adjustments within the mix. So we're often chasing a recorded tone, that might be different from what was in the room at the time. Lastly, great playing. Love the Tube Driver dive. I've messed about with variants, but never with the real thing. And as you said, there are many paths to similar tones, and it doesn't have to be the exact gear. It's fun to do that, but you can also get in the ballpark with a variety of gear, and you might just find your own sound while you do it.
Yep, you’ve really nailed it, well done 👍
Beautiful sound/tone... love the EJ sound, and you do it justice here.
Exactly what I was waiting for man. Great video! Appreciate the content JC
Having also experimented with the Tube Driver, I think it also has a lot to do with his touch and attack of the string. He seems to really pick lightly so the note doesn't ping in a bright way; it blooms.
As soon as you start to get aggressive with the guitar is stops sounding like Eric. It is really a lot about how you approach it! Great video!
There are really two separate matters with Eric Johnson, when it comes to tone. There is what he does, up to and including the amp, then there is how it is recorded (mic -> tape/daw -> mixdown/busses -> mastering). He is pretty open about his guitar gear/rig. That's the solid foundation of his sound(s), but what he does in post is very important to the tones we hear on the LP's. In his interview w/ Rick Beato, he talks a little bit about what he does to blackface Fenders in terms of eq in post, but doesn't go through his process in great detail. To my ear, he uses a bit of plate reverb in post, which mixed with his lead tone, creates this impression of beautiful singing sustain. Obviously, he does a lot more than that - but that's one aspect that I've heard through the years...
Great work JNC. You are rapidly becoming my favorite channel!
Exactly. I've been thinking about this for years. There's MUCH more going on in the studio than the "Fender/Dumble or 50-watt Marshall or Two Rock/Plexi + pedals thing" and very little has been publicly disclosed. He did say that he used a Panasonic Ramsa for all the lead tones on AvM but if you pay attention EJ has created at least a dozen distinct studio tones over the years that somehow all sound like him.
I think the feel of EJ is the key more than anything. I saw him last week in Lewiston NY, and he was playing a very stripped down rig with his SG. Still sounded like him. He even plugged into an old Silvertone amp in case. Still sounded like EJ.
Have always loved EJ’s tone - sounds absolutely amazing here. Love it.
ive owned a tube driver for multiple decades.. mine has tube bias knob on back..loving your interest in this piece of gear
I had one years ago, sometime in 1990-1991 or so. I don't know what happened to it. I don't remember selling it, but I may have given it away. I wish I had kept it - I didn't know how to make it sound good, but I might know better now.
One of my favorite guitar tones ever.
I’m a big Gilmour fan and I’ve tried several TD and my go to TD now is the original version from 1986-1987. Bigger enclosures but really great. The new one are little bit harsh and not as smooth as the old one. On great option and very pricey is the Past FX TD-y (like Buffalo FX TD-X) and it’s very close to those old TD. But for me, the greatest OD pedal that I have is from Kingsley, the Harlot v3 is a beast. And for Dumble clean sound, the Maiden D is beautiful. You have to try those gem, they are truly the best thing on the market today for me. And for TD, try it with a compressor before!
Yes, you go down the rabbit hole and try to emulate all of your heroes and finally you get it, sound wise and playing wise. I did it for decades and you always find out that it just don't exactly fits you. So is it worthless? No! You develop your ear, plus playing technique, pick out what suits you, and all melts into your style of playing and out comes your personal touch. It is an experience which can not be bought or easily achieved. I recommend it to any player, listen and learn. It takes a lifetime and it's worth it. And of course it is fun. Then comes the time, you let go and just play. I really like your channel John and its never the topic. I loooovvveee the way you play. You've already arrived. Cheers and many thanks.
Great video John! This tone is the definition of a "driven" tone. Not distorted, just gainy and driven. Essentially, the Tube Driver is acting like a preamp, and it sounds fine. It would be useful if you explained the entire chain, including amp, delay/reverb, everything.
The Manhattan-inspired improvisation was nice. Love that tune. Tone is EJ all the way.
I remember you featuring this guitar before. It's clearly been played a lot since! I've got the thinline version and I really love it
Almost exactly 2 years ago. Time flies
So your mention of the Fender instead of the Marshall base tone reminded me of Eric’s What’s on your pedalboard? showcase Sweetwater did a while back. Eric shows his clinic board setup which had a Zendrive, Dover Driver and Keeley DDR for his gain/drive going into a Belle Epoch and TC SCF hooked up to a Fender Twin. It was his same tone exactly that he’s always had with the echoplex going into the tube driver hooked up to the Plexi. Very shocked to see that it can be achieved with a non-Marshall amp as your base tone.
I've been chasing EJ for a long time and I've gotten close without the specific gear. I think around 7:42 you hit this short run that was spot on and it was so good!
Interesting stuff, couldn’t comment on the Eric stuff, to me you still sound very much like Cordy. I did find a thing with my first ever tube overdrive that it really opened up my perception to the guitar’s wiring and pickups. I think there is really something there with some tube overdrives, a sort of modulation when you mess with the dynamics that I hadn’t really felt with modelling. I still have and enjoy that little 50$ made in china thingy but it’s not often I use it, chugs power those things, what else can you tell us about your feelings with the tube driver ?
Awesome tone and playing
A Fuzz face helps. I've used a FF with the guitar volume backed off as a quick and easy EJ-ish clean. It gets that sparkly top end, then turn the volume back up to get the fuzz into a Marshall amp, pedal, modeler, etc. I think it got close here, but the P-90 in the bridge kept it from getting it even closer. It doesn't have the same attack as a single coil with the tone control backed off, so you have to compensate by adding it back in either at the amp or the pedal board. It just isn't the same🤷. The good news for people trying to nail it is that odds are they are playing single coils.
I've been using Klones to under-drive for years, athough for me it was more to reign in volume than to get a tone. They tend to have more headroom than the other ODs that it might be normally pushing, and it stays together better at the end than they would. I can set it so that anything going into it would sound like it started clipping, with no change in volume at all. Granted Ive found other options in the last several years, but I'll still do it if I'm playing out with a stripped down rig.
Awesome tone there!! That being said, 2 of the most important pieces of the puzzle are things that nobody can get - his heart and his hands. But man, it's fun to try lol.
Hey John, James Santiago does some of the nicest demonstrations of getting Eric's tone in different ways. And then there is Eric himself getting it with random (?) pedals from Rick Beato's studio... I assume you've seen James' demonstrations at what time or another? There are a lot of great reasons to walk in someone else's "shoes." Beyond that, learning the underlying principles to not be tied to particular gear is even more desirable, and that's where I think Santiago's videos bear repeated viewing. Be curious to see you experiment with the combinations he shows in whatever way your collection affords. Cheers, D
p.s. You already get Eric's tones on a regular basis. I'm just thinking that it's the roles of the individual pieces and whether or not they succeed or do it better than an original piece of equipment. Cheers again. And not another bomb.
This is the best guitar tone of all your videos
Crazy thing for me is that I bought an original tube driver when I was a teen for 35.00 at a pawn shop. Now that same pedal is 400.00 !
Wow what a cool sound! so close to EJ! Beautiful!!!
Very like all eric johnson topic
And waiting for eric johnson chord again
Brilliant work on the tone. Since you are "underdriving" the amp, I would think that would make the amp play less of a role than if it were being pushed. So I wonder if you could duplicate this tone with the driver into a modeler. I'd love to see you dig into that. -Tom
Beautiful playing and tones!
I agree with you @johncordy. you have a great tone here and I have chased the EJ and Duane allman tone for years but I agree now I have to think does this work for me and my playing style.
I posted 2 Eric Johnson presets on the Fractal forum and damn near all of them use the Tube Driver 4-Knob. Even through my coil-tapped JS, it’s very close. I never used one but it’s now on most of my regular presets.
Total Venus Isle tones... the epitome of EJ 's sound. Nice.
I have an old Chandler tube driver and I know where the gain sweet spot is on it but never thought about using it to underdrive, thank you!
I think you really got there too. Its a beautiful tone for instrumentals but I think in the context of a band with vocals it would be lost.
4:31 about what you said there.
I've done that with a Marshall BB2 pedal into a Fender DeVille 4x10 amp, where I crancekd the clean Chanel, drive the gain of the pedal and just reduced the amount of volume of the pedal. Really smooth cream tone with non of that wooliness that usually happens when you I sert a distorsion pedal.
I have the 5 knob version into a 1959 half stack. It gets you there, bias about 70-75%. That's it John. Close enough for me.
I used to have one of these. Why did I sell it?!😭
Saw Eric last weekend for some songs he actually used a Fender Tone Master Pro, he also was playing his prototype strat with the built-in overdrive 🤟
You got to up vote a video that has snippets of "Manhattan" soloing. Good job mate.
For the price of a TD pedal, which runs the tube at very low V, you could get a high V pedal from various companies and have a much more dynamically sensitive sound with greater versatility in some cases. The TD is really a one-trick-pony.
Loved the playing and sound.
Sounds like the real deal to me! (Caveat: I have broken my ears by playing too loud for too long) Seriously, sounds awesome!
This tone with your fingers is a winner. Although your prior tone and fingers were also great. The next rabbit hole will be one modeller to get there.
Nice looking strat that one.
Wow it does have that beautiful EJ sing as I like to call it. Especially up the neck on the high notes. Just butter!
i chased Yngwies early tone for YEARS, and kept ending up at a spot that isn't dead on, kind of a blend pf Yngwie and EVH, but i found worked much better for my playing.
Do what works for you; your fingers and sense of timing likely isnt and will never be that of your heroes, so dont ignore yourself on that tone journey.
You should also check out the Jetter Gain Stage Blue. Almost instant EJ tones through any decent clean amp.
I love that HEADFIRST amp.
Check out Andy Wood’s “Decoding the Eric Johnson Tone. Woodshed Ep. 105” you have almost all the ingredients but you might get even further stacking the tube driver with a zen drive.
My favourite is his second appearance on ACL, in his marching band jacket and swoopy hair. There is a pick attack in that tone that has a sharpness/quick transient to it that is missing from most seekers...which is also missing in Eric's current tone! His playing too in that show - there is a precision that is almost surreal.....is he running more compression? Or just the stars aligning that gig and left/right hand sync was just MORE?
Regardless of anyone's favourite preferences - great playing and great tone in this video - majestic!
Oh yeah.... Trail of tears, magical
@@tonystartup3817 Oh man - that first solo, neck pickup, switching from his fuzz/crunch tone to his lead tone with the feedback going......those are the moments on stage you live for and the reason you do it!
@@dsarlis yeah that's definitely my favourite part of the whole performance. One of my all time favourite EJ moments
A little bit off topic here, but have you ever checked out the Kingsley Tube pedals? I feel like you might like them. Just awesome! Minstrel, Harlot and Page are my fav
He did one on a boost pedal I think years ago.
Awesome. I can load the Amalgam capture of the Tube Driver pedal onto a Tonex One...and voila.
What’s interesting to me is you seem to chase his lead tone, but not his other tones. Anyways… I do totally get it… for me I chased SRV… who chased Albert King… so then I chased Albert’s tone too, lol…Btw, saw Eric J live… great show!
When you’re 12 feet away from him, then walk about 25 feet away facing him in a fairly small venue like the picture dome In holmfirth. It actually did sound a violin,l was lucky enough to be let in to listen to his sound check, it was the first leg of his UK tour, lots of people try to get his tone none have successfully achieved it, try inventing your own
I've messed around with underdrive and found it unappealing when unnecessary. If you have to do it, it's a great solution but I think it just feels and reacts oddly. But I'm using Tube Works versions, a Real Tube now and a Blue Tube until recently. They're designed by the same buy, B.K. Butler, and are almost the same circuit, just have a mids control and smaller chassis.
Really nice tone! Very refined. Very Pro.
Got damn..... that sounds good.
In my experience, the best way to develop your own tone, is to experiment with replicating the tones you like. Eventually, as you figure out how different gear and settings shape your sound, you can use that to create your own sound.
Somewhere on John's PC Is a folder titled "Flummoxed Thumbnails" and it has thousands of pics
Becoming more of a salesman, Jon!
Mine’s coming in tmrw!
Eric’s tone got a lot darker about 15 years ago, I think, but his cleans stayed pristine.
There was one time where Eric's lead tone was crap. It literally sounded like his previous lead tone but with a blanket on top of the amp.
@@BrunodeSouzaLino Yes, I remember this sound! He's often said that 'treble is trash' but he was rolling off too much for my taste. I remember seeing him in the city of Bath around that time and the leads were so different from those incredible albums of the 80s and 90s. His clean tones remained incredible though, and more than made up for the imbalance. In fact, I couldn't believe how good they sounded; like an orchestra!!!
Yeah, swishy, fuzzy, fluffy …. Feeling your pain! 😂
Most of Venus Isle was a 64 strat into that one Marshall I think got ruined, but I suspect the main difference is in the mics they used.
0:58 Kind of amazing how "dark" it sounds on the bridge pickup - understood its a p90 now?
The 5 knob Tube Driver gives you more control over the tone. He also uses a Dimarzio HS-2 in the bridge position. He replaced the echoplex with a Catalinbread Belle Epoch on his board. Your playing sounds great, EJ tone or not.
There's been a few delays over the years. Boss dd2, deluxe memory man etc
Your tone sounds great here
Funny what you say about chasing someone’s tone then finding it doesn’t work for you. I chased the tube screamer strat sound a long time but ultimately it doesn’t work for me because I don’t have a heavy right hand like all my favourite players
Sounds fantastic..
Yea that's it. Sounds perfect
Have you ever tried a Suhr Badger 30? /its my favorite Marshall style amp and the built in wattage control is better than any other attenuator. Might be a shout since you like Suhr amps
The tube driver with eq all the way off IS the Ej tone
Jon, you’re a nice guy and a great player, but for Gods sake, 15-20 years and $40,000 of dikin around with 200 different pieces of gear before you tried the real Tubedriver? I mean, it’s not like EJ kept it a secret hidden behind his amps.
All you’re missing is a Belle Epoch Deluxe and a non-true bypass wha. The wha is more of a filter for Eric, as he doesn’t really step on the wha pedal very often. It’s also an impedance puzzle. The wha is a piece of that puzzle.
Out of the wha into the BED. Yes: run the delay BEFORE the TD. You have to set the record level and output level just right, but when you do, the delays won’t fall into each other creating a big mess. It’s a very fine line: the output level has to be EXACTLY right. If you get it right, the delays will duck out of the way and just bloom out after a phrase is over.
Also, you gotta get that amp overdriven. No clean amp sound will work. You need to get a lot of gain out of the amp, and then give it more with the TD.
Add some reverb somewhere (post is best) and you’re there.
You need that Echoplex preamp. The BED has it. A regular Belle Epoch will work, too. It adds that “compression/playability/gain” thing you were talking about at the end that you feel you are missing.
You can take my word for it, or you can spend another 20 years and $40,000 and still wonder: “how does he get that sound?”
I noticed that Strat doesn't have a string tree. It also didn't have a trem arm. Are the two things related? The string tree is my most hated feature on Strats. It seems to do nothing but function as a binding point while trying to tune! Lots of friction.
The original Eric Johnson signature Strats don't have string trees. It hasn't got an arm cause John is too lazy to get it out the case and put it in
Agree re the tree….. those locking saddles from Wilkinson are pretty useful too with a trem
That’s a EJ Signature Strat that he’s playing. It utilizes staggered tuning posts which makes a string tree unnecessary.
If I didnt know it was you, and I listened blind, Id reckon that was EJ. Question, are those PRS bridge saddles on the white strat ?
No, Wilkinson, like on the Pete thorn suhr
@@tonystartup3817 nice. thanks
My tube driver came with a mesa 12ax7 , it sounded too fuzzy , so i got an early 60s Brimar , and it was a lot smoother
I bet the amp can do the Scott Henderson Tore Down House thing
Beautiful...
You sounded like EJ🔥🔥🔥 very interesting..
Eric is one of my two favourite guitarists, and he has incredible tones, but I never wanted to have the same tone as him. The idea of slavishly following someone else's style/ sound/ tone etc is something I could never understand. I mean, I get that people can use someone else as a marker for something to use as a way of improving what they do, but shouldn't we be trying to be the best " ourself" that we can be, rather than coveting your neighbour's recorded sound. I've not seen Eric live, but when I see live clips on RUclips of his, his lead tone is much to dull for me. I know that he doesn't like the highs in a plexi Marshall's breakup, but to my ear he goes overboard in a search for warmth and smoothness in his tone. Maybe he gets used to the ever darkening sound of the fading filter caps on old Marshalls ( I had one that I didn't nitice how dark it was until I played a newer head.) One Ah Via Musicom, his sound on "Cliffs of dover" was ( probably 335 humbucker) but too dark and dull. If you're worried by the loudness of an old plexi, why not use an attenuated output straight to record.
Not interested in mimicking anyone wholesale. I want bits and pieces of many artists. I have a friend that would always compare ne to The Edge, and while I intentionally have a similar style, I borrow some from Lukather, Gilmour, BB King...least I try 😂. Beyond that I think it's good to find your own spin on that mix of influences as well.
Sovjet tubes old stock new stock...
The SU didn't want to be jammed and tubes were a way of keeping communication going, hence the Sovjet NOS tube bargain finds.
Congrats, personally enjoy your phrases and your tone
I’ve always envied a Strat player that can make a bridge pickup not sound like a bridge pickup
The search is actually UNDER
Did you run that into the front of your Quad Cortex, to get that tone?
@johnnathancordy check out DC11GTR’s Eric Johnson presets he recently posted on the Fractal Audio Forum. Pretty damn convincing EJ tones IMO. 👍🏻
What reverb you using?
The Butler TD in my experience doesn't play well with anything that isn't at least a 50 watt tube amp. You should check out the Buffalo FX TD-X. Sounds just like a Tube Driver but gets along with modelers and solid state MUCH better.
Strangely enough John currently has a past FX TD-y in his hands - a buffalo TD-x clone. Whether it will make it in to a video though is unknown
I wonder if this tone or similar could be achieved with the Friedman IR D?
Er, yeah not too far off. You'd need at least a delay and probably a reverb. There's enough gain in the unit by itself as far as I remember to get a good lead tone, and with the delay and reverb you would be most of the way there to Eric's lead tone. But as you can hear here the tube driver adds a bit of fuzzyness to the tone so you could do this with the IR-D by setting it up with more of a plexi crunch sound which I think it's perfectly capable of doing, then boosting that with a fuzz face if you don't have access to a tube driver. You'd want to have the bias in the fuzz face on the higher side if you can adjust it, so it's smoother and more like an overdrive and less velcro like. I prefer high volume and lower fuzz settings on my fuzz face, but that should get you fairly close with an IR-D
Dude your are really, really close!😊
The well groomed vibrato you have really helps. When you watch Eric, heavy vibrato😊
Got that Manhattan vibe...
Wow..👍
@johnNathanCordy did you try the lovepedal Dover Drive ? Really good alternative to the tube driver.
He has, but I don't think it made it to many videos. Slightly different really to the tube driver as it's really trying to emulate his alternative lead sound of a fuzz face through his dumble amp. There are some similarities in the sound but they're not quite the same
I had an original Chandler Tube Driver and it was super noisy to the point that it was unusable. I sold it almost as soon as I bought it.
The Chandler ones, which are the same design as the B.K. Butler's, had some cut corners in them and are not the same quality.
@@BrunodeSouzaLino I believe it. I don't hear the problem I had in this video.
Why are you obsessed with the Johnson tone? Just play your tone! Having said that, that tone was beautiful 😂 Also, very cool Strat!