Is Eric Johnson a liar?

[Big Al]

Muddy Buddy Bob and I saw EJ in a small club around the time of AVM. He used two vintage Marshalls and two BF Twin Reverbs. He sounded amazing if loud and I was completely amazed at his melodic playing and songs. I found his violin lead tone and cleanish Fender clean tones perfect. I still am amazed at his ability. Didn't see the G3 tour had no interest in a guitar circus.

I wouldn't call him a liar.

 

[chasenblues]

Eric has been a big fat liar for a long time. He even says that He's a good guitar player! What a steenkeeng liar! Liar liar guitar case is on fire! If it's one thing I hate it's a geetar player who lies all of the time! Eric, face facts. You lie like a rug!

Is this you?


ajay
Senior Member

Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Above Ground
Posts: 722
Thanks: 0
Thanked 7 Times in 5 Posts

 

[renderit]

+1

There is no age limit or IQ tests on the forums. We receive commentary from nasty little twelve year old kids, the ill informed, and internet trolls. Tones stands as one of my favorite all time albums and Eric's performances on Austin City Limits are stellar. I agree the thread is nasty and mean spirited and lacks any meaningful information. My vote would be to delete it.

I know! It's like, come on! Really! Whoops! Gotta go, got a text!

 

[jhmp]

Eric got a pickup gig between advertised shows midweek at a dump called The Fallout Shelter in Raleighwood in the mid 80's as he was passing through town. It was only advertised the afternoon of the show. There he is in a tiny underground room with a halfstack and his rhythm section set up on the floor with no stage. It was loud, maybe 30 people there but he burned it down! Righteous raw tone, single amp and not much else.
He was so good it was ridiculous.

 

[mistersnappy]

Just because this thread is a clusterf*ck anyway, I recently played with a drummer who auditioned for him back in the '80s. Nice player and I'm sad he never got the gig.

 

[66SuperTremMKIV]

Had a 3 cassette pre dvd boxed set instructional video from EJ everything on it sucked major tonally. Washed in reverb, delay etc. The ONLY moment when he sounded killer was when he straight jacked a '57 Strat into a plexi marshall and played.......stellar tone and chops.

Eric is way too obsessed with tone........ position of the nut, rubber band round his fuzz face, type of strings etc etc etc. It became a joke of the guitar world.

I saw Hubert Sumlin with Jimmy Vaughan's gifted Red '60s Strat plugged straight into a modern Fender amp play a club show and sounded killer.

Eric.......... get rid of the effects, plug those vintage axes into some vintage Plexi's n Fenders and let it rip !!! :dude:

 

[redisburning]

Eric is way too obsessed with tone........ position of the nut, rubber band round his fuzz face, type of strings etc etc etc. It became a joke of the guitar world.

Eric.......... get rid of the effects, plug those vintage axes into some vintage Plexi's n Fenders and let it rip !!! :dude:

I have to respectfully disagree. Strongly.

First of all Eric's "obsession" is overblown by rags who have been thin on material since the mid 70s.

Second of all if it matters to him then you really have no basis to tell him or anyone else to do something different.

Third, he IS plugging the vintage guitars into vintage amps. He hasn't even had the dumbles around for most of the past decade; it's been vintage blackface Twins put into head cabinets and vintage 4 hole Super and non-super Lead heads. And I think the memory man -> echoplex -> tc stereo chorusing into two twins is glorious. I mean granted Eric and Bill Frisell are 1a and 1b my favorite guitarists and both do the effected clean but this video is hugely inspirational to me in so many ways:

• Tone
• Interesting Chords
• Harp harmonics and the koto stuff
• Dynamics
• The distinctive single note stuff
• Melody and timing

I don't want him to another boring *** blues wannabe playing the same tired shtick.

On the original post, which is like a million years old, I've actually played a Mojave amp and it was nuts expensive but my impression was that it was actually worth the asking price. However it was, without question, THE loudest amplifier I have ever played and it was instant onset destruction and as such not something I could personally own.

 

[Big Al]

That is one of my favorite songs! Great tone is not plugging straight into a vintage amp and that narrow definition only points to the narrow mindset of an awful lot of folks here. Yes some great tone can be found in straight into a vintage amp, but it isn't the only great tone by a long shot. That example right there points out the flaw in that narrow closed minded approach.

Sad, just freakin' sad that this thread has become a dimwitted caveman chesthumping exhibition by some I would wager cannot achieve the level of playing or produce the excellent tones EJ does.

 

[66SuperTremMKIV]

How old is that clip. Bottom line is its his tone that's held back his career. Look at Joe B's stellar rise, J.D. Simo starting his climb, Eric's become a yesterdays hero unfortunately. Or as they say in Spinal Tap...... he's playing to a more select audience :hee

 

[RocknRollShakeUp]

Amazing and talented player, but he's like an Emo version of a guitar virtuoso. Too much yin not enough yang for the rocknroll, his tone included. At least for me.

 

[shred]

How old is that clip. Bottom line is its his tone that's held back his career. Look at Joe B's stellar rise, J.D. Simo starting his climb, Eric's become a yesterdays hero unfortunately. Or as they say in Spinal Tap...... he's playing to a more select audience :hee

Regarding the success (or lack thereof) of Eric Johnson's career, tone has nothing to do with it. He chose to (mostly) play instrumental guitar music which typically isn't mainstream. The fact that he still managed to have a radio hit with Cliffs Of Dover is a testament to his unique voice on the instrument and melodic sensibility.

Ironically one thing that sets Joe B apart from a lot of blues players is the Eric Johnson influence/licks. Those licks really stand out to me and I think they sound great. I'd go so far as to speculate that Joe's tone is influenced by Eric as well... Someone would have to ask Joe but I don't hear a whole lot of treble in his tone. Sure Joe doesn't use as much delay and chorus as EJ but otherwise it sounds like good vintage tone to me....

Eric Johnson is a criminally under appreciated player. He's as unique as anyone out there... So he's a noodnik :rofl At least he cares eace2

This is genius in my opinion... My favourite version of Cliffs Of Dover :dude:

It's unbelievable to think this is live...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5llfHPzt4H4

 

[RocknRollShakeUp]

Ironically one thing that sets Joe B apart from a lot of blues players is the Eric Johnson influence/licks.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5llfHPzt4H4

Yeah but Joe plays those licks with attitude and balls, and EJ plays it too much like a ballerina, at least for my sensibilities; but yeah I'll totally take the time to watch EJ play, but I end up saying to myself, "wow what a brilliant player", but it is an intellectual reaction for me, I don't feel much of anything when I say it. I still have great respect for him as a player/musician however.

Getting back to Joe B., again ironically him playing those EJ soaring type of runs also helps Joe not sound like a blues cliché. But again he plays those notes like a pterodactyl , not like a butterfly.

 

[Born Late '58]

"Ironically one thing that sets Joe B apart from a lot of blues players is the Eric Johnson influence/licks. Those licks really stand out to me and I think they sound great. I'd go so far as to speculate that Joe's tone is influenced by Eric as well... Someone would have to ask Joe but I don't hear a whole lot of treble in his tone. Sure Joe doesn't use as much delay and chorus as EJ but otherwise it sounds like good vintage tone to me....

Eric Johnson is a criminally under appreciated player. He's as unique as anyone out there... So he's a noodnik :rofl At least he cares eace2

This is genius in my opinion... "

+1 !!!!!

I'm sure I'll never approach the chops of either of these incredible guitarists, but it seems to me that, as amazing and emotional as Joe B's playing can be, it is ultimately still derivative--granted all of our styles are--but EJ always sounded unique to me. Certainly he (Eric) is amazingly educated and versatile and can "do" just about anyone--but I always thought he had his own unique style (which has in fact been, um, "borrowed" by many contemporary guitarists, Joe B included), and that, for me, places him (but not Joe) in the "genius" category.

EJ was a trailblazer, and, for all his talent, Joe B is not.

 

[CoyotesGator]

This giant fart-fest necro-thread belongs in the backstage area.

phiffffftph.

 

[Wyreandwood]

It's threads like this and the inane comments that keep me coming back regularly.

Not

 

[Bob1970]

I'm the only one around here that will blast this guy. It's no surprise he has bad management and or agents. Also, it's no secret, he dosen't use anything manufactured before 1970.

Personally, I think his live tone on the G3 DVD is awful. It's so muffled and delayed. He has all that vintage horsepower up there and it sounds like he's plugged into a Crate. I don't get it. Must just be me.

:wtf

No kidding, have you seen that pedal board. I thought it was a flipped over car ramp. :lol

jealousy sucks doesn’t it….

 

[garywright]

and up through the ground come-a bubblin brew.

againnnnn

 

[Amp360]

IMHO he sounds like he's playing though a GSP-21 with all those FX. Good player but I don't get his toanz.

I give him credit where it's due, though. He obviously influenced all those YouTube videos that smear goo all over every amp/guitar test.

IMHO, the more the player is obsessed with toan and batteries, the worse the songs usually are.

 

[bursty]

when I resided in Dallas during the late 1990s to early 2000s time frame I saw 14 Eric Johnson shows in the space of 29 months.

Then Eric was on his game and his playing & sound was pure magic.

YMMV

 

[Jethro Rocker]

jealousy sucks doesn’t it….

So does responding to someone directly in a 400 year old thread, to be honest!
Post responded to is literally over 20 years old....don't spose OP would care anymore, somehow....