Fender Eric Johnson Strat RW
78 Guitarist April 2009
FENDER ERIC JOHNSON STRATOCASTER RW £1,909.99
ELECTRICS
Fender Eric Johnson
Strat RW
£1,909.99
original, all-maple-neck model
for its balance of vintage vibe
and modern playability. We
were bowled over by the
attention to detail that Johnson
personally brought to bear over
all aspects of its design and
production; the two-piece alder
body with deeply scooped
contours, the delightfully
smooth neck-to-headstock
shaping and the thin-skin nitro-
cellulose finish.
All these features from the
previous instrument have been
retained for the current one.
Others that have also been
carried over include the
slimmer headstock design and
staggered-height tuner posts
that negate string trees;
Johnson-voiced pickups with a
tone control on the bridge
single-coil; and no vibrato
cavity cover – Eric reckons they
sound better without it and
who are we to argue?
Of course, the main point of
the new model is that it comes
with a rosewood fretboard – a
result of requests from players.
But Johnson stipulated that
other changes would be needed
if a rosewood version were to be
produced. Visual changes
include a white three-ply
pickguard with countersunk
pickup height adjustment
screws: the ‘right’ choice for
classic ’60s Strat aesthetic.
Rather than go for the classic
‘slab’ fingerboard originally
introduced in 1959, Eric has
chosen the ‘round laminate’
that Fender switched to around
1963. At the time slab ’boards
were deemed too ‘dark’
sounding, so the use of a
thinner slice of rosewood over
a pre-cambered maple neck
addressed the problem to Leo’s
satisfaction. Some people say
that it also made for a more
stable assembly.
The prime visual detail about
the new guitar is the fact that
the ’board is bound – the most
famous bound-necked Strat
being the blue one owned by Ry
Cooder. Apparently, the reason
that Strats briefly sported
bound necks during the mid-
sixties was because the model
shared an identical neck to the
Jazzmaster (around this time
both were code number 13).
And when the Jazzmaster
switched to an edge-bound,
dot-inlaid rosewood ’board it
made sense to Fender’s new
owners, CBS, for the
Stratocaster to follow. Before
long the Jazz changed again, to
block inlays, and so the Strat
reverted to the more classic
unbound look.
What’s not immediately
apparent is that the guitar’s
The Rivals
Tom Anderson’s Classic
(from £2,449.99) is available
with rosewood or maple
’board and three single-coil
pickups. A quirky but no less
brilliant option is Music
Man’s Albert Lee signature
(£1,605). With three custom-
wound Seymour Duncan
single-coils and flattish (10-
inch) radius fingerboard. A
lower cost option would be
Blade’s Texas Vintage SSS
(£499), featuring an
adjustable tension string
tree, EZ-Access truss-rod,
variable mid boost and
T-Switch.
A
ny mention of Eric
Johnson invariably –
and perhaps rather
tediously for Johnson himself –
concentrates on his status as a
tone-hound of legendary
credentials. It will inevitably
state how he goes through his
equipment microscopically,
making sure the polarity of
each internal component faces
the same direction so the
current passes as smoothly as
possible. Mention is unfailingly
made of his preference for
battery power over mains,
while his predilection for
Duracell is reiterated.
Thankfully, writers do then
go on to talk about his
astounding musicianship and
an almost unfeasible
knowledge of what makes great
guitar tone. But sometimes it’s
forgotten just how into guitars
and amps Johnson truly is – to
the point where he probably
knows as much about Strats as
the people at Fender, and could
likely give Marshall’s amp
engineers a run for their money.
Most importantly, some ignore
the fact that Johnson’s love for
detail is never for the sake of it,
but to extract the last drop of
musicality from whatever
equipment he chooses.
So a signature Stratocaster,
spec’d to Eric’s exact
requirements and built by
Fender – whose reputation for
quality is currently better than
it’s ever been – warrants close
inspection here.
Of course this isn’t the first EJ
Signature Strat. We loved Eric’s
Updates for this model include the white three-ply pickguard
GIT314.rev_fender 78 25/2/09 4:39:42 pm