Eric Johnson's Pedalboard and Amp Rig

From the moment I heard the opening notes of Cliffs of Dover, I loved Eric Johnson's playing.  He's one of my favourite guitarists!  I was fortunate to get a ticket to an intimate Masterclass with the great man, held at the Radisson Hotel in Guildford, on 5 July 2012, organised by Andertons Music Co. I arrived early and was able to secure a seat on the front row, right in the middle, which I considered to be the best seat in the house!

Mick Taylor, then Editor of Guitarist Magazine, was the compere.  After a brief introduction from Mick, in which he told us that Eric was in the wings filing his pick on wet and dry paper, the band came on and played stupendous versions of Manhattan, Fat Daddy, Gem and Mr Pc.  Mick then facilitated questions from the floor, with Eric standing at the mic providing answers and demonstrating aspects of his awesome technique.  The band finished with an extended version of Cliffs of Dover.

We were asked not to take photos during the show, but I found the one included here on the Internet, taken by someone who was sitting a few rows back from me. All other photos are mine. After the show, Eric came out to sign merchandise and talk to his fans.  I bought a Tour t-shirt and a poster, which he signed.  I shook his hand and told him I loved the show, and he graciously thanked me.

There are lots of great pictures of Eric's pedalboard on the Internet, including on his own web site. My own photo isn't great by comparison, but it does show what I believe are the following pedals: Ibanez Tubescreamer, Fuzz Face (which looks like the gold signature model), Toadworks Barracuda Flanger, Cry Baby Wah, TC Electronic Chorus/Flanger, Electro Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man, Boss Digital Delay, and various A/B switches.  Eric's board is pretty scruffy, with long coils and tangles of cable, but that's the way he likes it!

Eric was using his old Marshall amp heads and 4x12 cabs, plus what he described as prototypes of new Fender amps being built for him.  I was interested to see that Eric angles his amps away from him.  There was a lot of hum and buzz, which surprised me. Eric said it was because he was using vintage amps, but it sounded like ground hum to me.  I've no idea whether his A/B switches contain isolation transformers to prevent ground loops, and this may be the problem.  Anyway, extraneous noise aside, this was an absolutely cracking event, with Eric in magnificent form.  

Now, if only I could play like that ...