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Independent research by truerecs. Not affiliated with, endorsed or verified by Eric Johnson. Every item links to its public source.
32 items · Last checked

What guitar does Eric Johnson play?

Eric Johnson uses a three-amp rig: black-panel Fender Deluxe Reverbs with a TC Electronic chorus and a Deluxe Memory Man for clean rhythm, a Two-Rock Classic Reverb with an Ibanez TS808 for dirty rhythm, and a Marshall with a BK Butler Tube Driver for lead. He has also been trying a Neural DSP Quad Cortex, and keeps a Martin D-35 for acoustic.

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What gear Eric Johnson uses: a sourced gear guide

Independent research by truerecs: every item links to the public source it comes from.

Guitars

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Records he has named

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About Eric Johnson's gear.

What guitar does Eric Johnson play?

Mostly Stratocasters. In 2026 he said his 1954 Strat is the main thing he uses for most of the show, alongside one of his rosewood-board Fender EJ Stratocasters and, for a few songs, a Custom Shop Les Paul. He also has a Martin D-35 and a Maton acoustic.

What amps does Eric Johnson use?

Three sounds from separate amps: two old black-panel Fender Deluxe Reverbs for clean, a Two-Rock Classic Reverb (or a Bill Webb modded Bandmaster Reverb) for dirty rhythm, and a 50 or 100-watt Marshall for lead. He has also been trying a Neural DSP Quad Cortex and a Fender Tone Master.

What pedals does Eric Johnson use?

In 2026 he described three chains: for lead, a wah into an Echoplex and a BK Butler Tube Driver; for clean, a Deluxe Memory Man, a second Echoplex and a TC Electronic Stereo Chorus; for dirty rhythm, an Ibanez TS808, an Arbiter Fuzz Face and an MXR Digital Delay.

How does Eric Johnson set up his Strats?

He likes a flatter fretboard with bigger frets, puts a DiMarzio HS-2 in the bridge wired as a single coil, hooks the lower tone control to the bridge pickup and uses stock 10 to 46 gauge strings.

Which records shaped Eric Johnson?

He has named Jimi Hendrix's Are You Experienced, Joni Mitchell's Ladies of the Canyon and Clouds, Stevie Wonder's Music of My Mind, Free's Highway, which he called a pop masterpiece, and Bryan Adams' Reckless as perfect driving music.

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Eric Johnson
About this guide · Last checked

Eric Johnson is the Austin guitarist behind Ah Via Musicom and the Grammy-winning Cliffs of Dover, and one of the best known tone obsessives in rock. This guide covers the amps, pedals and guitars of his three-amp rig from his 2026 Guitar World and Guitarist interviews and Premier Guitar's Rig Rundown, plus the records he has named.

truerecs put this guide together from public videos, interviews and posts. Each item says how we know and links to the source. Eric Johnson didn't write it or choose anything on it. How we source gear guides.

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