Not that you can immediately tell all that’s going on by simply looking at the beautiful new Eric Johnson Stratocaster, which was co-designed by Michael Frank-Braun of Fender Research & Development and patterned on Johnson’s fave 1958 Strat. With its lovely vintage-toned neck and perfectly applied black lacquer paint, the EJ looks pretty much like any other CS offering. Pick it up and start playing, and you’ll quickly begin to appreciate the exceptional feel of its compound neck shape, which gradually transitions from a shallow “V” profile at the first fret to a wider “C” shape at the 12th fret. The edges of the vintage-style fretboard (which is integral with the neck and not a glued-on slab) are gently rolled to provide a more worn-in vibe, and the action felt good despite being slightly higher than the 4/64" that Fender specifies for a 12"-radius neck (distance measured on the bass and treble sides from the bottom of the strings to the top of the 17th fret).

Unique Tweaks

Sharp-eyed types will notice the EJ’s neck is thinner than standard where it transitions into the headstock. This effectively creates a deeper headstock face that allows the strings to angle downward more steeply to the tuning posts, eliminating the need for a string tree (thus removing some potential binding points) and increasing sustain on the open strings by putting extra pressure on the nut. Strummed acoustically, the EJ was noticeably louder and beefier than my Japanese-made Fender ’50s Strat—qualities that the EJ’s thin lacquer finish probably contributes to, as well.

Another significant aspect of the EJ is its pickup configuration, which consists of a ’54 Strat with oversize alnico 3 magnets in the neck position, a ’63-style middle pickup with alnico 3 magnets and a reverse winding (to provide hum cancellation in the second and fourth positions), and an alnico-5 bridge pickup that’s overwound just enough to provide a hotter output while maintaining excellent top-end response. The controls operate in standard fashion except that the rear Tone pot is wired to the bridge pickup instead of the middle unit.

The string holes in the EJ’s tremolo inertia block are drilled to a shallower depth than stock to allow for more mass, and to make it easier to remove the ball end when a string breaks. As per Johnson’s request, the trem uses all five springs and is adjusted to sit flush with the body. Once the strings were stretched out, I had no problem keeping them in tune when using the trem.

Tones

Tested with a JBL-loaded Fender Twin Reverb, a THD Flexi-50 (through a THD 2x12), a Ken Fischer-designed Komet 50-watt head (plugged into a Marshall 4x12 loaded with Celestion 25-watt greenbacks), and an Orange Rockerverb 100 through the same Marshall cab, the EJ quickly demonstrated that the sum of its parts equals one killer Strat. On clean settings, it sounded exceptionally detailed and ringy, delivering sparkling, full-bodied rhythm tones and deep clucky textures on the dual-pickup settings. Compared to my Strat (which is equipped with Custom Shop Fat ’50s pickups), the EJ was remarkably more open and shimmering with an enhanced sense of complexity and dimension. Even the bass strings sounded bigger and more defined, yielding tight, twangy tones when flatpicked hard through the Twin.

The EJ’s bridge pickup is beautifully tailored for overdrive, and its strong output made it easy to get explosive lead tones from the Komet, which sounds a lot like an old plexi Marshall. Through the burn channels of the Orange and THD amps, it sounded rich and intense, producing gobs of sustain at higher gain settings. Vintage in appearance with its staggered polepieces, this pickup packs the lower-midrange girth needed to keep your sound round and full without compromising the top-end clarity. The range of tones it can deliver is pretty amazing—from super ballsy clean to throaty growl—and having a dedicated Tone knob makes it a snap to smooth out the treble for thicker distortion flavors. By turning it almost all the way down, I was able to get a good rendition of Clapton’s tone on the Cream tune “Swalbr.”

Victory

Whether you’re into high-gain shred à la Johnson or you just need a happening Strat for blues or rock, you’ll find the EJ to be an extremely capable and enticing guitar. That’s not surprising considering that you’re getting an ax that’s as close as possible to Eric’s famous ’58—which, of course, means it has been tweaked to deliver absolutely pristine clean tones as well as the brownest, sweetest overdrive textures that you could expect from a Strat with three single-coils. Essentially a Custom Shop guitar for a production-line price, the EJ is one of the hippest deals around if a new American-made Strat is in your future. Fender has obviously spared no effort to ensure that this signature model meets Johnson’s standards (as it apparently does, according to guitar-tech Jeff Van Zandt, who reports several currently in use by Eric), and for that reason alone it deserves an Editors’ Pick Award