I own this model/colour and agree with you on the Custom Shop quality. The neck especially, is just stellar feeling and rock solid. The nut is just and shaped absolutely perfectly. One additional Eric Johnson personal spec not mentioned is the middle pickup position has no tone control at all. Eric spec'd neck tone and bridge tone control only (no overlap to cover the middle pickup). Also, I understand that Eric lowers the middle pickup on all his guitars so it doesn't interfere with his picking. I don't know if his proprietary pickups here take that into account or not in terms of volume (i.e a hotter middle pickup to compensate).
@@VN9001 that’s really cool info thanks! I have to confess I never use tone controls, I leave them all the way up all the time so I would never have noticed. Thanks for watching!
Great demo. I'm with you on the custom shop stuff, I've traded / tried em , and though "better "than my usa standard, not THAT much better! The Eric Johnson looks and sounds awesome
Thanks, Yeah the U.S. guitars have everything the Custom shop guitars have. As you get to the EJ stuff you get Custom shop features and as Fender don’t seem to sell massive numbers of them they are really reasonable prices. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the great video tho it added one more thing to decide on as i choose which EJ model to buy-the pickups. I’d been wanting a EJ rosewood bc I already have a fine maple board, soft v shape on my Clapton Strat. I’ve read a couple places that the EJ rosewood is a different shape than EJ maple..more of a C than soft v (?). And now apparently the pickups aren’t the same between the two models either? The pickups in this rosewood model do sound lovely. I guess I need to try to find a dealer with both models in stock and play them. Or just go with the rosewood knowing it’s slightly different from the maple but also a wonderful guitar. Thanks again and if you or anyone viewing knows more about the neck carve difference, would love to know more. Pickups are fairly easily swapped. Necks are a different proposition.
Thanks for watching, I can give you a comparison against a Pro Strat, it's a wider and fatter neck than the pro. I will say that there is a very soft V to the profile but I don't know how it compares to the Clapton models. As with all the Fender pickups they're great sounding so I wouldn't worry too much about whether they are drastically different to the maple ones. I have installed aftermarket EJ pups in a pro strat and they didn't sound better or worse than the stock EJ rosewood ones, remembering than a tiny EQ adjustment will sort out any differences. I'd put more emphasis on the rest of the guitar you want to buy, as rosewood or maple/ body wood or semi hollow will make way more difference to how the guitar feels than the imo slight difference in the pickups. You mention the absolute best thing to do, and that's play both before you buy. Great comment thanks!
I have both. The neck on the maple neck model is a thicker, soft "V", and the neck on the rosewood is a bit thinner and transitions from a very soft "V" to more of a "C". The pickups on the maple are more 50's voiced, while the rosewood model seem to be ever so slightly hotter and a touch darker in tone. Hope it helps.
@@stratplayer96I own both as well. No if anything the neck on the RW model is a bit thicker than the OG EJ, slightly different profiles too. Exact same pickups, literally no difference other than minor variances between different sets.
While I prefer the maple board models, my 2007 EJ is just as nice as any of my CS and American Vintage Strats. I'm a little surprised that you are just discovering this model.
That’s a fair comment, but I have known about them since their release in 2012 or so but had only just been able to get hold of one prior to making this video. It’s been on my wish list for years, as well as the maple board semi hollow one. Thanks for watching!
@@MattsGAP great answer, as rosewood or maple? some say the fretboard is hard to play did you find that at all with bending? due to 12mm raised neck or something and wood being sticky?
No mines a dream to play, the lacquerd neck is often what people refer to as sticky but I like nitro. I have a rosewood one so I'd have to have a maple fingerboard, probably the semi hollow
Great guitar for the money. Thanks for this. I think you got a point there with the overpriced Custom Shop guitars, its ridiculous. Have you ever heard of Highwood Saddles? These vintage style Strat saddles come with (and I dare say it) some interesting innovation.
Yeah but the high prices don't stop me from wanting them! Fender have won the marketing war in my head! No I haven't heard of Highwood Saddles, are they claiming anything outrageous? Thanks for watching!
Fender Custom Shops are DEFINITELY not overpriced. I have played many and currently own a '56 Custom Shop Strat. There is an enormous difference between the production run Fender's and the Custom Shops. It is a completely different ballgame.
I have also owned CS Strats a 1960 relic circa 2007 and a Rory Gallagher. I can say with certainty that they were no better than this EJ Strat. The obvious difference being the relicing on the Custom Shops. Back then they were expensive but I paid £1,800.00 for my Rory Strat. I just saw a used one advertised for £4,400.00 which is an insane amount for a guitar. I don't think your wrong when you say they're better than factory guitars but even so they're not worth that kind if premium imo. Thanks fir watching!
@@MattsGAP Based on the EJ Virginia model I tried recently, I would have to respectfully disagree. I went to GuitarGuitar just a few days ago and I tried many Fender's from different price ranges. The EJ was very nice, but the difference in quality was profound when I picked up the Custom Shop immediately afterwards.
@charliedavidarnott1537 interesting, perhaps the Custom Shop have improved, or perhaps my 2 CS Strats weren't that great!? I know fender have been criticised a lot lately for their quality, maybe that particular Virginia wasn't that great? Either way it seems to me that more money doesn't necessarily mean higher quality!
I wouldn’t buy it without a steel rod through the neck. I made sure my custom shop had the steel rod, didn’t like an alternative which didn’t have it. I love my custom shop but play my pro 2 more
Been mulling over your comment, I wonder if by Steel rod, you mean Truss rod? If that’s the case, the EJ strats have the old school truss rod that’s accessible at the heal, you have to tilt or remove the neck to adjust it but there’s definitely one in there! I agree that guitars always benefit from having one. Thanks for watching!
Note to the owner of this youtube channel, if you install three springs in your Stratocaster's trem system they are supposed to be installed parallel to each other rather than splayed-out as shown in this video, the reason for that is because if they are installed parallel to each other they contribute an equal amount of tension to the system, if they are installed splayed-out the outer two springs are contributing the most tension with the middle one contributing the least and there's a risk that it will literally fall-out due to decreased tension if the trem arm is pulled up to sharpen a note.
Interesting point thanks, I've never had that issue having done this to every strat I've owned since 1998 but I get what you're saying. It stands to reason that the outer 2 are stretching further, I think if the middle one was going to fall out it would have to be under zero tension at rest, which is not the case on mine. Have you ever had a spring come loose? Thanks for watchin!
Well, on behalf of the entire British population I thank you for your kind regards! When you say "Levi" are you referring to Levis the Jeans or Levy's the straps?
I own the exact same EJ. I have a 57 CS too. The EJ is CS level in build and tone. You can’t go wrong!!!!
@@johnfling5702 100% Agree, thanks for watching!
I own this model/colour and agree with you on the Custom Shop quality. The neck especially, is just stellar feeling and rock solid. The nut is just and shaped absolutely perfectly.
One additional Eric Johnson personal spec not mentioned is the middle pickup position has no tone control at all. Eric spec'd neck tone and bridge tone control only (no overlap to cover the middle pickup). Also, I understand that Eric lowers the middle pickup on all his guitars so it doesn't interfere with his picking. I don't know if his proprietary pickups here take that into account or not in terms of volume (i.e a hotter middle pickup to compensate).
@@VN9001 that’s really cool info thanks!
I have to confess I never use tone controls, I leave them all the way up all the time so I would never have noticed. Thanks for watching!
I have one in Tropical Turquoise and it plays like a dream! I totally agree with you on the quality being just as good as the Custom Shop.
@@PonyPharm they’re still holding their own after all these years in production. Fantastic guitars!
Great demo. I'm with you on the custom shop stuff, I've traded / tried em , and though "better "than my usa standard, not THAT much better! The Eric Johnson looks and sounds awesome
Thanks, Yeah the U.S. guitars have everything the Custom shop guitars have. As you get to the EJ stuff you get Custom shop features and as Fender don’t seem to sell massive numbers of them they are really reasonable prices. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the great video tho it added one more thing to decide on as i choose which EJ model to buy-the pickups.
I’d been wanting a EJ rosewood bc I already have a fine maple board, soft v shape on my Clapton Strat. I’ve read a couple places that the EJ rosewood is a different shape than EJ maple..more of a C than soft v (?).
And now apparently the pickups aren’t the same between the two models either? The pickups in this rosewood model do sound lovely.
I guess I need to try to find a dealer with both models in stock and play them. Or just go with the rosewood knowing it’s slightly different from the maple but also a wonderful guitar.
Thanks again and if you or anyone viewing knows more about the neck carve difference, would love to know more. Pickups are fairly easily swapped. Necks are a different proposition.
Thanks for watching, I can give you a comparison against a Pro Strat, it's a wider and fatter neck than the pro. I will say that there is a very soft V to the profile but I don't know how it compares to the Clapton models. As with all the Fender pickups they're great sounding so I wouldn't worry too much about whether they are drastically different to the maple ones. I have installed aftermarket EJ pups in a pro strat and they didn't sound better or worse than the stock EJ rosewood ones, remembering than a tiny EQ adjustment will sort out any differences. I'd put more emphasis on the rest of the guitar you want to buy, as rosewood or maple/ body wood or semi hollow will make way more difference to how the guitar feels than the imo slight difference in the pickups. You mention the absolute best thing to do, and that's play both before you buy. Great comment thanks!
I have both. The neck on the maple neck model is a thicker, soft "V", and the neck on the rosewood is a bit thinner and transitions from a very soft "V" to more of a "C". The pickups on the maple are more 50's voiced, while the rosewood model seem to be ever so slightly hotter and a touch darker in tone. Hope it helps.
@@stratplayer96 great info, Thanks for watching!
@@stratplayer96I own both as well. No if anything the neck on the RW model is a bit thicker than the OG EJ, slightly different profiles too. Exact same pickups, literally no difference other than minor variances between different sets.
@primeDecomposition thanks for watching!
Great video. Good luck with your channel. Subscribed. I’m sure many more will follow.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video, and thanks for the Sub!
While I prefer the maple board models, my 2007 EJ is just as nice as any of my CS and American Vintage Strats. I'm a little surprised that you are just discovering this model.
That’s a fair comment, but I have known about them since their release in 2012 or so but had only just been able to get hold of one prior to making this video. It’s been on my wish list for years, as well as the maple board semi hollow one. Thanks for watching!
what fender strat would you buy in todays market? im thinking the ej standard with maplewood?
Just bought a Les Paul, but if we are talking Fender, I'd go with an EJ too sorry for the boring answer.. thanks for watching!
@@MattsGAP great answer, as rosewood or maple? some say the fretboard is hard to play did you find that at all with bending? due to 12mm raised neck or something and wood being sticky?
No mines a dream to play, the lacquerd neck is often what people refer to as sticky but I like nitro. I have a rosewood one so I'd have to have a maple fingerboard, probably the semi hollow
Great guitar for the money. Thanks for this. I think you got a point there with the overpriced Custom Shop guitars, its ridiculous. Have you ever heard of Highwood Saddles? These vintage style Strat saddles come with (and I dare say it) some interesting innovation.
Yeah but the high prices don't stop me from wanting them! Fender have won the marketing war in my head! No I haven't heard of Highwood Saddles, are they claiming anything outrageous? Thanks for watching!
Fender Custom Shops are DEFINITELY not overpriced. I have played many and currently own a '56 Custom Shop Strat. There is an enormous difference between the production run Fender's and the Custom Shops. It is a completely different ballgame.
I have also owned CS Strats a 1960 relic circa 2007 and a Rory Gallagher. I can say with certainty that they were no better than this EJ Strat. The obvious difference being the relicing on the Custom Shops. Back then they were expensive but I paid £1,800.00 for my Rory Strat. I just saw a used one advertised for £4,400.00 which is an insane amount for a guitar. I don't think your wrong when you say they're better than factory guitars but even so they're not worth that kind if premium imo. Thanks fir watching!
@@MattsGAP Based on the EJ Virginia model I tried recently, I would have to respectfully disagree. I went to GuitarGuitar just a few days ago and I tried many Fender's from different price ranges. The EJ was very nice, but the difference in quality was profound when I picked up the Custom Shop immediately afterwards.
@charliedavidarnott1537 interesting, perhaps the Custom Shop have improved, or perhaps my 2 CS Strats weren't that great!? I know fender have been criticised a lot lately for their quality, maybe that particular Virginia wasn't that great? Either way it seems to me that more money doesn't necessarily mean higher quality!
I wouldn’t buy it without a steel rod through the neck. I made sure my custom shop had the steel rod, didn’t like an alternative which didn’t have it. I love my custom shop but play my pro 2 more
Been mulling over your comment, I wonder if by Steel rod, you mean Truss rod? If that’s the case, the EJ strats have the old school truss rod that’s accessible at the heal, you have to tilt or remove the neck to adjust it but there’s definitely one in there! I agree that guitars always benefit from having one. Thanks for watching!
Would you buy this one or the Virginia model?
The Virginia is a 1954 I believe and this one is mid 60s inspired so they're probably quite different. I'd buy both. Thanks for watching!
tweaking the neck does not require removing the neck
Indeed, but it is more of a pain than adjusting a headstock access rod or a spoke wheel one. Thanks for watching!
Note to the owner of this youtube channel, if you install three springs in your Stratocaster's trem system they are supposed to be installed parallel to each other rather than splayed-out as shown in this video, the reason for that is because if they are installed parallel to each other they contribute an equal amount of tension to the system, if they are installed splayed-out the outer two springs are contributing the most tension with the middle one contributing the least and there's a risk that it will literally fall-out due to decreased tension if the trem arm is pulled up to sharpen a note.
Interesting point thanks, I've never had that issue having done this to every strat I've owned since 1998 but I get what you're saying. It stands to reason that the outer 2 are stretching further, I think if the middle one was going to fall out it would have to be under zero tension at rest, which is not the case on mine. Have you ever had a spring come loose? Thanks for watchin!
‘Levi’ ow bless, Brits are so adorable
Well, on behalf of the entire British population I thank you for your kind regards! When you say "Levi" are you referring to Levis the Jeans or Levy's the straps?