Was This The GREATEST Hot Licks Instructional Intro Solo EVER? Eric Johnson

[@LeviClay]

Download my 10 most popular transcriptions for FREE - bit.ly/Top10Tabs

[@michalnewton9281]

I got this vhs video for my birthday in 1990 and the opening was like a religious experience.

[@Chillnote]

This intro tone is still in my opinion the best electric guitar tone ever. I am still chasing it

[@DominicJai]

Ditto! 😎🎶🎸

[@JadeTwo]

Im sure I could make it sound bad

[@jordancarpenter676]

Best tone ever? For country? For rock? For metal? If ever then what kind of music do you want make? Eric Johnson duplications? Quit talking about tone unless it’s what fits you.

[@Chillnote]

@@jordancarpenter676 Bro I stated my opinion

[@PROGROCKBOOTLEGS]

@@jordancarpenter676 it does fit him you donut he likes it!

[@mrbigbosskojak]

When he's on the bridge pick up, using the overdrive pedal, it sounds like he's on the neck pick up. Love his tone. So smooth.

[@kwik2hear915]

He makes a " strat" sound like a " Paul"!!!!!!

[@ATX0705]

It sounds like a humbucker. Love his tone.

[@josecarlosramolete6109]

​@@ATX0705 Well, it is a humbucker called HS-2 DiMarzio.

[@davidpotor1009]

@@josecarlosramolete6109It’s an HS-2 but it’s not wired in the humbucking mode. Also he has it wired through the tone control.

[@josecarlosramolete6109]

@@davidpotor1009 Because the pickup was a "stacked" pickup

[@FretboardMaestro]

Yeah his "violin" tone is so sweet, gritty, yet so precise and you can hear every note clearly... not matter how fast he plays...

[@ejtonefan]

It is Eric's Clean Rhythm tone that makes him unique and separates him from all other electric guitar players.

[@ksharpe10]

@@ejtonefan Alot of that is the piano technique with the Spread Triads, which to me he is the one associated for mainly originating it. Certainly it was used by others, Holdsworth, but I think ERIC brought it to attention the most.

[@dsargent724]

2:46 The BEST harmonics ever created on a guitar neck...ever.

Still one of the most mind-blowing things to watch after all these years. Eric is an icon. Or a unicorn?

[@Steve-rd8hk]

Total Electric Guitar is the greatest guitar instructional video EVER made. Eric doesn’t even realize how unbelievably incredible and unique he is. His chord voicings and blazing pentatonic runs will stump the pros.

[@NoName-ql1wk]

Slight exaggeration but yes he is great.

[@Steve-rd8hk]

@@NoName-ql1wk No exaggeration

[@emgex]

I remember some 16-17 years ago when i started to play guitar i watched an Instructional video for the first time and it was exactly this video of "total electric guitar". I was so blown away and amazed by the sound of the guitar not only by the skills... I get gooseboomps even today from this sound.

[@alecdawson1668]

Your channel has always been a goldmine, but you've been killing it lately! Thanks mate.

[@LeviClay]

Spread the word!!!

[@ryderhowell3196]

Yeah mate! Transcribe Scuttle Buttin!!!

[@MathieuJeanty]

@@LeviClay Put this kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y3OteZ6vnK6GoLs

[@tonepoet]

I bought this video (VHS) decades ago (1990?) it was (is) my Bible. That and the Steve Morse Power Lines videos were the best teachers I ever found. Not just shred licks but really great concepts and ideas. You are coming up with some gold, man!!

[@Davetheguitarhero108]

Truly my favorite guitar player ever. And this is by far my favorite 2 mins of guitar ever recorded. It's the reason why I started playing when I was 16.

[@sepiarain]

Played cliffs of dover for my A Level recital nearly 20 years ago. ❤ Love this mans sound.

[@shadowspider4140]

Nice, I hope you got an A*

[@guskalogeros9021]

I think I read once that Arlen Roth sold the Hot Licks company, years ago when he had health issues, and whomever bought the company ran it into the ground which is extremely unfortunate. These videos were all incredible.

[@JamieGValentine]

Sublime, absolutely sublime. Saw Eric at the Picturedrome in Holmfirth, UK, and his clean tone FILLED the room. Just beautiful.

[@the_real_boulder]

I just saw him live the other day. His lead tone was incredible, but Jesus Christ his clean tone sounded SO GOOD in the room, it was phenomenal.

[@thedaver8]

When I was a teen, just starting to play, my friend and guitar teacher lent me this video! I could barely play cowboy chords, and I didn't understand a thing Eric was saying, but I was absolutely MESMERIZED by his playing. It was like seeing the ultimate guitar player and seeing the potential ability you could strive for. I still consider him the ultimate player, and I haven't reached his level of playing. LOL. But I still love to go back and watch the clips of these videos from time to time, and I turn back into that fawning teen again.

[@AdrianFarrell]

For me, it's live where EJ really shines, I prefer listening to his live albums/DVDs to his studio output. Zap on ACL kills me every time.

[@owenedwardsguitar7094]

Nah - Venus Isle Adrian!!! Lonely in the night…. The greatest

[@AdrianFarrell]

@@owenedwardsguitar7094 I'll give it another go, but we might have to have fisticuffs over it lol

[@geordiemack4143]

Manhattan on G3, just wow!

[@sk8jon2]

Brother, i've been waiting more than 10 years for this. You do not know how much I appreciate this video. It really reminds me of me as a child listening to this with such emotion. Thank you!

[@AlefSousa017]

I've been getting into Eric recently and it's amazing how unique he sounds, it's always a pleasure hearing anything he plays!

[@CoryIsMyName]

The think I like about EJ is he can take a simple melody like, "doop de-doop de-dooo" and add a dozen notes in between them, but the overarching "doop de-doop de-doo" melody is still right there front and center. That solo sounds strikingly similar to his into to Cliffs of Dover on ACL back in the 90s.

[@ibanez777vbk]

He's a perfect example of tone comes from your fingers,very very talented,this is a beautiful piece of music,as soon as he plays couple of notes you know it's him.

[@Gregorypeckory]

He's a perfect example disproving the absurd cliche everyone loves to repeat endlessly even though it's obviously wrong if you think it through for a few seconds; "the tone is in the fingers"; nonsense! Does it never occur to you to wonder why Eric plays through a gazillion dollars worth of gear designed to get certain tones, if he could have just gotten all the tone from his fingers? If you're certain that it's really the fingers and not huhthe gear that determines what kind of tone you have, then you can test your belief easily to find out how wrong it is; go get a tele, select the bridge pickup and play it with a clean sound through a Fender Twin. If the tone is in your fingers, you should have no problem emulating Jimi Hendrix' distorted fat tones from Band Of Gypsys, or Django Reinhardt's acoustic tone for that matter, but of course it's impossible no matter how good you are. By the same token, try getting a twangy Brad Paisley kind of sound out of a Gibson ES175 with the tone knob rolled all the way down, through a Polytone amp with the treble rolled off completely and the bass and mids cranked. Just by reading the descriptions you already know you don't need to do the experiments to realize that they would fail completely. So please stop spreading silly notions that just confuse beginners who don't know better.

[@evadesc]

Spot on! Eric really cooks in this one. He expertly uses that overdrive tone to get the guitar to sing beautifully.

[@SeagoGuitarist]

100% EJ is the man when it comes to always sounding incredible. Maybe it's just a thing we notice as musicians, but I can't think of a single time I've heard EJ and thought he dropped the ball on his sound. Helps that he's a genuine master of his craft too. But he always has supreme class in his tone. I'm a little jelly but also way too lazy to go as in depth as him. As long as I'm in the ballpark and not in the parking lot drowning in the pouring rain, I'm happy. 😝😂 but man do I respect the hustle!

[@DuhJeffmeister]

Yea he’s known for his tone for sure. Sometimes he goes a little extreme for my taste. There’s stuff out there about how he purposefully uses batteries instead of pedal power supplies and specifically likes the sound of half dead batteries, etc.

[@SeagoGuitarist]

@@DuhJeffmeister I know what you mean, some of his eccentricities in regards tone are a bit nebulous. But hey, if that's the magic sauce that works for him then more power to him I say. Like I said, I respect the hustle, but am way too lazy to go as far as him 😅😝 it seems to work though, he always sounds phenomenal imo.

[@devolve42]

I saw him literally drop his slide during the solo for Manhattan many years ago. He just picked it up and carried on.

[@ksharpe10]

@@DuhJeffmeister I heard a recent video where he Laughingly says How did that get started. It was somebodies idea of a joke to start that rumour, or so ERIC says. I love him a true Jewel of a Nice guy. Thank God he admitted that this new CD that is out is alot of songs that were never used which he recently completed and also included some new stuff. I can pick out from the CD the Tracks that more than likely were the Album we never got between Ah Via and Venus Isle, the tracks have that Venus Isle Feel Style to them. But I could be Wrong. I talked to Tommy Taylor back in 1993, he told me that the Album was FINISHED and just needed Eric to do the final stuff to it, the story goes ERIC threw it all OUT, I even have an old interview with him 1994 Guitar world where Eric says the name of the record: Brave New World was the original Title of what became Venus Isle. We still need a good studio version of the Song Mountains. there are live videos of that song 1990 the bottomline NY. The Guitar World cover had Eric and Dave Mustaine on it.

[@vinny5004]

Because it’s how he plays, not the tone. EJ sounds brilliant on a child’s practice guitar and a LINE 6.

[@canesvenatici4259]

Wow. I've never seen anyone do that on the electric guitar before in my entire life! 🤯

[@filipedoria9561]

The tone that still haunts guitar players since the 90's...I still dream with it!

[@daviddonaldson5908]

Such an incredible player, and that tone - wow! Thanks for this Levi 👍

[@beebala3]

Venus Isle is a great album! The outro solos on All About You and Lonely in the Night are flawless.

[@ATX0705]

Every song on that album is amazing!

[@GoatMee]

Camel's Night Out for me 😊 the way he uses those simple 4 against 3 or 6 against 4 pentatonic runs is just mind boggling, transcendental.

[@RobertNagel-s2z]

True, I never get tired of listening to that album. It took him 8 years to put it out, and that's why Capital records dropped him. But it is so damn good.

[@lordstanley34]

There is a shortlist of guitar players over the years whose iconic tone is recognizable within just a handful of notes. With no disrespect intended to any others, Eddie Van Halen and Eric Johnson are surely at the top of it. At least for me.

[@mpamps]

Great guitar playing by Eric! Superb transcription! Thanks Levi!

[@FernandoGarcia-lf6yh]

wow he was so young and talented, it's awesome how he manages to play clean chords and lead licks almost at the same time

[@dmc7098]

I've been a fan of him for many years. I first saw him in Abilene, Tx back in maybe 1988'ish at the old Paramount Theater. I went to high school and college in Abilene during the early 1980s. A good music scene vibe was there but nothing like going to Austin and visiting the 6th Street area clubs back then. We would take a road trip and sleep in our cars. You could walk in and out out of various clubs watching the talent with nominal $. One of my roommates in college introduced me to EJ with a vinyl cut out 45 rpm record from a guitar magazine or something back then. Wow...Cliffs of Dover. Todd, my roommate, was working a gig at one of the American Legion or something and chatted with some local artists who knew EJ's bassist. They told Todd and I about EJ coming to town soon and we need to go see them. The Paramount Theater was in the old run-down part of town and had about mmm.. maybe 2500 seating. I remember sitting down and listening to the first song and thinking wow...An older couple sitting in the seats in front of us were apparently "season" ticket holders from later reports. They got up and left. They missed out on one of the most EPIC concerts ever for Abilene imho. I will probably see 2-3 of his upcoming concerts this year. One In San Antonio, Dallas, and possibly flying up to visit my sis to see him in Denver, CO. Thanks for the VID!!!

[@herecomethelizards2]

I've got this on VHS , his chord voicings and tone are amazing.

[@EnigmaEuslam]

Yes it was. Got it for Christmas ‘96. Changed my life forever.

[@MisterQuidditch]

Never get tired of hearing this, heavenly!!

[@Jarektv2]

Finally someone transcribed this! thanks!

[@TheBTeamOfficial]

My first issue of guitar hero had the transcription of Cliffs of Dover in it, as well as a cd that had his Austin City Limits live performance on it. I was coming from metal, punk and classic rock and could NOT believe what i was seeing. Got the EJ Total Electric Guitar DVD a little later, popped it in and THIS is what opens it all up. I remember being so confused how he can just....pluck chords out of the air like that. Those chord progressions are just BEAUTIFUL and i'd never heard that jazzy kind of sound before. So so so so SO happy this is here. I spent weeks trying to figure this intro solo out!

[@TheAdventChronicles]

There are some guitar players that just transcend everything. Guitar heroes to the guitar heroes and Eric is one of them.

[@johnmcminn9455]

the way EJ goes between Ambient and Fuzz is amazing

[@McNair-eo8ee]

I love your passion when talking about the great electric players. Subscribed!

[@barkeater9606]

Excellent! Jimmy Bruno next?

[@bnpapp]

EJ Is the juice hands down…. His music will still be studied and listened to and enjoyed w gusto in 100 years time. Like Amadeus

[@yfitzmorris]

some of the best tone and phrasing ever to be played and recorded.

[@chrisbarkerguitar]

Eric Johnson…what a player! 🎸🤘

[@thieveryguitars6206]

My old library had that video on VHS in the 90s and I loved renting it. I don’t play like Eric at all but there were some great tips I use to this day.

[@Stephen_Lafferty]

A great transcription of a fantastic improvised performance!

[@johnboforsyth5970]

The hard question of favorite anything is tough. But my favorite guitarist is easy, Eric Johnson.

[@Simplifier123]

I was looking for this video for years!!! That's basically the Eric johnsons DNA. Absolutely brilliant playing.

[@shadowman1403]

The first three instructional videos I bought by mail learning as a kid! This one by Eric Johnson and Paul Gilbert Intense Rock and Frank Gambale Monster Licks! Changed my guitar life forever!!!

[@chadjohnson-authormusician8072]

Thanks for featuring this! I just wanted to add (I work at Hal Leonard) that the new book features all new edited transcriptions (much more accurate) and also includes many more licks and figures transcribed than were present in the original Hot Licks release. 🙂

[@LeviClay]

But it doesn’t include this does it? Because while you wanted to put out an improved product, and there’s guys like me out here that could have made them solid gold… for some reason you didn’t 🤷

[@chadjohnson-authormusician8072]

@@LeviClay You're correct that it doesn't include the intro or outro solos. If it were up to me, it absolutely would have, but the fact of the matter is that we have to consider costs. Even though it's an awesome instructional video, the fact is that it's not going to be a huge seller, unfortunately. Including the intro and outro would have meant significantly more printing cost (because we'd have to move from 72 pages to 80 or 88), and that would mean we'd have to raise the cost, which would be an even harder sell in today's market, and we would have lost money for sure. Unfortunately, you can't please everybody.

[@LeviClay]

@@chadjohnson-authormusician8072 I want to hear what you say and buy it, but the fact is the Vinnie Moore book is 48 pages and retails (on Amazon) at £22.99 (and is on sale for £17) while the Eric Johnson one retails at £13.99… soooo….. 🤷

[@dixonrooster5954]

I know it's not quite your wheelhouse but have yh Bqou looked into Marty Friedmans stuff with Megadeth? It's actually not to demanding but hangar 18 explores some great diminished, mixolydian and other fancy sounding ideas. EJ is in my top 3. He has the best tone,his melodic sense around the pentatonic and his chord play on trail of tears ACL is amazing to say the least. Shawn Tubbs, Doug Rappoport, Brandon Ellis and Doug Aldrich are just killing it.

[@TKDunn-qq7kd]

I loved the shoutout to "Venus Isle" - I remember the day it came out and picking it up at the local Borders Bookstore in New Jersey in the fall of '96. I got a chance to see him in Philly about a month later on the G3 tour - he definitely stole the show IMHO although Vai and Satch were still great. So many great tracks on the album and I agree that the production does seem a bit more polished - a gradual progression of improvement from "Tones" for sure. My fav on this album is most certainly "When The Sun Meets The Sky", but I think all the tunes beautifully written and played. A wonderful follow-up to it's predecessor!❤

[@GreenDistantStar]

Yeah, fell in love with this when I bought the VHS tape back in the day, great work mate.

[@chrisnatoli66]

Great job Levi, l really like these new lessons you are doing mate👍

[@andybaldman]

The 90’s were the best decade for guitar.

[@andyoushouldfeelbad]

And people say the bridge single coil on a strat is worthless. The man didn’t change from the bridge once. I don’t even think he touches his volume pot. Amazing.

[@christianengels6828]

the last phrase with harmonic is amazing

[@ksharpe10]

I will long remember this instructional video, I got a Beta version Tape, bought the DVD when it came out to replace it. In the video when he talks about equipment he shows the Amps. The DUMBLE is in the Middle, he explains it as his Dirty Rhythm guitar sound, and says the Amp is a either souped up or a high Power Twin, think he said High Power. Later i found out he stopped using it, when the power supply went out on it, somehow Carlos SAntana got it, most likely from Eric, it is number 5 Steel String Singer, Carlos loaned it to Amplified nation and it is the Base for his version of the Steel String Singer.

[@roberto1950]

Enjoyed this immensely! Thanks for posting. Agree with you about "Venus Isle". For those into his tone, there's a video, "Chelsea Constable - Signature Tone Series", in which she comes very close.

[@GuiitarBilly]

Part of the genius of Eric Johnson is that he was able to hear a special tone from a strat’s bridge pickup. That pickup is often considered a Strat’s weak point, producing a naturally thin tone that can sound ice-picky. Eric used a Tube Driver and echoplex into cranked Marshalls to transform it into a glorious to-die-for lead tone, fat and majestic. He also heard those heavenly clean sounds, accomplished with delay and a stereo chorus pedal into Fender Twins. We just didn’t hear those sounds in that way before EJ.

[@Chillnote]

Not with a fuzzface though

[@GuiitarBilly]

@@Chillnote fixed it thx. EJ also used/uses a tube screamer into a fuzz face into a second Marshall for what he calls his dirty rhythm tone. While cool, this occasionally used third tone isn’t what most of us think of as the Eric Johnson lead tone.

[@Chillnote]

@@GuiitarBilly Yes with that I completely agree

[@artompkins7958]

If you haven’t covered him yet, please consider the producer of the Eric Johnson “Hot Licks” video, Arlen Roth. “Hot Pickups” and/or “Toolin’ Around” LPs. Tons of great, perfectly tasty blues/rock guitar playing!

[@2good2betrue3]

EJ is the master in playing fill in leads while chording. Love the "chimey bell like clean tone", my ear feels really refreshed by it, probably the best Strat tone EVER! (anybody knows what exact amp settings or effects you need to achieve that??....any tone patch or effects please?🙂)

[@EnigmaOnStrings]

1868 Marshall plexi, bk butler tube driver (which is the key piece) and then an echoplex - you can achieve the sound a variety of ways.

[@2good2betrue3]

@@EnigmaOnStrings Very Nice!😀 thanks a lot for the suggestions mate!... Will try to replicate it using multi effects as you have suggested. thanks

[@davidsteinberg2120]

This may well be true, yet we will never have the man himself hovering over our rig feverishly decoding The matrix and deciding which pedal goes before the other one which type of patch cords to use and what batteries are in there hahaha! He's truly obsessive-compulsive about it but we don't mind now do we?!!

[@Chillnote]

thank you so much for the transcription

[@CMM5300]

Yeah that lead tone is mesmerizing!

[@kwik2hear915]

Wish they had a pedal called " EJ", I would buy at least three!!!!!!

[@m1saunders]

"hi my name is eric johns..." "MY GOD MAN WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM"

[@ianparker5007]

If you don't have a bk butler od, look into that. That's what Eric uses, alongside the fuzz face and ts8. Most people will tell you that his lead tone is a fuzz face, but that is incorrect. It's a bk butler into a 70s jmp. Also, be sure to look at the bias knob, as this simulates Eric's hours spent on picking the perfect tube. Yeah, the pedal has a tube in it btw. The bias knob was for Eric initially. Cheers

[@ianparker5007]

As for knobs, have both high and low completely off, drive light and make up with output and bias to taste, but not much sag.

[@raybergstrom]

@@ianparker5007 Thanks! I have one and I'll try those settings!

[@Chillnote]

Does he also use the echoplex and a chorus in addition to the BK tube driver here?

[@jasondolinger150]

@@Chillnote On the lead tone, definitely an echoplex. And a ton of reverb. As to chorus? I've always struggled with this one. This is his most amazing tone I've ever heard (even better than the ACL 88). And it really does sound semi-chorus like, but there is really no evidence that it could have ever been chorus. So what was it? Did the echoplex tape that day have a little extra warble in it? Was it something in the reverb interacting with everything here, including the speakers? Was it some special sauce from the TC Sustain / Parametric EQ? What reverb? The tube reverb tank? And where in the chain? Or added at the board? Most believe believe by this period he wasn't using the TC sustain anymore, and that the reverb tank wasn't there either, and the reverb came from the board. I can tell you, I have a 50 plexi replica (by Metro), a tube driver, echoplex, a clone of a tube reverb tank, and the original 80s TC sustain. I can't get this tone. I can get something sounding amazing, and something that sounds closer to his more modern darker flubbier lead tone, but I can't nail whatever vibe he has here, with every combination of those pedals and ordering. Maybe the difference is you really need a more 70s 100watt marshall (so a bit more gain, less flubby) and those exact speakers (G12-80s I think?). The 1968 style only has so much gain on tap and adding too much extra from the TD typically just makes it even darker and smoother. I have the 20w greenbacks in my cab.

[@jasondolinger150]

BTW, it IS said that he used chorus on the dirty rhythm Dumble amp here, and you can really hear it. He wasn't in 1988, but apparently in 1990 when this video was shot, he was taking his big MXR yellow chorus and using that in line w/ the Fuzz Face + dual tube scream + MXR delay + dumble line.

[@jorgefernandes1387]

I adore his clean sound.

[@torreshl76]

Bought it New Back in the 90's Still have it on VHS.

[@markvironda]

Awesome stuff!

[@jasonkeith9317]

Eric is simply the best. There r tons of great guitar players but there is just something about EJ.

[@bobbybower9405]

I tried to subscribe to you but realised I was already subscribed, I just love the compact, concise ,no nonsense vibe of your videos

[@bobbybower9405]

Also I'm a bit nervous to ask u this incase you don't see my message , but I'm 15 and am at an intermediate beginner stage in guitar and would love nothing more than to pursue some form of musical career playing my guitar . I noticed you were British , I am too so I thought you'd be the best person to ask online about this. Any sort of advice would be greatly appreciated -Bobby

[@steelisreal]

@@bobbybower9405 probably not the best place to ask, I'd join Levi's discord server for more in-depth discussion.

[@bobbybower9405]

@@steelisreal you wouldn't mind sending me a link to that or something would you?

[@steelisreal]

@@bobbybower9405 there's a link in a comment here, youtube won't let me add one myself kzbin.infoUgkx3dNuJE5H1rGztQUuw4VVm3Y9xkPcSlRz

[@LeviClay]

Get active man, happy to talk

[@countchaoss]

What a solo! Amazing work on the transcription.

[@SRHMusic012]

The VHS video came with a good transcription booklet for all the instructional parts and some later segments. Not sure about the intro solo.

[@Margilio5150]

3:49 is the moment 😮

[@ndpmomentum2445]

Eric Johnson is outstanding

[@LordRoflBeats]

What's so incredible about the lead tone in this clip is, compared to the studio stuff, that it sounds so much wider and thicker... did he use some kind of pitch shifter in the rack??

[@sahasrangshuchanda7214]

I bought a video cassette of total electric guitar for Indian money 500 bucks ...Then vinnie moore .steve lynch and malmsteen .I struggled with sir eric lessons while my school mate simon subba a nepali brother played them flawlessly when he was in class 7 ...I met him after 10 years he took out an old guitar full of dirt he cleaned it and played with the same accuracy not one note missed ...Then in 2015 by then he has become engineer with no practice he played with same accuracy and to my suprise he played the basslines of maiden flawless ..I don't have any answer how and why i still cannot play 30 % of what he played that day ...

[@rneris]

Great thanks Levi.

[@ColKorn1965]

One of my friends was going to send his guitars to Eric with a letter saying, "I don't need these any more, please burn them."

[@dazdaz713]

What an incredible guitar player eric is . He is not my favourite of all time but I think if were sit down beside one guitarist and just listen to him play on his own eric might be the man

[@kennethmeeker6369]

Texas had great guitarist everywhere back in the 80’s n 90,s never knew who was gonna show up at a club in Austin, I once saw Billy corgan and Billy gibbons playing with Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon .

[@buluemas]

its like anger & remorse together. very nice

[@jasonhelms9129]

I had no idea Ellen Degeneres could play guitar so brilliantly! That was absolutely beautiful and amazing! Stellar tone, Ellen!!

[@cameronfarrell9076]

Imagine being as amazing at guitar aa eroc johnson and all people every talk about is your tone. Big rip

[@danbrazieruk]

I’d never seen this, what an incredible execution 😅

[@markw9548]

Answer - Yes it is the greatest Hot Licks ever, and ..... never forget Tones which is a brilliant album !

[@ModernDayDreamMusic]

Chords that can literally make you cry

[@lorenzomartone1476]

Thank you so much!!! I love your youtube channel!

[@youKnowWho3311]

AH Via Musicom...... Manhattan. LOVE some EJ!

[@geoffreyanderson2285]

There's no one like EJ. Amazing!

[@user-bi5pv5lu1r]

Jimmy's I'll remember april hot licks tune was awesome too!

[@orkuntahiraran]

His right hand incredible. He is picking with no effort. When i am picking it is like i am fighting with the strings.

[@annetteprince7536]

I wonder if he still has that guitar. And look on its fretboard at the finger marks! It looks like my jacksons board. Such a great down to earth player! When I learned this it taught me so much about different ways to pick and ways to play pentatonic scales. He sweeps and alternate picks in places! Over all it’s a bluesy masterpiece!! Also if you going to Try this you must be able to understand the pick slanting technique.

[@michaelwoods9005]

No, it was damaged in the mid 90s. He tried to get it repaired but it didn't sound the same after that, so he sold it, which he regrets. The signature Fender "Virginia" model is an attempt to recreate it to the best of his recollection.

[@dwightnicholson2647]

Yes it Was ! Still have the VHS !

[@richardturk7162]

Funny how fan boys buy signature guitars thinking they will sound like Eric. The art of guitar series was great and I did learn a lot.

[@Jimbo_Jumbo]

Beautiful solo

[@ghfdt368]

Eric Johnson to me belongs to that very rare breed of guitar player where no matter how technically incredible and how much firepower he wants to use in a song or lick or whatever he has so much confidence in the music and is just down to earth and plays like and how he feels and hears the music. I always think back to when he was in the G3 concert, he turns up looking like he is going to the pub after work, then on his setlist he chose pretty laid back and chill songs like SRV, 12 To 12 Vibe, red house and manhattan which were really interesting choices . When he jammed on "my guitar wants to k*** your mamma". He easily could have mindlessly shreded as fast as he could and really flexed his skills to try and match the speed and technical abilities of Vai and Satch but he didn't, he literally played his solo as the person he is, and its absolutely killer. Also I agree with you Venus Isle is where I would also recommend along with ah via musicom. To me Ah Via Musicom is a guitar players album, Venus Isle is Eric doing a musicians and songwriters album and I think its absolutely great.

[@vadlasletta]

The outro is also great!

[@allenlocke1935]

Venus Isle is absolutely majestic!

[@michaelwoods9005]

His lead tone is cool, but his clean tone is god-tier.

[@zach7j]

Indeed it was. It happens to be the benchmark against which I judge all tones and timbres.

[@FreddyFromHell]

Wish you would do a video on the Venus Isle guitar solo