Virginia

Fender's latest pride - Eric Johnson's Virginia Strat. It's a copy of that Strat which propelled Ah Via Musicom into immortality (Manhattan is still my favourite!). However, it's not a faithful repro.

It's more aparant from the rear; the maple neck has some scary flames there which wasn't the case for a typical '54 Strat in its original incarnation. It seems that Fender is continuing its strategy of re-visiting past glory & indirectly re-affirming its perpetual affirmation of old models. It's hurting the focus on the newer models, that's how I see it. Fender is competing on two fronts; against other manufacturers (who are increasingly versed in out-Fendering the manufacturer) & against themselves (the vintage stuff, it seems, are still unbeatable).

If you are interested in this one, folks, be informed that it's available as a standard production signature model & a Custom Shop version. These are only good for a year, none will be offered come next year.

PICS: Fender CS

Hollow Johnson

Eric Johnson had teamed up with Fender once again for another Strat adventure, this time, it's a semi hollow. Despite featuring only an F-hole on the bass side, chambering was done at the treble side as well. This might be a good thing for the Fender camp because the Tele had been a thinline flag bearer for the manufacturer all this while & now the Strat is coming into the picture. Lest we forget, the Starcaster & Coronado were the Fender versions of what was successful at Gibson- the ES models but they weren't quite the hit in this semi-hollow campaign. The Fender benders among us are still loyal to the Strat & Tele incarnations first & foremost so this EJ version is a smart move. 

Thumbs up & down

I've chosen my best & most disappointing album for 2014 & Eclectic here, is definitely the best release for me this year. Eric Johnson & Mike Stern, two guitar titans, combining some of their best ideas but not stepping on each other's feet. I wish more pro guitarists would come together to manifest such collaborations, not a platform to stroke one's ego in the presence of others but to respect the counterpart's musicianship & fuse ideas.

Kindly Bent to Free Us was a departure release by Cynic. The prog camp loves this but for initial fans like me, it's a total delusion from what they stood for when they first made known to the world who they were through Focus. I can understand how bands evolve along the way but Cynic signaled their willingness to discard more than 50% of who they initially were & this comes with a consequence- they lost believers. I'm sure their more accessible presentations would have gained them other fans along the way but I absolutely loathe this one- whiny clean vocals from start to finish & guitars with the primary assignment of holding the presentations together & minimum creative pivot- a waste of time & money.

Up close- decoded (I think...)

I am feeling a little down. I am in search of some inspiration for my art (project) & was wondering what makes a good art piece. Many breakthrough art pieces are really simple ideas, these are deconstructed & regenerated according to the artists' interpretations. I ended up looking at Eric Johnson's Up Close album & thought what a simple but effective art piece it was. I was trying to find meaning to it because in art, if you can relate the end product to some meaning, then it becomes an acceptance, not mystery. I stared at it hard for some time but couldn't manage to decipher the hidden meaning. Frustration drove me to look at the album title which is UP CLOSE. The fact that no words were written on it implied that there might be a probability that it was already written there but we just couldn't see it. Then it dawned on me that the album title was there all along- I've indicated it on the pic above. 

Then again, maybe I got it wrong...

Eric Johnson: Up Close

After listening to Eric Johnson, we'd worship him for his tone mastery. It's not about how much drive he could conjure from his veiled effects line up but it's all about his unrivaled cleans. To me, it conjures serenity. It makes me appreciate the instrument for what it is, free from any need for effects. 

I was looking forward to Up Close in search of another Manhattan but there was none. The spirit of Up Close drew its parallel to Ah Via Musicom with some very bluesy moments. I prefer Mr. Johnson's instrumentals more than his singing. However, in Up Close, some of the vocal-laden numbers, not sung by Mr. Johnson, wasn't free from his shackles. Take Brilliant Room for instance- the pitching, twists & turns were in the mould of Eric Johnson despite him not doing the vocals. Maybe that's the most disturbing aspect of this release to me.

Mike Stern: Big Neighbourhood

Mike Stern is certainly one of my favourite guitarists because he's an exciting player despite treading firmly in his jazz turf. Also, he's one I look up to for a magnificent vocal-guitar harmony as well as appealing clean tones- I'm not a big driveless tone fan but Mike Stern's tones speaks!

In this release, Mr. Stern avoided the dreary jazz approach very well with the inclusion of guitarists Steve Vai & Eric Johnson. I actually listened to this release without looking at the inner sleeves for details & I can clearly hear a commanding humbucking tone (Vai) & that estranged but beautiful fuzz output (Johnson) which are clearly not Stern's. All in all, guitar fans would be pleased with this rock tinged release which stamped Mike Stern's guitar authority in this 6-string neighbourhood which is definitely big enough to hold this fretboard master. To all you brand name snobs out there, Mr. Stern laid down his Fender for a Yamaha. Ha!

Rosewood Eric

Hmm... another Eric Johnson Strat this 2009, but the tone ranger prefers a rosewood fret board this time round.

The outstanding feature here is of course, the bound neck edge. It's not really apparent in this pic but Mr. Johnson instructed the pickup mounting screms to sink flushed into the pickguard.