Eric Johnson’s Pedalboard October 31, 1996 The Palace of Auburn Hills Auburn Hills, Michigan Photo by Ken Settle
This archival shot shows Eric Johnson’s pedalboard on the first G3
tour with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai in 1996. The order, placement,
and angle of each pedal on the nearly six-foot board—as well
as the patch cable type and length—were carefully chosen and
adjusted as per Johnson’s famous ability to hear tonal nuances.
“Notice the brown doorstops supporting the MXR delay,” tech Jeff
Tweedy told Premier Guitar. “We spent untold hours finding those
positions. You can see some Velcro in positions that didn’t quite
work out.”
As for the signal chain, Tweedy says, “There were three amp sends
via the two A/B boxes. The guitar signal went into the silver A/B,
which essentially selects rhythm (second A/B box) or lead.” Side
A, the lead chain, is the Crybaby Wah to the Tube Driver, then the
Echoplex, then the 50-watt Marshall. Side B goes to the second
A/B box, where side A was the other Echoplex to the TC Electronic
Chorus stereo out and then to two blackface Fender Deluxe Reverb
amps. The “dirty rhythm” side B (in the second A/B chain) is the
Fuzz Face to the MXR delay to the second 50-watt Marshall.
Regarding the cables, Tweedy says they were “mostly George L’s,
with the occasional gray, molded Radio Shack-type Mojo cable.
At the bottom right, there’s a Radio Shack gray Y-splitter for hitting both Marshall inputs on the lead amp. The George L’s plugs
are all brass (the silver ones sound different!). There were a few
standard Switchcraft plugs, too.”
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