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previous: Your pal JP Ok. Maybe Eric's just not that brig... -- 3/27/2000 9:40 PM

Re: eric johnson's decent into madness

3/28/2000 12:39 AM
MBSetzer	Re: eric johnson's decent into madness Well, I've never seen Eric Johnson perform, don't have any of his recordings, they hardly play him on the radio. I would have to say that regardless, the LITTLE I have heard from him has made a relatively bigger impression on me than any other great guitarist. The first time I heard him on the radio years ago (probably when he first got nationwide distribution) it was obvious that he has a rare talent, I wasn't a recorded music buyer at the time or since. So you can't call me a big fan or even a fan at all, but I made sure to find out who it was, at first I thought it might have been another recording artist I had already heard of who had gotten better! I thought I would surely be hearing more from him and his popularity would grow to the point of familiarity that allows non-consumers (or cheapskates) like me to follow their progress without actually making any effort or spending money. I sure am familiar with lots of less talented (some sub-zero) guitarists that have been foisted on the general public by undeserved promotion. Didn't hear anything more from him, and it seemed like another typical flash-in-the-pan for whatever reason. I haven't been a dedicated enough guitar player these last couple decades to have followed a guitarist's guitarist like most of the posters here, but I have now seen reference to his perfectionism in various discussions on the net. The only interview I read was on-line and it was not about gear but he did have some discussion about less-than-ideal cooperation from his original record company. I also found out he has always been fairly active in Austin, so I realized he didn't go away, the flash-in-the-pan status was a property of the record company he was recording with, not apparently his fault. When I heard that he was rumored to hear the difference between batteries, as unbelievable as it sounds, I immediately understood what this might be about. Maybe he was as obsessed with tone as me, and expressing it with combinations of complete instruments, primarily guitars, in as technical a way as you would expect an artist to do. I used to try to do that. OTOH as a 60/40 breather now I am trying to express my creativity primarily with my soldering iron in as artistic a way as you might expect from a tech-head. I'm just glad I still have my childhood guitars to use as test instruments. Anyway a couple years ago I had developed a circuit for a pedal (still trying to perfect it and I was hearing differences between batteries. I think we all know with certain stompboxes how bad they sound if the battery is dead beyond a point, but in testing with individual batteries with various amounts of life remaining, my prototype was not sounding its best with brand new ones! The only thing more I can say about this is that after assembling a bench testing rig that cost me more than the 'scope, I was able to use the 'scope to visualize what I had been hearing. I am certain that growing up always being dissatisfied with the clean tone (especially headroom) even from Fenders had something to do with my ending up with a 160W MACE VT as well as a 200W Major. One of the reasons for me reviving my old tube electronics experience & adding tube capability to my instrument lab the last few years is to repair & improve the amps I already have. But I still haven't plugged them in for years even though I am now a lot smarter about tubes than I ever was. I guess I kind of got sidetracked with what I thought was an essential element, getting a clean sound into the amp, that was never good enough for me either. I never would have come close to hearing the difference between batteries without lots of good luck on the bench after putting in hundreds of serious hours soldering that still resulted in amps that are not giggable, not only are they too low in power, but they are usually just breadboards that depend on bench supplies, variacs, etc. Add that to a lifetime of pursuit of cleaner tone, and I was able to hear these spirits calling me I don't have an Echoplex but with my Space Echo I once tried to see if I could hear a difference whether it was on top of the amp or if it helped for it to vibrate less by being placed further away (my sound wasn't clean enough, there HAD to be a reason). I couldn't tell, so I usually kept it on top of the head as a convenient location for its controls right above the amp knobs. Don't have a Chandler Tube Driver either, but I have found that my Real Tube pedal, other tube pedals that I designed (not copied), even SS can be microphonic enough with high gain to make enough difference that they are better off not being in front of the speakers due to the relatively higher frequencies that they respond to acoustically. It might go louder without problems if I actually put it on top of the amp where it might get more vibration but maybe less microphonics. I'll have to try that Maybe we should give Johnson a break, whatever he is doing is working for him. If any of his behaviour turns out to be partly superstition would it be any worse than the athlete who makes sure he has on his lucky underwear for an important game? I wouldn't want to be the one who washed those shorts any more than I would like to unknowingly clean Johnson's guitar neck Extreme talents are difficult to understand in many fields. Plus, for Ken, one of the reasons we like you so much around here is your own obsession with larger-than-average power and experimental circuits. If I could afford it I would certainly be commissioning a BAGA for myself, but unfortunately, not yet. It seems like it would pick up where the MACE and the Marshall leave off in a big way But for my pal JP, now that I've gotten over the realization that you were not who you said you were, how's that dragon, Puff? I seem to remember something about them living forever but not so little boys . . . All for now, Mike The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side. -- Hunter S. Thompson

3/28/2000 12:39 AM

MBSetzer

Re: eric johnson's decent into madness

Well, I've never seen Eric Johnson perform, don't have any of his recordings, they hardly play him on the radio. I would have to say that regardless, the LITTLE I have heard from him has made a relatively bigger impression on me than any other great guitarist.

The first time I heard him on the radio years ago (probably when he first got nationwide distribution) it was obvious that he has a rare talent, I wasn't a recorded music buyer at the time or since. So you can't call me a big fan or even a fan at all, but I made sure to find out who it was, at first I thought it might have been another recording artist I had already heard of who had gotten better!

I thought I would surely be hearing more from him and his popularity would grow to the point of familiarity that allows non-consumers (or cheapskates) like me to follow their progress without actually making any effort or spending money. I sure am familiar with lots of less talented (some sub-zero) guitarists that have been foisted on the general public by undeserved promotion. Didn't hear anything more from him, and it seemed like another typical flash-in-the-pan for whatever reason.

I haven't been a dedicated enough guitar player these last couple decades to have followed a guitarist's guitarist like most of the posters here, but I have now seen reference to his perfectionism in various discussions on the net. The only interview I read was on-line and it was not about gear but he did have some discussion about less-than-ideal cooperation from his original record company. I also found out he has always been fairly active in Austin, so I realized he didn't go away, the flash-in-the-pan status was a property of the record company he was recording with, not apparently his fault.

When I heard that he was rumored to hear the difference between batteries, as unbelievable as it sounds, I immediately understood what this might be about. Maybe he was as obsessed with tone as me, and expressing it with combinations of complete instruments, primarily guitars, in as technical a way as you would expect an artist to do. I used to try to do that. OTOH as a 60/40 breather now I am trying to express my creativity primarily with my soldering iron in as artistic a way as you might expect from a tech-head. I'm just glad I still have my childhood guitars to use as test instruments.

Anyway a couple years ago I had developed a circuit for a pedal (still trying to perfect it ;-)

and I was hearing differences between batteries. I think we all know with certain stompboxes how bad they sound if the battery is dead beyond a point, but in testing with individual batteries with various amounts of life remaining, my prototype was not sounding its best with brand new ones! The only thing more I can say about this is that after assembling a bench testing rig that cost me more than the 'scope, I was able to use the 'scope to visualize what I had been hearing.

I am certain that growing up always being dissatisfied with the clean tone (especially headroom) even from Fenders had something to do with my ending up with a 160W MACE VT as well as a 200W Major. One of the reasons for me reviving my old tube electronics experience & adding tube capability to my instrument lab the last few years is to repair & improve the amps I already have. But I still haven't plugged them in for years even though I am now a lot smarter about tubes than I ever was. I guess I kind of got sidetracked with what I thought was an essential element, getting a clean sound into the amp, that was never good enough for me either. I never would have come close to hearing the difference between batteries without lots of good luck on the bench after putting in hundreds of serious hours soldering that still resulted in amps that are not giggable, not only are they too low in power, but they are usually just breadboards that depend on bench supplies, variacs, etc. Add that to a lifetime of pursuit of cleaner tone, and I was able to hear these spirits calling me ;-)

I don't have an Echoplex but with my Space Echo I once tried to see if I could hear a difference whether it was on top of the amp or if it helped for it to vibrate less by being placed further away (my sound wasn't clean enough, there HAD to be a reason). I couldn't tell, so I usually kept it on top of the head as a convenient location for its controls right above the amp knobs.

Don't have a Chandler Tube Driver either, but I have found that my Real Tube pedal, other tube pedals that I designed (not copied), even SS can be microphonic enough with high gain to make enough difference that they are better off not being in front of the speakers due to the relatively higher frequencies that they respond to acoustically. It might go louder without problems if I actually put it on top of the amp where it might get more vibration but maybe less microphonics. I'll have to try that ;-)

Maybe we should give Johnson a break, whatever he is doing is working for him. If any of his behaviour turns out to be partly superstition would it be any worse than the athlete who makes sure he has on his lucky underwear for an important game? I wouldn't want to be the one who washed those shorts any more than I would like to unknowingly clean Johnson's guitar neck ;-)

Extreme talents are difficult to understand in many fields.

Plus, for Ken, one of the reasons we like you so much around here is your own obsession with *larger-than-average* power and experimental circuits. If I could afford it I would certainly be commissioning a BAGA for myself, but unfortunately, not yet. It seems like it would pick up where the MACE and the Marshall leave off in a big way ;-)

But for my pal JP, now that I've gotten over the realization that you were not who you said you were, how's that dragon, Puff? I seem to remember something about them living forever but not so little boys . . .

All for now,
Mike
*The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs.
There's also a negative side.*
-- Hunter S. Thompson

Replies:

kg mike,first off, let... -- 3/28/2000 8:37 PM