ampage Tube Amps / Music Electronics	For current discussions, please visit Music Electronics Forum.

ampage archive

Vintage threads from the first ten years

previous: MBSetzer Well, I've never seen Eric Johnson ... -- 3/28/2000 12:39 AM

Re: eric johnson's decent into madness

3/28/2000 8:37 PM
kg	Re: eric johnson's decent into madness mike, first off, let me point out that my original intent was not to ridicule EJ. shit, i remember distinctly the first time i heard cliffs of dover on the radio--i just HAD to find out who this guy was.. he wasn't eddy, he wasn't joe, he wasn't steve or stevie, etc. i do greatly respect his obvious guitar playing talents, whether they be from endless hours of hard practice, the grace of god, or some combination of the two. my main point, which was admittedly somewhat lost, SHOULD have been about the balance between the equipment and the acutal playing. it seems to me that if all these things about ej are true, then he's wasting a HELL of a lot of time on this bullshit, when he COULD be expanding in other ways. hell, go skydiving, buy a motorcycle, fall in love and get your heart crushed by the thankless bitch--ANYTHING is better than constantly iterating every last position of your stompboxes and unscrewing mounting bolts turn by turn! i think it frustrates his true talents with minutia and detracts from the time he could really be furthering himself. that said, it DOES boil down to subjectivity. perhaps he takes great joy in screwing around with his pedals and plugging them in every which way. i'm certainly not going to argue with him about how he should spend his time if it makes him happy. sometimes, though, i wonder if he's really actively choosing what to do with himself, or whether he's actually FORCED to carry out these tonal experiements... and if he somehow feels coerced to carry them out, doesn't it stand to reason that he would have quite a vested interest in hearing a change in tone? i mean, if he didn't, then he'd have to think himself crazy--but if he DID, then it's all justified and worthwhile. just because he says he hears a difference doesn't mean it's a universal truth... it's only true for HIM. beneath all the bullshit, he's a good guitarist, and i respect that. you can't argue with it; he's just good. i wouldn't want him as a roadie though! kg

3/28/2000 8:37 PM

Re: eric johnson's decent into madness

mike,

first off, let me point out that my original intent was not to ridicule EJ. shit, i remember distinctly the first time i heard cliffs of dover on the radio--i just HAD to find out who this guy was.. he wasn't eddy, he wasn't joe, he wasn't steve or stevie, etc. i do greatly respect his obvious guitar playing talents, whether they be from endless hours of hard practice, the grace of god, or some combination of the two.

my main point, which was admittedly somewhat lost, SHOULD have been about the balance between the equipment and the acutal playing. it seems to me that if all these things about ej are true, then he's wasting a HELL of a lot of time on this bullshit, when he COULD be expanding in other ways. hell, go skydiving, buy a motorcycle, fall in love and get your heart crushed by the thankless bitch--ANYTHING is better than constantly iterating every last position of your stompboxes and unscrewing mounting bolts turn by turn! i think it frustrates his true talents with minutia and detracts from the time he could really be furthering himself.

that said, it DOES boil down to subjectivity. perhaps he takes great joy in screwing around with his pedals and plugging them in every which way. i'm certainly not going to argue with him about how he should spend his time if it makes him happy. sometimes, though, i wonder if he's really actively choosing what to do with himself, or whether he's actually FORCED to carry out these tonal experiements... and if he somehow feels coerced to carry them out, doesn't it stand to reason that he would have quite a vested interest in hearing a change in tone? i mean, if he didn't, then he'd have to think himself crazy--but if he DID, then it's all justified and worthwhile. just because he says he hears a difference doesn't mean it's a universal truth... it's only true for HIM.

beneath all the bullshit, he's a good guitarist, and i respect that. you can't argue with it; he's just good.

i wouldn't want him as a roadie though!

Replies:

Jim S. Re: the bit about falling in love..... -- 3/28/2000 10:46 PM