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Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster

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Electric Guitar

Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster

Fender · Eric Johnson Stratocaster

Price: 10 EUR – 7.823 EUR

Price history 07.09.2026 20.09.2026
Cheapest seen Most expensive seen

Availability: 9/10 (Common)

A signature model built not around one vintage guitar but two: Eric Johnson's own 1954 and 1957 Stratocasters, blended into a single set of specifications by a player widely regarded as the most tone-obsessed guitarist alive - someone who claims to hear differences between cable brands and pedal batteries. The result mixes a '54-style neck pickup, a '63-style hum-cancelling middle pickup, and a hotter Alnico 5 bridge pickup on a body with deep 1957-spec contours.

Where available? Go to the best price – 10 EUR About this instrument

About the Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster

This is a genuinely blended-era spec rather than a single-year reissue: the deep body contours and tremolo details follow 1957 practice, the neck pickup is voiced after a 1954 Stratocaster with oversized Alnico 3 magnets, and the middle pickup takes its cue from a 1963 example. That middle pickup carries a specific, non-obvious engineering detail - it's wound to cancel hum when combined with either the neck or bridge pickup in the switch's in-between positions, a refinement well beyond simply matching a vintage magnet type.

The fingerboard radius is a deliberate middle ground rather than a vintage-authenticity choice: at 12 inches, it's flatter than both a genuinely vintage 7.25-inch board and the 9.5-inch radius most modern Strats use, aimed at combining low action with a still-substantial vintage feel. The neck carries a sharper 1950s-style soft V profile specifically suited to players who rest their thumb over the top edge of the fingerboard - a playing style Johnson himself uses. Vintage-collector-level tremolo details round out the spec: a silver-painted sustain block, no paint between the base plate and block, five springs, and no back cover, all matching what a genuine late-1950s example would have rather than a modern reinterpretation.

Where to buy

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Sound character of the Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster

The neck pickup's oversized Alnico 3 magnets, modelled on Johnson's 1954 Strat, aim for a warmer, rounder character, while the hotter Alnico 5 bridge pickup pushes more output and edge than a standard Stratocaster unit. The middle pickup's hum-cancelling winding means the switch's in-between positions deliver the classic Strat quack without extra noise, an engineering detail that serves Johnson's stated preference for a smooth, liquid, violin-like tone rather than anything thin or harsh.

Warm Resonant Vintage-voiced Full-bodied

What owners of the Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster say

Because no independently verified, model-specific owner or reviewer sentiment could be confirmed for this exact guitar in the sources reviewed, this section stays limited to what's well documented: Johnson's own reputation for perfectionism is treated by the guitar press as genuinely earned rather than exaggerated, which lends this signature model's unusually detailed spec sheet real credibility rather than reading as marketing embellishment.

Playability & handling of the Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster

The compromise 12-inch fingerboard radius, sharper V neck profile and reduced 21-fret count (rather than the more common 22) all point toward a genuinely vintage-inflected playing feel rather than a modern-convenience-first design. That V profile specifically caters to a thumb-over-the-top playing style, which happens to be Johnson's own approach - a spec choice that follows a specific player's technique rather than a generic ergonomic target.

Recommended accessories & strings for the Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster

At the standard 25.5-inch scale, .009-.042 or .010-.046 both suit the guitar depending on preference. Because the mixed-era pickup set (54-style neck, 63-style hum-cancelling middle, hotter bridge) already spans a wide tonal range on its own, this guitar doesn't need pedal-heavy tone-shaping to move between warm neck tones and a hotter bridge voice.

Technical data for the Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster

Type Solid-body electric guitar, double cutaway, bolt-on neck, vibrato bridge
Production Fender signature series (standard line, not Custom Shop)
Body Light 2-piece alder, deep 1957-style contours
Neck 1-piece quartersawn maple, vintage tint, '57-style soft V profile
Fingerboard Maple, 12 in. radius (deliberate middle ground between vintage 7.25 in. and modern 9.5 in.)
Frets / scale 21 medium jumbo frets; 25.5 in. scale
Pickups 3x Eric Johnson-voiced single-coils: neck (1954-style, oversized Alnico 3), middle (1963-style, hum-cancelling winding), bridge (Alnico 5, hotter output)
Controls Master volume, neck tone, bridge tone, 5-way switch; passive
Bridge Vintage-style tremolo, silver-painted sustain block, no paint between base plate and block, 5 springs, no back cover
Origin note Specification blends elements of Johnson's own 1954 ('Virginia') and 1957 Stratocasters; distinct from a separate, newer Fender Custom Shop tribute with a quartersawn sassafras body that also uses the Virginia name

Price history for the Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster

Cheapest seen: 10 EUR  ·  Most expensive seen: 7.823 EUR

8.272 EUR10 EUR 07.09.2026 15.09.202616.09.202618.09.2026 20.09.2026
Cheapest seen Most expensive seen

The history of the Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster

Eric Johnson is, by near-universal consensus among people who've worked with him, the most tone-obsessed guitarist in the business - a perfectionist who has claimed to hear differences between cable brands and even pedal batteries, details most players would never think to question. That reputation isn't incidental to this guitar's design; it's the entire reason its specification is unusually precise and unusually documented compared with a typical signature model.

Rather than one reference instrument, Johnson's own playing career centres on two specific vintage Stratocasters: a 1954 example in three-tone sunburst he calls Virginia, and a 1957 in two-tone sunburst. This signature model translates elements of both into one guitar rather than reissuing either individually - the body contours and tremolo details follow 1957 practice, while the neck pickup voicing traces to the 1954 instrument. It's worth keeping this separate from a newer, different Fender Custom Shop tribute built with a quartersawn sassafras body that also carries the Virginia name - a distinct, more recent product rather than this regular-line signature Stratocaster.

About Fender as a manufacturer

This model sits in Fender's standard signature-artist tier rather than the Custom Shop, but the depth of specification detail - two blended reference instruments, hum-cancelling coil winding on the middle pickup, exact vintage tremolo hardware down to the spring count - reflects how seriously Fender treated Johnson's own documented pickiness. For a signature series that often amounts to a stock model with an artist's name and a few cosmetic choices, this level of engineering specificity is a genuine outlier.

Notable players & recordings featuring the Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster

Eric Johnson himself is the unambiguous, direct source of this design - there's no gap between the signature name and who shaped the specification, since every detail traces to his own two vintage Stratocasters and his own documented tonal preferences. He aims for what he's described as a smooth, violin-like singing quality in lead lines, avoiding thin or spiky tones in favour of a thicker, more liquid sound.

Related guides

  • Stratocaster or Les Paul? Two Electric Guitar Classics Compared View details
  • Vintage vs. Reissue: Is an Old Electric Guitar Worth It? View details
  • Buying a Used Electric Guitar: What to Check View details

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