Eric Johnson says “there’s so much option anxiety” when buying new gear in today’s market
You can’t argue that you’re not spoilt for choice when buying guitar gear in today’s market. Sometimes finding what’s right for you and your playing style can be tricky to navigate, a battle even Eric Johnson is finding pretty tough.
Amid the rise of digital gear and amp modellers, Johnson – like many other artists – is similarly choosing to avoid these new tools by creating a back-to-basics record, made with fewer pedals and no gimmicks.
READ MORE: The 14 best amplifiers for all styles and budgets
Speaking to Boomerocity on YouTube, Johnson says his next album will be “raw and straight-ahead” (via Ultimate Guitar): “I’m gravitated towards the prospect of doing that now because everything’s just gotten so… There’s so much option anxiety, as far as gear, and then the whole digital technology and everything.”
He adds, “It’s just gotten so crazy. I thought, ‘Well, we need just to return to raw basics; just playing straight up into the amp, you know?’”
Watch the interview below:
A number of artists are dabbling in digital gear, and while some are completely sold, others are still unsure. Slipknot’s Jim Root recently said he feels that “something is missing” in his tone when it comes to amp modellers.
“It’s been working really well, but I feel like something’s missing, so no matter how advanced the technology gets with digital, it’s still fatiguing to the ears because we’re analogue beings,” he says of his experience with the Quad Cortex in a chat with Total Guitar.
“I’ve been using the Quad Cortex just for its effects along with my heads for a few tours, but we’re talking about doing smaller, secret shows, and the thing with doing that is we’ve got to downsize. So, part of it came out of the necessity of trying to figure that out without losing the effects we use in the studio and making things translate live, which is hugely important.”
Root remains a “tube amp purist”. Others such as Brian May and Chris Shiflett have also stated that despite experimenting with such gear, they still prefer the humble tube amp overall.
Eric Johnson is currently on the road. You can view all of his scheduled tour dates now.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
