Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster - 2-Color Sunburst with Maple Fingerboard Reviews

If you want a Custom Shop quality Strat for less than Custom Shop price, this is the guitar for you. If you were to compare this to a 57 or 61 reissue you would be blown away at the difference. Before you buy any USA made Strat, play one of these first.

Had it for 15 yrs.Would go away mad, because I have small hands, then come back.Finally last month ,I had to do some fine tuning.The fine tuning was me. Got over the small hands thing.I used to play a 54 paisley precision,for Christ,s sake. Glad I reconnected.Even better 15 yrs later.Now I have to admit something.15 yrs ago I took it to my buddy,s guitar shop,left a couple of days for him to check out,when I came back,he had applied a thick coat of urethane without my consent! Let,s just say I was quietly upset beyond belief because I wanted it to age naturally,hence another reason I didn't bond with it. Well 15 yrs later,Coronavirus. Self isolation so I pulled it out.And omg, a little WD 40, and off I went.The urethane is great, it allowed the guitar to age somewhat under the finish but preserved it.Like one of those ancient insects in amber.I even got a few classic dings back in the day,minor stuff. What does it sound like?Well I got a lot of git's,and none bar none sound better than this. Don t know if it's the aging,I just think,it was built good to start. That tells you something,see how many of your axes stand 15 yrs of time.Alittle fret sprout,uhhh 15 yrs.... I.ll take care of that when the plague is over..GET ONE

Way back in "05 when these came out, I read the glowing praise and ordered a sunburst one online based just on the reviews and my admiration of EJ. One day, before the guitar arrived, a buddy and I were just out doing nothing in particular and we decided to stop at a very large national chain of music stores (not as good as Sweetwater, of course, but hey, they were there). Lo and behold, the had a whole wall of EJ Strats; I"d say at least a dozen. I wanted to hear this great guitar that I had just bought, so I played one, then another, until I got to a sunburst one. It had that magical TONE that the others didn"t have: chimey, warm, sweet, and mellow. I played every EJ they had and they all sounded thin by comparison (still good, though). I knew I"d just found a very special guitar, but what to do? I had just bought one online! Suddenly, my buddy stepped forward and said "I"ll buy the one you ordered." Wow, thanks dude! All these years later, we both still have our matching sunburst EJ Strats, except mine sounds better. Neither one of us will ever sell our EJ. Amazing guitars, classy in every way. But it does pay to try before you buy.

First off I own several nice guitars. A Les Paul, a SG Standard, a real '61 SG Special, 52 RI Tele and a Custom Shop Tele. A couple of years ago I saw the E.J. Strat in Ocean Turquoise w/Rosewood Fretboard and fell in love with it. I bought it and liked it, but was not blown away. I couldn't find a fault I just didn't bond. Then about 6 months later I had the cash and decided to try the Maple fretboard. Let me tell you I am glad I did! Old Sue is without a doubt the best Strat I have ever owned or played, and I can say that 7 years later. She came out of the box perfect, No complaints then or now. After 7 years the only things I have changed are the strings and the strap buttons. After all these years you think Fender would figure that one out. FWIW, I still have the Rosewood fretboard guitar too. No sense selling a perfectly fine guitar for a loss. Thank you Steven Chamoun for the recommendation, I'm thinking about getting a third EJ Strat! Maybe Black this time.

Have been checking out this guitar for a few months but the semi-hollow nature scared me a bit. Man, I'm glad I took the plunge. This is the fourth Strat I have owned and the ninth Fender. This EJ Thinline Strat is easier to play than my old 7.25" radius Tele thanks to the 12" radius neck and medium jumbo frets. I was considering changing to 9.5 - 44 D'Addarios like I use on my other Fenders but, because it feels so good with the 10s, I am probably going to put a set of D'Addarios 10 - 46s on it. The substantial neck feels great.

As I have come to expect from Sweetwater, the guitar was promptly delivered and in pristine condition.
Than you to Ted Hunter for another pleasant buying experience! Guess thats why I do so much business with Sweetwater.

Magnificent instrument, worth every penny!

To me an instrument is great if it makes you play more. And this quitar does exactly that.
The playability is exceptional and has a very good build quality, right up there with some of the custom models!
Comes with a quartersawn neck, which adds more quilty to the instrument. I wish Fender made the rosewood fingerboard model in a sunburst finish. Love the bound fingerboard on those!

Sweetwater and 'Nick Huskins' get A+ for the service.

I have had my EJ Sig now for almost a week. The setup work is all settled in and we're getting used to each other.
Wow.
I am absolutely knocked out.

My main start for quite some time has been an old Fender Custom Shop Custom Deluxe, with pickups hand wound by the legendary Abigail Ybarra. They sound incredible.

The pickups on the EJ Strat are better. Far more balanced, much sweeter tone.
The craftsmanship is all top notch, the "feel" is exceptional, and the tone is the best I've had.

My ONLY complaints - the "old school" bridge and saddles are just never going to be as stable as a modern bride, tuning wise - and the truss rod adjustments require removing the neck. That said, despite changing string gauges from what shipped, and doing my own setup work, I haven't NEEDED to adjust it yet.

If you can afford it, buy it.

Nicest strat I've ever owned , set up nicely , light touch . Beautiful dark maple neck . Sunburst was also beautiful. Sounds great. Jeff Law is a great guy to deal with , that's why I go to Sweetwater first.

Would recommend this guitar to anyone!

I first purchased the olympic white EJ Strat during the first run.. It was by accident as I had gone to a local GC store back then to try out and buy a Fender amp. The salesman asked what guitar I wanted to use to try out the amp. I told him to surprise me. Boy howdy was I surprised, instantly falling for the neck feel. The looks were killer and then I plugged the Strat in and I was won over. I walked out with the EJ Strat and forgot all about the amp (plus my pocketbook said I had to wait) Seriously, the tone, the feel, the looks of the EJ Strat are nothing short of fantastic. I later bought the black and 2 tone sunburst because I loved the guitar so much. Mine came back then with the custom shop logo on the headstock. This was prior to the Custom Shop becoming what it is today. So I feel very fortunate to have acquired two of these great guitars. I have the pleasure of also having shown up at jams and having other guitars drool over my EJ Strats and want to play them: Seriously!!! I truly believe that if you like the feel of the neck which is not slim, but surely not too thick, you'll walk away with one. That said, I more recently bought a Robert Cray Strat after talking with SW Sales Rep at Sweetwater who told me if I liked the EJ Strat's I owned that I would surely like the RC Strat. He was absolutely right. I'm a huge fan of RC like EJ and Fender has hit out of the ballpark on both of these models.

The neck alone is great. The pickups are Very loud for a strat. I sometimes feel like I'm playing a Gibson. It simply rocks.

I've owned dozens of nice strats over the last 25 years and this one by far is the best sounding of them all. I've seen other reviewer comments saying how loud and vibrant the guitar is unplugged - it really is. The pickups/wiring sound incredible. through a Fender style amp I can get that sparkling clean sound, and through a 50 watt Marshall combo it really sings. very happy with the customer svc from Sweetwater - when the guitar arrived it had a broken latch on the case - I contacted Brian Kerns at SW and had a new replacement case shipped to me within a week,

Simply put, the best strat I've ever played. I am a full time musician and I've been blessed to own every and any guitar I've ever wanted. This is at the top of the totem pole.

It's the most playable, best sounding, most comfortable, best looking and most inspiring instrument I've ever owned. And if I listed the HUNDREDS of top shelf guitars I've owned and played you might find that statement hard to believe.

Hands down the best guitar of any make or model that there is. If you want a metal guitar get something else. If you want an expressive instrument that oozes quality and can deliver on it's good looks then look no further.

All I can say is WOW !!! I've been an avid collector/player for about 15 years and have had upwards of 150 guitars over such time.
I've always had Les Paul's, PRS's, Wolfgangs, etc.. I tried adding a Strat to the collection 2 years ago when I bought a beautiful Select Series HSS. The guitar was nice but just didn't stand up to My Les Pauls, so I traded it for yet another Paul. Anyway, About a month ago I was looking at Strats again online when a friend came in my office and said, "If your gonna get a Strat, get a Strat " not the HSS. Super Strats ! So I came across this one on Sweetwaters site and upon doing some research, called my sales rep John Ptak and ordered her up in the sunburst finish ! When she arrived, I was blown away at how nice and vintage she looked when I opened the case, then i picked it up, OMG it had the neck of my favorite 50's Les Paul's nice and thick !! I don't know how Eric got the pickups to sound the way they do, but holy crap, they rock !!!
This is one Fender that will remain in my collection for sure !!!
Thanks John and everyone else at Sweetwater !! Fantastic Job !!

I can't really say anything about this guitar that has not already been said on here I'm sure. Always loved the sound of the old late 50's stratocasters and this guitar captures all the little nuances of a great classic American made Fender guitar. I bought this one around 6 months ago and have been blown away by the sweet organic woody tone that just sings from this guitar. The body and neck resonates so strong it took me a bit to get used to the amount of vibration that rings through this thing while playing. Its a totally different feeling than all the other guitars I've owned over the years.
The pickups are also awesome. Most guitars I've played or owned I never could get used to playing off the bridge pickup. They always had a really muddy tone that was like nails on a chalkboard to my ears. I can play in all 5 positions and they all sound sweet to my ears on this guitar. I couldn't be happier that I bought this guitar.

For over 20 years I've been a loyal Gibson player. My collection includes a few LP’s, SG’s, and a J-45. I've never owned a Fender guitar. Throughout the years I've had my hands on many Tele’s and Strat’s but they never sat right with me.

Recently, while browsing through a local shop I came across the 2-tone sunburst EJ Strat. It looked absolutely fantastic, so I played it. Once I got my hands on it, I was dumbfounded. This guitar played and sounded like a dream. I could not believe it. The neck is unreal. Since receiving this guitar I have been playing it non-stop. It’s impossible to put down.

This was my first guitar purchase through Sweetwater – the reviews were great so I had to give them a shot. I could not have been happier – flawless guitar, fast and safe shipping, and amazing customer service.

I would recommend this to guitar and Sweetwater to anyone without hesitation.

For over 45 years I have played the guitar. I own a Gibson LP Custom, Gibson L4 CES (Custom Shop), Gibson RD 77 Artist, and now the Fender EJ. I love them all but I must admit the RJ has blown me away. It is all that its advertised to be. I have played all the Strats and it is my opinion that the EJ is the best. I purchased the White Blonde to contrast with my sunburst Gibsons and Ash White Custom LP and the blend is fabulous and the sound is flat awesome. Welcome to the family EJ.

Colonel (ret)
TW Williams

This guitar sounds and plays exactly how I want it to. I do believe that 90% of your tone comes from your hands but this plank will get you that last 10%. My band was playing a festival and one of the sound company guys was on stage setting the mics and after he asked me to play a bit he yelled out to the guy mixing the front of the house to see if the guitar was loud enough and the FOH guy yelled back "Yeah, and it f#*@ing sounds great!" Enough said. My only very slight complaint is that I play with my action fairly high and occasionally the high E string will pop out of the nut slot as there is no string tree to retain it.

This guitar is so beautiful in all appearance and sound. I got 2-tone sunburst one. Everything is absolutely perfect. I own Gibson LP standard with 60s neck and Fender American Deluxe QMT HSS, but I like EJ the most. I love the neck and body very much. It is very hard to put it down once you start playing it.

In short, the best strat I've ever played... I had a 50's tele re-issue that I thought was a pretty decent guitar and when I got the EJ home, it just blew away the tele. The tele is cool, but I have a new #1 axe.. and I've been playing that tele for the last 5 years too. The breath of this guitar is just amazing... I was able to play 5 different EJ's and selected the one that most suited me. Be aware, there ARE differences between individual guitars.. I played one with hotter pickups then the others.. One that just didn't have the same amount of resonance, another that just didn't play "quite" as good to my hands... etc.
The thickly painted tele almost seemed more dead and dull sounding next to the clarity and sonic-width of this guitar...

I'm not an EJ fan by any means, just don't really know his music much.. but this is a quality vintage style guitar, period.

I had some problem with the volume pot and some sheilding issues . Sweetwaters service department and Drew took great care of me . They sent me the parts I needed and I was able to resolve the problems . I love the guitar and couldn't be happier with the sound and playability ! Thank you Drew !

Since this guitar is been exhaustively reviewed let me just summarize what I feel are the main things worth mentioning.

The good:
1. The neck wood material is the most incredible figured maple, it"s not flame maple but it has a ton of medullary grain or at least I think that"s what it"s called. Also it"s got this beautiful lacquer finish as well.
2. The overall build quality and paint job is excellent.
3. The pickups are sweet.
4. It"s made in the USA.
5. It"s orobabky the best value in a Fender comparable if not better than custom shop models costing three or more time as much.

The bad:
1. The B and E strings sound thin and weak and although I personally had no issues with E string popping out or Sitar type sounds I still did not hesitate to put a string tree on it and the tone immediately I,proved leaps and bounds. I have played many EJ strays and every single one of them have less than optimum tone on the B and E strings. I am not buying the hype about the calibrated tuners and thinner profile headstock mitigating the need for a string tree. If the benefit of better tuning stability with tremolo bar use outweighs the normal playing tone than by all means leave well enough alone but if you want to have the best possible tone than just tell them to install a tree for you.

Gorgeous guitar, wonderful sound; the neck will take some getting used to—more like a Gibson than a traditional Fender (12 inch radius).

I have been one of your typical guitar players for the last 15 years. What I mean is I have tried and purchased everything from nearly every brand. As my tastes have changed so have my guitars. Most recently I have had several custom built G&L ASAT's, PRS Custom 24's, Gibson...etc. Most recently I have been playing worship music. All that said, this guitar has covered all of my current wants with tone and feel.

Pros:
The EJ does the worship thing very well. It will allow you to stack overdrives and still maintain that bite and clarity. I have found humbuckers have a harder time doing this with pedals. Also, the feel is great. Having played Gibsons and PRS for a long time, the 12" radius with the bigger frets really feels at home. The V neck is very soft and not at all hard to get used to. I personally enjoy a slightly thicker neck so this is a great fit for me. Fit and finish are great as well as set up right out of the box (thanks Sweetwater). I have been able to pull John Mayer, Eric Johnson, and Elevation Worship all out of this axe!

Cons:
I truly do not believe any guitar is perfect and it's mostly down to taste. I ended up setting the bridge to 3 springs and floating so I could get some trem movement. Also, the laquer while looks (and smells) awesome, it does get sticky on humid days. It's not a huge concern as I know it will wear in nicely.

Overall, I would highly recommend this guitar for anyone who loves single coils and touch responsive overdrive. The versatility is there and you will find you may not touch your other guitars for a very long time. If you needed someone to give you the push to make the purchase I say DO IT!

I played a lot of strats before buying this guitar. The only one that I felt played as well as this one was the '62 reissue strat (did not play a custom strat --looked into it but $3000+! Have a Martin D18 GE that cost $3000. Not my best decision ever.) Anyway, this is a great guitar. The neck action is excellent. I wasn't sure I would like the thicker neck but it plays very nicely. A little sticky but I'll get that worn away. I like the sound. I've read reviews that suggest that this guitar doesn't sound like a strat...OK, whatever. Play one and see what you think. Personally I want a guitar that plays well. Pickups are replaceable. I won't be changing these. Thanks EJ!

The guitar is a dream to play. Such incredible workmanship and attention to detail. Truly one of the most comfortable guitars I own. My disappointment came when I noticed I had to make too many changes to my amps and pedals to get a good sound. The pickups are a lot more low output than I anticipated. Most of my guitars are single coil, so it's not like my gear is set up for humbuckers or anything, but this one just seems to get lost. I'm now in the process of purchasing a good booster pedal to add to my rig to help compensate for the output loss. If that doesn't solve it I guess the EJ strat will be reserved for recording or rehearsals only. That would be a real shame.

This is now my number 1 guitar. Custom shop quality without the pricetag. Excellent workmanship. Stunning to look at. Sounds awesome, well balanced tonally - love the pickups. Plays excellent. Everything works well. Wasn't sure I'd like the V neck profile but it felt familiar from the get-go. Love the lack of string tree(s) as this leaves one less place for the strings to hangup and go out of tune. Well thought out and made guitar. Eric Johnson, I'd say you designed a guitar player's guitar. I've drolled for years over the custom shop 50's and 60's reissues and with this guitar I get a 1957 based strat with new features while still very much retaining the vintage vibe. Highly recommended. You have to see it and play it to appreciate it fully (duh). Drop dead sexy!

I own an Am Std strat, PRS, Gibson. Played an EJ strat. Sweet. Played it with a Clapton model. Two Erics, no waiting. The EJ blew the EC away (unless it was just a bad EC and since I'm now waiting on my 3rd set of Vintage Noiseless pickups (defective), that is possible). I didn't want to put the EJ down. The only question I had is the location of the truss rod adjustment. What do you have to do, remove the pick guard to adjust it? And quality. Don't know why you have to spend more money to get good quality from Fender and Gibson. The PRS I bought from Sweetwater was spot on out of the box. Other than that, I'll have to sell my Am Std and get the Eric Johnson. Now, do I want the candy apple red or the two tone....

I guess I should have bought that first EJ I reviewed earlier. It was perfect. I prefereed it to my Am Std or the Clapton Strat I played. But,I played two other EJs at Guitar Center recently. They both had defective bridges. One was totally missalligned. The other had a crooked screw and the high E string was almost off the fretboard. Unacceptable. I can't believe Fender let these two out of the plant. PRS would have cut them in half. I wonder if the perfectionist Mr. Johnson is aware of the quality issues with his "signature" axe? No wonder the Fender website has no "contact us" option. Come on, Fender. When even a US made "artist" strat is hit and miss, it's time to hire some QC guys. Fix it, Fender!

I played this model at the local shop. This is a well thought out strat. It feels solid and playable and sounds great. Has the cosmetic appointments of a 50's model (strat that is). It really resonated with me and now I must have one.