Lonely in the Night (Eric Johnson) - Solo 1 & 2 Cover by Peter C

Show and Tell
#1

Hi all,

Recently I’ve been urged by a friend to try out the whole solo section in complete fashion, and I was hesitant to; ever since 10 years ago I tried it and wasn’t ever satisfied with intermittent attempts. But I buckled down and got busy woodshedding with all the EJ-isms I learned from Troy’s materials and I guess it’s passable now.

I wish my guitar wasn’t as loud, but there was only so much I could EQ out of the original track, and for the record, the guitar is tuned to A445hz, as per proper album fashion.

As always, any comments and anecdotes from long timers of EJ’s era are always welcome.

Hope you guys enjoy.

12 Likes
#2

Very nice playing man, tasteful and fluid. Bravo!

3 Likes
#3

Great playing. Very well done! You make it look effortless and easy HA!

On a side note I am curious as to how you get such a smooth round tone out of the bridge pickup. I can see a little marshall 2061 there I think. And a Marshall cab and Suhr load box.

3 Likes
#4

Thank you :slight_smile:

The amp is actually a fender princeton reverb right behind me (on six) with a ts808 pushing an mxr fet driver. I can roll down the tone but I had it only on 8 which isn’t that different from fully up when the amp is that loud.

That is all into the suhr IR with a 4x12 greenback cab.

In retrospect I should have used the 2061x but for some stupid reason I wanted to make this combination work. I think in some ways it did and some ways it didn’t.

Glad you enjoyed it :slight_smile:

2 Likes
#5

This is amazing, you really nail his bending/vibrato.

4 Likes
#6

Nice work, you have really captured his playing; the pick attack, vibrato, etc. Before you started working on his style, were you a downward pick slanted? I’m going through the lessons, but I’ve been an upward pickslanter, that plays from the elbow, so it’s been rough on my wrist trying to relearn to play.

3 Likes
#7

No, I was not an intentional downward pick slanter. I sort of…wasn’t really much of anything. I mean I had my own style but aside from my left hand command, my right hand wasn’t anything special and I detested any form of sweep picking simply because I couldn’t do them.

My fingers would fan out and my wrist would tense up and I would lose picks all over the place. So far, it hasn’t happened once since the revelation. For this sort of playing I listen a lot, woodshed, and modify Troy’s approach and tabs more to my liking and see how that stuff works out. I really only use about 5 core movements that free me to go either up or down.

For EJ, there are some parts I believe consecutive 2nps upstrokes and switching pick directions makes the passages sound more authentic so it’s best not to “lose” it if you already have it so to speak.

Thanks for the comment and glad you enjoyed it :slight_smile:

2 Likes
#8

That happens to be my favorite EJ solo of all time :+1: Nice work as usual, @Peter_C, leaves me with a “so it is possible” sort-of-feeling :smile: :guitar::love_you_gesture::guitar::love_you_gesture: I have the venus Isle tab note/tab book, but I think I will have to modify the suggested tab in Guitar Pro before I do anything with that book.

Oh, and BTW. the guitar can NEVER be too loud :grinning:

2 Likes
#9

Thanks, as usual :slight_smile:

With tabs, that was my initial approach as well, and I think the real selling point of the book is that it gives a good foundation in terms of actual note choice (but less structured picking framework), so that folks dedicated to going the distance can sit down and work it out and modify it to a more efficient notation etc.

That being said, had the tabs even been 100% spot on, it still never told me how to actually play the darned thing; I do remember now I actually had a complete tab transcribed years before the actual performance but was always afraid to play it at proper tempo.

2 Likes
#10

Right, I just read an interview with the great bass player Anthony Jackson, where he says how limited notation really is. There are so many small nuances in every great player and notation falls short of describing those.

As guitar players, I feel we are extra burdened by what is clearly wrong tabs; for instance, in some songs, the tap suggest an octave device pedal, where E.J. is playing artificial harmonics one octave above etc, and even more crucial, as you know, the picking hand and the actual way E.J. groups his notes. The very good thing these days, is the access to youtube videos and the slow down function :smile:

I find your videos very inspiring and motivating :love_you_gesture: I know it takes a lot of work to map things out, then practice, going back and forward to find the right approach. You could use those videos as a commercial, if you ever decide to teach. It shows very clearly, that you know how to analyse and then apply the right practice, which is exactly what a student would need to know.

Anyway, I just wanted to say once again, great job, Peter :+1:

3 Likes