Do they sound like Eric Johnson? Hard to tell.
Bought for a partscaster project, and I wanted some decent single coils that were versatile without being so modern they needed batteries, and stratty without being confined to only play SRV on them...
The EJs do this really well. They're currently on a 2 piece alder body with a rosewood fingerboarded neck. Compared to my other strat (an early 90s poplar bodied US Std) they feel more refined and polite. Whilst the US Std pickups do that glassy "roll the tone down or I'll take your eye out", aggressive top sound, the EJs are much more polite. "Please sir, can I have some more gain..." etc.
They do 'white guy plays blues on a strat neck pickup' fine - not as raucous as (say) Texas Specials, but it's all good. In-betweens, not as glassy and the Knopfler tones feel more polished. Middle-pickup, no one uses. Bridge pickup is a beast. Less twangy than Hank, but it takes gain really, really well. We aren't talking Strandberg+Fluence levels of gain, but for a single coil it's pretty awesome.
Do they stand up next to a bespoke wound set limited to 1 of 50 by the grandchild of someone who worked on strat number #00069? No idea. They sound pretty good though.
Pros.
- Great sounding single coils
- Push-back cloth hookup wire
- Versatile
Cons
- Noisy as f&$%
- I still can't play 'Cliffs of Dover'
