INTRODUCING THE ERIC JOHNSON 1954 "VIRGINIA" STRATOCASTER
INTRODUCING THE ERIC JOHNSON 1954 "VIRGINIA" STRATOCASTER
Eric Johnson 1954 "Virginia" Stratocaster
This stunning replica of Eric Johnson’s legendary 1954 "Virginia" Stratocaster will thrill players and collectors alike with its rare rift/quartersawn sassafras body, lacquer finish, custom wiring and more.
FEATURES
Sassafras Body
While ash was typical in 1954, only a few Stratocaster guitars were made of sassafras. This softer tonewood helped contribute to Eric's unique sound.
1-Piece Maple Neck & 12" Radius Fingerboard
Modified from a 7.25" to a 12" radius early in Eric's career, this flatter fingerboard allows for more accurate fretting and choke-free bending.
FENDER 57/62 & DIMARZIO HS2 PICKUPS
Fender Original 57/62 single-coils and a DiMarzio HS-2 (top coil only) recreate "Virginia's" authentic tones. Special wiring gets Eric's classic "Koto" sound in position 4.
A Special Name for a Special Strat
While many of music’s most infamous guitars earned nicknames after their owner found some particular mojo in them (i.e., Eric Clapton’s “Blackie” or Keith Richards’ “Micawber”), Eric Johnson’s beloved 1954 Stratocaster already came with one.
Still, that Strat – which everyone eventually knew as “Virginia” – became Johnson’s instrument of choice on many of his early works, including groundbreaking albums *Tones*.
Johnson was in his early 20s when he first came into contact with "Virginia". Stopping by the J.R. Reed music store in Austin, Texas, to get a speaker fixed, Johnson’s eye caught a two-tone Sunburst Stratocaster sitting in the corner. Transfixed, Johnson tracked down the owner and asked him to trade the Strat for another model, giving "Virginia" its rightful home.
Fate led Johnson to unveil the guitar's true identity, as he noticed someone had signed the interior cavity “Virginia 6-18-54” as part of the original assembly process at Fender headquarters.
“From what I’ve been told, there were a few [people] who put the guitars together, and they would put a piece of masking tape on the guitar to sign and date when they finished them,” Johnson recalled. “Once, I was changing out a pickup and pulled out the pickguard and sure enough, there was a piece of tape in there and it said Virginia.”
That piece of authentic history wasn’t the only thing that made "Virginia" a unique guitar. Most 1954 Stratocaster models were made out of ash, but a select few featured sassafras bodies after a limited amount of that tonewood found its way to the Fender factory. One of them became "Virginia".
“Like a lot of things in life, happy accidents can be a gift,” Johnson said. “I think there’s something to that Sassafrass wood. It has a little bit of a different tone, and there’s something I really dig about it with a particular type of smooth and sustain-y tone that, as you turn it up, gets kind of gain-y with a violin vibe.”
And that’s just one of the features that sets the new Eric Johnson 1954 "Virginia" Stratocaster apart. In addition to the soft sassafras body, it also boasts a one-piece maple neck with a 12” radius fingerboard, special wiring, two Fender Original ‘57/’62 single-coil pickups and a DiMarzio HS-2 bridge pickup with only the top coil active to achieve that classic E.J. sound.
“The things that changed on this to make it like 'Virginia' are the little naunaces that, to me, clarify the already intrinsic value and playability of a Stratocaster,” Johnson said. “I feel at home and at peace with this guitar. I can play a stock Stratocaster and enjoy it, but if I want that one instrument to cover as much as possible, these few tweaks capture what I spent many years doing on my favorite ’54 I ever owned.”
