It's hard to stand out as a blues guitarist, but Justin Johnson has built an enormous following of loyal fans because he is too good to ignore. You've all probably seen the wild, long-haired dude tearing it up on a 3-string shovel. The novelty might have earned him over 1-million followers, but what makes people come back for more is his undeniably cool music. Johnson invited John Bohlinger and the PG team to his Nashville home to take us through his rig.
[Brought to you by D'Addario XL Strings: https://www.daddario.com/XLRR]
Wild Customs Gyrock
This Wild Customs Gyrock guitar uses rotating pickup modules that can be spun around in place for different tone recipes. The body is chambered Honduran mahogany matched with a carved Canadian maple top, maple neck, and a Brazilian pau ferro fretboard.
Johnson has an ammo box full of different pickups that he can pop into his Gyrock as needed. It stays strung with GHS Strings—a Justin Johnson Signature Guitar Strings Standard set (.10–.50).
Furch Master's Choice 2019SB Dc-SR SPE
This Furch Master's Choice 2019SB Dc-SR SPE acoustic/electric with a cutaway features a Sitka spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides. The body is protected by Furch's proprietary Full-Pore High-Gloss Finish and it's got the company's CNR System—an adjustable truss rod inside a carbon casing—for improved neck stability. There's an LR Baggs Stagepro Element pickup system onboard, too.
Dobro Duolian
This vintage Dobro Duolian has a Lace low-profile acoustic pickup and is strung with Johnson's Slide signature set: (.11–.50.)
Early '30s Dobro
This mystery resonator—possibly an early '30s Dobro—had the finish stripped off years ago and has been updated with a 12-Bar Blues low-profile resonator humbucker.
Homegrown Strings 4-String Resonator
Here's a look inside Johnson's Homegrown Strings 4-string resonator made from a cigar box and found objects. The pickup is a small piezo hot-glued inside a bottle cap.
Fender 60th Anniversary Telecaster Limited Edition
Johnson's Fender 60th Anniversary Telecaster Limited Edition is strung through its ash body, with Johnson's Standard signature strings.
FireWild by Wild Customs
His FireWild by Wild Customs has a 6-way toggle and it coil-splits. It look a bit like a Firebird mixed with an Iceman, and has a mahogany body and neck, a pao ferro fretboard and a Bigsby. The neck and middle pickups are TV Jones Power'Trons and the bridge has a Power'Tron+.
Signature Whiskey Barrel Guitar Built by Big D Guitars
Johnson's No. 1 is his Signature Whiskey Barrel Guitar built by Big D Guitars. This chambered T-style is made from reclaimed whiskey barrel tops, paired with aged Tennessee barn wood, scatterwound pickups, a Bigsby, an aged maple neck, jumbo frets, and locking tuners. We meant to film this very cool instrument, but got lost in the frenzy of guitars and never got around to it. Dang!
Yes, he's also got a 3-string shovel guitar. It's got a custom-wound low-profile humbucker from 12-Bar Blues Pickups. The trippy artwork was painted by Grecian tattoo artist Santa Tinta and the matching strap was made by LeROCKSKIN. Strings are the A, D, and G from a Justin Johnson Signature Slide set.
Justin Johnson's Pedalboards
Johnson has several 'boards, so let's go with the signal flow. This Morton pedalboard has a modular mounting system that enables him to adjust the size and shape of the board as his layout changes. After hitting his XVive Audio U2 wireless, his signal enters a Mad Professor Loud 'N Proud fuzz, a J. Rockett Audio Archer Ikon, an Ibanez TS808, an ADV Systems #overdrive, a Danelectro Back Talk Reverse Delay, a Gamechanger Audio Plasma Pedal, an Ibanez DE7 Echo/Delay, a T-Rex Image Looper, a Gamechanger Audio Plus piano-style sustain pedal, an API Audio TranZformer …
… a Universal Audio UAFX Astra Modulation Machine Pedal, Starlight Echo Station, and Golden Reverberator …
… into a Live Wire Solutions ABY Box to send juice to his Fishman Aura Spectrum DI Imaging Pedal or a Hughes & Kettner amp—or both.
And that T-Rex Replicator shares real estate with a Gator GTR-PWR-12 power supply and a Big Joe Power Box Li2 lithium pedalboard battery.
Hughes & Kettner Triamp MKIII
As you'd expect, there's no shortage of amps in Johnson's arsenal. Here's his Hughes & Kettner Triamp MKIII 150-watt 3-channel programmable tube head.
Hughes & Kettner GrandMeister Deluxe 40
And here's his Hughes & Kettner GrandMeister Deluxe 40, which is switchable between 40, 20, 5, and 1 watts. He's got a 120-watt-rated 2x12 cab, also by H&K, to deliver his tones.
Fishman Loudbox Artist BT
This Fishman Loudbox Artist BT 120-watt 1x8" acoustic combo also has a tweeter and Bluetooth.
Fishman Loudbox Mini
Its compadre is a Fishman Loudbox Mini, which has a 6 1/2" speaker and a battery-power option. He also has a Mad Professor 51 RT Old School 51-watt tube head.
Hotone Wong Press
Cory Wong Signature Volume/Wah/Expression Pedal
Renowned international funk guitar maestro and 63rd Grammy nominee Cory Wong is celebrated for his unique playing style and unmistakable crisp tone. Known for his expressive technique, he’s been acclaimed across the globe by all audiences for his unique blend of energy and soul. In 2022, Cory discovered the multi-functional Soul Press II pedal from Hotone and instantly fell in love. Since then, it has become his go-to pedal for live performances.
Now, two years later, the Hotone team has meticulously crafted the Wong Press, a pedal tailored specifically for Cory Wong. Building on the multi-functional design philosophy of the Soul Press series, this new pedal includes Cory’s custom requests: a signature blue and white color scheme, a customized volume pedal curve, an adjustable wah Q value range, and travel lights that indicate both pedal position and working mode.
Cory’s near-perfect pursuit of tone and pedal feel presented a significant challenge for our development team. After countless adjustments to the Q value range, Hotone engineers achieved the precise WAH tone Cory desired while minimizing the risk of accidental Q value changes affecting the sound. Additionally, based on Cory’s feedback, the volume control was fine-tuned for a smoother, more musical transition, enhancing the overall feel of volume swells. The team also upgraded the iconic travel lights of the Soul Press II to dual-color travel lights—blue for Wah mode and green for Volume mode—making live performances more intuitive and visually striking!
In line with the Hotone Design Inspiration philosophy, the Wong Press represents the perfect blend of design and inspiration. Now, musicians can channel their inner Cory Wong and enjoy the freedom and joy of playing with the Wong Press!
Reverend Vernon Reid Totem Series Electric Guitar - Shaman
Silos features six presets, tap tempo, one full second of delay time, and three voices—two of which are styled after bucket-brigade and tape-delay sounds. In the $150 price category, it’s not unusual for a digital delay to leave some number of those functions out. And spending the same money on a true-analog alternative usually means warm, enveloping sounds but limited functionality and delay time. Silos, improbably perhaps, offers a very elegant solution to this can’t-have-it-all dilemma in a U.S.-made effect.
A More Complete Cobbling Together
Silos’ utility is bolstered by a very unintimidating control set, which is streamlined and approachable. Three of those controls are dedicated to the same mix, time, and repeats controls you see on any delay. But saving a preset to one of the six spots on the rotary preset dial is as easy as holding the green/red illuminated button just below the mix and preset knobs. And you certainly won’t get lost in the weeds if you move to the 3-position toggle, which switches between a clear “digital” voice, darker “analog” voice, and a “tape” voice which is darker still.
“The three voices offer discernibly different response to gain devices.”
One might suspect that a tone control for the repeats offers similar functionality as the voice toggle switch. But while it’s true that the most obvious audible differences between digital, BBD, and tape delays are apparent in the relative fidelity and darkness of their echoes, the Silos’ three voices behave differently in ways that are more complex than lighter or duskier tonality. For instance, the digital voice will never exhibit runaway oscillation, even at maximum mix and repeat settings. Instead, repeats fade out after about six seconds (at the fastest time settings) or create sleepy layers of slow-decaying repeats that enhance detail in complex, sprawling, loop-like melodic phrases. The analog voice and tape voice, on the other hand, will happily feed back to psychotic extremes. Both also offer satisfying sensitivity to real-time, on-the-fly adjustments. For example, I was tickled with how I could generate Apocalypse Now helicopter-chop effects and fade them in and out of prominence as if they were approaching or receding in proximity—an effect made easier still if you assign an expression pedal to the mix control. This kind of interactivity is what makes analog machines like the Echoplex, Space Echo, and Memory Man transcend mere delay status, and the sensitivity and just-right resistance make the process of manipulating repeats endlessly engaging.
Doesn't Flinch at Filth
EarthQuaker makes a point of highlighting the Silos’ affinity for dirty and distorted sounds. I did not notice that it behaved light-years better than other delays in this regard. But the three voices most definitely offer discernibly different responses to gain devices. The super-clear first repeat in the digital mode lends clarity and melodic focus, even to hectic, unpredictable, fractured fuzzes. The analog voice, which EQD says is inspired by the tone makeup of a 1980s-vintage, Japan-made KMD bucket brigade echo, handles fuzz forgivingly inasmuch as its repeats fade warmly and evenly, but the strong midrange also keeps many overtones present as the echoes fade. The tape voice, which uses aMaestro Echoplex as its sonic inspiration, is distinctly dirtier and creates more nebulous undercurrents in the repeats. If you want to retain clarity in more melodic settings, it will create a warm glow around repeats at conservative levels. Push it, and it will summon thick, sometimes droning haze that makes a great backdrop for slower, simpler, and hooky psychedelic riffs.
In clean applications, this decay and tone profile lend the tape setting a spooky, foggy aura that suggests the cold vastness of outer space. The analog voice often displays an authentic BBD clickiness in clean repeats that’s sweet for underscoring rhythmic patterns, while the digital voice’s pronounced regularity adds a clockwork quality that supports more up-tempo, driving, electronic rhythms.
The Verdict
Silos’ combination of features seems like a very obvious and appealing one. But bringing it all together at just less than 150 bucks represents a smart, adept threading of the cost/feature needle.
EarthQuaker Devices Silos Multi-generational Time Reflection Delay Pedal
