For the past eight years, Nick Johnston’s name has appeared on more Schecter guitars than anyone else’s – an impressive feat, given how their list of signature endorsees includes Robert Smith, Synyster Gates and Robin Zander.
But it goes even further than that; for a number of years, the Canadian guitarist’s Diamond Series Traditional was the best-selling signature guitar for the industry as a whole.
Ask Johnston why and he’ll tell you it was a mixture of good fortune and impeccable timing, likening the experience to catching a falling star.
“We filled a void in the market by pure chance,” he tells GW. “At the time, it felt like nobody in the instrumental world was playing technical guitar on an S-style instrument.
“People quickly realized my guitar was cheaper than a Mexican Strat and better made, coming in ice cream colors with locking tuners, brass inlays and more.
“Somehow the most magical thing happened, and it became this industry-standard tool. I still don’t know how they make it at that price point. I’ve never seen an import and custom shop guitar so close in quality.”
On his latest solo album, Child of Bliss, his red custom shop signature was fed into a mixture of Orange, Friedman, Mesa/Boogie and Marshall amps. Given his penchant for direct sounds, no pedals were involved, but since completing the recordings he’s finally found “the one.”
“Recently I’ve been using a Brass Tacks boost/overdrive by Riveter Electric,” he says. “They’re made by a guy out in Nashville. I don’t normally use pedals, but this one feels right.”
Of course, no Nick Johnston album would be complete without a generous serving of chromatics, twisting listeners’ ears in the way Guthrie Govan, Greg Howe and Richie Kotzen have done so many times in the past. Moments of ethereal beauty devolve and decay, sinking into the abyss before they miraculously find a way back out into the light.
“I can be a petulant child when it comes to that stuff,” Johnston says. “Songs like the title track go from pretty to weird then dark – classical kind of arrangements turning into a twisted guitar fantasy. It’s like setting the table with all this nice cutlery and fine china and then bringing a hammer out! It’s okay for things to sound broken.”
That very notion of disorder, he says, plays a big part in the identity of rock guitar playing. Some rules are made to be broken.
“It’s that uncontrollable flame, you know?” he says. “I stole that mindset from Yngwie Malmsteen, Eddie Van Halen and – more recently – from what Nuno Bettencourt has been doing.
“Some ideas might not seem right to play on paper, but they might still be perfect for that part. It’s good to smash things up a bit!”
- Child of Bliss is out now via Remarkably Human.
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