Johnny A.

Who better to talk about a signature guitar than the artist himself! Johnny A, guitar-instrumentalist extraordinaire, stops by the Wildwood studio to talk about his signature Johnny A Custom Shop Gibson Guitar!

Sitting in a hardshell case nearby is a sunburst Gretsch Viking, purchased new in 1967. “I was an impatient teenager when I bought that guitar,” A. says. “What I really wanted was a White Falcon, but they told me it was going to be a 13-month wait.

Elsewhere in the studio space are a recent-vintage Rickenbacker 360-12, a Jersey Girl electric with distinctive maple control knobs, a purple sparkle–finish Washburn acoustic/electric allegedly built for Prince to use on the 1984 Purple Rain tour, a 1993 Martin D-28 (“That guitar’s a cannon”), a rare three-pickup Silvertone from the Sixties, and a 1984 Bond Electraglide.

Elsewhere in the studio space are a recent-vintage Rickenbacker 360-12, a Jersey Girl electric with distinctive maple control knobs, a purple sparkle–finish Washburn acoustic/electric allegedly built for Prince to use on the 1984 Purple Rain tour, a 1993 Martin D-28 (“That guitar’s a cannon”), a rare three-pickup Silvertone from the Sixties, and a 1984 Bond Electraglide.

Elsewhere in the studio space are a recent-vintage Rickenbacker 360-12, a Jersey Girl electric with distinctive maple control knobs, a purple sparkle–finish Washburn acoustic/electric allegedly built for Prince to use on the 1984 Purple Rain tour, a 1993 Martin D-28 (“That guitar’s a cannon”), a rare three-pickup Silvertone from the Sixties, and a 1984 Bond Electraglide. That last guitar is a rare and bizarre Scottish-made electric model with a carbon-fiber body, graphite neck, digital controls, active electronics (which require an external power supply), and fingerboard that has no frets and resembles a staircase.

Among Johnny’s many other notable Gibsons are a 1936 L-00 (a Christmas present from his wife and daughter), a 1966 EB-0 bass, a custom Johnny A. Montana Advanced Jumbo with breathtaking woodwork, and a pink-and-white 1960 Skylark lap steel.

But his collection doesn’t revolve around just Gibsons. He also has a few Fenders, including a 1997 Telecaster Bajo Sexto and a James Burton Tele that he picked up during a 2005 appearance at Burton’s first International Guitar Festival in Shreveport, Louisiana.

But his collection doesn’t revolve around just Gibsons. He also has a few Fenders, including a 1997 Telecaster Bajo Sexto and a James Burton Tele that he picked up during a 2005 appearance at Burton’s first International Guitar Festival in Shreveport, Louisiana.

In this video from Epiphone, Johnny A. discusses his signature guitar from Epiphone, saying at 2:53:

Yeah, so I'm really excited about this guitar. It's the Epiphone version of my signature model. It's been a while coming. Jim Rosenberg and myself had started talking about doing this guitar about 3 years ago or so and it's taken this long to finally make it happen, and it's exciting because it puts the guitar at a price point where a lot of working class guys can buy it, you know. It's only been out with Gibson custom and it's very expensive, but to get this at a price point where it is now and with the quality being what it is, it's awesome.

I mean the construction internally is the same as the custom and it's multi-ply binding and it's real ebony on the board and it has real the real same classic '57 pickups that I use in the other guitar, so I'm pretty excited by it. They did a great job on it. The fit and finish looks really good. It plays great, you know.

A couple minor things that are different from the custom, like I think the truss rod configuration is a little bit different. But all in all, really, really great job.