Get the EJ set. Eric has been using his sig models with those pickups in it since mid 2000’s when the model was released. I had them in all 3 of my EJ’s and they’re the best set Fender makes IMO. And his clean chime is in big part to his two twins (or deluxes) running with one or two delay pedals and a chorus.
Yummy You can definitely get that Eric Johnson chime with these pickups. Maybe a little hotter but a different tone then what I'm used to from regular strat pickups. But still very good.
That's a particularly nice one you scored there...the burst has a nice amount of black and the wood grain is nice and even.Congratulations!!
That's one of EJ's quirky mods - it actually does work though - there is Graphtech String Saver material at the string contact point that reduces some of the treble on the high E. Eric originally used a brass block saddle on his vintage strats, but in designing the Virginia production model found that the Graphtech stainless block saddle yielded the same results. I bought a set of those years ago, but as a full set it made my guitar sound too dark. When I heard they were releasing the Virginia with that mod I dug my old set and tried it just on the high E and sure enough it made a difference - better match timbre-wise with the other strings.
NICE! Mine hasn’t seen the inside of its case since I got it. I hadn’t bought a new guitar in years, but these are great sounding, well-made instruments. Had a bone nut installed and PLEK job done as well at Sweetwater. Enjoy!!