Brother Cane, Thin Lizzy and Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Damon Johnson has been on a long journey to nail his guitar tone, but his early revelation came by way of an amp that he says “was worth every penny” and shaped his tone, and career, ever since.
“In 1990, a friend guided me to ordering a modified ’72 100-watt Marshall Super Lead head that had been worked on by the late great Frank Levy. Spending $1,000 back then would be like spending $10,000 now, but it was worth every penny,” he says in the latest edition of Guitarist.
“That amp quite literally changed my life, as I had just put Brother Cane together and used that amp on stage and in the studio for our first album, and I still have it with me today. The compliments and encouragement I got from everyone around me about the sound of that amp was rocket fuel for my confidence.”
In a recent Guitar World interview, Johnson talked about his gear of choice throughout his impressive career. “My gear odyssey has been a lot of fun. My amp of choice changed after Brother Cane toured with Aerosmith in 1994, following the winter NAMM show. Joe Perry introduced me to Rick St. Pierre, who’d launched this new amp called Wizard. Rick took a real shine to me because he loved my blood-and-guts approach to playing guitar."
“The Wizard stuff was a staple of my rig through Alice Cooper, Thin Lizz, and Black Star Riders. Had it not been for my relationship with Gary Rossington [founding guitarist of Lynyrd Skynyrd] and his family, and how important Gary’s amps are to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s sound, I’d be playing Wizards there, too.
He continued, “My gear has been consistent for decades. It’s not that I’m not open to other stuff, but I’m not going to Guitar Center and checking out stuff because effects have not been an essential part of any band that I’ve ever been in. But I argue that Wizard amps are some of the great amps ever made; it’s like classic Marshall adjacent.”
For more from Damon Johnson, plus new interviews with Samantha Fish and Richard Hawley, pick up issue 514 of Guitarist at Magazines Direct.
