I used to see Eric Johnson a lot when he was with a group called the Electromagnets back in the middle 1970's. Back then I felt he was technically the best electric guitar player I had ever seen. I liked his music a bit more back then, too, because he played more variety. I am not a fan of the shredder guitar, but he sometimes played much more melodically than most of those guys. I would chat with him from time to time when we both happened to show up in my favorite music store. He was a nice guy.