“One of my favorite moments”: That time Eric Johnson shredded a custom Dean V – which had been built for Dave Mustaine to use on the Experience Hendrix tour

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The custom axe nods to one of Hendrix’s most iconic guitars and was used by the Megadeth frontman on the Experience Hendrix tour

Eric Johnson
(Image credit: Andrew Michael Barnes Instagram)

In a strange collision of musical universes, new video footage has emerged online showing blues-rock maestro Eric Johnson strutting his stuff on a Dean V metal guitar that had been built for Dave Mustaine.

The clip was posted to Instagram by Andrew Michael Barnes, one of the American firm's Custom Shop luthiers, who explained how the pointy axe had been put together for an Experience Jimi Hendrix tour, likely from 2022.

The Experience Hendrix extravaganza is an annual tour that unites a star-studded cast alongside mainstays Eric Johnson and Hendrix bassist Billy Cox to pay tribute to the late virtuoso's legacy.

That year – 2022 – saw Dave Mustaine, Joe Satriani, and Dweezil Zappa join the bill, and while Mustaine looked to Barnes for a V that doffed its cap to Hendrix's Love Drops V, which was reissued late last year, Johnson clearly couldn't resist taking it for a test drive.

In the clip, Johnson puts the guitar through its paces, with a thick octave fuzz pedal engaged somewhere out of shot. The wry smile and raised fists at the end hint towards the electric guitar meeting Johnson's approval.

“One of my favorite moments,” Barnes' caption states. “Mr. Eric Johnson shredding on a Dean axe I assembled for Mr. Dave Mustaine to use on the Experience Hendrix tour years ago.

Zakk Wylde was also a guest star on the night in question, evident from the number of Wylde Audio six-string guitars loitering in the background.

After the 2024 edition of the tour featured Hendrix's ‘Izabella’ Strat, the 2025 edition wrapped up on April 12, having featured the likes of Eric Johnson, Zakk Wylde, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd alongside young guns Ally Venable and Marcus King.

Dean's V-shaped guitars have been the center of a lawsuit from Gibson, with the firm winning the right to a retrial in July 2024 after an initial verdict went in Gibson's favour, but lost again, with Dean's owner quick to hit back with a response.

In related news, Mustaine has announced that Megadeth are due to retire after their next album cycle. Eric Johnson has also revealed he was fired from a session gig after he couldn't come up with the goods during the early stages of his career.

Phil Weller
Phil Weller

A freelance writer with a penchant for music that gets weird, Phil is a regular contributor to Prog, Guitar World, and Total Guitar magazines and is especially keen on shining a light on unknown artists. Outside of the journalism realm, you can find him writing angular riffs in progressive metal band, Prognosis, in which he slings an 8-string Strandberg Boden Original, churning that low string through a variety of tunings. He's also a published author and is currently penning his debut novel which chucks fantasy, mythology and humanity into a great big melting pot.

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