Eric Johnson pedalboard on a budget2018 documented board rebuilt for ≈ $838

The Nano is not a generic tape-delay model: it is EHX's compact all-analogue Deluxe Memory Man, with a bucket-brigade delay line, input Level, Blend, Feedback, up to 550 ms and genuine chorus/vibrato modulation. It therefore keeps the overload behaviour and warm modulated repeats Johnson switches into the clean branch.

Trade-off. The 2018 large-format unit has the older DMM control relationship and its own component tolerances. The Nano replaces the original Chorus/Vibrato rate switch with separate Rate and Depth controls, runs from modern 9 V power and will not reproduce the exact noise, headroom or ageing of Johnson's unit. It is the least dramatic saving here because preserving the actual analogue design costs more than a digital imitation.

The SCF Gold is the rare budget substitute that is also the official reissue. It retains the analogue BBD chorus, pitch-modulation and flanger modes, adjustable input preamp, overload indication and dual stereo outputs that define Johnson's clean spread. The retailer explicitly identifies the same BBD circuit and offers it new for less than many generic stereo choruses.

Trade-off. It is not Johnson's Denmark-built, mains-powered vintage specimen. The reissue uses a modern 9 V supply, revised preamp headroom and current-production BBD parts, so noise floor, clipping point and calibration will differ. The $499 original-side figure is a disclosed vintage dealer reference, not a claim about new retail.

The TO800 preserves the 4558 op-amp, symmetrical diode clipping and mid-focused Tube Screamer architecture at the exact point where Johnson uses the TS808 to focus and drive the Fuzz Face. This is a circuit-led swap rather than merely another green overdrive.

Trade-off. The plastic enclosure, electronic switching and jacks are the economy. Component tolerances, output stage and bypass interaction will not duplicate a selected vintage TS808, and a buffered pedal before a Fuzz Face changes cleanup compared with plugging the fuzz directly into the guitar—an interaction Johnson intentionally accepts in this documented order.

JHS builds the 3 Series Fuzz around the same classic 1960s two-transistor family, then exposes transistor bias as a control. That keeps the touch response, guitar-volume cleanup and ragged-to-sustaining range needed after the TO800, while the Fat switch can restore low end lost into a brighter amp.

Trade-off. A two-transistor topology does not guarantee Johnson's selected Fuzz Face sound. The JHS uses a modern silicon interpretation with Bias and Fat controls rather than the exact transistors, temperature behaviour and two-control network of the late-1960s unit. The original-side price is the current vintage-spec Dunlop replacement, not the collector value of Johnson's pedal.

The MS-70CDR+ can store a dedicated flanger patch and a second short-delay doubling patch, run in mono or stereo and recall the required texture without carrying a rack processor. That preserves both jobs named on the MXR rather than quietly replacing the unit with a flanger that cannot double.

Trade-off. The Zoom is digital and menu-driven. It does not reproduce the MXR's analogue BBD delay line, Manual/Regen interaction, continuously variable wet mix, polarity inversion, line-level headroom or immediate Flange/Doubler switching. Build two restrained patches and level-match them; copying knob positions is impossible.

The Hellbabe keeps a full treadle, adjustable heel frequency, fine range control and optional spring return, so its sweep can be narrowed toward Johnson's vocal lead phrasing before the EP-style preamp. Its boost can remain at unity because the following two stages already supply level and drive.

Trade-off. The HB01 senses the treadle optically and shapes the filter differently from the Cry Baby's potentiometer-and-inductor circuit. Its sweep, Q, toe switch feel and bypass loading will not match the Dunlop, and the plastic upper assembly is less roadworthy. This preserves the expressive job, not the wah circuit.

The EP Booster is specifically built from the EP-3 preamp idea: a discrete FET path, low-impedance output and deliberately warm harmonic lift rather than a transparent volume pedal. Run it low in the lead branch to retain the Echoplex sweetening Johnson wanted after the wah and before the Tube Driver.

Trade-off. It is a compact interpretation, not the entire EP-3 preamp and power supply transplanted component for component. The single external control combines level and coloration, while internal switches alter bass and brightness; it cannot reproduce Bill Webb's particular modification, ageing parts or the loading of the tape chassis. The $1,250 figure is a vintage-market reference.

The Tube Pilot follows the same performance approach instead of substituting a diode-only drive: a real 12AX7 is pushed by a dedicated Drive control and its output is levelled into the Marshall. It is a simple, current and orderable route to the compressed tube saturation at the end of Johnson's lead branch.

Trade-off. The two-knob TC circuit is not a Tube Driver clone. It lacks the Butler's separate low and high EQ, integrated mains supply, exact plate-voltage arrangement and Johnson-specific tube or bias selection, and it can become brighter and grainier at high gain. The 400 mA draw also needs a suitable isolated supply.