GHS Nickel Rockers R+EJL (.010–.050): Eric Johnson's custom light gauge

GHS Nickel Rockers R+EJL is the Custom Light half of the same rollerwound pure nickel family as GHS's own Nickel Rockers R+RL, just gauged heavier: .010 to .050 instead of .010 to .046, with a .018 plain third instead of .017. It is the exact gauge Eric Johnson played on his longer-scale guitars for years, per a 2015 interview where he called Nickel Rockers his favorite string.

Like the rest of the Nickel Rockers line, R+EJL wraps a pure nickel wire around a steel core, then runs it through GHS's computer-controlled precision rollers, which slightly flatten the outer surface. That rollerwinding step is what GHS calls a semi-flat string: smoother under the fingers than a fully round wrap, with a touch of extra tension baked in versus a standard round wind at the same gauge.

GHS's own current product page still sells this SKU today, listed simply as "R+EJL Set Custom Light," alongside five sibling Nickel Rockers gauges. What it doesn't do anymore is put Johnson's name on it. That gap between what GHS calls the set and what everyone else calls it is worth understanding before you buy.

Fetch GHS's own Nickel Rockers product page today and Eric Johnson is nowhere on it. The six sets sold under the "SETS - NICKEL ROCKERS" listing are named by SKU and gauge only, R+RXL, R+RL, R+EJL, R+RM, R+EJM, R+RXL/L, with zero artist copy attached to any of them. Johnson does not appear on GHS's current online artist roster either, a page that still lists roughly fifty other names, from Grace Potter to Flea.

Walk the same SKU over to Sweetwater, B&H Photo, Reverb, StewMac, or Guitar Center, and the product name changes: "Eric Johnson Signature," every time, independently, across retailers that do not share copy with each other. The "EJ" in the SKU code itself is the fossil record of a signature relationship GHS's own marketing has since scrubbed, without GHS ever actually discontinuing the product.

The paper trail explains the gap. In a 2015 feature, Johnson described this exact gauge as his own:

Less than two years later, Guitar World announced Johnson had joined D'Addario's artist roster instead, quoting him directly: he had started using D'Addario's Pure Nickel XLs and liked the response he got. GHS's marketing moved on with him gone; the physical product did not. One GHS customer, posting directly on GHS's own product page in 2020, said he still reaches for R+EJL specifically "for Jazz" among a rotation of three different Nickel Rockers gauges, a sign the set has a life independent of any one endorsement.

R+EJL sits between two close relatives in GHS's own Nickel Rockers family. R+RL is GHS's plain Light default, already covered in a full CYS review. R+EJM is Johnson's other documented gauge, the heavier set he reached for on shorter-scale guitars; GHS still sells it today, and it now has its own full CYS review.

If you already like R+RL and want the exact tension Johnson favored on his longer-scale instruments, R+EJL is the direct upgrade: same third-string logic, heavier wound strings and a heavier low E. For the full alloy story behind why pure nickel reads warmer than nickel-plated steel in the first place, see our pure nickel vs nickel-plated steel comparison.

Players chasing Eric Johnson's documented longer-scale tone, the Ah Via Musicom-era clean and lead sound built on this exact gauge. Blues and jazz players who want R+RL's warmth with more heft on the wound strings. Anyone who wants GHS's rollerwound pure nickel feel a half step heavier than standard Light without jumping all the way to Medium. Buyers who do not care whether GHS's own site still prints Johnson's name on the product, since the strings in the packet have not changed.

Players who specifically want a set GHS currently markets under an active artist's name should pick from GHS's current roster instead; this one is not on it anymore. Anyone chasing Johnson's current setup should look at D'Addario's Pure Nickel XL line, not this, since he switched brands in December 2016. Drop tunings and anything below E standard are not what this gauge is built for. Players who want the lightest possible feel should stay on R+RL's .010 to .046 instead of climbing to .050 on the low E.

R+EJL is a case where the product outlived its own marketing. GHS quietly stopped naming Eric Johnson on the set he once called his favorite string, but kept manufacturing and selling it, and the wider music retail industry, Sweetwater, B&H, Reverb, StewMac, Guitar Center, kept selling it under his name anyway. If you want his documented longer-scale gauge, or you just want GHS's pure nickel rollerwound tone with more tension on the wound strings than the standard R+RL offers, this is that set, regardless of whose name is or is not on the label today.