GHS Nickel Rockers R+EJM (.011–.052): Eric Johnson's shorter-scale custom gauge

GHS Nickel Rockers R+EJM is the Custom Medium half of the same rollerwound pure nickel family as GHS's own Nickel Rockers R+RL and R+EJL, gauged .011 to .052. It's the heavier of Eric Johnson's two documented Nickel Rockers gauges, the one he reached for on his shorter-scale guitars, per the same 2015 feature that covers his lighter R+EJL choice for longer-scale instruments.

Like the rest of the Nickel Rockers line, R+EJM 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 into what GHS calls a semi-flat string. B&H's own spec sheet lists the wind shape as elliptical: 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+EJM Set Custom Medium," alongside five sibling Nickel Rockers gauges. What it doesn't do anymore is put Johnson's name on it.

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.

Retailers didn't get the memo. B&H Photo's own listing for this exact SKU names it "GHS R+EJM Nickel Rockers Eric Johnson Signature Medium" and calls out "Preferred by EJ on Shorter-Scale Guitars" as a bullet-point feature, even while B&H's own inventory shows the item no longer available in their store. Sweetwater lists the same SKU in stock today, filed under GHS's generic "Nickel Rockers" product line rather than Johnson's name specifically.

The paper trail explains where the "EJ" in R+EJM came from. In a 2015 feature, Johnson called this two-gauge Nickel Rockers setup his favorite string, and the magazine's own reporting laid out the split: for the most part, the medium weight set was for his shorter-scale guitars and the light set was for his longer-scale guitars. Less than two years later, Guitar World announced Johnson had joined D'Addario's artist roster instead, quoting him directly: he'd 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.

Real-world use of R+EJM outlived the endorsement, too, and in a direction Johnson never claimed. One longtime player, posting directly on GHS's own product page in 2020, described running all three Nickel Rockers gauges for different jobs:

That's a genuinely different reason to reach for this set than Johnson's own: not scale length, but tuning headroom. Both are legitimate, and neither requires GHS to still print anyone's name on the label.

R+EJM sits between two close relatives in GHS's own Nickel Rockers family. R+RM is GHS's plain Medium default (.011-.050, no dedicated CYS review yet). R+EJL is Johnson's other documented gauge, the lighter set he reached for on longer-scale guitars.

The B-string gauge is the detail worth noticing: R+EJM's .014 is actually lighter than R+RM's own .015, even though R+EJM runs heavier on the G, D, A, and low E strings (the high E ties at .011 on both). That's not a rounding artifact, it's the same custom-tension logic that shows up across both of Johnson's signature gauges, tuned per string rather than shifted as a flat block. 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 shorter-scale tone on a Gibson-scale (24.75-inch) guitar. Anyone who wants R+RM's Medium heft with a genuinely custom string-by-string tension curve instead of a flat gauge bump. Guitarists who tune down a half step or more and want more low-string tension than a Light or standard Medium gives them, whether or not they care about the Johnson connection. Buyers who do not care whether GHS's own site still prints his name on the product, since the strings in the packet haven't 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. Beginners who have never played anything past a Light gauge may find the jump to .011 medium takes a session to adjust to. Players who want the lightest possible feel should look at R+EJL's .010 to .050 or GHS's standard Light instead.

R+EJM is the other half of a two-gauge signature story GHS quietly stopped telling. Johnson matched this heavier, custom-tensioned set to his shorter-scale guitars for years before his 2016 move to D'Addario, and the physical product never left GHS's catalog even after the marketing did. Whether you want his documented shorter-scale gauge, GHS's pure nickel rollerwound tone with more low-string tension than standard Medium, or simply more headroom for down-tuned playing, this is that set, regardless of whose name is or isn't on the label today.