While the AMS crew was in California for the NAMM 2026 show, Ryan stopped by Schecter to hang out with some pretty big legends in the music world, including the self-taught guitar virtuoso Nick Johnston!
We sat down with Nick Johnston to talk all about his Schecter Atomic Mercury guitar, the way guitar is the cure to lift his spirit, the signs his body gives him when he has gone too far, creativity, and the idea of being a musician.
Schecter Atomic Mercury
It was the fall of ‘25, and Nick Johnston was stoked. That's because his brand-new signature guitar just released!
“I started playing with Mastodon, and that band is synonymous with the silver burst. Part way through the first tour I cheekily asked Schecter to build a guitar for me that would be suited for this band.” While he waited for the guitar, he had to come up with a name for it. “We named it the ‘Atomic Mercury.’ And within a couple weeks (it was a rush job), it was the greatest guitar I have ever played!.”
Schecter Nick Johnston USA Traditional HH Guitar with Case Atomic Mercury
Special Price $3,649.00
Nick Johnston is loving every second he gets to work with Schecter. You can see that passion the way he has his guitars down to a science! “I am at eleven years with Schecter. The formula I have worked out with the company was the custom shop people got to play it, see what they think, and then the diamond series comes in to kinda complement it and now I can’t tell which is different in terms of aesthetics!”
The Atomic Mercury guitar is the celebration! A 10-year anniversary of Nick’s first guitar with Schecter. “Having a signature guitar for 10 years doesn't often happen. So keeping it simple but pushing it forward was the goal.”
Schecter Nick Johnston Traditional HH Electric Guitar Atomic Mercury
Special Price $1,299.00
The Dream of Schecter
“Everyone dreams about going to a guitar shop and hearing ‘what do you want?'” That was the gift Schecter gave to Johnston.
Nick got to go to a builders work space, and they got to work. “There was a wenge neck up on the custom shop builders supplies.You typically see them on a bass, but you don’t see them often on a guitar. So people asked me ‘Why did you pick that? Is it an audio thing or a tone wood thing?’ I said ‘No, it just looked cool.’”
Speaking of looking cool, Nick Johnston needed it to look very cool. “ I have been playing guitar for 25-26 years, and that's a long time to have a hobby, like one thing. I struggle all the time, and maybe other people do too, to want to play guitar. Sometimes something beautiful it’s all you need. How it makes me feel is more important to me.” The way it looks is part of the reason Nick Johnston picks it up. That feeling is one of his drivers to play.
The Cure for Depression Was the Strings
Ryan asked Nick Johnston how he gets warmed up to keep himself ready to perform. While running the scales for the 60,000th time would definitely help, Nick Johnston needs a little more.
“I have been playing guitar for so long now; I still play 6-8 hours everyday and write all the time. It’s so difficult to maintain that mentally for X amount of years that I have to enjoy what I am playing. I might do a pentatonic scale but improvise with a major six or a flat five. I’ll do that… maybe everywhere.”
When you’ve held a guitar for a significant portion of your life, you have to learn to trust yourself. Confidence is the key here. “You have to be confident that the technique is there. If it's not there, it's not there. It’s there, you put the time and effort into practicing, it will be there.”
Playing the guitar isn’t always sunshine and rainbows, or maybe it is? “Guitar used to be an idea wrapped around depression, and guitar was just such a cure for that. It’s not necessarily always about getting better; it's about feeling good.” Though it makes him feel great that there are other musical vises he can’t break from. “I have some technical stuff I do, but I don't enjoy that as much as I used to. Now it's more about the creation. I sit and write at the piano all day long and don't even think about the guitar sometimes.”
My Body Is Giving Me Signs
Once a young spry chicken, now… just chicken! “When I was in my 20s, I had terrible tendonitis where it felt like flames were coming out of my hands like spiderman webs. Well, at 24 you still have that belief that you're never going to get injured then you realize you’re just meat and that you aren’t that great.”
Most people would stop after some consistent stress or pain. So how did he get tendonitis at 24? “I am Canadian. At birth I had to sign in blood that I would play hockey. It was always the coaches saying play through the hurt. DON'T DO IT!” From here on out, Nick Johnston has sworn to grow slowly. There’s no need to rush. He says, “Everything will come to me in time.”
The Idea of Being a Musician
Nick Johnston explains that when he was younger, he always thought to be a guitar player you had to be a famous guitar player. “Now when I think of the word ‘musician,’ I don't feel worthy. It’s a strange personal feeling.”
It’s pretty wild to think someone so successful and who’s living millions of dreams in one life could feel so unworthy. “I think if you can sustain yourself doing the thing you love, you have reached it. I think so. I grew up in an impossibly small town of 100 people, so the concept of being a musician was so far-fetched. It’s a concept that was like wow an artist, a musician. Now staying in this world is a struggle in its own right.”
Now Grab Your Guitar and Play
You might feel those guitar skills slipping through your hands like hot sand. But that's okay because Nick Johnston recommends that you buy more gear. No seriously; he said that! So grab one of the awesome Schecter guitars here at AMS — or any of our other hundreds of brands — and get to playing. Creativity is the cure for most problems in life.
If you liked this interview, there are plenty more where that came from! Don’t forget to subscribe to the AMS YouTube channel for more content just like this.
