Thats what im thinking. Stinks but just the nature of his eqAs a solo guitar in a cover band his sound works… for Eric Johnson songs. For R&B or funk, not so much.
If there’s another guitarist then EQ is going to be important. Finding a way to fit that fat lead sound into a band bigger than a trio means narrowing the sound so it’d lose some of what Johnson counts on, the ability to fill the stage.