Ok, I'll pitch in my .02
I was always a big fan of Joe's sounds. Back before I ever heard of him,
I was always wanting a double
humbucker sound, but in a strat style
body, but with a thin neck. I like the fat tone of a good humbucker, but
the Les Pauls were just not my style, and too heavy. The PRS were sweet,
and could pull the sounds I was looking for, but at $2500 for a decent
model, it was out of my price range (I was also 18 at the time). Stock
strats didn't cover it for me...too thin sounding...and all the other Carvin,
Gibsons, Deans...were close, but not quite right.
Then one day I hear of this
Joe Satriani guy, and I'm like, WOW he's
playing my guitar! The shape, the tone, the style. That' was where I
wanted to be! Now, keep in mind, I got into Joe kinda late. I didn't hear
of him till Flying in a Blue Dream...so he already had his JS style guitars.
So I saved up and got a JS-3, aka, Donnie.
To this day, after playing hundreds of different guitars, being a pro road
tech for 2 years, and bench tech for 4 years, building and modding guitars
for about 7 years...The JS guitars are the closest damn thing to my
dream guitar.
Honestly, there are only two things I would change on the JS.
I would use a thinner neck (Like the S series, or even a JEM neck),
and I wish it were made out of mohogany for a more rich tone (IMHO).
The S series is my runner up though. I find the pickups plain, and
(most) of the styling rather run of the mill. There were a couple of
exceptions though. I don't recall the model, but it was a mohogany
with an Edge, and H-S-H configuration. Though I never use the Single,
it's very versital. And if I were to purchase and S model, I would
probably go with a Fred bridge, (whatever single), and PAF Pro Neck.
It's been a while though since I've played with pickups, so maybe some
of the newer pickups might be more to your liking, but the FRED and PAF
Pro are just a stunning mix!
Ok, sorry to ramble. I guess I gave you .04 cents.
