What makes up the core satriani tone?

SatchBoogie · #1 04-29-2005, 01:51 PM

Hi everyone,

I've been a Satch fan from the late 80's and although I have pretty much his gear I still don't have his sound completely nailed. So my question is what is the core of his sound? DS-1 + DD-2 + JS?

Although he uses a lot of pedals in different songs, which are his primary ones aside from the DS-1? Is it the Chandler delays that give is tone the warm, full body on Starry Night?

How about on Satch Boogie? Is it purely Whah footwork?

My gear is a JS1000bp, DS-1, Tech21 Trademark60 Amp. What should be the next purchase?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Andelusion · #2 04-29-2005, 01:55 PM

What do you mean by 'Whah footwork?' in Satch Boogie? He's not using a Wah pedal or did i just not get you? hehe

I'm pretty sure his tone is all in the EQ, if you're after another tool to get some similar Satch sounding tone sounds then go for a Fulltone Ultimate Octave pedal (You can hear it on the live version of Borg Sex pretty well although he uses it all other the place).

To be honest though, i'm seriously a believer in tone is in the fingers

And Joe's tone changes way too much to nail 'his tone' anyway.

whatshisname · #3 04-29-2005, 02:08 PM

I remember that he used to use a buttload of Boss pedals, that got stolen several years back. He used a DS-1 into a Marshall set as clean as he could get it, and got all of his distortion from the pedal.

SatchBoogie · #4 04-29-2005, 02:12 PM

Sorry the Whah reference was actually for The Crush of Love. What is he using though for the Satch Boogie tone?

JTM45 · #5 04-29-2005, 02:44 PM

I know he uses a Keeley modified DS-1 most of the time.

I think most of his sound and tone comes from his ability as a great guitarist.
If you can play like that pedals are just something to polish an already amazing sound!

SatchBoogie · #6 04-29-2005, 03:21 PM

Anyone use a Line6 PodXT? It has some Satriani pre-settings. Do they sound authentic?

Drew · #7 04-29-2005, 03:43 PM

I thought he went back to a stock DS-1? Something about not liking the sound of true bypass...

I got a pretty "authentic" "Love in Space" era tone out of a Tone Zone 7 in basswood driving a Marshall TSl, bass-mid-treble at 4-6-4 with the gain at 7 or so and presence about 4. Basically, moderately high (but not oversaturated) gain coupled with a fairly hot PAF-ish pickup and lots of mids will get you there.

But yes, so much of what makes Joe sound like Joe is in his touch on the instrument.

Artist · #8 04-29-2005, 07:03 PM

Studio tones are impossible to nail because microphones, placement, mic pres, AD/DA converters and algorithms (as well as any eqing, exciting, expanding, compressing etc) all add to the tone.
Live sounds are achievable (seeing the guy live, not a live album which is treated the same way as a studio album) and are not so difficult to achieve, and aren't usually as 'amazing or mystifying' as studio albums. It's the players touch that will make them sound like themselves regardless of sound.
I think the main point with a lot of players is the power amp section. Your amp has to be at a hefty volume to achieve these sounds, and get all the sustain and warmth they have.
This is why we struggle to achieve the great sounds these guys have, because bedroom levels are not good enough.

red5 · #9 04-30-2005, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JTM45

I know he uses a Keeley modified DS-1 most of the time.

I think most of his sound and tone comes from his ability as a great guitarist.
If you can play like that pedals are just something to polish an already amazing sound!

Right on. The sound demo of the Keeley DS-1 on www.robertkeeley.com even sounds like Satch quite a bit.. another big part of his tone is his guitar wood and pickups. I was playing a JS1000 through a JCM 2000 DSL and a Vox AC30 and it sounded a lot more like Satriani then I thought it would!!!!

VanWyck · #10 04-30-2005, 02:54 AM

I've heard good things about the Tech 21 products but what I see as missing here is some tubes. Oh yeah, and Joe's touch...

Gex · #11 04-30-2005, 04:08 AM

I think if you get a nice cruncy very-overdriven amp, a nice delay, and a basswood bodied guitar with a Floyd style trem and Dimarzio humbuckers, and guage 9 strings, you can get close enough to satisfy the biggest Satch fan. There is alot of his sound in the way he plays (attacks) the instrument, so keep that in mind.

Me, I use my 1992 Ibanez RG550 into my JSX with a Visual Sound H20 (Echo on) in the loop

DotNetTim · #12 05-07-2005, 04:36 AM

I agree. The power amp section is where it's at! If you can move air and speakers you'll get the good sound especially if it's a Power Amp driven by tubes in my eperience, although now days I'm beggining to believe if it's not Digital, but rather analog at least it's pretty good.. I even like some of the digital things out there, but if you listen to them side by side a tube amp with killer power amp distortion, it's hard to beat that..
Tim

**jemaholic** · #13 05-07-2005, 08:52 AM

In the G-3 DVD with Yngwie, Joe's tone in Voodoo Child is clearly the best live sound of the three- and I love all those guys, but Steve and Yngwie both sound thin compared to Joe.

....and BTW-- how does he do that super-high dive bomb from behind the left hand???!!!