Joe Satriani | Birthday Tribute!

Born July 15th 1956, Joe Satriani is 54 today!



In this clip from the Seville '92 Expo Guitar Legends concert, Joe is backed by the incredible rhythm section of Nathan East and Steve Ferrone!

1982 Ibanez Rocket Roll Formerly Owned By Joe Satriani on eBay!

Here's an interesting listing for a 1982 Ibanez Rocket Roll II  Flying V on eBay, formerly owned by Joe Satriani!

The documentation that comes with this guitar states that it was consigned to Real Guitars in San Francisco by Satriani himself, although according to the seller Satriani could not remember if the guitar was used on any of his recordings.  Modifications to the instrument, including the addition of two Seymour Duncan Seth Lover pickups were also done at Real Guitars.

Produced for a short time between 1982 and 1983, the Rocket Roll II came a couple of years after the Destroyer II, Ibanez's variation on the Gibson Explorer.  Together with the Ibanez Iceman, the Rocket Roll II and Destroyer II were Ibanez's early forays into the hard rock and heavy metal markets and precursors to the shred axes that Ibanez has become so well known for.

Do the necessary research if you're getting this guitar for the owned-by-Satriani mojo aspect.

(eBay Item #: 190399406612)

Joe Satriani's Experience Hendrix 2010 Guitars Revealed!

The folks at Premier Guitar have detailed Joe Satriani's pedalboard and amp setup as well the single-coil equipped prototype Ibanez JS custom axes he used for the recent Experience Hendrix 2010 tour!

Satch also talks about his switch to Marshall heads from his signature Peavey JSX's for both Chickenfoot and Experience Hendrix.

“At the start of the Chickenfoot tour, I noticed that my Peavey JSX rig sounded more specialized for someone playing lead guitar all night.  I had Marshall send me some different stuff to try out in Vienna, and I ended up using a JVM410 for the rest of the tour. It made such a profound difference, because I’m playing rhythm guitar most of the time in that band.  I was shocked to find that using a Vox Satchurator into a Marshall 6100 Anniversary head’s clean channel was really the best sound." 

Satriani tonehounds take note.

But it doesn't stop there!  Those resourceful PG folks also give us a great all access view of  the guitars and gear of Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Jonny Lang, Susan Tedeschi, Robert Randolph and Vernon Reid. 

And not forgetting of course Eric Johnson's particularly quirky setup complete with specific wooden folding chair on which he places his Marshall head for the ultimate in tone! 

http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2010/Jun/Axes_Bold_as_Love_The_Gear_of_Experience_Hendrix_Tour_2010.aspx?Page=1

(Pic and Quote Source:  http://www.premierguitar.com/)

Joe Satriani and Living Colour | Experience Hendrix 2010

For those of us who couldn't be there, here's a vid of Joe Satriani and Living Colour burning it up on Foxy Lady at Experience Hendrix 2010!

Satch is in fine form here, eliciting some Hendrix-approved tones from his custom three single-coiled, maple-neck Ibanez.  Nice color too.  Let me guess -- Neptune Blue?

Joe Satriani Talks About Experience Hendrix 2010, New Live DVD and Chickenfoot

In the first segment of this interview, our favorite alien Joe Satriani talks about how the various artists on the Experience Hendrix roster are selected to perform together and also mentions that his 'back-up band' for Experience Hendrix 2010 will be none other than Living Colour!   Joe Satriani going toe-to-toe with Living Colour's Vernon Reid will be an awesome spectacle indeed!

Satch also talks about his new DVD 'Live In Paris', songwriting with Sammy Hagar and future plans to record new demos with Chickenfoot. 

Talk about having his work cut out for him!

Experience Hendrix 2010 Tour Dates Announced

The Experience Hendrix 2010 tour is set to kick-off in March with an all-star lineup including Joe Satriani, Jonny Lang, Eric Johnson, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Brad Whitford, Doyle Bramhall II, Ernie Isley, Living Colour, Double Trouble's Chris Layton, Billy Cox, Sacred Steel featuring Robert Randolph, Susan Tedeschi and David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas of Los Lobos.

The following tour dates and venues have been announced with some already sold out!:

• March 4th - Arlington Theater - Santa Barbara, CA
• March 5th - Gibson Amphitheatre - Universal City, CA
• March 6th - The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel - Las Vegas, NV
• March 7th - Ikeda Theater - Mesa, AZ
• March 9th - Table Mountain Casino - Friant, CA -- SOLD OUT
• March 10th - Warfield Theatre - San Francisco, CA
• March 11th - Warfield Theatre - San Francisco, CA
• March 12th - Silver Legacy - Reno, NV
• March 14th - Paramount Theater - Denver, CO
• March 15th - Stiefel Theatre For Performing Arts - Salina, KS
• March 16th - Uptown Theater - Kansas City, MO
• March 17th- Orpheum Theatre - Minneapolis, MN
• March 18th - Chicago Theatre - Chicago, IL
• March 20th - The Fox Theatre - ST Louis, MO
• March 21st - Riverside Theatre - Milwaukee, WI -- SOLD OUT
• March 23rd - Civic Theatre - Akron, OH
• March 24th - Wellmont Theatre - Montclair, NJ
• March 25th - Count Basie Theatre - Red Bank, NJ --  SOLD OUT
• March 27th - The Fox Theatre - Atlanta, GA
• March 28th - Durham Performing Arts Center - Durham, NC

Check out http://www.experiencehendrixtour.com/schedule for more details and artist performance roster.

What Six Real Guitar Heroes Have To Say About Guitar Hero The Game

With the debate going on about the educational merits, or lack thereof, of Guitar Hero, here's what six of our real guitar heroes have to say:

Jimmy Page:

"Obviously, there have been overtures made to Led Zeppelin, but if you start with the first track on the first album, Good Times Bad Times, and you think of the drum part that John Bonham did there -- how many drummers in the world can actually play that, let alone dabble on a Christmas morning?  There could be a lot of alcohol consumed over Christmas, and you still aren't going to get it."

Yngwie Malmsteen:
"I actually think it's a good thing. I do. I think because it introduces kids to music. I was sitting in the airport in Miami, I don't know, a couple of months ago. We were flying somewhere, and me and my drummer and my bass player or somebody, probably my singer too, we were sitting at this restaurant waiting and this little kid, he couldn't have been more than eight or nine years old, and he looks up at us and goes, 'Hey, are you guys in a band?, We go, 'yeah.' 'I want to be in a band!' And this was so cool because a few years ago that wouldn't be happening. Plus, I see in the audience when I play now, every night there's very, very young kids. This is a great thing."

Carlos Santana:
"If you're going to spend that much time and energy, get yourself a real guitar.  I'm not into virtual anything, if it's not the real thing."

Steve Vai:

"Now I can jam with people in the comfort of their own plastic!"

Joe Satriani:
"I've stood at the end of the aisle at Best Buy and watched eight-year-old kids completely dominate the game, but I haven't played. A couple of my songs are featured on the games, so they've sent me the console. But I've never opened the box. I don't think it would be any fun for me -- there are only three or four buttons. Plus I seriously thought I'd mess up my head. One night onstage, I'd be looking for the green and yellow buttons and it would just be strings and frets and I'd be confused."

Jeff Beck:
"Who wants to be in a kid’s game, like a toy shop?  There’s just this mad avalanche of material that’s available, so it’s so hard for aspiring young players to find where they should go (and) not be enslaved to yet another tool or device."



Thanks to Stratoblogster's Jeff Beck article for inspiring this one!

Birthday Salute -- Sammy Hagar

It's hard to believe this guy is 62.

And Sammy Hagar, born 13th October 1947, shows no signs of stopping.

With an amazing career spanning several decades that included a stint in Montrose, a successful solo career, and over ten years as Van Halen's frontman, Hagar has once again reinvented himself with the much publicized, all-star Chickenfoot.

While Hagar's stock-in-trade is as a frontman with tremendous vocal prowess, he also possesses a pretty decent rock/blues-based guitar style. Occasionally going toe-to-toe with Joe Satriani in Chickenfoot -- he also used to trade licks with Eddie onstage in Van Halen -- Hagar proves he's no slouch in the guitar department.

In this vid, Sammy performs 'I Can't Drive 55' -- one of his hits from his years as a solo artist -- with his former Van Halen buddies on their '89 Japan tour. Check out his alternate-picked solo at 3:56 in the video. You didn't think he could play like that, huh?

Famous Guitar Cameos

Here's a song-by-song listing of famous (and not so famous) guitar cameos. I've always been interested to see the kind of musical fingerprints my favorite guitar players leave on the work of other musicians.

Sometimes these collaborations work, sometimes not. Usually they do.

It's by no means a complete list so do drop me a comment if you know of any more I might have left out -- there must be dozens, if not hundreds more:


Let's Dance (David Bowie) -- Stevie Ray Vaughan

This Is Not America (David Bowie) -- Pat Metheny

Western Vacation (Western Vacation) -- Steve Vai (using the moniker Reckless Fable for legal reasons)

Stories To Tell (Stanley Clarke) -- Allan Holdsworth

Ellipsis (Pat Martino) -- Joe Satriani

Clowns On Velvet (Frank Zappa) -- Al Di Meola (only bootlegs of this live recording exist)

Chinese Fire Alarm (Kittyhawk) -- Robben Ford (from a rare out-of-print album -- great solo with extremely cool phrasing!)

Monmouth College Fight Song (The Yellowjackets) -- Robben Ford

Attack Of The 20lb. Pizza (Vinnie Colaiuta) -- Mike Landau

Beat It (Michael Jackson) -- Eddie Van Halen

Eyesight To The Blind (from the soundtrack for 'Tommy') -- Eric Clapton

While My Guitar Gently Weeps (The Beatles) -- Eric Clapton (Clapton is uncredited on the song due to legal reasons)

Peg (Steely Dan) -- Jay Graydon (this is actually more of a session job by Graydon than a guest cameo, but what the heck, it's still a classic)

All Along The Watchtower (Jimi Hendrix) -- Dave Mason (on 12-string rhythm guitar)

Mediterranean Sundance (Al Di Meola) -- Paco De Lucia