When it was announced that Joe Satriani would be joining Sammy Hagar on the Best Of All Worlds Tour – what many believed to be the closest thing we’d ever get to a Van Halen tribute tour – the electric guitar virtuoso began a long process of perfecting his tone for the role.
Because, as Satriani admitted early on, his own rig just wouldn’t cut it. Instead, he had to develop a new setup that would allow him to harness the sonic spirit of Eddie Van Halen, whose guitar parts he'd be playing on tour.
This involved him not only working with 3rd Power to build a tube amp inspired by Eddie’s Marshall sound, but also modifying a few stock EVH Frankie guitars by equipping them with speed knobs, Sustainer pickups and more.
However, as Satch explains in the new issue of Guitarist, all those mods were absolutely necessary, because it took him a little while before he became accustomed to playing the Frankenstein. In fact, he found it borderline unplayable.
“When I went out there and got a Frankenstein, I tried seven and had to have the shop owner tell me how they sounded. Besides me feeling it – because it can be difficult to pick – the one that sounds good now didn’t come that way from the factory.
“It was lifeless and I struggled with keeping the guitar in tune. It must have taken two weeks of tweaking to wrestle that thing to the point where it would stay in tune.”
To overcome his problems, Satriani called upon Van Halen’s old guitar techs in order to get a better understanding of how he could optimize the design. From there, he took a few creative liberties, and turned the template into his own.
“We contacted all of Eddie’s techs to ask how they’d take things apart and redo them. How they’d file down this, put this screw there, change this or that – anything to keep the thing in tune,” he continues.
“Eventually, I changed the pickup to a Sustainiac. I knew I would need it because we’re playing Van Halen, Chickenfoot and even one of my songs. I said, ‘Okay, I may not have time to switch guitars. I’ll make each of these guitars work for several things.’”
It’s been a fairly extensive reimagining of Frankie, and not only has Satch had to face the wrath of certain fans who deem his tinkerings to be “sacrilegious”, he’s also previously joked that he fears Eddie Van Halen will haunt him for what he’s done to the iconic instrument.
His modifications have been successful, though, and Satch is currently tearing through Eddie’s guitar parts on the Best Of All Worlds tour. But to prep for the tour, he didn’t just overhaul his rig – he watched other guitarists cover Eddie Van Halen.
Visit Magazines Direct to pick up the latest issue of Guitarist, which includes the full interview with Joe Satriani – as well as a feature on how blues guitar exploded in 1960s Britain.
