Joe Satriani is set to hit the road with Sammy Hagar, Jason Bonham and Michael Anthony to commence the hotly anticipated Best Of All World tour this weekend – and he’s given fans a comprehensive look at the electric guitars he’ll be taking with him.
Satch’s quest to harness Eddie Van Halen’s guitar tone – which will be key in helping him perform the Hagar- and Roth-era Van Halen material that will be part of the tour's setlist – has been meticulous, and well-documented.
First, it was revealed he’d commissioned a custom 3rd Power guitar amp to harness Van Halen’s 1986 sound. As for guitars, we’ve already seen Satch’s custom-configured EVH Striped Series ‘78 Eruption guitar and his similarly modded Frankenstein model.
Now, Satriani’s entire guitar rack has been disclosed in a new video, which reveals yet another new tour model that we were previously unaware of: a 1995 Music Man Wolfgang, which he bought on Reverb.
Along with those aforementioned EVHs, the Wolfgang will also be joined by a suite of Ibanez guitars, which confirms the theory that Satch still had a role for his own instruments in mind ahead of the tour.
Those include his Elephants of Mars model, the classic Chrome signature, and Red, White and Black variants.
The Wolfgang’s presence wasn’t the only new piece of information, though. Satriani also revealed the one mod he’s made to all his EVH guitars for the upcoming Van Halen-honoring shows, which involved equipping speed volume knobs to help with quick dynamic changes.
“I’m sure people will say, ‘What’s this speed knob doing here?’” Satch says when going over his Elephant of Mars guitar, the only Ibanez to feature the mod.
“Well, it’s because I need the numbers. Some of the songs, I really just need to look down really quick and find out where ‘four’ is on the volume knob.”
Indeed, the speed volume knob can be found on all the EVH models he’s got in his tour rack. It’s by no means the radical modification of the lot – it’s hardly a Sustainiac on a Frankie, for example – but it’s clearly the most important.
Indeed, the Frankie is the only EVH to have been fitted with a Sustainiac. The Wolfgang instead opts for a neck humbucker, and the Eruption model – which might not even see stage action, Satch says – has only one bridge pickup. The speed knob, meanwhile, is everywhere.
However, what’s perhaps most surprising is the fact Satch also confirmed his EVH instruments won't serve as his main touring guitars. Instead, that role will go to his chrome Ibanez signature, while the black variant will be his 5150 guitar.
“Those are the guitars I’m going to be bringing out,” Satriani concludes. “I’m not quite sure which ones are going to be the ones I’ll use on every song, but I’ll have fun. I’ll mix it up.”
Visit Sammy Hagar's website for a full list of upcoming Best of All Worlds tour dates.
