“Ihad to make sure he had all the tones he needed – the intro to Ain’t Talkin’ ’Bout Love is like taking a flint and stone to make a spark”: How a glam-metal guitarist built Joe Satriani an amp that captured Eddie Van Halen’s tone

Joe Satriani performs on stage at Harrah's Resort Southern California on May 10, 2024 in Valley Center, California.

If Joe Satriani asks you to build an amp to make him sound like Eddie Van Halen – specifically the Eddie we hear and see in Van Halen’s Live Without a Net (1986) – it’s a request you’d better take seriously.

This is exactly what happened to Dylana Nova Scott, founder/owner of Minnesota-based 3rd Power, who was entrusted with handling Satch’s tones on this year’s Sammy Hagar-fronted Best of All Worlds tour. Together they created the DRGN 100 Custom Shop head, packed with a whole range of new features to bring the legendary tones of Van Halen’s 1968 Marshall Super Lead (serial number 12301, to be precise) into the modern age.