Playing electric guitar like Joe Satriani

You're a big fan of Joe Satriani, you've followed his solo and band career for a long time and you want to sound like him. Then you've come to the right place in our section "Play electric guitar like your favourite artist" . Here we show you everything you need to get as close as possible to Joe's personal sound. Along the way you'll also learn more about Joe's exciting career.

About Joe Satriani

Joe Satriani alias Satch is an American rock guitarist, composer and songwriter, who besides his solo career is also known for his band projects G3 and Chickenfoot.
Joe was born in 1956 in New York and became interested in rock music after the death of Jimi Hendrix. This event inspired him to teach himself to play the guitar. After graduating from high school he studied jazz with guitarist Billy Bauer and pianist Lennie Tristano. The latter in particular has shaped Joe's music to this day.

During and after his studies Joe worked as a guitar teacher; among his students were his friend Steve Vai, Kirk Hammett, Andy Timmons, Kevin Cadogan, Alex Skolnick and numerous other guitarists who later became true celebrities. After playing in several bands, Joe recorded his first solo album Not of This Earth, which was released in 1986. His second album Surfing with the Alien followed a year later and contained numerous songs that received regular airplay on US radio. To date Joe has recorded 18 studio albums in total and of course remains very active on the rock scene. He is also a member of the hard rock supergroups G3 and Chickenfoot and toured for a while with Deep Purple.

Characteristic of his playing are both his very singing melodic lines and his fast solo passages, which are often filled with his characteristic, fluid legato playing, as well as the virtuosic use of tapping. He draws on various scales, with the Lydian and Mixolydian scales and the blues scale usually being at the forefront.

Low-end guitars for Satch fans

Joe Satriani is an endorser for Ibanez and primarily plays his JS signature models on stage. However, with Joe's sound the playing technique is especially important, which of course can be perfected with more affordable guitars as well. Here you'll find a selection of budget guitars that closely resemble Joe's instruments:

Joe's high-end electric guitars

About Joe's guitars

As already mentioned, Joe is an endorser for Ibanez and therefore regularly has new JS signature guitars from the S Series built to his preferences. On stage Joe mostly plays these guitars, in the studio he tends to favour the classics, such as the Fender Stratocaster and Telecaster or the Gibson Les Paul. We've put together a selection of high-end electric guitars like the ones Joe himself plays.

"With 24 frets, a deeper cutaway and my Mo' Joe and Satch Track pickup combination these guitars are very freeing to play. I love the new JS models."

Joe Satriani on his JS signature models

Alternative high-end electric guitars

Other manufacturers also offer electric guitars in the high-end price range that are suitable for copying Joe's sound. Here we've put together a selection for you:

Joe's amplifiers

Joe relies on amplifiers from Marshall and Roland, his favourite being the Marshall JVM 410 Head. Occasionally other amps are used as well.

Joe's effect pedals

Accessories for Satriani fans