Satriani : the blue album and his sound

[always SD]

hi folks
i have always liked the sound of "flying in a blue dream" and the whole cd
i know that he played with a BOSS DS1

i have the satchurator but it's not enough
i have not his amp so,
>>>have you ever had a sound close to him at home ? or with computer (pedals, garage band)

[jeremy]

Re: Satriani : the blue album and his sound

He has plenty of gain but it's his fingers and the rest of his rig too. His rig isn't overly complicated but he's a beast of a player. He could play that stuff with a clean tone and still make it sing. Also chasing a recorded tone live is usually a losing proposition

[Chickenwings]

Re: Satriani : the blue album and his sound

i have not his amp

this is difficult.
A high gain marshall style tube amp is an essential ingredient.

[B2D]

Re: Satriani : the blue album and his sound

I'm a big Satch fan. I've never tried to cop his sound directly, but I've studied it a lot. The best way to do it in a nutshell is this:

- Basswood-bodied Ibanez-type guitar loaded with the pickups he uses (the FRED/MoJoe and Paf Pro/PAF Joe) are a BIG part of the sound.
- Marshall-style gain up high, crank the mids.
- Get good with your legato technique and get comfy with a whammy bar.

...and go to town. Essential effects would be a good wah (use a fat-sounding one with a lot of mids and set to low range), a DS1, a good delay, and a Chorus.

Here's one of the better rig rundowns. Demo starts at 7:33

[always SD]

Re: Satriani : the blue album and his sound

i juste want a pedal to have a sound like he had in this "blue album"
i have a js 1200 ibanez
sl5 MArshall
pedals

a LAney amp too

and i have have some sounds of his "Super Colossal" (2006) + live album but the sound that i like is one of the "flying in a blue dream"
or he just played with pedals or pa system or with an engineer

[treyhaislip]

Re: Satriani : the blue album and his sound

He has plenty of gain but it's his fingers and the rest of his rig too. His rig isn't overly complicated but he's a beast of a player. He could play that stuff with a clean tone and still make it sing. Also chasing a recorded tone live is usually a losing proposition

I'm a big Satch fan. I've never tried to cop his sound directly, but I've studied it a lot. The best way to do it in a nutshell is this:

- Basswood-bodied Ibanez-type guitar loaded with the pickups he uses (the FRED/MoJoe and Paf Pro/PAF Joe) are a BIG part of the sound.
- Marshall-style gain up high, crank the mids.
- Get good with your legato technique and get comfy with a whammy bar.

...and go to town. Essential effects would be a good wah (use a fat-sounding one with a lot of mids and set to low range), a DS1, a good delay, and a Chorus.

Here's one of the better rig rundowns. Demo starts at 7:33

+1 To both of these responses! Satriani is just an outstanding guitar player...always loved his tone and songs!

Oddly enough, I stumbled on a tone that sounded very similar to "Into The Light" using a Fender USA Deluxe loaded with Fat 50's through a Mesa Boogie DC5 gain channel and the 5-way EQ set at a W.

[always SD]

Re: Satriani : the blue album and his sound

"flying about a blue dream"= Marshall +ds1 or not ?

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Satriani : the blue album and his sound

"flying about a blue dream"= Marshall +ds1 or not ?

Yes but ive heard a TON of people play DS1's with JCM800's and NOT sound like Satriani... and ive seen Satriani live play Peaveys and still sound like flying in a blue dream.

This is one of those times when the gear is only the first inch of a tone thats a mile long.

[B2D]

Re: Satriani : the blue album and his sound

"flying about a blue dream"= Marshall +ds1 or not ?

Not.

See both quotes below... these are straight from Satch himself taken from transcribed interviews and chats on satriani.com.

Ibanez Dan: Joe, what kind of settings do you use on your Boss DS-1 pedal?

Joe Satriani: 9 o'clock, 5 o'clock, 2 o'clock

...On the track "Flying..." I was using a JS1000 prototype Ibanez guitar into a Boss DS-1, into a Boogie MK2 head, into a 4x12 Boogie speaker bottom. "Crystal Planet" was a JS1000 into a Whammy pedal, a Fulltone Ultimate Octave pedal, into a Peavey 5150, into a Marshall 4x12 bottom. Both setups were using a Shure 57 mic....I hope that answers your questiion...Joe

[IMENATOR]

Re: Satriani : the blue album and his sound

And don't forget that some times the mix sounds thicker than the actual rig because of multitrack guitar recording

[always SD]

Re: Satriani : the blue album and his sound

good

ok !
thanks
but it’s an impossible tone? just a sound made with a sound engineer with a Mesa Boogie ?
or just with computer nowadays

i have a Satchurator but i have not a Mesa or just a pedal.

i only like the sound that i can listen to in his "blue album" because
About the sound : Live versions and concerts are not interesting for me (except when he played with a JSX, Peavey, he had a great sound )

[B2D]

Re: Satriani : the blue album and his sound

good

ok !
thanks
but it’s an impossible tone? just a sound made with a sound engineer with a Mesa Boogie ?

What's an impossible tone? It's definitely possible... it's all over the record and I just straight out quoted The Man himself on what he was using.

Satriani typically uses many different amps, pedals and guitars on a given album to get the sounds he wants. Doing it live, he'll use an amp and a few pedals that, in his words, will "ballpark" the tone of several different tracks along several different albums. I recall a Crystal Planet-era interview where he said his Marshall 6100 and DS1 pedal did that job very well. Since then he's used a few different pedals, Peaveys, and his signature Marshalls live but the goal remains the same.