This is a perfect example of how a melody is better than wailing a million notes per second. You can teach students scales and even theory, but melody is something hard to teach.
Joe is my favorite guitarist of all time. His music rode with me through many chapters of life, the good and the bad over the past 30 years. He gets credit for his amazing abilities on the instrument, but I think he is a fantastic composer as well. His instrumental songs can make you smile or cry without a single word. Always wanted to try one of his signature models. Love your channel. Btw I noticed on your thumbnail, Satriani is spelled Satriana. Thanks for the great review of this lovely axe.
Been following your channel a long time and heard a bunch of unbelievably great playing and tones. I know you’re a strat guy through and through but this guitar *really* seems to suit you!
Back in '01 I bought a JS1000. Still have it and still love it. Coil tap and high pass filter pots are sweet. You can get some nice, glassy tones from the hot Dimarzio pickup set. It does many things well. The neck is comfortable and has the nice scallop at the heel. Also, it's required very little maintenance over the past 20+ years.
The Ibanez guitars of the 90s made by FujiGen are awesome, I still have an Ibanez 540SFM made in 1990 that is absolutely the most confortable guitar I've ever had!
The 540 s was not an inexpensive guitar. I still have my 87 540s. It’s so pure sounding. The satori’s I was essentially a 540r or radius model with rounded edges but instead of being mahogany body it was made of poplar. My 540 came with amazing factory dimarzios with stacked single coils and I love them
@@pierre5227 Yes, they were not cheap guitars, I bought my 540SFM in 1991 for 850 US Dollars (with Ibanez hard-shell case) which inflation adjusted according to the official US inflation calculator page will make it now a 1,920 US dollars guitar!, an inflation of 126% since 1991
Its been awhile since an intro has left me breathless; well played Sir, well played!!!! Oh yeah, the review was spot-on as well. Subscribing, along with my sincere thanks!
I've been a fan of Joe's playing, tone, techniques, and melodic style since the very first moment I heard him. He made me interested in Ibanez guitars and their designs. My modded Strat reflects many of those influences.
Sitting here practicing on my JS100 I bought the week they originally released back in 1994 as this post hit my feed. As us well-aged gents often say, they don't make 'em like they used to. I've never played any other guitar at any price that plays as well as this instrument. Great stuff as always, John. Thanks for all the amazing content.
I picked up a 2002 JS1000 this week for a song!!!!... I had a JS100 for years that I loved... Its UNBELIEVABLE!!!!... Pleased that youre on the satch train too!...
Those guitars are spectacular. I had a JS1000 for a while and have missed it since the day I sold it for space/cash. The playing, feel and tone here are great. Well done, John.
I feel that way about my JP6 from back then, red pearlburst😢.... got married... needed money. Had I only realized it would only appreciate in value! I loved that guitar!
I bought his entry level Ibanez model in the mid 90's. To this day one of my favorite guitars. I had to sell it to pay bills once my first child came, I still miss that guitar. There is one lucky player in Chico, CA. Hope you treated her well, she sang!
This was the first professional guitar I got. My dad bought it for me when I was 14, back in 2009. I played every single school gig on it, back when I did not know anything about guitar and gear, and was probably playing distorted power chords on the neck pickup. The simpler days when music was more important than everything else. I have since then acquired guitars I like way more and the JS1200 has been living in the closet for the past 5 years (rent free!) think this is my sign to get a fresh set of strings on it and make some noise. Thanks for the video, as always, John!
Loved your playing with that JS!! Glad you liked it....kinda figured you would it feels very similar to a custom strat neck wise....and those necks sooo buttery feeling. Thank you for the demo. Gorgeous tones you got out of it too some of best I've heard on your channel 💯👍
I met John at the supermarket. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a pain and bother him and ask him for photos or anything. He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?” I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen bags of liquorice in his hands without paying. The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter. When she took one of the bags and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electrical infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think that’s a word. After she scanned each bag and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.
@@Genociv I met John at the supermarket. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a pain and bother him and ask him for photos or anything. He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?” I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen bags of liquorice in his hands without paying. The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter. When she took one of the bags and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electrical infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think that’s a word. After she scanned each bag and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.
I picked up a guitar because Joe Satriani. I still think he’s one of the coolest and most original players out there. I’d love to have one of these for sentimentality, besides being a sick axe.
Great tribute to the Satch's axe. I own several JS and I've the chance to get this beauty. You talck honnestly about this guitar including what you don't like on this model. Satch can make everything with this guitar. And on your onw way you show that this JS can be really close from a Strat sound.. warm...deep...bright. Sometime you sound like Eric Johnson... I thinck you're an Eric Johnson's fan, your way of playing sounds really like him sometimes...chord voicing, arpeggios, with strings skipping...and when you're using the JS like that she really sound like a good warm Strat. Your playing is great too of course. Anyway it's a great way to show how much this guitar is fantastic in differents styles and differents way of playing... Just taking the time to use split pick-ups and volume knob to discover all the faces of this beauty. Ibanez is really a great brand who created so many inventions till so many years now...and they're still looking foward...without to forget past creations from all brands, just like Fender.
If I had to pick one mode to play for the rest of time, it would have to lydian. I felt my brain change the first time I heard Flying in a Blue Dream. Fantastic playing, mr. Cordy!
This guitar seems to work really well with your style, John. I sometimes zone out and do other things while listening to the intro music, but this one really pulled my attention back!
I've got a JS2000, which is the hard-tail version (while I do like a trem, I've found gigging with a floyd-style trem to be more hassle than it's worth). It's a much more versatile guitar than you might think. I've used it for rock, blues and even country (the middle position with both pickups split is suprisingly tele-like). Having an on-off switch for the treble-bleed didn't serve any purpose for me as I would always leave it on. So I had the guitar rewired so that the push-pull on the tone control splits the bridge pickup, and the push-pull on the volume control splits the neck pickup. That allows me to switch straight from single coil in the neck to humbucker in the bridge with just the pickup selector switch. It also gives me a wider variety of tones that I will use. The guitar is always a joy to play.
I had a 2014 JS2410 in muscle car orange. It was lovely, but not really my thing. It had a Satch Track humbucker at the neck and a Mo' Joe humbucker at the bridge. A thing of beauty.
You’re such a lovely player John and your reviews to the beginner or pros are just excellent and very unbiased. Unlike some here on you tube ..especially the few self professed expert’s I’ve seen . I’m a pro player owned the He,it since released also the Kemper floor. Just purchased the Fender pro so found your videos really interested and fair I’ll be following you with interest keep it up bud
The Jeff Beck strat I had +20 yrs ago had the thickness neck in mankind guitar history...even bigger than for example the Joe Perry Black Les Paul. It was huge, but still quite comfortable.
Joe Satriani was inspired to play guitar professionally by Jimi Hendrix, so no wonder he made his JS like strat but with the lightest and easiest strat to play.
If you ever get a chance to play a "well set up" Ibanez Radius with the "Ultra Neck", you'll get the bit bigger feel you're asking for while keeping everything else that you already love. They aren't very common, but they can be found. The Ibanez Radius is the model from which the JS body style originated. Once Satriani got his endorsement going with Ibanez, they discontinued the Radius series to prevent confusion about which guitar customers were purchasing. Personally, I like the original Radius guitars slightly better. Although, I do own several JS guitars and they are all great guitars.
I saw joe play a 1200 live in sydney in 2005. At 18 years old i had to have one. I bought one the same year i think it was. Still got it, and had the back plate signed by joe in 06 during his g3 tour. In my opinion its the 2nd most beautiful guitar ever made after the chrome boy. Guess what i ordered this week...
I never would have guessed you playing this guitar for some reason. I bought the JS with the sustainiac and it is my go to now. It is so comfortable to play and sounds fantastic. I hope to see you play this one more. :-)
I've always thought Joe has one of the best neck humbucker sounds. That coil split sounds great too. And having a high-pass filter would help control the muddiness. Never bought one of these guitars but they are super sweet.
Picked up a used JS900 locally shortly after this video. Doesn't have the coil split, but that can be modded in case I want it. A modest 3.2 kg weight, beautiful black pearl finish. Really nice rosewood fingerboard and neck feels so stratty :)
Oh look, another guitar John makes sounds so, so good ! 🤪 A great review with samples of the pick-up/split selections, quite a versatile guitar. I look so foreword to your new videos just to hear what you're going to play next. Makes me want to quit work and just play. 🙌🙌
I think Joe first played the 540 sabre. I have 2 of the 540’s and also had a j1000. The 540’s are far away my favourites. The 540 had an Ibanez range of pickups in humbucker single coil, single coil configuration and can sound like a jazz stylie to rock. The 540 also had a wizard neck which is very flat and I was surprised that the j1000 was more contoured. I played the Andy Timmons US and really really liked it but couldn’t justify the price…..to my wife.
I once considered buying one of those. I bought a Yamaha Revstar 420 instead. It would have been nice to have both...dream on :) Loving your instrumentals. fab stuff Nathan.
Good review, tasteful playing and fabulous tones! I own a couple of the pre-sustainaic 24 fret JS models. A Premium JS24P and the JS2410 (in 'none more' Orange). Both phenomenal guitars. The Hot Rail pup in the neck produces some beautiful split tones. The JS24P has a very slightly chunkier neck and a warmer tone. You should try one. You might just love it! 👍
I have a few of the 540R's, the precursors to the JS, which have the flatter faster necks and doesn't have that god awful Strat-like offset behind the nut. Some are HH, HSH, and HSS. I've always liked them better, because they didn't have the Fender-esque modifications.
If you haven't tried an EBMM Majesty or Kaizen, you may want to consider doing so. The Majesty sounds amazing, is very versatile and the easiest playing guitar I've ever owned. The Kaizen 6 is my new favorite guitar, just received my fourth one earlier this week in the new Kryptonite finish. Sound, playability, comfort, etc., amazing guitar IMO. Sold/selling several guitars so I can get more!
Nice video. I've wanted one of these for years but never went for it (partly due to funds etc)- I would much prefer this to the 24 fret model as I just think it all looks iconic with 2 humbuckers.
That's crazy that each time i listen to that guitar (played by anyone), i recognize it's signature sound. Great presence in the middle register, with a vintage strat scoop sound. That model is something else in Ibanez catalog. My only requirement would be an EDGE tremolo (that Joe always uses), far better than the edge 3.
I wish I got a JS1200 back in the day when they were 1,400 USD. It went up to 1,600 and I ended up buying a carvin for like $900+ that had an OFR, US made etc. Its great but I wish I was able to afford the JS1200.
I think I still prefer my RG5120M. The frozen ocean blue and the fishmen's💋. The Sach🎸 sounds much better than my S6570Q tho. It doesn't look as good. The S model in natural blue with a quilted maple top 💙
you should have far more followers than you do, but you’re headed that way. such articulation in your playing, amazing stuff. what are you playing through on this intro?
So interesting. I had the exact opposite reaction hearing the side the by side with the AZ. I thought the AZ had more of that "sweet" strat sound at least on the neck pickup. The bridge tone on the satch model was phenomenal though... All in the ears of the beholder I guess
I had one of the original green Jems - bought in 1990 (maybe ‘91). Had it for 3 or 4 years but just wasn’t me. It’s was a very specific guitar, totally different to anything I had played previously. I often think that if I had bought a Satriani model I’d probably still have it. Interestingly, I don’t listen to much Vai anymore. Remember waiting for P&W - it was as good as hoped for. Follow up, S&R, was disappointing. Album after that (ALS?) just felt like more of the same and my tastes were moving on at that point. That said, Steve is still a fascinating guy in interviews. Satch I followed for much longer… still do. The first 5 records were life changing for me regarding guitar playing. Was looking at S types recently - there is a nice wood finish model with a fixed bridge - looks very nice! Maybe…😮
The Radius, Saber and the Power model was introduced in 1987 and even if Joe appear in 1988 catalog with a a Power model, it seems like he was undecided about his needs, Hss, HsH or HH coz in the same year a picture of him holding a ''custom JS guitar'' with 2 HH and different position of switch location appear on another catalog. In 1990 the JS series come to live but in 1988 he had his Black Dog model. Short story, the JS is a Radius based model but with that Strat C modern type of neck ant the same radius. I hade both (Ibanez JS1000 and Fender Strat Plus) I sugest you to try if you can the R314, R334, R354, R355 amd teh 540R. The people call the 540R a ,,Pre Satriani model'' only to rise the price of the guitar. :))) The Ergodyne series It was introduced in 1997 and discontinued in 2010.
Satriania? Edit: In all seriousness, I think this is a true sleeper guitar. A friend of mine owned one when they initially came out. I convinced him to let me borrow it while was abroad for a few weeks. That was over a decade ago, and I still regret not faking my death, absconding with the guitar, and adopting a new identity a few towns over 😅 Now I design and build guitars for myself (and soon for public consumption), and this model in particular inspired some of the design choices on one of my models. I believe btw, that the trem on the one you have is a Low Pro Edge.
