Joe Satriani devised the perfect amp to harness Eddie Van Halen’s greatest tones – and you can get a plugin version right now
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When Joe Satriani signed on to tackle some of Eddie Van Halen’s most iconic guitar parts in Sammy Hagar’s Best of All Worlds tour, he knew his regular amp rig wouldn’t cut it: it was too focused on fattening up the high strings – great for solos, but not for EVH’s trademark rhythms.
He turned to Dylana Scott at 3rd Power Amplification, who set out to capture what Satriani and Hagar considered to be Eddie’s greatest tone: Van Halen’s 1986 Live Without a Net rig, featuring modded Marshalls with power soaks and effects processing.
The resultant guitar amp, the Dragon 100, has accompanied Satriani on all the Best of All Worlds dates so far, but nobody else has been able to get their hands on that elusive Marshall-on-11 tone just yet.
Fortunately, mere moments before Satch headed off on tour, IK Multimedia captured the sound of this fire-breathing collaboration, and has now added it to the Joe Satriani Amp Vault Signature Collection, which launched last month.
Dialed in by Satriani and captured at Hagar’s Red Rocker Studios in Northern California using IK’s AI modeling tech, the eight new Dragon 100 models promise to deliver classic Plexi tones with a finely tuned dynamic response that gets the best out of single-note lines and chords alike.
The new models will be included for anyone who picks up the plugin, and available as a free download for existing users, bringing the suite’s grand total up to 67 Tone Models.
“My 3rd Power Dragon 100 amp is a vintage-sounding and modern-featured head inspired by the legendary 1967/1968 Plexi Super Lead 100. It sounds like a roaring Plexi recorded with the best mics, preamps and EQs, perfectly balanced like a great, legendary recorded guitar track,” says Satriani.
“Harmonically rich and touch-sensitive with plenty of gain on tap, there's nothing quite like it. It's my favorite new amp.”
In fact, Satriani loves the collaboration so much that after road-testing the rig on the Satch/Vai tour, he’s employing three heads on the Best of All Worlds tour, which kicked off earlier this month.
“I just completed the Satch/Vai tour of the USA using just one Dragon head with two matching 3rd Power 4x12 cabinets,” he explains.
“My new setup for the ‘Best of All Worlds Tour’ with Sammy Hagar will feature an all-Dragon (wet/dry/wet) system with 3 heads powering 6 cabinets. It's an awesome sound!”
For anyone seeking the real physical deal, the Dragon 100 is now available to preorder from Bananas at Large, with a current wait time of three to six months. Available as in a range of 25, 45 and 100-watt heads and combos, the amps start at $2,999.
Hand-wired, point-to-point builds, the Dragons use a laydown mains transformer to deliver 500V to their EL34 power tubes for extra saturation.
This is further controlled via 3rd Power’s HybridMASTER control which “simultaneously controls the volume, limits the DC current and regulates the DC plate voltage of the tube circuitry” to get the tone right for the venue, no matter the size.
There are all kinds of smart EQ features, too, including – deep breath – Plexi/Cascade Preamp Modes, 400Hz Boost, Vintage/Modern Tone Stacks, Ultra Presence (4 Switchable High-Frequency Shelf settings), Low Freq. Push, Vintage/Focus Power Amp Modes.
The Joe Satriani Amp Vault, meanwhile, is available now for $/€99.99, and features a wealth of classic Satch sounds (Marshall, Soldano, 5150), plus some rarer pieces (a vintage Fender ’53 Tweed Deluxe for one) and, of course, its own Dragon 100 models.
IK Multimedia has more info.
