If you've ever needed more evidence that the majority of a guitar player's sound is in their fingers, you definitely should check out the video below.
The background on how this actually came to happen is a little unclear. However, in the video, which was uploaded to a YouTube channel called TheMexican1, Joe Satriani, who appears to be in a fan's home, performs Surfing with the Alien (from his 1987 album of the same name) - not with his usual Ibanez JS series guitar, Marshall amp and signature effects, but with a $100 Pignose Strat copy, a Peavey Backstage 30 practice amp and a Digitech RP200 multi-effect unit.
Minus a few dive bombs and the Satch Scream, the virtuoso provides a pretty much note-perfect rendition of his instrumental classic.
Of course, it might not have been as easy as it looked or sounded. Near the end of the clip, Joe says, “That was a little painful on this guitar."
Jonathan Graham is an ACM UK graduate based in London studying under the likes of Guthrie Govan and Pete Friesen. He is the creator of the Forgotten Guitar Facebook page, a classic-guitar media website, and is completing his debut album, Protagonist, due for release in 2016. Updates also can be found at Graham's YouTube channel.
