WHEN GUITAR WORLD connects with Steel Panther axeman Satchel via video conference, he’s keen to show off his latest acquisition: a custom Eddie Van Halen tribute model inspired by the late guitarist’s instantly recognizable striped signatures. As Satchel explains, a “very awesome” fan of the band approached the Charvel endorsee, offering to build it for nothing in return — one of many perks that come with the job. New instruments aside, Satchel is talking to us today to promote the band’s latest record, On the Prowl, which features yet more fiery fretwork and Eighties-inspired tongue-in-cheek hilarity. Naturally, we had to find out more…
“Friends with Benefits” has some tasty harmonic minor runs. How did you approach writing that final solo?
That whole section was based around a rhythm guitar riff that’s actually pretty complicated. It changes keys throughout the solo, it goes up a whole step and then three half steps. It switches every few bars but it stays in Phrygian dominant, from the harmonic minor family. Every time I play in that scale, I can’t help but feel like I’m sounding like Yngwie. He really owned that sound. I approach every solo from two mindsets: I think about melody and I also like to improvise.
It’s interesting what your fingers come up with when you disengage the brain, right?
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Denne historien er fra June 2023-utgaven av Guitar World.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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TC Electronic TC 2290P Dynamic Digital Delay
THE MID EIGHTIES was a golden age for digital delay, thanks to the proliferation of pro- and studio-quality rack effects units from Eventide, Korg, Lexicon, Roland and Yamaha.
Danelectro Doubleneck
WHEN I THINK back to the Seventies, the famously coined “Me” decade, it seems the only surefire way you could leave audiences awestruck was to strap on a doubleneck guitar.
CARLOS ALOMAR
The former David Bowie guitarist talks Young Americans, Station to Station and the Berlin Trilogy, plus recording (and co-writing) \"Fame\" with John Lennon
GEORGE TERRY
It turns out Eric Clapton's Seventies guitarist (and co-writer of \"Lay Down Sally\") also played on ABBA's \"Voulez-Vous.\" Below, he looks back on a decade-plus of E.C., Bee Gees, Diana Ross and more
FRANK MARINO
The Mahogany Rush frontman charts the band's Seventies lows and highs, plus SG's, pickups and how he was definitely not visited by the ghost of Jimi Hendrix
DEWAYNE "BLACKBYRD" MCKNIGHT
The jazz/funk/fusion veteran on his smooth segue from Herbie Hancock sideman to full-on Funkdaledic member -plus his '70s gear and what he learned from Shuggie Otis
PAT TRAVERS
The Canadian-born virtuoso discusses the rise and fall of the Pat Travers Band, witnessing the U.K. punk revolution and the riotous roots of \"Snortin' Whiskey\"
JOE PERRY
The iconic guitarist looks back on Aerosmith in the Seventies, the decade that literally made and temporarily broke apart those Bad Boys from Boston
DAZED and CONFUSED
Providing more hits and misses than a vintage K-Tel Top 40 compilation, the guitar industry during the '70s was anything but boring
BEST 70s SOLOS, RIFFS and FORGOTTEN HEROES
A horde of guitar stars including Warren Haynes, Doug Aldrich, Sophie Lloyd, Frank Marino, Vernon Reid and Mike Campbell (not to mention Blackbyrd McKnight, Jared James Nichols, Steve Lukather, Steve Morse and Charlie Starr) choose the best stuff from the '70s