Incredible looking JS2450-MCP (Muscle Car Purple) Joe Satriani signature model.
The JS model, which has been Joe Satriani's main instrument for many years now, is a bit of an odd bird in the Ibanez range. With a slightly different neck profile and playing feel for Ibanez, it is a guitar that is quite different from what Ibanez usually makes.
The playing feel can perhaps be described as modern vintage (it's quite obvious where he got his inspiration from when playing a JS). A guitar where it is obvious that Joe thought about tone, playing comfort, width and more tone.
With medium output mics (think modern PAF), a high-pass filter (treble bleed, which means that the treble does not disappear when you turn down the volume) on a push/pull pot on the volume control and a split for stall and neck mic on a push/pull on the tone control you can coax an astonishing amount of sound out of the guitar.
The heavily sculpted, almost drop-shaped (seen from the side) body provides enormous playing comfort and it's easy to stand, or sit, and play without noticing how the hours slip by. A perfect signature model for a perfect guitarist.
Joe has always felt that the two extra frets on a 24 fret neck moved the neck pickup closer to the bridge pickup and away from what he considers the neck pickup's "sweet spot". But after a lot of experimenting with different pickups and tests with replacing the neck pickup with a humbucker in single coil format, he found a solution to get the neck pickup sounds he wanted despite a 24 band neck. The fact that the neck has more bands has also meant that the shape of the lower cut-away has been made a little deeper into the body. Otherwise, it is in both sound and playing feel like the usual JS guitars.
The neck is a 3-piece maple/bubinga neck with a Rosewood fingerboard banded with 6105 frets that have received the Ibanez Prestige Fret Edge Treatment. The neck has a profile Ibanez calls JS and which is rounder and more C-shaped than, for example, Wizard necks. Even the fretboard is more arched (less flat) than Wizard necks.
The pickups are DiMarzio, Joe's signature humbucker Mo' Joe in the bridge and The Satch Track in the neck. Connected to a 3 position toggle switch with common tone and volume control. Both volume and tone control are push/pull pots with a treble bleed that is switched on if you lift up the volume control and a split for the stall mic on the tone control. A treble bleed (highpass filter) is a filter that causes the treble to remain even when you turn down the volume. On a normal volume control, the treble disappears more and more the more you turn down the volume. Both parts are very useful, but here you have both possibilities available.
- 3-piece Maple/Bubinga JS neck
- Rosewood fingerboard.
- Mother Of Pearl necklace.
- W/6105 frets with Prestige Fret Edge Treatment.
- Al (Alder) body.
- EDGE tremolo.
- DiMarzio Mo'Joe (Alnico) stable pickup.
- DiMarzio Satch Track (ceramic) neck pickup.
- Chrome hardware.
- Hard case
The neck:
- 648mm/25.5" scale.
- Width at saddle: 43mm.
- Width at 24 bands: 56.4mm
- Thickness at first band: 20mm
- Thickness at 12 bands: 22.3mm
- Radius: 250mmR.