Crikey, anyone would think this guy gets paid to say this sort of thing ... well, he does actually.
Not that Satriani has ever had any trouble sounding unique.
He plays virtuoso instrumental rock guitar after all, a style he helped popularise back in 1987 with his breakthrough album Surfing With the Alien.
So does an acoustic guitar do it for him these days?
"Oh it certainly does. I have my own JS model, of course. You can hear it on Chickenfoot's new single Different Devil," he says of his supergroup-of-sorts that is also made up of former Van Halen members Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony and Red Hot Chili Peppers' drummer Chad Smith.
The 55-year-old started out playing on his sister's acoustic guitar when he was 14, growing up in Westbury, a suburb of New York. And these days he not only plays his beloved JS electrics, but branches out and incorporates everything from acoustic guitar and banjo to mandolin and 12-string guitar into his music.
But rest assured, when Satriani brings his travelling guitar roadshow known as G3 to Auckland's Logan Campbell Centre on March 25, he'll be leaving the banjo at home.
G3, which Satriani started in 1996, is a jam concert featuring "Satch" and two other guitarists, with this year's tour including fellow guitar hero Steve Vai and Steve Lukather, the Toto axeman and session guitarist (he played on Michael Jackson's Beat It among other tracks).
One of the reasons Satriani got G3 up and running was because he wanted to put on the best live show he could.
He says the essence of the concerts has not changed. Apart from the revolving cast of guest guitars over the years that is, and these have included everyone from King Crimson and progressive rock fusion king Robert Fripp to Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top.
"I have to say we also put it together because I wanted to stand next to people that I thought were much better than me, to give me a real run for my money every night on stage.
"And I knew instinctively that the audience would love that. They would love to see friendly, good-natured, artistic competition.
"It's going to elevate our playing. And we're fans of music ourselves and so we know what it's like to stand in the audience and see musicians challenge each other.
"So at the heart of it G3 hasn't really changed but having Steve Lukather and Steve Vai is different from having [Texan guitar maestro] Eric Johnson and Robert Fripp. It's the participants who really define where G3 goes."
Lowdown
Who: Joe Satriani, instrumental guitar hero
What: G3, with Satriani, Steve Vai and Steve Lukather
Where and when: Logan Campbell Centre, March 25
Listen to: Surfing With the Alien (1987); Flying in a Blue Dream (1989); Time Machine (1993); Satriani Live! (2006); Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards (2010)
-TimeOut
