If that were the case, anybody could just copy his gear and achieve the same results! As we know, the world is not full of people who play and sound like Steve Vai. Will you, by the end of this article, by simply reading and buying correspondingly, be able to play and sound like Steve? Some of those alien sounds, however, are the results of FX manipulation, and for those, we can point you in the correct direction. Much of Steve’s sonic trickery actually comes directly from his fingertips, which isn’t something we can sell you. We’ll see his favourite guitars, his choice of pedals, picks and amps, and hopefully gain a little insight into the hows and whys of this near-mythical player. Today, we want to look a little bit at Vai’s equipment setup. He’s massively influential, highly creative and reliably left-of-centre. Whole books are written about the man’s 12-hour practice regimes, whilst his own book on music theory, Vaideology, is a best-seller. Guitar fans across the world routinely fill up entire online forums with discussion and speculation on just how Vai manages to achieve the frequently other-worldly sounds that jump from his fingers.
His career has been as colourful as his note choices, and guitar finishes! Since his days as a ‘secret weapon’ for Frank Zappa, through his years as stunt-sideman to David Lee Roth & Whitesnake, to playing the Devil’s guitarist in the movie Crossroads ( those who’ve yet to experience Steve’s climactic showdown with Ralph ‘Karate Kid’ Macchio need to open a new tab and get YouTube on pronto) to his now 3-decades-plus career as a successful solo artist, Steve Vai has always brought a highly melodic and effervescent style to the instrument, not to mention acres and acres of untapped madness. Indeed, in the pantheon of guitar legends, there are few as gifted or as individual as Vai. Whether you are a confirmed Vai acolyte, an casual admirer, or a fan from afar, it’s safe to say that you’ll agree with us when we say he’s a man of rare, unbelievable talent. On a guitar website there is hardly any point in introducing someone like Steve Vai.