Good GOD... his control and command of the instrument is unbelievable. He can conjure up just about any sound he wants, whenever he wants... and it all fits together so well.

This is why Steve is my favorite ever. Sure you can sit there and play 15 notes per second, but this shows SO much heart, originality, and creativity that can never be duplicated.

dude... steve vai is probably the most amazing musician alive...

Something about his sound and the way he plays just puts me into a trance almost. I could listen to him play for hours.

Hahaha!!!! I can't help but smile when he plays: his music always puts me in a really good mood. I could listen to and watch him play all day...year! Watching his fingers is like watching a beautiful dance. He's so real. I love Steve. He's such a nice guy, too.

that is a truly stunning improvisation, one of his best

Steve was born to play the guitar in a unique way, there's nobody like you handling a guitar

Take that Ralph Macchio !

Argueably, the best rock guitarist in an instrumental format, ever.

among every guitar heros i know, this is the one with the smoothiest guitare sound/playing, it's like you re on a plane wing with the storm in your face, but weirdly it feels good and fresh !!!

Not my style of music, but watching his technique is inspiring enough to practice on my style.

I really like the way Steve Vai plays, He doesn't pick as much as Yngwie, in fact most of the notes coming from legatos

!!!!! WTF man, literally every time I see him play he does some other amazingly creative and original thing, perfected through skill and hard work.

almost as good as Steve Vai. Well done young man!

Even at todays standards hes playing is way beyond future...

He is definately one of the finest and fastest guitarists of our time.

Watching Steve play is just as great as listening to him. No one plays with such fluidity of motion. His fingers are like little whirling dervishes..dancing and reveling in the joy of life. BIG SMILE.

The thing with his frets is that Steve noticed with Ibanez if you play the chord of A and it's in tune, the chord of D or other chords sound slightly out of tune. He designed those frets so that all the chords would be in tune when played. Very cool and smart idea. Also cool that he names his guitars haha

His vibrato is beautiful just to watch.

Steve, if you're reading this, that is the nearest you've come to the standard Frank expected since leaving his band. Thank you. Please, keep it up. We love you.

not only is steve vai the best guitarist ever.this 7vwh sounds freaking amazing especially though a valve amp cranked up.i sold mine because i hated the neck but what a guitar

this guy must be the most interesting to listen to ever :) he could go on for hours an no one would get bored

i love that super crisp overly sharp tone he uses when hes by himself, it's more fun , i like using overkill dist. like that. that temperament neck is so rediculously beautiful sounding, i pooped myself.

The neck is a TRUE TEMPERAMENT neck. Google for info. I could watch this clip on a loop for a year and still find something new and inspiring to study. 30 years of listening to Vai (including Zappa albums)...possibly my favorite VAI guitar improv solo ever. Thanks for posting! :)

guy has if not the most unique style, definitely one of em. I wish i had a .25 of the talent he did

I'm so envious of his tone.

Vai, doing what he does best-RULING on the guitar like no other!

Just freaking love Steve Vai

His technique is unreal. But his music has the emotions of a boulder.

I like Andy Timmons.. clean slide variations, good phrasing, touching notes

impresionante lo que hace este señor , un sonido de otro planeta , increible!!!!

I agree he is TOTALLY bad ass at using the whammy, he correctly brings notes to life with it. The man has it down to a SCIENCE, but after 25-30 years of hearing him since Frank Zappa he has been on that whammy ever since. I loved his work in the DLR band and of course Passion and Warfare was HUGE.

A guitar designer he works with designed these frets, they keep the guitar more in tune, like if you tune a guitar to an A chord perfectly, it will sound out of tune when you a D chord etc. so these frets keep the guitar perfectly in tune

gargle sound is called a flutter bar,by pulling the bar back then releasing it so it snaps back up,the string tension against the spring tension causes it to flutter.Floyds are tough to do it with because they come with screw in bar and if at all loose it just makes a terrable noise.This is the first one ive seen steve use,he has a standard edge in every guitar but flo,wich has a low pro edge.All pre 03 jems came with low pro edge,exept the 777s wich had the edge.And flo is actualy a 777.

The frets on the B and E string remind me of my 1st guitar, a 1955 Aria double "F" hole acoustic Jazz guitar. The notes are sharper until the 12th fret, creating a unique sound.

Gênio da guitarra !!!!

@afterhoursagain, He uses True Temperament Frets. They are laid in such a way that every chord on the instrument can be played perfectly in tune. Steve talks about it in his private tour video. I guess it also helps add better sustain to the instrument.

That circular vibrato

Dont know the guys name,but the frets are called True tempriment frets.They allow perfect intonation,and realy do sound better in a brighter kind of way.A friend of myn has a set in one of his axes and believe it or not they dont effect the playability of the guitar at all.And like the Vai demo it realy does sustaine forever.I am very impressed and my tech is checking into getting me a set for my 91 550..Cant wait,ha,ha.

his necks are from temperament, its designed to make sure all the notes sound out on pitch because there is slight differences between how far apart frets should be going from A the A sharp then from like D to E, so the bent frets correct that and make chords sound out on pitch

I have to admit that's an impressive reply from somebody as limited as you. I understand your opinion is the best. There is no other way obviously. Best of luck with this small thing you mentioned.

i got this video as a result of my search ' steve vai specialty' now i know when to bow

Yeah, I saw a video of Steve showing it. It's the guitar with the strange frets, so the intonation is right at every part of the neck and on every string (or something like that).

I think my ear has just gotten used to the way a guitar sounds. I watched a duo last night. The guitarist was amazing. He had slight tempering on the 1st and 2nd frets. Sounded great.

I think I've officially favorite'd just about 50 steve vai videos...it's tough being a fan man.

Yes, it is 100% imperative that you find at teacher you connect with. I got lucky i was playing in a guitar shop with my buddy and the teacher walked in we were half decent at the time, but my teacher liked everything i did (metal,classical,etc...) and we instantly connected. After completing lessons with him, my guitar playing has gone above and beyond the stars of what i thought i could do. If you have any questions ill be happy to answer them. Youll look back onmyposts and sense will come.

@icyha0 its a special guitar with frets that are placed in specific places on the neck so every fret is perfectly in tune.

Pretty much the greatest mastery of Lydian.

@hellman100: His fretboard was redone by a company called true temperament. Their frets are supposed to let the whole guitar play in tune, unlike a regular fretboard where moveable chords would be out of tune higher on the neck. Pretty cool if you ask me.

The frets on that guitar are crazy!!

A lot of people have copied EVH, but no one has been able to copy Vai. Not to say EVH is a sloucher, but Vai reflects a guy that has studied music and the guitar for a lifetime.

Mind...blowing. Incredible.

Damn! He's freaking awesome!!

noossa muito bom sou seu fã Steve Vai GOD

Notice the frets? This a modified JEM with the tuned individual frets for every note. No chance of this being out of tune. A Japanese guy developed it I believe, and Vai has picked up the ball and run with it. Fabulous.

man, I love that smooth distortion of him so much... maybe 1 day I will buy the Carvin Legacy combo amp it sounded so great when I played it even at lower volumes, it's ''only'' 1000$ which is pretty cheap for the way it sounds because amps that are much more expensive don't even get close to that sound.

Love the face in the end, like "Yeah, what are ya gonna do?". :D

just imagine having the chance to meet with Mr.Vai himself. Everytime i think about it I get the chills down my spine, than i listen to "Whispering a Prayer"! =)

these twisted frets are amazing

Amazing. Steve Vai is an alien!

I'll tell ya I've looked at a lot of these videos Vai -vs- so on and so on, but to me no one can get the variety of sound and tones Vai gets out of a guitar it never seems to end, sometimes I wonder if it's real like if he isn't dubbing in some kind of synthesizer or something

shawn lane used whammy like steve vai and is one of the few guys who steve vai and all of the other shredders were completely blown away by

the tremolo skills :O

why Vai is so good? the length of the fingers of his fretting hand.. damn! dude can reach anything, anywhere, anytime

Thats correct,Any note with these frets is true,whatever it might be,as well as giving the guitar almost infanate sustaine.My buddy just got a guitar with these and it realy is amazing.And it doesnt effect the playability of the neck at all.Cant wait to get my hands on one of my own.Peace bro..

Esse cara é MTOOOOOOO FODA!

yeah, ive been practicing the vai's circular vibrato, on his website, under "little black dots, mini lessons 84'' he tells you how he does it. it makes things look and sound so graceful!

That is definatly going to my favorites

I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. This is the first time I have seen the tempered fret neck. How good does your ear need to be to need this? Vai is truly amazing.

Haha i like the guy that walks by in the background at 2:40. He's just like, "Oh it's just Steve Vai ripping out another amazing solo, whatever. I got work to do with this wrench!"

playing legato sounds so much better then just random shredding

OMFG! Check out those frets! IVe never seen anything like that! Thats really cool!

Супер класс!

super!just GREAT!

Carvins are underrated amps that don't get the respect they deserve. They are very versatile, have great tone, are relatively low cost and built to last - made in USA. Uh.. yeah, I'm a little biased... got a Vai Legacy half stack and love it over my Marshall and Mesa/Boogie.

que impresionante, es un arte supremo tocar asi

Just watched your vids,and your ok,But honestly very one dementional as far as what ive seen you do.I did nothing but practice sweeping patterns the first 6 yrs or so,then when i started to mature as a musician and 16yrs later my tastes have changed like night and day from then till now.Phrasing,and selection Became more important than speed anyday.Dont worry i intend on posting some stuff this week,ill get back to ya as soon as i do..peace

yeah!!! one thje best guitars of world...

he has such great feel with his vibratos

Аааа. Это божественно!

He´s the man, dude! he talks with the guitar

absolutely love his exotic phrasing

これ買ったなー 懐かしーい

@ToothyGus it's the tru temper, it's made because as you go upwards tunewise, the guitar slightly changes the tuning of the notes played, but in this way, the notes are EXACTLY in tune as they're supposed to be, adding some little extra sustain to the chords because of the natural armonies produced... hope u understood my explanation ;)

great job Steve!

Steve: "Time to warm up..." *Blows everyone's minds*

WOW !!!!!! The king !

Yeah he does. When he was on tour, he had a prototype of the pedal that he used. So yeah, I'd say he uses it.

primero pensei q fosse um cover depois vi q tava bmo d+

Best guitarist in the world EVER! And I met him!!

totally agree with you, I can't understand why people keep saying that!

HE IS FREAKING AMAZING!

@azboband You have a point, up to a point. If you notice, he does not play fast during the whole song and what he does play is very melodic, a lot of Lydian and modes that other than Satriani, are not very common from the 80s shred era.

whammy bar flutter - with a stiff bar, you can just hit it really hard at the right angle and it makes that cool effect

JEM guitars are pure beauty ;D

ive got the new in my UV i actually quite happy about it, have u tryied the old ones and compared? im just wondering, they both look pretty simmilar, what are the advantages on the older ones?

he plays guitar in another universe Real master guitar player

the best guitar player

good job, steve vai es a good guitar player

Nice ❤