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RARE PHOTOS: 6 - The Real Truth

“The tone of the note has so many moving parts to it. There are so many parameters”: Steve Vai on how players can instantly change their guitar tone – without buying new gear

The virtuoso has offered some sage advice that can help players achieve instant results without having to spend any money

Guitar World

“You’re the boss of the tone because you’re the one playing it, and you’re the one hitting the note”: Steve Vai has some advice for players who are unhappy with their tone

Before swapping out your amp or guitar, pay close attention to how you are playing. Vai says a complete rethink of his picking style helped him find his tone in the '80s

MusicRadar

“What would be totally ridiculous and would grab everyone’s interest? I said, ‘I’m going to make my guitar talk!’”: When Steve Vai was in direct competition with Eddie Van Halen

MusicRadar

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“The world’s most convenient all-tube amp head”: Steve Vai-backed firm Synergy has unveiled a tiny amp head that lets you swap in tones from some of the world’s biggest amp builders

The compact build lets you pick from a raft of licensed preamp modules designed in collaboration with a host of boutique amp brands

Guitar World

“The SYN-20IR is the world’s most flexible, convenient, and tonally versatile all-tube amplifier head”: Steve Vai’s favourite amp brand Synergy unveils a 20W “preamp module platform” with onboard IRs

Swap preamp modules in and out and pair them with onboard American-style clean channel for a compact three-channel powerhouse for stage and studio

MusicRadar

“Copying the people you admire is a healthy thing to do – it teaches you to get inside what they do, then you can take it from there”: Eric Johnson on his G3 reunion with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai – and why the limits of guitar have yet to be reached

We catch up with the maestro to talk all things G3, formative influences, hollow-body Strat designs, and what he has to learn from Wes Montgomery after all these years

Guitar World

“It is beautiful... it’s clean and it works great, and it does everything I need”: Steve Vai shows us just what’s needed to play ‘80s King Crimson as he offers tour of his custom-built BEAT rig

If the Fractal Axe-Fx III is doing the heavy lifting for the effects, Vai's indomitable tech, Doug MacArthur is the power behind the tone

MusicRadar

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“Playing the melody on top of that was the real challenge”: Steve Vai, Eric Johnson and Joe Satriani share the secrets behind 3 instrumental epics in these exclusive Guitar World lessons

The three G3 virtuosos break down hits both classic and modern to celebrate the release of the G3 Reunion Live album

Guitar World

“He’s one of my favorite players. It would be a dream come true to work with him”: Matteo Mancuso has played with Joe Bonamassa and Steve Vai, but he’s already got his eye on his next dream collaborator – and a signature Revstar

Mancuso took the guitar world by storm when he first burst onto the scene in 2023, but now he's looking forward to a new album, even more high-profile collaborations, and maybe even his first-ever signature guitar…

Guitar World

"It couldn't get any better than that, and it didn't": David Lee Roth teaches a lesson in how not to conduct a solo career in five albums

David Lee Roth's precipitous post-Van Halen tail-off is documented on The Warner Recordings 1985-1994

Louder

“I would say he’s underrated in the echelons of guitar. Honestly, there’s no-one close”: Steve Vai reveals what it’s like to work side by side with fellow Frank Zappa alum Adrian Belew on the BEAT tour

The two virtuosos have been flexing their distinct styles on the ongoing BEAT tour – which celebrates King Crimson's '80s repertoire – alongside bassist Tony Levin and Tool drummer Danny Carey

Guitar World

“Jesus, that was hard! But I got it. I welcome the challenges”: Guitar hero Steve Vai reveals the difficulties of playing King Crimson music - and how he gets by with a little help from Robert Fripp

“I’m a fan and want to play the exact notes,” Vai says

MusicRadar

“Joe is on fire! What better inspiration can you get?”: Steve Vai describes the “craziness” of his new music with Joe Satriani

“I’ve never done anything like this,” Vai says

MusicRadar

"We all appeared on stage wearing robes and holding candles:" Joe Satriani on G3 pranking, handling Yngwie Malmsteen and the Halloween costume he'd rather forget

After three decades of changing line-ups, the original G3 – Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Eric Johnson – returned to the stage

Louder

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Guitar World

“I had no idea how he was getting his guitar to sound like that”: Joe Walsh called him one of most underrated guitarists of the '70s and Hendrix said he was a better guitar player than he was – yet this Telecaster icon often remains overlooked

Had he not died tragically at 31, there's no telling what virtuoso Chicago guitarist Terry Kath would have gone on to do with the instrument

Guitar World

“If you’re on stage with Steve Vai, you have to find a way through all the emotions to enjoy the moment”: How Lari Basilio became one of today’s foremost instrumental virtuosos – sharing stages with Joe Satriani, John Petrucci and Lee Sklar along the way

The Ibanez signature artist explains why she makes instrumental music but hardly ever listens to any, where Brazilian music fits in her inspiration, what she loves about her signature pedal and how to develop skills without even knowing it

Guitar World

“It was so close to happening. Then Jeff bailed at the last moment”: Joe Satriani was days away from signing Jeff Beck for G3 – before the Yardbird dropped out and suggested Prince as a replacement

Satriani discusses how Beck may have overlooked him due to their generational differences as guitarists

Guitar World

“I was completely blown away... He’d only just joined the band! He was the same age as me but he totally left me choking in his dust”: Remembering John Sykes, the powerhouse rock journeyman who breathed new life into Whitesnake and Thin Lizzy

A personal tribute to the Tygers of Pan Tang and Blue Murder guitarist, who passed in January at 65

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Guitar World

“They’ve achieved so much in their careers. I love hearing their stories. Every time we plug in together, I grow as a player”: Lari Basilio reveals what she learned from playing side by side with all-time guitar and session greats

From sharing the stage with Steve Vai to having Joe Satriani shred on one of her tracks, Basilio knows a thing or two about playing alongside some of the most established names in the biz

Guitar World

“There was no way we would cancel the gig, but there were no guitars, amps, pedals, or anything. How am I going to make the show work for Steve Vai?” When Steve Vai’s gear got lost in transit, his tech stepped in to save the day

Incredibly, Doug MacArthur sourced a full live rig in just four hours so the show could go on

MusicRadar

“Try playing Three Of A Perfect Pair without feeling your fingertips!”: Adrian Belew has carpal tunnel surgery following tour with prog supergroup BEAT

The former King Crimson guitarist was operated on by the surgeon responsible for the first successful human hand transplant in America

Guitar World

“Throughout the Beat tour, my left hand kept going numb and burning like fire”: Adrian Belew recovering after undergoing carpal tunnel surgery

The “world-renowned” surgeon who took charge of the surgery is a King Crimson fan

MusicRadar

“I'd lost a close friend and a hero of mine took the time to console me”: Guitar mainstay Pete Thorn tells how Steve Vai comforted him following Chris Cornell’s death

And there’s a happy ending. Thorn and Vai are now band members in SatchVai Band, alongside Joe Satriani

Guitar World

“It was two days after Chris Cornell passed. Steve said, ‘I know you lost your friend – it's too soon now, but the time will come where you think of him, and it'll be happy memories’”: Once just a hero and mentor, Steve Vai is now Pete Thorn's bandmate

“Here, I'd lost a close friend and collaborator; and a hero of mine, from the time I was 11 years old or so, took the time to console me,” the newly appointed SatchVai Band guitarist tells GW

Guitar World

“His thumbprint is an indelible part of the Whitesnake record he did. The fatness of that record and the rock integrity it had was all him”: Steve Vai followed John Sykes in Whitesnake – and he quickly decided what not to do when playing his parts

Of course, it wasn't a chops issue so much as it was the late guitarist's unique six-string footprint

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