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EXPLAINED: Steve vai - The Real Truth

“One guitar player who I respect and think is the baddest, is Allan Holdsworth”: How Allan Holdsworth blew Eddie Van Halen's mind and took guitar to a higher plane

On the anniversary of his death, we unpack the brilliance of jazz-fusion trailblazer Allan Holdsworth, with some help from Steve Vai, Guthrie Govan, Paul Gilbert and Eddie Van Halen

MusicRadar

Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Pete Thorn trade solos over Led Zeppelin classic at recent SatchVai Band show

Huge tunes from Led Zep and Steppenwolf, and three shredders brought the house down in Portland

Guitar World

“I just remember thinking, ‘I can’t play this thing’”: Why Steve Vai struggled to play Brian May’s iconic Red Special

Vai was just a youngster when May invited him to a Queen rehearsal – and offered him the chance to play the legendary six-string

Guitar World

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“I loved the band with Hillel so much – all I could think about was trying to match that energy”: John Frusciante on the challenge of replacing Hillel Slovak in the Red Hot Chili Peppers – and why he’s still at the core of his guitar style today

The funk-rock guitar icon joined his favorite band at 18 years old, but finding his groove took time. He explains how studying Slovak helped him find his own voice – and ultimately made the Chili Peppers one of the biggest bands on the planet

Guitar World

“I discovered that it would be harder to try to replicate his tone than anybody else”: Steve Vai has followed in the footsteps of many guitar greats – this was the hardest one to nail

He’s filled the shoes of Eddie Van Halen and Robert Fripp, but Vai says this particular gig was even harder

Guitar World

“I would go by John’s room and he’d be working on alternate picking to a metronome. I’d never seen anyone do that before”: He arrived on the shred scene with Paul Gilbert, Jason Becker and John Petrucci… then he vanished

After starting a family and his own company, Darren Housholder's priorities changed – but he’s gradually brought music-making back into his world

Guitar World

“I never know what might come across my desk, but this was a taker”: Steve Vai has recorded a new solo over Van Halen’s Jump – which has been crowned the official World Cup 2026 anthem

Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker also features on the track

Guitar World

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J Balvin remade Van Halen's 'Jump' as Coca-Cola's World Cup anthem. He says it was 'a puzzle'

In need of a global superstar for a sports anthem

The Independent UK

“I was using my Line 6 POD. He said, ‘I’ve got something that may work better.’ He sent me two things in the mail…” When Joe Satriani volunteered to help Dethklok mastermind Brendon Small with his home recording

Small's appearance in the new SatchVai music video isn't his first collaboration with the two virtuosos. They cropped up on his cult animated TV series, Metalocalypse, and have since become mentors

Guitar World

“I’m watching this sort of genius develop right in front of me, and he seems he has no physical barriers”: Joe Satriani on what it was like to teach a teenage Steve Vai

Here's this "goofy" Ace Frehley fan with big hands and he keeps coming back for more... Satch says it wasn't long before he recognised Vai's potential

MusicRadar

“He is truly one of the best players in the new generation”: Matteo Mancuso names the emerging virtuoso that you need to know about

This emerging Italian guitarist has become one of Mancuso and Steve Vai's favorite shredders

Guitar World

“It was the most coveted guitar chair in rock. I adored Edward’s playing, so I understood that people would be skeptical”: How Steve Vai lived his ultimate guitar rockstar fantasy on David Lee Roth’s Eat ’Em and Smile

Working with David Lee Roth was like "being strapped to a rocket made of charisma and fueled by tequila” – and the music was pretty fun, too

Guitar World

“It became an overnight sensation when Stevie Wonder used the effect”: Loved by Frank Zappa, Bootsy Collins, Steve Vai and more, how the Mu-Tron III became a vintage pedalboard icon

Mike Beigel's groundbreaking envelope filter made the world a funkier place

Guitar World

“He was across the hall and I mentioned my tone troubles to him…” How Steve Stevens saved Steve Vai on his David Lee Roth debut

Vai was a novice at “big rock guitar tones” at the time – but Stevens came to his rescue

Guitar World

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Guitar World

“It’s a versatile workhorse that I’ve been using for everything”: Ibanez shares first look at 2026 artist guitar lineup – and Nili Brosh’s long-awaited signature leads the charge alongside new Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and Nita Strauss models

We got up close and personal with all the new signature guitars at NAMM 2026

Guitar World

“If you got the Ibanez catalog that year, it was Reb Beach, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani on the first three pages. They said, ‘Whatever shape you want’”: Reb Beach on the story of his ’90s Ibanez signature guitar – and the mystery behind its sequel

The year is 1990 and Reb Beach is on the cover of Guitar World with his Ibanez WRB-3, a super-cool weird shape electric. But what happened to the WRB-1?

Guitar World

“I know myself better musically thanks to this album”: Steve Vai features on the new Matteo Mancuso album – and he had one piece of advice for the young virtuoso

We’ll have to wait a little longer to hear their track, but the record’s dazzling first single is ramping up the excitement

Guitar World

“The Stratocaster has been around for 70 years and it’s perfect. Now we come along and say, ‘You’re wrong!’ They don’t like it”: True Temperament wants to disrupt an industry built on heritage, but do its necks actually fix the guitar’s biggest flaw?

Crooked frets, designed to solve the instrument’s biggest intonation issues, have won over some big-name players (even if they’re keeping quiet about it). Is it a revolution or just a fad?

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Guitar World

“I’d say, ‘Man, that guitar riff sounded killer.’ He’d respond, ‘Well, I’m sure I’ll mess it up next time’”: John Mayer, Trey Anastasio and Steve Vai lead tributes to Bob Weir

His 60-year career, and the “mystical” man behind the music, have been remembered by a score of guitar greats

MusicRadar

“I opened the door... he had the guitar in his hands. It was him playing the jazz. I had no idea that he was that good”: Mark Tremonti on Alter Bridge’s “secret weapon” and his soloing strategies for avoiding the same old pentatonic patterns

The self-confessed Dumble “addict” talks all things guitar

Guitar World

“I could never play a Strat – with Stevie Ray Vaughan being my first influence, every time I play one it’s like I’m 13 again, hacking through Pride And Joy”: Joanne Shaw Taylor on how the blues helped her find her voice, and why she'll always choose Teles

Having embarked on a journey from classical guitar to Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert Collins, Taylor is determined to keep the blues alive... until she can open that dog shelter

Guitar World

“He told me the story about a young guitarist he once let play his guitar at rehearsal. I said, ‘Brian, that was me’”: Steve Vai pays tribute to Brian May as he receives his radical custom Red Special

Guyton Guitars' highly customized version of May’s iconic axe is now in Steve Vai’s “humbled” hands

MusicRadar

“I saw the Red Special. I pointed and said, ‘Is that it?’ Brian said, ‘Yup. Want to try it?’” Steve Vai says he once played Brian May’s guitar “like a baby giraffe on roller skates” – now the Queen icon has gifted him his own custom ‘Green’ Red Special

“I will treasure it for the rest of my life, and yes, I’m taking this one to the grave with me,” says Vai

Guitar World

Speed bursts are the path to Shred Heaven: boost your rock chops with 6 jaw-dropping examples (that won't break your fingers)

Learn how short and fast sequential patterns favoured by legends such as Paul Gilbert, John Petrucci and Zakk Wylde can be connected to create blazing solos

Guitar World

“For the Love of God, written by Steve Vai and performed by my 14-year-old son Roman”: Tom Morello says “there is hope” as his son shreds Steve Vai's For the Love of God

He’s been saying his son can “shred circles” around him for years – this might just prove it

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