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EXPLAINED: 2 | Rare Historical Photos

“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

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“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?

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

Guitar World

“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

MusicRadar

“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

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“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

Guitar World

“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

MusicRadar

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

Guitar World

“A dynamic musical initiative showcasing advanced improvisation”: 3 of today's leading virtuosos have assembled for a US tour – and it involves one of Steve Vai's favorite new guitarists

Hedras Ramos will hit the road with his fellow trailblazers for a G3-like tour of California and Texas

Guitar World

"It’s just the most emotive piece of music": Alter Bridge's Mark Tremonti on the greatest guitar solo of all time – and how alternate tunings are the key to unlocking his lead playing

Like what, 99.99 per cent of players, the Alter Bridge and Creed guitarist looks for patterns on the fretboard, but alternate tunings set him free from reaching for the same old notes when soloing

MusicRadar

“Being in the same band with Joe felt like watching a childhood fantasy step out of my teenage brain”: Steve Vai and Joe Satriani announce the return of the SatchVai Band with their debut U.S. tour – and tease an upcoming album

After embarking on a European tour earlier this year, the two are back with their first-ever collaborative U.S. dates and plenty more music

Guitar World

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Louder

King Crimson affiliates BEAT announce one-off London show for June

Adrian Belew, Danny Carey, Tony Levin and Steve Vai will play their first UK show as BEAT in June

Guitar World

“It’s not every day you get to work for a player rightfully belonging on the pantheon of rock gods”: Steve Vai has reimagined Brian May’s Red Special in his own vision with the help of a UK boutique guitar builder

The 'Vai Special' puts a distinct spin on May's legendary guitar, and was meticulously spec'd by Vai himself – with a few Ibanez JEM inspirations to boot

Guitar World

“We parked up outside Steve Vai’s caravan. His guitar tech saw me. Next thing you know, Steve’s there, and I’m trying my best to play Tobacco Road”: He was a guitar god at 8, then he disappeared – the unlikely story of Thomas McRocklin

Vai handed him the Passion and Warfare guitar and produced his debut album, only for his protégé to give it all up. Decades later, McRocklin came back stronger – and pursued his own guitar path

MusicRadar

“People would say, ‘OMG, if this guy is in the back of a guitar store, teaching, what does it say about the music business?’ But, of course, within a few years, everybody would know his name”: Testament’s Alex Skolnick on what he learned from Joe Satriani

When a teenage Skolnick studied under Satch, he found a man who was “like the equivalent of studying with a classical piano or classical violin teacher” – except this guy could rock

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MusicRadar

"Your golden pipes remain this guy’s all-time favourite rock voice to ever grace the planet": Steve Vai salutes Whitesnake legend David Coverdale

“David has shaken the earth for over half a century with a voice that could level a mountain”

Guitar World

“They plug me into Zakk Wylde’s amp. Next thing I’m going crazy. Ozzy goes, ‘Let’s get him on tonight!’” In 1988, a shred prodigy opened for Ozzy Osbourne. He was eight years old

Thomas McRocklin would go on to become Steve Vai’s protégé. But his first major gig was opening for the Prince of Darkness

Guitar World

“I was tired of not having a great tone. I could never figure out why I don’t sound good. So I started to experiment with how I pick”: Great tone starts with the pick – just ask Steve Vai. Here’s how honing your picking can improve your tone for free

Unlock every pick color – from warmth and brightness to the secretive clarinet tone

Guitar World

“I moved over to Fender for a couple of years, learning a lot of history there – but also how I didn’t want to make aguitar”: How John Suhr built one of guitar’s hottest boutique brands

John Suhr knows a thing or two about tone. Hey, the guy oversaw repairs at Rudy’s Music in NYC, modded amps with Bob Bradshaw, became a Senior Master Builder and launched his own brand

Guitar World

“I thought it was the worst film I’d seen in my life! I was super-embarrassed. But that solo became part of the franchise’”: Stevie Salas on Bill & Ted, playing arenas with Rod Stewart then opening for Joe Satriani, and turning down both Van Halen singers

The ahead-of-his-time guitar great recalls starting a trend followed by Steve Vai and Tosin Abasi, why he had to quit a Joe Satriani tour, and why he sometimes aimed to be the worst player in the room

Guitar World

“I never thought I’d get hired by a pop band. Opening for Coldplay with Willow Smith was never a career goal”: Few bassists can match the technical ability of Mohini Dey, thanks to her work with Steve Vai, Willow Smith and just about everyone else

The very definition of ‘prodigy’, Mumbai-born bassist Mohini Dey has enjoyed a rapid ascent to worldwide renown. And she’s only just getting started

Louder

"Even though he's dead, I believe that in a hundred years' time from now people will still be listening to him": Steve Vai on the wild genius of Frank Zappa – and the two words that made him want to join his band

They say never meet your heroes – Steve Vai would disagree

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