Steve Vai

"I use a variety [of amps], like on the record I used a lot of different guitars, but usually they were textural stuff for the background. For the most part, I used the Jems and the Evo and Flo for the leads. It's the same thing with the amps. It's just a comfort level thing... These guitars and equipment are custom built specifically for my ears and fingers, so it's like a comfort zone - it's like home. The first one, I've had a longstanding relationship with Carvin since the early 80s. I think it was maybe in the 90s when we started talking about making a custom amp. Now I wanted something very simple because although my music is very complex at times I really like simplicity when it comes to amps and gear because who wants to sit there and try to figure stuff out. So it's a very simple amp, there's two channels: there's a dirty channel with presence, treble, mid, bass, drive, and volume, and a clean channel that has similar. There's also effects, loops, and other conventional stuff in the back, and you can flip it to different wattages as well. Now, you want to continue to evolve and try to improve the Legacy 2 amp and I ended up not liking it as much as I like this one, the Legacy 1. But I was feeling limited because there were only two channels and there was no master volume. I like to be able to turn the level down without changing the tone, which is very rare because a lot of times the master volume is before the pre-amp on most amplifiers," says Steve Vai about his Carvin Legacy 1 VL100 100W Amp Heads.

At 3:57, Steve says he´s using an Orange Amp while they are showing the Rockerverb 100 MkIII in the Video while working on the 25th Anniversary Edition of Passion and Warfare

"You want to continue to evolve and try to improve, so we came up with the Legacy 2 amp...and I ended up not liking it as much as I like this one, the Legacy 1. But I was feeling limited because there were only two channels and there was no master volume. I like to be able to turnthe level down without changing the tone, which is very rare because a lot of times the master volume is before the pre-amp on most amplifiers. So we designed the Legacy 3 which actually has three channels - same infrastructure as the Legacy 1. It sounds more like the Legacy 1 than the Legacy 2 sounds like the Legacy 1. It has another channel and has these sections that affect all the channels so you get more variety. And then I come out of the amp and then I go straight into the pedalboard," explains Steve Vai about his Carvin Legacy 3 VL300 100W Amp Head.

The 100 watt Marshall JMP was given to Ted Templeman by Steve Stevens during the NYC recording sessions for “Eat Em and Smile.” The amp was then modded to Steve’s liking by Lee Jackson, famous for performing sought after custom modifications to Marshall amplifiers for top artists in the 1980?s and 1990?s. The 100 watt plexi head features an extra gain stage, frequency adjust control, effects loop & master volume. The head has been well maintained in Los Angeles and features matching Drake transformers, KT88 quad-matched power tubes & hand-selected pre-amp tubes to Steve’s liking.

En el minuto 7:24 se logra ver como toca con un Marshall JCM800

During the Fire Garden tour, one of Vai's main amps was an Ecstacy with Groove Tubes.

This Marshall was used by Steve’s guitar tech as monitors at the side of the stage.

In this video, Steve Vai was seen using a Synergy SYN2 rackmount preamp and a 5050 power amp along with a bunch of Synergy preamps.

In this video, Steve Vai was seen using a Synergy SYN2 rackmount preamp and a SYN5050 power amp along with a bunch of Synergy preamps.

During the G3 tour, Vai used a F300 in his rack with a VHT Classic and two Carvin F150s.

Item can be visible in Steves backline inbetween stacks and speaker cabinets.

since i have one myself i instantly recognized it!

You can see the Spark Amp in the background on the left. Steve Vai is adjusting tone at 3:20 and you can clearly see the amp

At 1:23 of the video he can be seen with the amp stack. Vai used this amp for the recording of Flex-Able.

Steve Vai uses the Carvin Legacy II, his signature amplifier, as showcased in the video by Carvin Amplifiers titled "Steve Vai and the Carvin Legacy II" on YouTube.

During the 1996 G3 tour, Vai used 2 of these power amps with a Carvin F300 and VHT Classic.

"The Legacy Tone Capsule offers an ideal Legacy amp tone in a little glowing tube. It’s the lightest 1000 pounds of audio creamery that you can ever carry in your pocket." – Steve Vai

You can see him holding this amp at 2:21

In this video, Steve Vai demos his signature Synergy modular preamp.

At 0:15 in the video, Steve Vai's Synergy rack is shown to consist of his signature Vai module, as well as a Plexi, BMan and T-DLX module.

At 0:15 in the video, Steve Vai's rack is shown to consist of a BMan module.

In this video, Steve Vai was seen using a Synergy SYN2 rackmount preamp and a 5050 power amp along with a bunch of Synergy preamps.

In a Premier Guitar demo at NAMM 2019, Steve Vai is shown using the Synergy Diezel VH4 Modular Preamp, along with the Synergy SYN2 rackmount preamp and 5050 power amp, highlighting his engagement with Synergy's modular amp systems.

In this video, Steve Vai was seen using a Synergy SYN2 rackmount preamp and a 5050 power amp along with a bunch of Synergy preamps.

In this video, Steve Vai explains that he uses the Fryette 2902 power amp for his Synergy SYN-2 and Fractal Axe-FX III setup.

In this Premier Guitar Rig Rundown it says: “ From the stereo output of the fractal, the left and right outputs now go into the left and right inputs of the Fryette LX-2 Stereo Tube Power amp. This power amp is 50 watts per-side, and both left and right are controlled via one single volume control, which allows Vai’s team to maintain even levels between the left and right guitar cabinets. Vai usually rides the volume around 1 or 2 o’clock (depending on the venue), with the depth control pushed in. A second LX2 powers Vai’s front-stage 1x12 stereo guitar monitors, which were custom-built by CARVIN.)”

In this Premier Guitar Rig Rundown it says: “ The main Fryette sends its output to the Carvin Legacy 4x12 cabinets on stage left and stage right. These cabs are each loaded with a quartet of Celestion Vintage 30s, and feature unique “Inviolate” artwork grill cloth, which MacArthur had custom-made by NoiseyHammer. These cabs have been with Vai for a long time, and can be seen in the Where The Wild Things Are DVD, when they were fitted with custom grill cloths from the Sound Theories album artwork.”

Steve Vai uses the Positive Grid Spark Mini Vai Portable Combo Amp. In a YouTube video titled "Introducing Spark MINI Vai," Steve Vai himself discusses his experience with the amp, mentioning that he received one for practice and found it so useful that he acquired three more for various settings. He also collaborated with Positive Grid to create a signature series of this amp.

In an article by Phil Weller for Guitar World, published on February 3, 2025, Steve Vai's guitar technician, Doug MacArthur, confirmed the use of the Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus amplifier, stating, "We also used a UA Max compressor. That was just for the Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus amplifier."