Steve Vai

"This is a great one. The DNA guitar just was a 10th anniversary. The reason why they call it a DNA guitar - this was Ibanez's idea which was odd coming from them - is they wanted to mix my blood in the dip for this short run of guitars. I thought 'ah, that's pretty macabre' and you know it's weird for Ibanez to do this but I said 'okay.' So I went down to the local hospital, and I didn't give a little bit of blood - I gave a lot! I mean vials of blood. I mean I felt like a KISS comic book. They dumped it into the vat and you can actually see that's all my blood. That's kind of weird. I told Ibanez that in like 100 years, if they're cloning and if they can take these pieces of blood, and take the DNA from it and clone me and make another Steve Vai, maybe that guy can get his fucking music on the radio," says Steve Vai about Ibanez Jem DNA Electric Guitar.

Steve’s multi-neck playing is just one facet of what he does, but his use of 3-neck guitars is why he is on this list. Steve Vai’s Heart Guitar was first seen in a David Lee Roth video, but it evolved into a unique instrument featuring a 12-string neck and two 6-string necks. The 6-string neck facing away from him usually has a capo, and is tuned to a chord, while the 12 string doesn’t use a capo, but is also tuned to a chord. Of course, it is painted bright pink to make it easy to see from the back row. The whole instrument itself seems heavy and awkward to play, but Steve makes it look easy.

"This is fabric under there. The fabric came from my curtains. When I was living in Hollywood we had these curtain fabrics and I really liked them. I thought that would make a great guitar. The interesting about having the fabric underneath here is that it has an effect on the sound. I think these are some of the best sounding Jems - the ones with the fabric," says Steve Vai about the Ibanez JEM Steve Vai 77FP Floral Fabric Print Electric Guitar.

Ibanez Jem "Strat" Prototype Serial #: LA090898 This is essentailly a strat-style Jem hybrid. It features a traditional strat setup and finish, but with Jem-style body and monkey grip handle. The guitar is equipped with single coil pickups, a 22-fret gloss-finished neck and straight headstock. The guitar also features a standard strat-style trem system. A unique addition to the vast Jem prototype family, this guitar is kept at the Harmony Hut.

"For the most part, the record that I just finished is called The Story of Light, of the guitars I used usually this is the guitar I use - probably sixty percent of the time. This is Evo, which is a Jem and most people know the story of the Jem. I have a connection to it. You know, you infuse a guitar with a personality and it's based with the secrets you tell it and the DNA from your sweat and blood, and just the relationship you have with it. I know it's a very plain looking guitar but it has a lot of emotional investment in it. So it develops a personality. I mean it's just wire and wood, but you give it this personality and this is the guitar for me. It's not even the easiest guitar to play but it sounds great. It's unison. The frequencies of the wood in the body and the neck are the same, and usually that's hard to find, but that makes the notes sing a certain way. I use this a lot. I use it heavily in the album. She goes everywhere with me. I actually sleep with her sometimes. She has both an input jack and a whammy bar." says Steve Vai about his Ibanez JEM-EVO Steve Vai Electric Guitar.

Steve Vai uses a heavily modified 1970s Fender Strat, featuring a Floyd Rose tremolo system, custom switching, and a rail-type pickup in the bridge position. According to the YouTube video "frank zappa duels steve vai" by MrWebosfritos, this guitar, his first real instrument purchased by his mother during high school, is still employed in the studio for its distinctive Stratocaster tone.

"It's really nice because the pickups that I'm using - the Aura. It has a really controllable sound. We tried different pickups but controlling the guitar live is a challenge. So this responds better than the other stuff that I've tried. And I need a backup for that, which I use virtually every night."

In this image you can see Steve Vai playing his Ibanez JEM Triple Neck Source: http://www.fotolog.com/guitarras__rock/21716780/

"With this guitar I broke out the seven string for a bunch of tracks on this record, which I haven't done in a while. This is the one I like the most. It's the burnt seven-string. This is really a dipped guitar. There are some of them around. Ibanez made a bunch of them, and I just took a blow torch and I just burnt it up and then scraped it up, and I got this. It just has a nice tone and a nice feel. You know you go back and forth, I had trouble going back and forth from the six and seven string but now it's much easier. I use this guitar on Weeping China Doll, Valorum, and the Story of Light," explains Steve Vai about his Ibanez Universe Burned Seven-String Electric Guitar.

"This was a guitar that I actually had made for the Experience Hendrix tour. I had two of them. I hand painted this. The thing about it is it was a tip-of-the hat to Jimmy because he had painted his Monterey guitar and it was very psychadelic - 60s psychadelic. So I thought, 'what can I do that's kind of like 2000 psychadelic.' And I took Sharpies and I just painted this trying to make my version of contemporary psychadelic would be. My son put his hand on there (in the back) and I got lyrics and all this. I was so proud of it and I showed it to my wife. She said 'it looks like a 12 year-old girl painted it,' and I said 'oh no.' Then I went and told her 'screw you, haha.' That's the cherry blossom guitar. Now, Jems have the scallop on the top. I like that because you get up here, and these frets, it's pretty hard to grab the string when they're that small. Now in trying to achieve a sound similar to Hendrix, I was doing this Hendrix tour, and well you can't really get that sound because it was all in his fingers, but anyway I wanted that single coil sound so I had them make me these single-coil pickups which are very traditional to Stratocasters. Usually I like rosewood boards. The maple mix has a little more of a warmth to it, and they don't bite as much, but you don't need that when you're using a single-coil pickup because they're so bright,' explains Steve Vai about his Ibanez Strat-Style Solid Body W/ Custom Paint "Cherry Blossom" Electric Guitar.

"I have a record called The Ultra Zone, and the Ultra Zone, on the cover it's this illustration of me as this kind of alien character and I'm playing this really weird guitar. So Alistair took it upon himself to make this guitar for me, and here it is: it's the Ultra Zone guitar. It's really, really cool. And he made the case too! What's really cool is all the lights its got in it. And it's really easy to play. It sits really nicely," explains Steve Vai about the Emerald Guitars Ultra Zone Guitar.

This guitar is in the collection of Steve Vai's guitars as it's shown on the official Vai.com website.

This guitar was signed by Yngwie Malmsteen himself for Steve and is in the collection of Steve Vai's guitars. He also recalls a little bit in the Rig Rundown video.

This custom shop Fender Telecaster featured on the Vai.com with flamed maple neck and different aware defects in paint work is a part of Vai's extensive guitar collection.

Steve uses the guitar in this video of his performance at the Expo Sevilla 1992.

"This is the new Jem that Ibanez just came out with. The bones of the Jem have been the same for 25 years, which makes it the longest running signature series guitar in history, and the most successful - which I'm very grateful for! We're always trying to mix it up and come up with something a little different. Usually it's the aesthetic that's different...But this is the new seafoam green and it's really great to have the opportunity to experiment with guitars. And this one I got the idea for the color when I was in a parking garage and I saw an old thunderbird and it was painted seafoam green. These people who collect these cars are very serious about the paint jobs and everything. And, gah, I wanted to eat the color. It was like a candy. So I did the research and this is what came out: seafoam green. It's very cool. This specific guitar does have a sustainer, but the production models don't. I do use a sustainer - I started using it a lot ten years ago. I've pulled back because you don't want to keep repeating yourself" explains Steve Vai about the Ibanez JEM/UV Steve Vai Signature Electric Guitar.

Ibanez Jem Custom Mirror Top "BO" No Serial Number This black-bodied Jem prototype features an acrylic mirror veneer, mirror pickguard and pearloid binding. The reflective front of this prototype is crazed around the armrest area. Ibanez have since experimented with the reflective material considerably before perfecting the process of bending it over the curved section of the body. The fret markers are blue LED lights, and the headstock is installed with a red laser in the end. The guitar is also fitted with a Fernandes Sustainer - now commonplace in many of Steve's newer guitars. The guitar made its on-stage debut in late 2001 when Steve used it to play "Bad Horsie" live during the European tour. Tuned to C, the mirror-fronted Jem is always close at hand in the studio, where Steve is currently using it for many tracks on his new album.

Ibanez Jem 77FP (with synth controller) Serial #: 262339 This is a standard Jem 77 Floral Pattern fitted with a Roland GK-2A Synth controller. The synth pickup sits between the bridge and humbucker pickup, and a small cable runs over the tremolo to the small controller module positioned to the right of the tone knob (and affixed with velcro). This guitar is part of Steve's Harmony Hut arsenal.

Ibanez JEM7VWH 2003 Serial #: F0228369 A new JEM7VWH. This is the guitar Steve was photographed with for the 2003 Ibanez catalog and NAMM displays. This guitar is in mint condition and has not yet been "named". One of Steve's signature picks is stuck to the body below the trem cavity. The guitar is kept at The Harmony Hut, where it will no doubt be brought into active service in the future.

Ibanez Jem7VWH Custom "PIA" Serial #: Unknown This guitar was used by Steve for his performance at the 2002 GRAMMY Awards with Nelly Furtado. It is a Jem7VWH with some interesting modifications. It has "vintage" silver hardware. The guitar is fitted with a piezo which gives an acoustic-like resonance. The guitar has two jacks and an extra volume knob. Plugging into both jacks allows the piezo and magnetic pickups to be heard through separate amplifiers simultaneously which gives the effect of two guitarists playing electric and acoustic at the same time for a "doubled" live sound. For the performance, Steve had the trem blocked so that if he broke a string, the guitar wouldn't got out of tune. This guitar was auctioned by the GRAMMY Organization to support Music Cares. Of all the items auctioned from the 2002 Grammy Awards, this guitar fetched the highest price. The proud owner is Roland Schemers, who also was the winning bidder of Red Lace and Neville.

Despagni JEM "Zng Zng" Custom No Serial Number This custom guitar made by Steve's longtime buddy Joe Despagni, was used on the David Lee Roth Eat Em And Smile Tour - and can be seen in many photos from that tour. It is nicknamed the "Zng Zng" guitar.

Jackson Soloist Serial #: J0334 This pink Jackson electric was used extensively on the Alcatrazz "Disturbing The Peace" tour in late 1984 and 1985, and re-appeared during the "Eat 'Em and Smile" Tour. It has also appeared in a few magazines and ads - namely a DiMarzio pickups ad with Billy Sheehan. It was once outfitted with a plastic wrist-rest, and had the words IKE TURNER written on the front of the pickguard in white lettering. It has since had the rest and pickguard removed, the screw holes filled, and the guitar was repainted a lighter shade of pearlescent pink. A crack in the nut/back of headstock has been repaired - hence the extra set of screws in the back of the neck. Interestingly, this guitar also displays Steve's early experimentation with what would become the lion's claw cavity on the Jem guitar. Deep grooves (painted black) descend into the guitar body under the floyd rose string-lock screws. This guitar languishes in the Harmony Hut.

This Jeff Beck signature Fender Stratocaster is in the collection of Steve Vai's guitars as shown on the Vai.com website.

This Fender Road Worn™ 50's Stratocaster® with Maple Fretboard in Black is part of Steve Vai's guitar collection.

This black Fender Resonator guitar is also part of Steve Vai's extensive collection of electric, acoustic, bass and other guitars and instruments.

Vai used this guitar (Serial #01751) extensively on the David Lee Roth tour. It was built by Vai's longtime friend Joe Despagni. It was later donated to Guitar Center/Rockwalk Hollywood, where it now resides.

Steve debuts his new signature Ibanez - PIA3761

On steve vai's official instagram, in his studio you can see on the right a prs 408 along with his guitars.

In this photo, you can see Steve Vai playing this guitar.

"It was a very successful run. As a result, Ibanez a couple of years ago was interested in doing sort of like a kickback to the floral pattern. So I went and I found this fabric, which I like very much too. These are some of the fun creative things you can do when you're Steve Vai," explains Steve Vai himself about his Ibanez JEM77FP2 Steve Vai Signature Electric Guitar.