Steve Vai

#ProductDemo In this video where Vai discusses perfect pedal order, he plays through the OD1X at 5:17, and mentions how he likes to run overdrive into a distorted amplifier.

#ProductDemo At 49:20, Vai demos the SD-1W, and explains how he likes to use it with a distorted amp.

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

During the 1988 David Lee Roth and 1990 Whitesnake world tours, Vai used 2 of these power amps for two Marshall amplifiers.

In this Instagram photo posted by TC Electronic, Steve Vai can be seen using the TC Electronic PolyTune Clip tuner, clipped onto the headstock of his Ibanez JEM-EVO electric guitar. The caption reads:

"Steve Vai and Evo have joined the ranks of PolyTune Clip users! Our hearts are bursting with pride ... oh, and check out Steve's latest pedalboard. Pretty cool, eh?"

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.

In this video, Steve Vai's pedal rack is shown to consist of a Sound Sculpture Switchblade GL switching system.

"This here is a very cool piece of gear, the Compex EQ Compressor. They're very old and hard to find, but very functionable and friendly sounding. This is the compressor type that was used on When the Levy Breaks," says Steve Vai about the ADR Compex F760X-RS Compressor which he uses in his studio setup.

"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."

During the 1988 David Lee Roth and 1990 Whitesnake world tours, Vai used a harmonizer in his offstage rack (nicknamed WOMANIZER).

TonePrint session with the one and only Steve Vai

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.

An Eventide DSP4000 UltraHarmonizer is used by Steve Vai in his studio setup.

"I started to have custom gear built because then it functions the way you really want it to. Steve Furlong from Inward Connections builds this stuff. This is probably one of the cleanest stereo mastering equalizers I've ever used, and I've used this on everything when I mix," says Steve Vai about the Inward Connections DEQ-1 Mastering Equalizer which he uses in his studio rig.

"This is where I work, this is my computer and I use ProTools and I load everything into here and record," says Steve Vai about the Avid Pro Tools 11 software which he uses in his studio.

Steve Vai utilized the DigiTech WH-4 Whammy (4th Gen) pedal during his 'Visual Sound Theories' project, as evidenced by a user-uploaded photo on Guitars.

During the 1996 G3/Fire Garden tour, a Chorus Ensemble was used on an on-stage pedalboard.

During the Sex & Religion tour, Vai used a DS-2 in an off-stage effects rack. It was controlled by an onstage Custom Audio Electronics switching unit.

In the original two JEM prototypes, PAF Pros were in both the bridge and neck positions.

"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.

"I'm using…a Bad Horsey Wah-Wah, which is a Morley that I helped design," says Steve Vai about his Morley Steve Vai Bad Horsie 2 Contour Wah Pedal.

"I just got the Red Witch stuff... I kind of like them a lot," says Steve Vai about the Red Witch Medusa Chorus and Tremolo Pedal.

“When the app revolution hit, I remembered that great CD-ROM and knew it would make an extraordinary app... I acquired the rights for the Ocean Way Microphone Locker CD-ROM contents and worked with Allen Sides, who is a very good friend, and Metal Sidecar, LLC to build an app from the material. Metal Sidecar did a fabulous job and the app is phenomenal. You can actually access Allen’s mic collection and match them with a complete range of musical instruments. You get tips on the best miking techniques and can listen to samples played by top session cats like Hal Blaine on drums,” says Steve Vai about the Ocean Way Microphone Locker app he helped develop.

"The speakers I use, I've always been used to NS-10s because it's just the way I grew up.I like sticking with them for checking certain frequencies and sounds," says Steve Vai about the Yamaha NS10 Studio Monitors in his studio.

From Steve Vai's website, "These pedals would sit onstage near the Bradshaw switching unit, above. From the left, these are a BOSS FV-100 volume pedal and a Dunlop Crybaby wah pedal."

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.