"I'm usually a 9-42 guy, and I think the seven-string is a 52. Some of the guitars are tuned down for songs like John the Revelator and Gravity Storm, so for those I use like 10s. Those songs are tuned down a whole step. So even with heavy strings they're kind of floppy. I've used Ernie Ball for years and years. They're a solid company, they're great people, and they just came out with these new strings called Cobalt. It's always been my feeling that strings are strings, how different can they be. So I put these strings on and at first I didn't like them. I thought they were weird. They really feel different - really slinky and pulling. Then I started using them and they just started feeling more the way a guitar should feel. So I really liked them... These strings, maybe it's not feel like a guitar should feel like, maybe they're more like what my zone feels like. They move more with my emotional input," says Steve Vai about the Ernie Ball Cobalt Super Slinky Electric Guitar Strings.

"I used to have what was the size of refrigerators for racks with all sorts of gear because back then there was only one thing that did the chorus, one thing that did delay, and one thing that did phase. So then multiple processors came along and most of them sounded like crap to me. They were like toys. The people weren't really putting in the technology into them. A lot of times this is like a playground for the intellect of a geeky designer. So you get gear that's impossible for a musician to figure out and doesn't sound good. I went through a lot of that for many years. And then I found this. Well, I mean I didn't find it - it found me! It's a very popular device. Out of any device I've ever used - any effects processor - for my ear this seems to have the most transparency which means its sounds the most like just plugging directly to the front of an amp which is really nice. It's extremely powerful! It's almost like rocket science. I mean, you have to learn how to use it. I mean you can just plug it in and and put up some settings and it's good, but when you start getting into all the parameters of it you can give yourself a hernia with just pushing buttons, haha. That's basically what I use. Now I don't necessarily use it very much on the record because when I record I like to get a very direct signal and then I put various processors from inside, but I did use it on some stuff. This is my rig to use live," says Steve Vai about the Fractal Audio Systems Axe-Fx II Guitar Effects PreAmp Processor.

"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 setup: "The guitar in line goes into the Wah Wah on the board - either the Dunlop automatic one or the Bad Horsie (he switches between the two). From there it goes to the two distortion boxes, the DS-1 and the Keely modded TS-10, then the EvH flanger and from there it goes back into the front of the amp. "

"I don't use Tortex, because well - it's not that I'm an animal activist - I don't even like the idea of using tortoise shell. So these [Ibanez picks] are like a special kind of plastic that just grips my fingers very nicely. And I have other picks but I just don't use them because they're too smooth. It's a good size. It's a little bit bigger," says Steve Vai about the Ibanez 1000SVBR Steve Vai Signature Guitar Pick.

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.

"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 24:56, Vai shows his personal pedalboard, which has the chorus in his effects loop, after a volume pedal. He does this, as it splits the signal into stereo, going into two Boss DD7 delays and two different heads.

"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.

We spotted a Eventide H3000-D/SX UltraHarmonizer in Steve Vai's studio rig.

#ProductDemo In this video, Vai discusses perfect pedal order, and uses the flanger at 13:30. He recommends experimenting with the flanger's placement in the signal chain to find a sound you like.

Used live with Alcatrazz, as documented and pictured on the "Alcatrazz Gear" page of Vai's official website. The "Live Gear" page specifies the "ALCATRAZZ USA & JAPAN TOURS 1984-1985".

http://www.vai.com/site-images/tm/xlivegear_alcatrazz06.jpg.pagespeed.ic.xAOYSy6fME.jpg

A very simple pedalboard consisting of a BOSS SD-1 Super Overdrive pedal, a Carvin footswitch used to control his amplifier, a custom-made clean/distortion switch and a Crybaby wah pedal.

Steve’s pedalboard soon grew into this one, featuring the same pedals as above (right), but without the custom clean/dirty switch, and adding 2 DC-8 switching units and a delay hold pedal.

"I'm using a Dunlop Wah-Wah," said Steve Vai about his Dunlop Original Cry Baby Wah Pedal.

"These are mic pres API, they're called 500 Series because of their size. These are also called lunch pails because you can just take these various 500 series that people make and just kind of stuff them in here," says Steve Vai about the Shadow Hills Industries Mono GAMA 500 Series Mic Pres.

In this video where Vai talks about perfect pedal order, he uses the DD-7 at 10:36, and explains how he likes to use delay in his amp's FX loop, but if on a pedalboard, actually will put delay in front of distortions, contrary to the common method of end of signal chain placement.

"The pedalboard out of the front amp is pretty simple. I have an Ibanez Jemini Distortion pedal, which I designed. It's got two distortions in it which is kind of nice," explains Steve Vai about the Ibanez Jemini Distortion Guitar Effects Pedal.

On 4:00, Steve is talking about Ernie ball Strings

According to Ernie Balls video description: "String Theory is a web series from Ernie Ball that explores the sonic origins of some of music's most innovative players. In this episode, Ernie Ball artist Steve Vai discusses his influences, his history with playing guitar, and his Ernie Ball strings.

Steve Vai plays Ernie Ball Super Slinky electric guitar strings"

The DigiTech Whammy Pitch-Shifting Guitar Effects Pedal is part of Steve Vai's pedalboard.

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

In this video, Steve Vai was seen using his signature DiMarzio Evolution bridge pickup in his Ibanez JEM7V.

"I just kind of put different pieces of gear in to try different pedals. I usually find a wild, whacky pedal that I use for a minute and then I don't like it. These are some new pedals I just got, the Red Witch stuff, that I'm trying out. I kind of like them a lot," says Steve Vai in also in reference to the Red Witch Titan Delay Guitar Effects Pedal which is part of his pedalboard.

Steve Vai's studio rig contains an Eventide H3000S UltraHarmonizer.

"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.

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.

"I use these Ibanez picks. It's funny because you can give me anything and I can make it work, but if I got the wrong pick I just can't play. I had to go through a lot of different ones. First of all, I don't use Tortex, because well - it's not that I'm an animal activist - I don't even like the idea of using tortoise shell. So these [Ibanez picks] are like a special kind of plastic that just grips my fingers very nicely. And I have other picks but I just don't use them because they're too smooth. It's a good size. It's a little bit bigger. And they're also heavy picks. If you ever have a pick that gets chewed down you scrape it against the rug on both sides - new pick," says Steve Vai about the Ibanez 1000SVWHR Steve Vai Signature Guitar Pick.

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

"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.

"I usually use a Little Alligator volume pedal, but because of the system I'm using now the most practical thing is the volume expresion pedal for the Fractal Axe-Fx II," says Steve Vai about the Morley Little Alligator Volume Pedal.

"These are like summing mixers that he hand-builf for me. So when you come out of ProTools or your digital workstation you get this very clean kind of separation of tracks that then you can bust down to stereo," says Steve Vai about the Inward Connections Mix690 Summing Mixer, a system that he uses in his studio rig.