Met one of my guitar inspirations last night, Steve Vai

[Death by Uberschall]

Was an awesome show. Got to do the meet & greet with him before the show with the EVO Experience package. Super cool and nice guy, no "big head syndrome" at all, very down to earth and easy going. Almost as if he doesn't know how great he is, LOL. We got to do a Q&A with him for about an hour. Questions that got asked ranged from touring, to writing & inspiration, to the music business, to his guitars and so on. And of course somebody just had to ask him what his favorite guitar was (was not me, LOL), and of course he said "EVO". And let me tell you, EVO is beat to shit and back. There is a crack in the body that goes from the neck pocket all the way deep into the lower horn, almost to the back edge of the body.

He did sign my JEM90HAM for me in two places, back of the headstock and inside the trem cover area (just in case the one on the headstock by some "Act of God" came off, LOL). He smiled when he saw it and noted he doesn't see many of those anymore.
Here are some pics. Sorry for any crappy pics, all I had was my iPhone.

Crack in EVO

Shots from sound check and free jamming

Shots from the show

My fiance' with Steve and both of us with Steve's son, Fire. I asked him if he played guitar too, he said "A little".

Gear used

 

[crankyrayhanky]

totally awesome!

 

[Mailman1971]

Awesome pics. Only saw him once on the DLR Eat 'em and Smile tour.
Such a kick ass player.

 

[Valtyr]

Very cool.

I saw him in Birmingham earlier this week, that was a killer show. The weird Ultra Zone guitar broke down on him and they had to restart the tune.

 

[cardinal]

Nice dude. Vai just is an incredible player and comes across as a pretty cool guy.

 

[Stealthtastic]

Very cool! He is ridiculously friendly! He puts on a hell of a show too. I really want to get the EVO experience and have him sign my LNG as well!

 

[Anonymous]

I used to take lessons from Steve out in Sylmar before he got the Alcatrazz gig. Great guy - very inspiring…

Steve

 

[Death by Uberschall]

I used to take lessons from Steve out in Sylmar before he got the Alcatrazz gig. Great guy - very inspiring…

Steve

Speaking of that, he mentioned something during the Q&A session. He talked about how his lessons with Joe Satriani started out as simple 30 minute to a hour lesson that eventually turned into 5-6 hour jam sessions. He said Joe and him used to sit with their backs to each other for hours playing and training their ears. Steve said one would start playing something and the other would start playing on top of it sight unseen.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

He is the master. Glad to hear he is a nice guy too. A lot of people hate on him, but I think he is one of the all time greatest musicians.

 

[Black Sabbath]

Very nice. I'm jealous . . . I always love Vai's extremely creative guitar playing.

 

[bpetersen]

I saw him with David Lee Roth right after I started playing guitar and watching him almost made me switch to bass.

 

[gibson08]

Nice, Sounds like you had a great time!! Congrats on the sig as well!!

 

[junkerde]

the crack from the evo, i have it at the same place as my ibanez

 

[Nico]

Awesome! Steve kicks ass!!!

Who used the Friedman BE-100 with the Orange 4x12? I have the exact same setup... Cool!

 

[Ventura]

He is the master. Glad to hear he is a nice guy too. A lot of people hate on him, but I think he is one of the all time greatest musicians.

 

[Enjolras56]

Very cool, man!

I also had the unforgettable opportunity to meet Vai a few years back when he was doing the Alien Guitar Secrets clinic tour.
Very generous with his knowledge. Confident yet nowhere near cocky. The concepts that he shared "philosophically" about playing guitar improved my playing.

Totally agree with Reza- an absolute master musician.

 

[fek]

Awesome! Steve kicks ass!!!

Who used the Friedman BE-100 with the Orange 4x12? I have the exact same setup... Cool!

Dave Wiener has been using the BE100 for a few years now. He gets a great live tone with it.

 

[shredhead7]

I saw the tour a week and a half ago and Steve didn't miss a note. He is so good. On top of that, I thought that his tone and sound was one of the best that I've heard. It was really loud, but never harsh and you could hear everything that he did.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

I saw the tour a week and a half ago and Steve didn't miss a note. He is so good. On top of that, I thought that his tone and sound was one of the best that I've heard. It was really loud, but never harsh and you could hear everything that he did.

Same here.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Surprised he doesn't bother with the LEgacy III and just sticks with those first generation models which are supposed to be "inferior". I guess you don't mess with what works!