“He had his own vocabulary. He had his own way of constructing chords. His own understanding of how they go on the neck”: Steve Vai on why Allan Holdsworth – the fusion virtuoso who wrote his own rules – was the GOAT

A composite image of Steve Vai [left] playing his green PIA Ibanez signature guitar onstage with the Satch/Vai band, and right, the late, great Allan Holdsworth playing an S-style with a cigarette smoking wedged on the strings.

Steve Vai has spent much of this year tearing it up on tour with his old friend and former teacher Joe Satriani, with the super-gifted Pete Thorn playing rhythm for the Satch/Vai Band.

On the G3 and Generation Axe tours of yore, Vai has shared the stage with the likes of Eric Johnson, Tosin Abasi, Nuno Bettencourt, Zakk Wylde, the irrepressible Yngwie Malmsteen.