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The Latest Breaking News from Steve Vai

“We parked up outside Steve Vai’s caravan. His guitar tech saw me. Next thing you know, Steve’s there, and I’m trying my best to play Tobacco Road”: He was a guitar god at 8, then he disappeared – the unlikely story of Thomas McRocklin

Vai handed him the Passion and Warfare guitar and produced his debut album, only for his protégé to give it all up. Decades later, McRocklin came back stronger – and pursued his own guitar path

Guitar World

“People would say, ‘OMG, if this guy is in the back of a guitar store, teaching, what does it say about the music business?’ But, of course, within a few years, everybody would know his name”: Testament’s Alex Skolnick on what he learned from Joe Satriani

When a teenage Skolnick studied under Satch, he found a man who was “like the equivalent of studying with a classical piano or classical violin teacher” – except this guy could rock

MusicRadar

"Your golden pipes remain this guy’s all-time favourite rock voice to ever grace the planet": Steve Vai salutes Whitesnake legend David Coverdale

“David has shaken the earth for over half a century with a voice that could level a mountain”

MusicRadar

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“They plug me into Zakk Wylde’s amp. Next thing I’m going crazy. Ozzy goes, ‘Let’s get him on tonight!’” In 1988, a shred prodigy opened for Ozzy Osbourne. He was eight years old

Thomas McRocklin would go on to become Steve Vai’s protégé. But his first major gig was opening for the Prince of Darkness

Guitar World

“I was tired of not having a great tone. I could never figure out why I don’t sound good. So I started to experiment with how I pick”: Great tone starts with the pick – just ask Steve Vai. Here’s how honing your picking can improve your tone for free

Unlock every pick color – from warmth and brightness to the secretive clarinet tone

Guitar World

“I moved over to Fender for a couple of years, learning a lot of history there – but also how I didn’t want to make aguitar”: How John Suhr built one of guitar’s hottest boutique brands

John Suhr knows a thing or two about tone. Hey, the guy oversaw repairs at Rudy’s Music in NYC, modded amps with Bob Bradshaw, became a Senior Master Builder and launched his own brand

Guitar World

“I thought it was the worst film I’d seen in my life! I was super-embarrassed. But that solo became part of the franchise’”: Stevie Salas on Bill & Ted, playing arenas with Rod Stewart then opening for Joe Satriani, and turning down both Van Halen singers

The ahead-of-his-time guitar great recalls starting a trend followed by Steve Vai and Tosin Abasi, why he had to quit a Joe Satriani tour, and why he sometimes aimed to be the worst player in the room

Guitar World

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“I never thought I’d get hired by a pop band. Opening for Coldplay with Willow Smith was never a career goal”: Few bassists can match the technical ability of Mohini Dey, thanks to her work with Steve Vai, Willow Smith and just about everyone else

The very definition of ‘prodigy’, Mumbai-born bassist Mohini Dey has enjoyed a rapid ascent to worldwide renown. And she’s only just getting started

Guitar World

"Even though he's dead, I believe that in a hundred years' time from now people will still be listening to him": Steve Vai on the wild genius of Frank Zappa – and the two words that made him want to join his band

They say never meet your heroes – Steve Vai would disagree

Louder

From the shred heroics of Joe Satriani to the melodic mastery of George Benson and fascinating phrasing of Yvette Young, we chart 25 game-changing Ibanez guitarists

While it’s easy to think of Ibanez as a company that’s solely at the cutting edge of metal machines for the modern age, they’ve also innovated much further afield, producing timeless acoustics, semi-hollows, and hollowbodies

Guitar World

“Ace reminded us all that rock should never apologize for being fun and that a little chaos can sound downright heavenly”: The guitar world pays tribute to the late Ace Frehley – the Spaceman who took Kiss into orbit

Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons lead tributes to the Kiss co-founder and larger-than-life former lead guitarist, who has died, aged 74

Guitar World

“Jimmy Page would be nice to have on there”: Dweezil Zappa has already tapped Eddie Van Halen, Brian May and Yngwie Malmsteen for his ambitious instrumental project – but wants to recruit a few more guitar greats before it’s finished

Albert Lee, Steve Morse and Steve Vai have also recorded for What The Hell Was I Thinking?, which Zappa began work on back in 1989

Guitar World

“I took lessons from Joe Satriani. I felt like he was trying to build an army of shredders with finger exercises. He hated me because I didn’t practice his stuff enough”: The iconic alt-rock guitarist who quit taking lessons from Satch

The Satriani curriculum failed to move Cake's Xan McCurdy

Guitar World

“If the guitar has ever been your sanctuary, you already know you need to be there”: Nuno Bettencourt announces four day guitar camp – and he's recruited some big-name players to help

Steve Vai, Eric Gales, Rick Beato, and Mateus Asato are among the guest stars who will take part

Guitar World

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MusicRadar

“It reminds me of Batman and the Joker. It’s just so cool”: Korn’s Brian ‘Head’ Welch and James ‘Munky’ Schaffer on their Yin and Yang signature Ibanez 7-strings – and how it all comes back to Steve Vai

The K7YIN and K7YANG, one dark, one light, both state-of-the-art extended range S-styles built to the nu-metal kingpins' specifications – and yes, that's a U-Bar on Munky's vibrato

Guitar World

“Sweet Child O’ Mine is a terrible song. I don’t like Slash’s playing, but it stands the test of time. That was my inspiration – to write something timeless”: Lorna Shore return with new music, brash Ibanez customs, and a fresh kind of death metal energy

I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me confirms their crossover to the mainstream, even if they don’t understand it, as Andrew O’Connor and Adam De Micco take influence from guitarists they don’t even like

Louder

Watch King Crimson 80s affiliate band Beat perform Elephant Talk live

Adrian Belew, Danny Carey, Tony Levin and Steve Vai have just released Beat Live on Blu-ray, vinly and CD

Louder

“A truly virtuosic and deeply musical homage to King Crimson’s legacy – hugely entertaining”: BEAT LIVE captures the joy of Adrian Belew, Steve Vai, Tony Levin and Danny Carey reviving and evolving the 80s

The quartet’s relaxed yet enthusiastic approach means they never sound indulgent as they segue between pachyderm-impersonating dissonance and languorous ambience

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Louder

King Crimson offshoot Beat share new live clip of Thela Hun Ginjeet

Adrian Belew, Danny Carey, Tony Levin and Steve Vai will release Beat Live in September

Guitar World

“I got a writeup in a guitar magazine, and a gentleman from the UK sent me ahandwritten letter in the mail saying, ‘Hello, my name is Guthrie’”: Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal on the unifying magic of the guitar instrumental

The former Guns N’ Roses guitarist's new solo album features Brian May, Steve Vai and Guthrie Govan – and, yes, it does not disappoint

Guitar World

“I ended up getting three of them. I just fell in love with them”: Steve Vai on the affordable modeling amp that stole his heart

The small-but-mighty modeling amp has become a must-have travel companion

Guitar World

“My guitar was slightly out.Steve Vai walked past and said,‘Your low E was four cents flat.’And he’d been in the green room!” Meet Derek Day, the swaggering virtuoso who went from busking on the streets to touring with his hero

The 24-year-old explains how he merges prog and glam, and escapes the “originality ordeal” of an ancient instrument by hopping between Fender, Gibson, PRS and Ibanez (even if he prefers to write on cheap knock-offs)

Guitar World

“I can tell you how to become a virtuoso very easily”: Steve Vai on how anybody can become an elite guitar player

Vai – who had a gruelling practice routine growing up– has shed some light on what it takes to become a virtuoso

Guitar World

“It was probably the greatest 10 seconds of guitar playing I’ve ever seen in my life”: Billy Corgan quizzes Steve Vai on his epic guitar battle with Yngwie Malmsteen – and the guitar lick that left them both in disbelief

The two virtuosos went toe-to-toe during the Generation Axe tour, and Malmsteen walked away as the victor

MusicRadar

“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

Most players Vai can work out where they were coming from. Holdsworth, he admits, was something different entirely

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