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

 

[Cagey]

Good for you! That had to be exciting! So... didja learn anything?

It's interesting that in the picture of his setup, he had the Axe Fx and the Carvin TS100 amps powered up, but not the Legacy units.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

Good for you! That had to be exciting! So... didja learn anything?

It's interesting that in the picture of his setup, he had the Axe Fx and the Carvin TS100 amps powered up, but not the Legacy units.

Thanks, it was super exciting.

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.

Supposedly he uses the Carvins for his sounds and the Axe FX II for effects only. The Legacy III were just for show.

 

[Cagey]

Right. The Axe has very accurate Legacy models in it, so feed that to some Carvin TS100 power amps, turn off the cabinet modelling and use some Legacy cabs, and you're there if your whole sound is the Legacy. Of course, the sfx are second to none.

I had a similar setup for a while. Guitar -> Axe Fx -> Carvin TS100 -> generic 412. Sounded very good, but you couldn't model other things very accurately. Sorta tough to get a Fender Twin or Vox AC30 or any kind of booger out of that rig. But, I don't have a "signature" sound like Steve does; I've always been a cover tune kinda guy. So, I sold the amp and cab and moved on. Now I run Guitar -> Axe Fx -> Carvin DCM200L -> Carvin 1202 FRFR speakers. It's not the best; I need to get better speakers. But, it's pretty sweet. Also, pretty easy to move. I'm gonna dump those speakers and get an Atomic CLR. Then I can die in peace.

 

[Assumer]

Can't wait to see him.  He is coming to a local venue soon.  Unfortunately they are know for shitty sound. 

 

[Death by Uberschall]

From what I could tell, he was using the Carvin power amps to power his monitors, the ones he had directly in front of him and the 4x12 cabs he had on each side of the stage as side fills. Both Legacy amps where run into the cabs below them. There was a 3rd head in waiting on the side that could be swapped in if one should fail. The Legacy III were just for show.

 

[Creeping Death]

Can't wait to see him.  He is coming to a local venue soon.  Unfortunately they are know for shitty sound.

Bad acoustics or audio quality? If it is the audio quality that wouldn't be a problem because when big dogs like Steve Vai are on tour they have all of their own equipment and do not use the "House PA" if the acoustics are bad then there is no fix and have to settle for what you got.

 

[stratamania]

Congratulations, I went to one back in around 2007 and have no photos  but some good memories.

EVO is as you say is not the most elegant Jem in the universe and possibly is more beat up than when I saw it. The crack was there then, and I remember when I got to hold it and played a quick couple of notes on it that the action was quite high.

There were some questions and answers asked but towards the end I asked him what he felt about Jeff Beck as both players he and Beck use the tremolo in different ways as expressive tools. Steve, said Jeff, was one of his heroes and so forth, then we both started to get onto how to use music as a tool to express the inner spirit... Alas the time came to an end as the sound check had to start.  I could have talked with him for hours given the opportunity.

 

[SustainerPlayer]

Cool. Thanks for sharing.  :icon_thumright:

 

[Updown]

Cool. Thanks for sharing.  :icon_thumright:

+1000000000

How cool is that    :guitarplayer2:

:kewlpics:

 

[ZGOZZ]

Way cool man way cool!

 

[m4rk0]

That is awesome!!! I am very jealous!!
I have tickets for the show on Friday, but not the meet and greet though...still excited even though I have seen him live many times before.

I heard he has someone from American Idol as the opener.. is that worth seeing or can we skip it?

 

[Death by Uberschall]

No opener at this show, don't know about up coming shows though. Call the venue, they should know.

 

[TeleMark]

Very cool.  I've seen him twice: once solo with Eric Sardinas opening, and once on G3 with Satriani and John Petrucci.  I did have tickets to his show in Flagstaff, but for some reason that got cancelled.

I really like Dave Weiner as well.  His online lessons/videos are really great, and he also seems like a cool guy.  I'm extremely jealous.. :icon_smile:

 

[MikeW]

Very cool you got to see him. He's one of my favorites too and I've never gotten the chance to see him live.

From what I could tell, he was using the Carvin power amps to power his monitors, the ones he had directly in front of him and the 4x12 cabs he had on each side of the stage as side fills. Both Legacy amps where run into the cabs below them. There was a 3rd head in waiting on the side that could be swapped in if one should fail. The Legacy III were just for show.

According to the Carvin gurus (advdir over at the Carvin forum), it depends on what the venue is like. Steve uses both the L1s and the L3s just depending on what he likes and how the venue reacts. The AxeFX is used just for modulation effects and is run into the effects return of the heads on either side of the setup. The power amps in the rack are used to power two 4x12 cabinets on the sides of the stage and the floor monitors in front.

http://www.carvinbbs.com/viewtopic.php?t=39345&start=40

Check out advdir's post three or four down.

 

[Cagey]

That makes a lot more sense than any of the other stories I've heard, so I'm inclined to believe it.

The TS100s are pretty transparent for being tube-based amps. They're more like what you'd use for a home stereo, if you had a serious urge to use such things. Not much color to them. They'd be great for monitors or side fills.

The effects in the Axe Fx are excellent, so you can save a helluva lotta rack space going that route. Plus, the routing possibilities are nearly endless.

The Legacy amps are supposed to be pretty special from what I've heard, so I can imagine if one wanted to buy into a one-trick pony, that might be a good way to go.

 

[DangerousR6]

Very cool DBU, not often we get to meet some of the greats. And especially get to hang with them for a bit. I got to meet Satch some years back and he's the same, down to earth really super cool guy. No EGO at all.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

Very cool DBU, not often we get to meet some of the greats. And especially get to hang with them for a bit. I got to meet Satch some years back and he's the same, down to earth really super cool guy. No EGO at all.

It was worth it for sure.

The original Legacys are known as the poor man's Bogner. I could see it as Carvin built those amps for him during his Ecstacy playing days.

 

[DangerousR6]

Very cool DBU, not often we get to meet some of the greats. And especially get to hang with them for a bit. I got to meet Satch some years back and he's the same, down to earth really super cool guy. No EGO at all.

It was worth it for sure.

The original Legacys are known as the poor man's Bogner. I could see it as Carvin built those amps for him during his Ecstacy playing days.

Really doesn't matter what they cost, the ear likes what the ear likes. :laughing7:

Did he play your guitar, or just sign it? :headbang1:

 

[Death by Uberschall]

He just signed it.  :toothy11: