Steve Vai Carvin Interview - Live performance

[HoganHendrix]

1:42 "1980's" ya think?

[XciteD18]

@HoganHendrix i think he is,because in the early of 1980's he used stratocaster. and then he still had a handsome face.hahahahahaha.

[mindsave]

@HoganHendrix 2003. I have this DVD.

[Obelisk2290]

cheesy

[danawanapskana]

ice 7

[poprostudaniel]

Had the same with catalogues. It was like porn for 13 years old boy :)

[gothick2]

0:57 - 1:03 Every Day its X-mas xD

[JustinVerlander35]

That riff in the beginning of the song sounds like Harvester of Sorrow.

[ForcedAgenda]

13 people were born without ears.

[disturbedonepl]

Vai -> Wilson... Satriani -> Voldemort… WTF? :)

[kerryking96]

Please someone tell me the name of the song he is perfoming...ITS AWESOME

[ForcedAgenda]

@kerryking96 "Giant Balls of Gold". That's the name of the song, not those things between his legs. :P

[kerryking96]

@ForcedAgenda hahahahahahahahaha xD

thank you very much for your comment :D

[newname363]

don't hate on me for saying, but when i hear that tune start at 2:44 it reminds me of "hordes of locusts" (a little satch influence, or other way around perhaps? yes there was a lessons connection)

[rololoo]

"my music is complicated", then right after that a clip of a very simple track pops up.

[zachoon]

I think a lot of people were kids. BAHAAH jk.

[benj2101]

Giant Balls of Gold, what a track

[J03SA]

and why is his hair always flying?

[Lokisbphotography]

@J03SA he owns a fan. :P

[J03SA]

@Lokisbphotography i want to smash a fan on a pop/hip hop/rap artists head...dont ask why :/ well the newer artists anyway.

[ForcedAgenda]

@J03SA Vai has a floor fan going in front of him. It keeps him cool, in more than one way. :)

[Fulltondano]

I'm 41, still crazing out with a tennis racket!

[headlesssoldier]

i had the same exact experience. And its why I snap up old Carvins when I come across them.

[MrAdammassacre]

i was "one a those kids" :D i loved going crazy to my fave metal bands in the 80s rockin out on a tennis racket :D great fun \m/

[pinfinity]

the tune at the end of this is very reminiscent of Satch's "Hordes of Locusts"; same beat, opposite note selection and Steve is vamping in front of the beat vs behind th beat with Satch...wonder if this is something they used to jam to together? hmmm :-)

[AntoineGaudet]

'' I want to plug and go ! '' Yeah that's why you got 200 pedals..

[turnbacktime]

@AntoineGaudet lol

[sixstringfretter]

@AntoineGaudet Wrong! It's 204! Jeesh!...get your facts straight ;)

[TheSweatyfatguy]

@sixstringfretter lame

[alepaan]

Steve Vai also studied facial contorsionism.

[sunnyjim98]

whats that song called!

[Ultraditz]

@sunnyjim98 It's called 'Giant Balls Of Gold' :)

[espectaculardavidrcq]

Steve Vai MANDA EN EL MUNDO DE LAS GUITARRAS ELECTRICAS!

[USAGlobalVideoCorp]

wicked cool

[nucence258]

his pedal board is complicated =l

[jtryde]

Steve Vai is totally awesome. All rock star lead guitar players should have to attend the Steve Vai School of Posing and Facial Contortion.

[serazac25]

If you're steve vai you just want to keep playing and playing, lol not because of the amp :P

[Guevaristas]

how does he do it

[MADEINMAIDEN]

song reminds of Sad but true, Met.....

[toomanygittars]

I still have that flexi disc he recorded for Carvin (it was attached to an issue of Guitar Player Magazine).

[James57433]

Vai ur a expert, and look at me sitting in my bedroom playin my tiny 10watt not very gd amp

[fixxxer602]

I DIDN'T KNOW BILL NYE THE SCIENCE GUY GREW HIS HAIR AND PLAYED GUITAR!!!!!! HAHA no but seriously Steve Vai rocks

[loljksmiles]

holy shit Stu Hamm on the blue powder record. great plug

[onetime504]

He's great on "House" too.

[smacman68]

Oh yea! I had an old, beat up acoustic with no strings that I would simulate jamming on stage (my bed) LoL!

[LaniRockster]

I was one of those kids too and I mailed out for the catalog,I also found a 100 watt halfstack two years ago that was stored in a warehouse in great shape with the cursive logo 1974 -75 for one hundred fifty dollars/what luck!sounds great.

[lguukietar]

i was one of thous tennis racket kids then i lisen to steve then i picked up the guitar!!!

[moondog50002000]

mail order

[theclovek]

does carvin have any dealers in Slovakia?

[FALLENxxSKAT3R]

yeah deffintly sounds like harvester of sorrow

[gibsongod15]

VAI is a copycat! Haha jk he is one hell of a guitar player

[techseven]

The song he plays at the end..somehow reminds me of harvester of sorrow from metallica. Dunno why

[kevin73688174]

Did I see Billy Shehan?

[dolenslupus]

Yes, you did. But more importantly, did you see Virgil Donati?

[renzokuken45]

I got a ibanez stagestar. Lol for 120$ its one of the best uitars ive EVER played. Its so easy to play and its like it knows what i want it to do :D

[okeylang47]

very true ... everytime you see a good guitar magazine not only the carvin , guitar center, musicians friend , and ect... that feels like christmas lol

[teokiatuan2]

lol at 2:32 he almost said 'alot of knobs'

lol

[whitecrossrules]

how good are the ibanez guitars????thinking of buying one,wht bout carvin or dean???

[shakeshaftthomas]

ibanez guitars are incredable

what model you thinking of???

[whitecrossrules]

r they good for shredding, im thinking of getting one of the XP300FX .

[shakeshaftthomas]

there good for shredding but i would recomend a rg prestige, the the xp300fx is a great guitar

[brandon5pennies]

ibanez are good for shredding don't get newer models try to find an older one definitely make sure it's japan made and not korean cause the quality control is unbelievably different

[TruNikkaz]

ibanez rg and s series were designed for 80s shredders

carvin dc models are for shredders too

depends on what you like, i have a prestige, love it, ive played a dc, love it even more

and i play the typical shred stuff so im sure you'd like either one

[hatemeplease15]

depends on what ibanez, some are cheap, carvin guitars are amazing, i wouldnt buy a dean, but thats just me

[kyeno]

Ibanez make the best guitars.

Ever.

[DarthKazi]

They make guitars for artists that are no better than any other custom made, artist designed guitar. Their stock models are no better than the mid and top level ones from Carvin. In fact, for the money, Carvins are better bargains than "name brand" models.

[RNRDOLL]

they are ok the pickups aren't very fat sounding out of the box...the rest depends on your hands though, they usually have very thin necks and very flat fretboards which are good for playing faster...BUT they dont get points for comfort playing live (im my case). My hands need something to hang onto thats why I ended up with a 1958 reissue les paul. Its all preference really though. They are good metal guitars, but DEFINITELY look into getting better pickups!!

[PrsFenderJackson1980]

When he says, "I'm a pain in the ass." He sounds like Al Pacino.

[Slipstream0001]

I just love his modesty. He's so humble.

[TruthSurge]

man... he's not a good salesman. plug and go? HAHAHAH Go look at his live vids and just see how many effects he stomps through. Vai is the absolute OPPOSITE of plug n go.

[hebijebi03]

lol no shit

[carvin1657]

@TruthSurge think about his contemporaries, especially in the '80s. Guitar virtuosity typically goes hand in hand with rackmounts and midi controllers, which vai does not use.

[TruthSurge]

@carvin1657 man, you couldn't be more incorrect. Vai has used tons of rackmount processors. All that wacky harmony he did in the past on Blue Powder and Attitude Song etc. Eventide harmonizer in a rack space - NOT a floor pedal. Eventide made the mack daddy of harmonizers and they cost a PRETTY penny so guys like Steve could have one but you and I had to buy the Digitech version at about 1/10 the price.

[carvin1657]

@TruthSurge I don't think i've ever seen anyone be polite on youtube so congratulations on being the first haha. Doesn't he use the digitech whammy? And i'm not a huge steve vai fan so you're probably right, I've mostly just followed his Carvin endorsements in the last decade, nothing really from before.

[TruthSurge]

@carvin1657 Yeah, he does use a whammy pedal . I'm not an expert on him but I have listened to him since the 80s and I just know that he is a processor/pedal geek. He is TOTALLY not plug and play. You will not hear him playing a les paul straight into a Marshall -EVER. why is that? He relies on his sound to help his playing (it's just the way ears work). Same with Satch. They get their sound and tend to stick with it. So, I laughed when Vai lied about plug and go. hahaha

[morphicwraith]

@carvin1657 he does use the digitech whammy, I've seen him explaining his pedalboard on a video before. He has quite a few floor pedals: jemini distortion, morley wah, digitech whammy, EVH phaseshifter and more; of course coupled with his lovely rack, which I've also checked out on the web :)

[dobsonone]

@TruthSurge ye n vai dus fuck all with them he has no idea about his rig, guys do that for him he jus knws wer 2stand an wen.

[13isaacz1]

@TruthSurge

Not really Compare his rig to other guys its not that complicated its not really alot of looping or anything its basically guitar into his pedal board a bit of his rack effects and then his legacy's and apparently a fender combo for clean tones. check out his gear tour Guitar world or premier guitar im not sure?

[HoganHendrix]

@TruthSurge I meant just because of what he is wearing. There's no way it wasn't in the 80's ha

[TruthSurge]

@HoganHendrix hehe yep

[BiLL03590]

@TruthSurge he ment amplifier wise.. no extra channels or knobs.. thats all, he does have a unique taste.. he did say that in the video

[RjJena]

The live performance is not the best example for his comlicated music

[Phan7om12]

looks like Jim Carry at 1:02

[f22turboaccord]

Tony Macalpine's the shit

[rixills]

i want to be there when steve vai said to the stage manager, "dude, i need to have a fan blowing my hair straight back, it will rock so hard!!!!!!!!!"

[dtma24]

haha

[charlesruiz2000]

No kidding, it's like he's got the divine wind blowing in his face. If only my everday look could be like that. haha.

[XxTheLastAirBenderxX]

i love how he was like "ya my music is complex" then it just cuts to a video of him playing a chord over and over lol

[ricaard]

Go, Tony! Mr. MacAlpine on stage left...

[OddTimeMan]

Just bought the Carvin X100B Reissue today. AMAZING tone, AMAZING price! The best-kept secret right now.

[jbrown198323]

And he does have one of the best tones out there too.

[stuie777]

amp and channels simple and ready to go, not his fretboard hahaha.

[prashanthosur]

Steve...you should try make a signature guitar with carvin..may be cheaper for poor fans like me to afford a steve vai guitar... :P no but seriously..hehehe

[mjvg1]

Lol now there is two of us!!!

[mjvg1]

Probably that will not happen early because I think he has a contract with Ibanez

[wileypayote]

steve vai is synonamous with Ibanez

[jszekerj]

I think of Paul Gilbert when I think Ibanez.

[wfe4567]

i dont think so...when he signs then the price will go up to the sky...poor guy like u n me just have to keep drooling...

[stonecoldcorpse]

he reminds me of wilson from the show house

[SeniorDstax]

@stonecoldcorpse Rofl i was about to say that too!

[lk47902]

@stonecoldcorpse YES! i think the same thing!!! They look like brothers sometimes.

[ljukyguitar]

1:39 ? Is that Vai with Strat ? :)

[prashanthosur]

I think thats a Charvel..

[Gorbyrev]

Yup that's Green Meanie and it's a Charvel - if you go to Steve's website you can see it. It is covered in stickers. If you go back to Zappa days you can see Vai playing Strats.

[geetar72]

Can someone tell me why Vai and Judge Judy look exactly alike? Is it just me?!?!....I hope not.

[gennaro1980]

i like how they put "1980s" over the old photo....duh. Gee I could of sworn that pic was from 2007.

[bukofezra]

his hands are fuck'n huge......

[cyphixx]

Is this a serious post? You must be kidding right? Tony Mcalpine couldn't hold Vai's jockstrap. He's light years beyond Mcalpine.

[spoothead1]

this video isn't here to hate idiot.... Steve Vai's a good guitarist. just deal with it fool. or I'll shove cookies in your mouth.

[malmsteenzz]

Steve Vai ..i love YOUU!!!!

[TokaCola]

the riff on stage sounds a tad like Satch's Hordes of Locusts (to my ears)

[Diwalicious]

Is it just me, or is Steve Vai never boring? :D

[GIORGIO1995]

@Diwalicious When he's speaking... he's never boring. When is playing... you know, it's SOOOOO boring.

[diamonddust22]

@GIORGIO1995 You're kidding right? When you can play even remotely as good as Steve Vai, then maybe you can open your stupid rude mouth. Go back to Justin Bieber, punk

[turnbacktime]

@GIORGIO1995 lol thats actually true. I cant think of too many guitarists that are exciting to hear play. Maybe guthrie govan, buckethead maybe p.gilbert.. i dont know who else but guys like vai and petrucci although great players are beyond boring.

[Rockerboy3872]

Steve Vai.......a god of the guitar he deserves 2 be after practicing 4 10 hrs a day

[Dejoblue]

"Giant Balls of Gold" is the song it was written for Poland, it is from his Alive in an Ultra World 2 CD album. Check it out. He wrote a new song for each country/city that incorporated his feeling for that place and their musical flavor and recorded it live in that country/city.

[jakii67]

If any one would be so kind as to give me the name of that song? i really like it, as with most of steve vai's stuff.

Thank you

[kirkervaisatch]

giant balls of gold from alive in an ultra world

[bodomfan1]

I have the regular half stack of this amp, and it's by far the best one I've played.. It sounds incredible, and it can get super heavy with the distortion on, then the clean channel is the cleanest I've ever heard... And the reverb that comes on the amp sounds amazing...

I love it.

[youztuber5000]

how does it compare to the peavey jsx? are they similar or does the carvin blow it out of the water? i only ask because ive never played the carvin and jsx is the best amp ive played

[bodomfan1]

Honestly, I've only played a JSX for about five minutes at a local Guitar Center and didn't get to experiment with it too much... I never cared too much for Peavey, but that's just because I had one bad experience with them and didn't care to go back and try again.

I like the Vai amp because it's simple, has an incredible tone for both channels and is true to the "dirty" and "clean" modes, and it keeps its sound quality at loud volumes up to about 9.

[redrocker1055]

My buddy has a JSX and he loves it... I've played it a few times and it sounds great, just not nearly as good as the Legacy I had and will have again!

But, the JSX does have a crap load of effects.

[catchthedemon]

Did he just say he wants his gear simple "plug and go?" He must have forgotten about the Eventide's, G-Force, fireworx, keeley DS-1's, custom wah and volume pedals amongst others! There is nothing plug and go about his rig! Or maybe that's all he has to do. The guitar techs do the rest!

[jareds1007]

right?...lol

[alexl1001]

Yep.. 2 channel amps are GREAT... if you can afford to have about 5 of them all with different settings and tons of effects set up on all of them and all footswitchable with some $80,000 rack switching system! But for a regular "Joe" (no offense to Satch!) most of us need a more flexible amp with 3 or more channels that will let us do various sounds out on a job. These amps do sound nice, but I'd rather have a Mesa Boogie!

[pablinichiri]

heeeeeeeey! super cool!

[Robokiller80]

That's right mr. vai, throw away those filthy notes!!

[englundisgod]

thats what happened with chuck schldiner of death he learned by ear and wrote scales two of which already existed

[englundisgod]

is hybrid picking picking and picking the high strings with your fingers at the same time??? i know buckethead does that on the song hog bitch stomp

[DulInvictus]

Yup.

[englundisgod]

whats the next thing up in techicality legato swseep picking are childs play watch the vide for i know youre here

he sweeps so fast the notes bleed into each other it literally sounds like one not

[bingefeller]

hybrid picking, chord melody playing....

[ryansjem]

lol it does!

[englundisgod]

yah but really technically he couldnt advance any further he has his own style he's the epitome of technicality

[krelbar]

Of course he can still advance technically. There is always room for improvment. This applies to all guitar players, any level.

[englundisgod]

he's beyond technical he writes his own scales

[synth002]

man, ..anyone can write their own scales.

[kaligula11]

lol try to write a scale and you'll discover that there was such a scale long before. but discovering new scales can be exciting;)

[englundisgod]

man i just picked up a guitar and strted playing but if i need to play atennis racket to sound like vai i'll do it, id run into traffic playing a tennis racket to soun a 1/4 of what vai is

[vampire28]

It would be so worth it wouldn't it! Vai is incredible to say the least.

[Obelisk2290]

vai is says he is so exacting about specs yet his sound is so toyish especially when the harmonizer is in the chain and he uses the Jem I seriously doubt he cares about class a amplification or avoiding electrolytic caps or cares about point to point wiring. My choice lately for any sound has been Komet or Reinhardt

[rudinza1]

what scales does Vai use?

[t0m4s2]

such a newbie question...

LOTS of scales

[pfarina]

he's vai, he freakin creates scales! haha

just kiddin rite ;x

[Axeman89]

The Xavian! XD

[Translusas]

4:15

green tape near the pickups?

[drone655321]

That's so when he dive bombs his floyd, the strings don't get caught on the lip of the pickup, when they return to pitch. It happens more then you think it would.

[shrunkenhead80]

he also wrote something on the tape. I think that's what he calls this guitar.

[dylanthebody]

Its also to give the high e a more Fat tone

[sportsportsport]

He's real.

[Mendel1788]

He looks like Al Pacino @ 2:27 ( it's simple )

[BledsoeBluvd]

yeh sounds like him also when he says it

[fishguru73]

I love all the mids in the Carvin Legacy and I think that the brightness and sustain make it perfect for solos with tones that make your guitar obey you. If I had to use the right amp to do the rhythms though, I would choose the Mesa Boogie DR. That has got to be any guitarists wet dream; to have both amps with a full rack of magician tricks. Growl and scream... hehe.

[Weybl]

hah, never heard him sound like such a new yorker

[selvavirgen]

Cabezal y gabinete Carvin Legacy en javierpinostudios punto com

[SuzukiRacer055]

what song is this???

[AlexxVai]

Giant Balls of Gold

[jagfan84]

Nice to hear that the man himself is as articulate vocally as he is musically. Strikes me as the down to earth type too.

He's right about the Legacy too; the drive channel on that thing is pure awesome. I'm not a massive Vai fan but he gets a lot of respect because he really knows his shit, and isn't an asshole either.

As a side note the video is really good quality too. Rare on YouTube. 5/5

[RitchieBrinckmore]

You said it, man. I'm like totally agreeing with you, man.

[fhdjskal]

i love how he has the fan infront of him making his hair go all over the place

[CrimsonThornFan]

This is a very good amp, dude. Carvin makes some of the best equipment on the planet. I bought a 2-channel solid state combo from them not too long ago, and I wouldn't trade it for any other solid state amps and even some tube amps. It was only 350 bucks, too, which just makes it all the better. The Steve Vai amp is an excellent amp and it's only like 1100 bucks for a combo and about 1200 or something for the half stack. I would go with Carvin's V3 over the Vai amp, though...

[ibanezdude777]

I totally identify with the tennis racket thing...ha-ha.

[vexer101]

One word...Envy.

[MartyDIY]

I'm 22, and I have nice guitar and killer valve head. But still watching amps or guitar catalogs makes my day Christmas every time I watch them! :D

[GuitarHaZe014]

This guy is a musical genius. xD

[guitarsimon1]

Vai has beautiful tone

[AverageSmoker]

"It's Perfect." -Steve. man wish i had an extra 1300 bucks. thats what it will cost for a 100 watt legacy. ah well got to stick with the box/Crate for now. PS. + an extra 200 for his jemini pedal.

[baseballnolie34]

nope, you could probably get a used head and a good 212 cab for <800

[oddestofodds]

1:38 "1980s"

NO FUCKING SHIT!!! xD

[Masterslosey]

1:38

Nice tights!!

[IDKSOMTHIN]

NICE SPANDEX STEVE

[MountainDew231767]

pause at 2:36 lol

[xPurpleDrinkx9001]

LMAO

[evandroos]

LOL 2:36 O0 HAHAHA

[guitar4life33]

he reminds me of jim carrey in this vid.

[MusiciansQuarters]

Man is it me or does Steve look like Wilson on "house"?? lol even has same voice??

[Trampaz]

YES!!! I knew Wilson reminded me of someone. If they ever make a Vai movie...lol