# Steve Vai - Talks gear



## djpharoah (Sep 27, 2007)

This I think is for the tour of his latest album (Sound Theories). He talks about his setup, guitars and his temperment frets on his jem.


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## Metal Ken (Sep 27, 2007)

I want those frets.


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## Michael (Sep 27, 2007)

That new distorion prototype seems pretty cool.


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## djpharoah (Sep 27, 2007)

Michael said:


> That new distorion prototype seems pretty cool.



Its almost like someone just needed to make it. I believe almost all of us at one point or the other have gone "hmm...only if I had another pedal on this distortion box for another type".

Love how his fan is his fav piece of gear.


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## Jongpil Yun (Sep 27, 2007)

Great. Now I need a multi-scale instrument with frets that are not only fanned, but squiggly. Maybe I should just go fretless.


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## darren (Sep 27, 2007)

More info on True Temperament guitar necks:

True Temperament Guitar necks!


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## Apophis (Sep 27, 2007)

Thanks


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## Wiggywiggler (Sep 27, 2007)

I wonder if those frets would work even better with those compensated nuts or whatever they are called. Cool vid, nevertheless.


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## SunburnedCactus (Sep 27, 2007)

Maybe combining Earvana nuts with melty frets = the ultimate tone #728753?


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## Allen Garrow (Sep 27, 2007)

Where did you find the video? Apparently I don't have quicktime on my machine,,cuz all I see is a Question mark.

~A


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## Naren (Sep 27, 2007)

"You know that I'm a poseur from way back."  Hilarious. Vai is the man. 

Those true temperment frets are pretty cool. I really want to hear what it sounds like in person. It looks kinda weird, but the most important thing is - of course - what it sounds like.



Allen Garrow said:


> Where did you find the video? Apparently I don't have quicktime on my machine,,cuz all I see is a Question mark.
> 
> ~A



It's Youtube.


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## Pauly (Sep 27, 2007)

Hasn't Vai gone through practically all of the similar temperament stuff - Buzz Feintein, those wobbly frets Frank Gamble was using etc.


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## Naren (Sep 27, 2007)

Pauly said:


> Hasn't Vai gone through practically all of the similar temperament stuff - Buzz Feintein, those wobbly frets Frank Gamble was using etc.



He seems to try out just about anything. From the way he was talking, it seems like this is something he'll want to keep, though.


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## darren (Sep 27, 2007)

Yeah, he's done pretty much everything gear-wise. If he's willing to modify "all" of his guitars (somehow i doubt he'll be swapping out Evo and Flo's fretboards) then he must be serious about it.

I would imagine it's an either-or situation with these frets and an Earvana nut. They're both trying to solve the same problem, so combining the two would likely result in twice the compensation, which would suck ass.


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## ZeroSignal (Sep 27, 2007)

"Alex De Pue: Heavy smoker" 

It would be cool if all of Steve's signatures got True Tempered frets. Then I would DEFINITELY buy a UV!


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## distressed_romeo (Sep 27, 2007)

Those true-tempered frets look like a cool idea. Wouldn't mind trying them out. I wonder how much it costs to have them installed...


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## darren (Sep 27, 2007)

Well, a whole neck (built by warmoth, frets installed in Europe) is USD$750. I suspect ripping the frets off an existing fretboard and re-fretting it is not an option. And don't look for Ibanez to start including these as standard equipment on Jems and Universes. I really doubt that's going to happen. Vai's personal instruments? Sure. Guitars for everyone else? Not bloody likely.


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## HighGain510 (Sep 27, 2007)

darren said:


> More info on True Temperament guitar necks:
> 
> True Temperament&#8482; Guitar necks!



I knew we shouldn't have let the slow guy run the fret machine....   Those look "interesting" to say the least... I'd be curious to see how they play. The odd shape of the frets is just weird though.  I wonder how the fret shape affects bending and stuff like that?  It says it doesn't on the website, but I dunno...


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## jacksonplayer (Sep 27, 2007)

HighGain510 said:


> I knew we shouldn't have let the slow guy run the fret machine....





The web site indicates that bending isn't affected, and I can see how that would be true, since the frets are 'curved' rather than 'notched.'

I'd love to try one of these necks. Too bad they don't come in 24-fret versions. Well, Vai obviously got one made that way.


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## djpharoah (Sep 27, 2007)

Allen Garrow said:


> Where did you find the video? Apparently I don't have quicktime on my machine,,cuz all I see is a Question mark.
> 
> ~A



You need flash Allen to view this video on YouTube.

I agree with Darren - somehow I think Flo and Evo will not get these temperment frets.


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## playstopause (Sep 27, 2007)

Cool vid!


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## Jongpil Yun (Sep 27, 2007)

I don't see how bending wouldn't be affected. You'd have to relearn to intonate your bends because when you move the string up or down by the same amount as on a straight fretted instrument, now the fret is a little forward or backwards, hence you'll be a little sharp or flat.


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## SevenatoR (Sep 27, 2007)

"More lights!!! And isn't that what it's really all about??"


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## darren (Sep 27, 2007)

In a couple of weeks i'll have a great "more lights" video to show you guys. 

I'm guessing that Steve called up Mr. Hoshino and said, "Could you please make me a couple of VWHs without frets or fret slots cut? Oh, and send them to this guy in Sweden. Kthxbye."


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## stubhead (Sep 27, 2007)

If you look at the sample neck that they show on their website:
True Temperament Guitar necks!
and try to tell me that bending the G string at the 3rd, 8th, 11th, and 13th fret isn't "affected", well....


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Sep 28, 2007)

Well, if Steve is having all of his guitars installed with them, he just drove up the price of used Jems.

I can't imagine how much the production cost would go up if Ibanez put those into production, because from the couple of closeups I paused on, it appeared that the fret slots had to be cnc'd.

I have no clue how those frets were leveled, crowned, & polished. That's some insane work.


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## Universalis (Sep 29, 2007)

Why he is always so cool? lol


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## Desecrated (Sep 29, 2007)

True temperament necks, can be ordered as 7-string guitars and will be fitted to what ever guitar you want.


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## Desecrated (Sep 29, 2007)

Ps, someone give him a glass of water.


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## ZeroSignal (Sep 29, 2007)

Desecrated said:


> Ps, someone give him a glass of water.



Actually he was sick during that tour. I saw him live in dublin and he couldn't sing at all. It was the first time I ever heard him making a mistake too...


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## Lucky Seven (Sep 29, 2007)

I'm gassing again...


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## Jongpil Yun (Sep 29, 2007)

lord lemons said:


> WHAT?!
> 
> This is unheard of! What happened?



I saw him make a mistake on a Youtube vid once. He looked really surprised.


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## Jongpil Yun (Sep 29, 2007)

lord lemons said:


> Me too. It was the reason why the karate kid isn't in movies anymore.



Nonono not that time


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## Lucky Seven (Sep 29, 2007)

lord lemons said:


> Me too. It was the reason why the karate kid isn't in movies anymore.


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## D-EJ915 (Sep 29, 2007)

Pretty cool vid 

gotta have the fan


btw earvana is a piece of shit, it only works in standard tuning and close to the nut.


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## Jeff Welsh (Sep 30, 2007)

Earlier this month, I met Steve at the pre-show "Evo Experience" thingy, and he was kind enough to let us play Evo. I was surprised to find the last few positions of the fretboard scalloped. I didn't feel much difference playing down there, myself, but then again - I'm not Steve Vai!


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## Allen Garrow (Sep 30, 2007)

Jeff Welsh said:


> Earlier this month, I met Steve at the pre-show "Evo Experience" thingy, and he was kind enough to let us play Evo. I was surprised to find the last few positions of the fretboard scalloped. I didn't feel much difference playing down there, myself, but then again - I'm not Steve Vai!



Actually the scalloped frets are just a hangover from the old style necks Pre AANJ. The concept of scalloping the frets on the pre AANJ was because the last 4 frets hung over the body of the guitar and weren't supported by the maple neck. Steve thought the sound was being affected do to lack of wood. Billy Sheehan had the same issue and was scalloping frets on his bass to help the sound balance out. Scalloping does add some sound to areas so the idea was incorporated into the Jem series. According to Steve and Ibanez it really serves no function now with the new necks, it's just a cool factor, well except for the DBK it had no scallops, cuz I think they were trying to cut corners and keep the price down?  

I spoke breifly with ( email ) with Dave Weiner asking him if Steve goes apeshit and converts all of his guitars to the True-temper how would it affect everyone else in the band. Dave indicated that Steve hasn't done it yet and is currently not using that guitar on tour. He didn't elaborate on group dynamics though. It would seem to me that if someone like Steve with his ear was playing a true-tempered guitar, that it would maginify how out the standard guitars would be? Especially on chords and harmony stuff.

~A


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## jacksonplayer (Oct 1, 2007)

Allen Garrow said:


> Actually the scalloped frets are just a hangover from the old style necks Pre AANJ. The concept of scalloping the frets on the pre AANJ was because the last 4 frets hung over the body of the guitar and weren't supported by the maple neck. Steve thought the sound was being affected do to lack of wood. Billy Sheehan had the same issue and was scalloping frets on his bass to help the sound balance out. Scalloping does add some sound to areas so the idea was incorporated into the Jem series. According to Steve and Ibanez it really serves no function now with the new necks, it's just a cool factor, well except for the DBK it had no scallops, cuz I think they were trying to cut corners and keep the price down?



Interesting. I thought those frets were scalloped in order to make it easier to really grab the notes on those upper frets. That was my experience playing JEMs in the store (never owned one), as well as a Jackson '88 Ltd. Edition that had frets 19-24 scalloped. It really did make those frets easier to use.



Allen Garrow said:


> I spoke breifly with ( email ) with Dave Weiner asking him if Steve goes apeshit and converts all of his guitars to the True-temper how would it affect everyone else in the band. Dave indicated that Steve hasn't done it yet and is currently not using that guitar on tour. He didn't elaborate on group dynamics though. It would seem to me that if someone like Steve with his ear was playing a true-tempered guitar, that it would maginify how out the standard guitars would be? Especially on chords and harmony stuff.



According to the True Temperament web site, only one of their various designs is incompatible with regular guitars. Supposedly the combination of various temperaments gives a bit of a chorused sound, rather than sounding out of tune. Of course Steve is such a tuning perfectionist, that he probably wouldn't go for that. Since well-tempered instruments have different overtone characteristics in different keys, apparent using differently tempered instruments can achieve very interesting results. I'd absolutely love to try one of these if I had the spare cash.

BTW, I saw Vai last night and can confirm that the True Temper guitar never made an appearance. Evo and Flo were there, of course, as was the 20th Anniv. guitar and the one with the lighted fretboard dots. No 7-string, apart from Dave's guitars.


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## jim777 (Oct 1, 2007)

The upper 4 frets on the Jem are scalloped to gives those notes more sustain, basically. Try it, you'll like it 

Also, EVO has had lots of necks on her in the past. What makes EVO special is the body and the original pickups. All the other bits have been swapped out, broken off, or otherwise replaced.


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## djpharoah (Oct 1, 2007)

jim777 said:


> The upper 4 frets on the Jem are scalloped to gives those notes more sustain, basically. Try it, you'll like it
> 
> Also, EVO has had lots of necks on her in the past. What makes EVO special is the body and the original pickups. All the other bits have been swapped out, broken off, or otherwise replaced.


Is that the same with FLO? Or is she all original?


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## darren (Oct 1, 2007)

If memory serves, FLO started out as a basswood floral print model that was converted to AANJ, refinished white and has had all kinds of modification work done to it (Sustainer install, new neck, etc.)


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## darren (Oct 1, 2007)

lord lemons said:


> As far as the Jems go, they don't scallop the ones that have dot inlays. I read it was something with risk of the inlays breaking or falling out or something.



I was pretty sure the JEM7RB had scalloped frets from 21-24.


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## loktide (Oct 2, 2007)

cool vid!


the constant 'not only...' -sentences strongly reminded me of frank zappa speaking


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## jacksonplayer (Oct 2, 2007)

loktide said:


> the constant 'not only...' -sentences strongly reminded me of frank zappa speaking



He's even more Zappa-like at concerts now. Which is a good thing to me.


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