From his Ibanez PIA all the way to his radical five-neck Hydra , Steve Vai is a man of many electric guitars – but the instrument he considers to be a “family heirloom” isn’t actually one of his own models: it’s a Joe Satriani signature guitar . In a short video posted by Positive Grid – which recently collaborated with Vai on a Spark Mini signature amp – Vai can be seen discussing three of his most cherished guitars. The first is the Yankee Rose Swiss Cheese guitar, which Vai was reunited with back in January 2023 after it had been missing for nearly 40 years.
The second is a semi-hollow John Scofield Ibanez model that he used on tour to perform his recent semi-hollow number, Little Pretty . Coming in third, though, was a rather peculiar black-finished Satch Ibanez guitar , which had been gifted to Vai by Satriani himself for his birthday one year. It’s not your standard Satriani Ibanez, though: it sports a ridiculously heavy relic’d finish and a wild custom artwork – painted by none other than Satriani himself – on the back.
And it’s this guitar that Steve considers to be a Vai family heirloom. Explaining the origins of his road worn Satch guitar, Vai recalls, “I had a very good birthday one year when my good buddy Joe Satriani gifted me this guitar. “He took it on tour and he played it.
He took it home and he beat the heck out of it, then he painted it,” he continues, turning the guitar over to reveal its wild custom artwork – complete with .
