Jump to content

Talk:Steve Vai/Archive 1

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Archive 1

Blood paint?

I can't figure out what source is provided for the supposed DNA finish on the evo. vai.com says that it has [steve's] "blood. Lots of it" in the guitar, but I think that might be proverbial blood?

Jemsite has some info on it, as well as Rich Harris' ibanezrules.com. Both are much-used source on ibanez guitars. Snader 11:51, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

They retrieved a pint of his blood and put a tiny bit into every finish of the guitars.

It has been suggested that The Elusive Light and Sound, volume 1 be merged into this article. The article has been tagged since 12 November 2005. I'm just bringing this to your attention, I don't really have an opinion either way, although I generally think albums do deserve their own articles. Please post comments on the proposal here. - N (talk) 17:37, 1 January 2006 (UTC)

I've removed the tag, it's been there for ages. I don't think the contents would sit particularly well in this article anyway.. - N (talk) 19:32, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

First interview on mtv

It's also a fact that Steve Vai was the first artist interviewed on MTV. Very odd after seeing the stuff they play now eh? :)

FRANK ZAPPA wrote a song about Steve called "Stevie's Spanking."

Yeah, that is weird. Malmsteen Maiden 20:54, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Vai and the 'Snakes

Just a thought about the citation of Vai stepping into Adrian Vandenberg's shoes to record "Slip of the Tongue." As I understood it, Steve stepped into Vivian Campbell's shoes first. Viv joined the 'Snakes in 1987 at roughly the same time as Vandenberg, which has after the album "Whitesnake" was recorded with guitarist John Sykes who left to form the group "Blue Murder." Viv later left to play with Def Leppard (filling Steve Clark's shoes) and the Riverdogs, without ever recording with WS. Steve came in to take Viv's place in the lineup alongside Vandenberg. When Vandenberg was diagnosed with severe tendonitis and couldn't record the album Vandenberg handed them over to Steve for the recording. Guess this means Vandenberg didnt atually record with WS either, although both Viv's and Vandenberg's touring skills were most appreciated by the fans and their video antics gave the Kramer Nightswan and Peavey Vandenberg guitars a good boost in sales. Cmdeaton 02:59, 23 April 2006 (UTC)cmdeaton

Source for Perfect Pitch add...FYI

http://www.perfectpitchpeople.com/vai.htm Tvccs 12:42, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

Reply: Read the source. He doesn't have perfect pitch, he has very developed relative pitch, He has even talked in interviews of his intensive ear training-wouldn't be necessary if he had absolute pitch.

Vai playing speed

i dnt know if this is true, but i heard steve cd play 20 notes in 1 second. if it is tru isnt it worth puttin in the article? Sfl5 12:52, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

Not unless you could back it up with a source, no. I don't know where you heard that rumor, and although I'm no guitar expert I'm fairly certain that is an impossible feat. Chipstick 12:41, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

     Just strum all 7 strings 3 times in one sec... 21 notes!  I could even manage that...       
     Picking 20 notes would be a different story -BBB  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.75.240.254 (talk) 08:04, August 28, 2007 (UTC) 


The source is the UK's Total Guitar magazine. I believe the song was For The Love of God.

I'm pretty sure it was a tapping section in "The Riddle",clocks in at 21 notes per second.

76 children??

Vai and Maiocco having 76 children seems to me extremely unlikely, even if the majority were adopted (of course, they would have to be). This statement (under 'Other engagements') is unsourced and - after a quick Google search - I cannot find any documentation to back this claim. I suggest this statement be removed unless someone can back it up. Chipstick 12:41, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Vandalism

  • This page seems to be the target of vandalism recently. Maybe we should consider locking the page temporarily. What does everyone else think?

EDIT: It seems the vandalism is from one user with IP address 74.118.15.49. Anyway to simply block this user? TSchellhous 20:13, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

Genre

Hi all. I'm the one who added the genres jazz fusion and progressive rock, which seems to have gone down well; but now I've added heavy metal to cover his songs like "Giant Balls of Gold" and his work with Motorhead. All Music Guide backs it up. The Wiki Priest 23:41, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

Vai dubs for Macchio - citing sources

Saying "heck your fucking facts before re-editing the article, fucking lazy wikipedia staff pieces of bullshit...vai did NOT play macchio's guitar part in the crossroads due", 192.147.26.38 (talk · contribs) again asserted that Macchio's part in Crossroads was played by Ry Cooder. Hey, I'm as fond of Cooder as you are, but this isn't AIM - here you need to prove what you say is true, by citing a reliable source. As I told you before, Cooder plays the bluesy first part of Macchio's play, against Vai's trademark flashy stuff. Later, when they both play classical, Vai dubs both parts. Here [1] is a detailed transcription showing the parts played by both guitarists, and here [2] is an article which says "at the film's climax, Vai engages in a guitar duel with Macchio, whose guitar parts were dubbed by Vai himself.". So, I've cited my sources, and you've done nothing but swear and bluster. So I'm going to restore the article to its original form, and you need to cite sources to make a contrary change. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:02, August 10, 2005 (UTC)

Vai said in an interview (that I canNOT cite) that the warmups and tuneups he did with Ry Cooder from this movie, resulted in Steve writing the finger picking of "Goin' Crazy". I love vai, but for my money, Ry Cooder's sleazy-sounding slide take the cake. (gibbonsk@gmail.com, 2May2006)

In the sleeve notes to his compilation "The Elusive Light And Sound Vol. 1", Steve Vai states that he performed all the guitar parts except the slide, which was Cooder, and both parts of the last movement. 00:40, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

"rumor" may in fact be fact

There is a Guitar Player magazine interview with Steve Vai which I recall reading years ago in which he talks about transcribing Zappa's, "Black Napkins" I think it was, while at Berklee as a student. I don't know what the volume number or issue is, but it may be worth referencing this article and revising the part of the text which refers to the "persistent rumors." —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.89.0.69 (talkcontribs) 19:41, 4 December 2006 (UTC).

Beekeeping?

You live and learn! Adambisset 13:52, 30 April 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Elusivelightsoundvol1.jpg

Image:Elusivelightsoundvol1.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in Wikipedia articles constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.BetacommandBot 04:47, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Firegarden.jpg

Image:Firegarden.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in Wikipedia articles constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.BetacommandBot 07:09, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

Trivia

He was 6 on 6/6/66 :D --Perplextrator 23:37, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

yeah, I'd like to know what the All Seeing Eye crap is about, myself.121.44.226.223 16:35, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Firegarden.jpg

Image:Firegarden.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot 05:03, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Elusivelightsoundvol1.jpg

Image:Elusivelightsoundvol1.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot 05:06, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:TheInfiniteSteveVaiAnthology.jpg

Image:TheInfiniteSteveVaiAnthology.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot 04:42, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:SteveVaiSexAndReligion.jpg

Image:SteveVaiSexAndReligion.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot 11:42, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:SteveVaiAlienLoveSecrets.jpg

Image:SteveVaiAlienLoveSecrets.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot 11:43, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

w/ Zappa in 1986?

Confusing mention of involvement with Zappa in 1986. More than likely should be removed. Zappa didn't even tour between the end of 1984 and the spring of 1988, and I can't find reference for any studio recording that Vai would have done with FZ during that time. Anything released on Zappa albums after 1982 w/ Vai on guitar was recorded while Vai was actually in the band -- 1980 to 1982. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.131.149.112 (talk) 23:00, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

"Octavian"?

The page says its Steven Siro, not Steven Octavian. I am changing the infobox back until the Octavian is confirmed. Any queries, tell me, dont just say on this talk page. Ka5hmirTalk To Me! 09:04, 23 November 2007 (UTC)

Pronounce?

Pronounce, please somebody.

Vuh added to eye I believe. Vai = V-eye! DrSatan (talk) 01:22, 21 February 2008 (UTC)

Dream Theater Reference Irrelevant?

"He makes a guest appearance on the most recent Dream Theater album, Systematic Chaos, on the song "Repentance". However, this appearance is vocal rather than instrumental, as Vai is one of many musical guests recorded apologizing to important people in their lives for wrongdoings committed in their pasts."

I don't think it's really of any note that Vai contributed a barely audible spoken word part to a Dream Theater track. Surely there is some quality standard on Wikipedia that suggests biographies are kept to the point? The way this is worded makes it seem like an appearance on a Dream Theater track is a huge achievement. Vai has achieved a lot of more noteworthy things in his life that aren't mentioned here. I propose that either the Dream Theater reference be removed altogether, or all of his guest appearances should be added, which is quite a lot. If the consensus is to add all of his guest appearances into his biography, we can start by adding his appearance on Marty Friedman's album "Loudspeaker" on the track "Viper", or his two appearances on the Motorhead album "Inferno", where he actually plays guitar. Personally, I'd vote for removing this Dream Theater reference which, in my view, serves little to no purpose.GrantRS (talk) 13:44, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

PiL Connection?

I have it in my head that SV was a member of the first post-Pistols incarnation of John Lydon's Public Image Limited. If this is true, it probably deserves at least a mention.

- More or less, in fact. Steve Vai does appear on Album/Compact Disc, PIL's nameless LP, but has not been a part of the band per se. The record was basically drum loops by Ginger Baker, Bill Laswell laying a bass track, Vai playing and Lydon singing - no source for that, though. Some tracks from the CD were re-released on one of the Secret Jewel Box archives [4]Pif le chien (talk) 11:52, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

the Musical Style section

I am not sure how the content could be enhanced. There's loads of things to say about his guitar technique and his musical knowledge, but which source would be appropriate?

Still, this section is about intrumental technique and not his musical style, I think it should be renamed.Pif le chien (talk) 12:13, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

My music teacher told our class that there was an account on youtube featuring amazing guitarwork from a mostly unknown guy but one of the videos had something about Vai and his lawyers had the account pulled. Anyone else heard of this or know about it? Fists (talk) 11:20, 20 February 2008 (UTC)

i think you may be reffergin to willjays youtube account, he was hosting lots of shawn lane videos untill it was closed because it had a steve vai video in it as well. The unknown guitarist was Shawn lane. willjay still hosts videos on the youtube account myshawnlanevideos and willjayhimself. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.181.107.211 (talk) 17:17, 7 September 2008 (UTC)

Can someone sort out chart positions for Vai's releases?

I'll do what I can but I'm never good at that kind of thing. I'm gonna find RIAA certifications for all his releases tho. (The Elfoid (talk) 01:29, 19 January 2009 (UTC))

Heritage?

Due on Vai's name, he seems to have Turkish heritage - references are needed to confirm this. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.196.213.31 (talk) 13:21, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

Vandalism??

Hi from France. Just seen a mention of some Adam Gentz here, which has nothing to do with Steve. Since I have a login for the french Wikipedia and don't necessarily want to create one here, can someone please remove what's to be removed? Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.101.137.28 (talk) 16:00, 27 November 2009 (UTC)

excised sentence

I removed the following sentence from the section entitled "1970's and 80's"

In a related note, Vai commented recently that he had talked with Roth (and his current relationship with existing Van Halen members) and that (Roth) stated that the forthcoming album with his old bandmantes would either be called "Mammoth" (Wolfgang VanHalen's suggestion) or "Krakatoa Sunrise". Roth is pursuing the latter as he said, "When you wake up to the new (Van Halen) album, it's going to be the biggest sound you ever heard in your life."

The sentence is not sourced, and it's not particularly relevant either. Manning (talk) 06:28, 5 September 2010 (UTC)

lead should note why he is notable as a guitarist

lead should note why he is notable as a guitarist. I previously added flamboyant. --Halqh حَلَقَة הלכהሐላቃህ (talk) 10:28, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

New Awards Section

Okay, I took it upon myself to add all of the awards that he listed on his site, plus some he missed. I sourced it to his site. If people want to help organize it better or make it look nicer, go ahead. I'm a busy guy. I'm not sure how to italicize albums either, so do that....Thanks! DrSatan (talk) 03:29, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Do we really need an awards section? I mean even the Beatles don't have an awards section. --Jim Raynor (talk) 05:09, 4 August 2008 (UTC)
I don't know, it could be a separate article. I'm sure the Beatles article people are saying "why don't we have an awards section? Steve Vai does!" Anyway, they have plenty of random crap. DrSatan (talk) 20:05, 8 November 2008 (UTC)
Would it be proper to incorporate the awards section in the discography when splitting the article? (See also the Discography article split? section). Grammies could still be mentioned here and/or use a Template:Infobox musician awards. — Quibus (talk) 18:36, 5 March 2012 (UTC)

Discography article split?

Sure, other artists don't have "appearances with other artists" tables, so we would want to keep that information here in the article, but there is an easy fix for that: mention it here, in prose. And the fact that there is that extra information makes it all the more compelling that there should be a discography article. Anarchangel (talk) 04:57, 5 March 2012 (UTC)

I was planning on splitting the discog including the 'other artists' part. Don't have much time right now, so if you would do it it's much appreciated. Appearances with other artists could either go into 'collaborative albums' or 'guest appearances' as used in many discogs. His work with Zappa, Alcatrazz, Whitesnake etc. though should not go into Steve's discog, but as you said should be mentioned here in prose. — Quibus (talk) 17:50, 5 March 2012 (UTC)
See also New Awards Section — Quibus (talk) 18:42, 5 March 2012 (UTC)

Personnel

This section should be removed entirely. The personnel info belongs on the respective album articles, if existing. I won't remove it for now, 'cause I don't want proper info getting lost, but please move it to the appropriate pages where possible. — Quibus (talk) 20:23, 5 March 2012 (UTC)

Inconsistency?

In the Early Life part, it says Vai talked about auditioning for Zappa at age 20, whereas in the Music Career part that follows, it says Zappa hired him in 1979 already, when Vai can't have been more than 19 (being born in June 1960). This seems inconsistent or at least misleading to me. Any thoughts?

Best, --Georgepauljohnringo (talk) 23:11, 16 March 2012 (UTC)

Good point, I thought he was 18 at that time, so it's worth checking out. — Quibus (talk) 20:24, 19 March 2012 (UTC)
Quibus, thanks for your answer! I'd be happy to leave the checking to you or someone else, since I don't really know about Vai or Zappa :-)
--Georgepauljohnringo (talk) 15:13, 20 March 2012 (UTC)
You're very welcome. This sentence from the Early Life part could use some clarification (and citation): Vai attended the Berklee College of Music, afterwards recording a promotional piece for them in which he spoke about auditioning for Frank Zappa at age 20. I don't know when he recorded this or when or where he spoke about auditioning. The Music Career part only states Vai was hired in 1979, it says nothing about auditioning, but it's possible the audition was at age 20 (when becoming a full member of Zappa's band). — Quibus (talk) 18:11, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

"Very long"?

Why is this article tagged as "Very long"? Do we already have Template:split? This article's discography is good as a section of this article; why splitting it into own section? I don't think a discography can be a notable list enough to be its own page; I don't think any section can guarantee a stand-alone article yet. --George Ho (talk) 21:28, 23 March 2012 (UTC)

Steve Vai has a large discography. I think it is worth its own article. Portillo (talk) 08:15, 26 March 2012 (UTC)
I've split the article as suggested. Discog, video and award info has been moved to Steve Vai discography. Recordings with other artists like Zappa can be found at Template:Steve Vai. — Quibus (talk) 19:07, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

Discography

The Discography surely deserves it's own page? I state this here rahter than actually do it becuase i am new to wiki-ing and have no idea how to do it. -Frozenjakalope 22:13, 13 November 2007 (UTC) There seems to be no mention of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_Love_Secrets - presumably an oversight unless this is somehow not considered a studio album. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.35.187.164 (talk) 14:31, 28 June 2013 (UTC)

Help with David Lee Roth section

The redirect for Eat 'Em and Smile Band goes to the album page "Eat 'Em and Smile" instead of the band page. It may be because the page is titled "The David Lee Roth Band", but I'm not sure. The section's marked for cleanup anyway, but I'm not sure how to go about fixing it. Even if I was sure, I still don't know how fix the links or properly cite (sorry, newbie), so help would be appreciated. RazingRazor (talk) 23:06, 10 December 2013 (UTC)

The page Eat 'Em and Smile Band has no content and is only a redirect so I fixed the redirect of the Eat 'Em and Smile Band to the section on Roth's page that deals with his solo career. Obviously if you wanted to write some content for the EE&SB page, that would be great.
The section you are looking at on this page just needs citations and cleanup (deletion of trivia and WP:Original Research) - it's not hard. Try reading up on Wiki on these two pages (Wikipedia:Manual of Style and Wikipedia:Citing sources) as a start. Ckruschke (talk) 16:41, 11 December 2013 (UTC)Ckruschke
Thanks for the help. I was actually thinking that particular link should redirect to The David Lee Roth Band instead. It might need some sort of merging with the Roth article, but it stands on its own right now, so I thought it'd be more relevant. RazingRazor (talk) 18:32, 11 December 2013 (UTC)
You are right Razor - link should go to The David Lee Roth Band. I thought I did a search for this yesterday and nothing came up (maybe I forgot "The")... Ckruschke (talk) 18:46, 12 December 2013 (UTC)Ckruschke

Lead section

I am not personally a special fan, but to merely say in the lead section that he is "an American guitarist" seems to be just a slight understatement when the guy is quite clearly one of the greatest virtuosos ever seen. 109.157.11.14 (talk) 01:47, 30 January 2015 (UTC)

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 2 external links on Steve Vai. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add {{cbignore}} after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add {{nobots|deny=InternetArchiveBot}} to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

checkY An editor has reviewed this edit and fixed any errors that were found.

  • If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
  • If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers. —cyberbot IITalk to my owner:Online 18:56, 17 October 2015 (UTC)

Contribution official website editors

Hello,

Kyle P. and I (Andy A) work for Steve Vai and recently had a 3 hour (!) conversation with him about getting the facts correct on the current Wikipedia page. They range from correct dates to fixing statistics, such as Grammy nominations. During the conversation, we made notes and then had the edits approved by Steve himself for validity. Our next step is to reach out to you and share that we'd like to collaborate with you on updating the entry. We have several proper citations and we can also be reached through email at andy@vai.com for verification. We will make citations you're suggesting as well. For example:

(Current) “Steven Siro "Steve" Vai (born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, songwriter, singer, and producer who has had career sales of over 15 million albums. After starting his career as a music transcriptionist for Frank Zappa, he recorded and toured in Zappa's band from 1980 to 1982. He began a solo career in 1983, and has released eight solo albums and won three Grammy Awards. Vai has recorded and toured with Public Image Ltd., Alcatrazz, David Lee Roth, and Whitesnake. He has been a regular touring member of the G3 Concert Tour, which began in 1995. In 1999, he started his own record label, Favored Nations, intending to showcase "artists that have attained the highest performance level on their chosen instruments”.[1]”

Revised (as noted by Steve)

Steven Siro "Steve" Vai (born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer, born and raised in Long Island, New York. Vai is recognized for his master innovations and virtuoso guitar playing in the realm of the music industry and has a career sales of over 15 million records. The 3 time Grammy Award winner and 15 time nominee started his music career as a transcriptionist for Frank Zappa in 1978 at the age of 18 (while attending Berklee College of music in Boston), and, shortly after his 4th semester, moved to California to record and tour with Zappa from 1980-1983. Vai began his solo career in 1983 after leaving Zappa, and has since released 18 solo albums. Vai has recorded and toured with Alcatrazz, David Lee Roth, and Whitesnake, has recorded with artists such as Mary J. Blige, Spinal Tap, and Ozzy Osbourne, and toured with G3, Zappa Plays Zappa, the Experience Hendrix tour, as well as his own extensive solo tours.

Vai is an acclaimed pioneer in his field for his innovative guitar technique, eclectic music, and industry changing contributions. In 1985, Vai designed the JEM guitar, which at its genesis incorporated a series of unique and groundbreaking features that have since become staples in design throughout the guitar industry. Vai also designed the first commercially produced 7 string guitar, the Ibanez Universe, which has gone on to inspire an entire generation of nu-metal artists. With his first solo album “Flex-able” (released in 1984), Vai created a new genre of virtuoso guitar music that revolutionized what was believed possible on the guitar, and in 1990, his release “Passion & Warfare” gained the acclaim of both the press and his peers as one of the most important and influential rock instrumental albums of all time. Over his extensive career, Vai has amassed a large catalog of diverse and colorful material on various platforms, including solo albums, multiple DVD releases, a plethora of orchestra compositions and performances, and a host of collaborations that have won him 3 Grammy Awards and 15 nominations. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kav2015 (talk • contribs) 16:29, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

Length of the article

This is now starting to become a bit of a concern IMHO - see WP:TOOLONG. The article is almost double the size of the Joe Satriani entry and contains quite a lot of detailed information that might be better split off elsewhere. Karst (talk) 23:59, 7 January 2016 (UTC)

Fully agreed, but handling bio articles of this size is new to me. All I can do is copyedit, but shunting material to new sub-articles is not my forté. Mac Dreamstate (talk) 16:33, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

G.I.T

I know Dave Weiner went to G.I.T, but I've never heard of Steve going there. Anyone have a source on that?

He didn't, he went to Berklee[5]

Wah pedal

Would he not use the Morley Bad horsie 2? i dont know whether thats worth putting in the article or not.

COI tag

I placed the {{COI}} tag on this article because Kav2015 has admitted on their talk page that they work for via.com The image "stevevaigclef.jpg" is owned by the subject himself (Steve Vai) and we (employees of the subject)were given expressed instructions/permission to use it. The user has made substantial changes since November 2015. Mlpearc (open channel) 04:53, 9 January 2016 (UTC)

That would be vai.com. Mac Dreamstate (talk) 13:16, 9 January 2016 (UTC)
To clarify, I notified the editor in November 2015 of the issues surrounding WP:COI. Karst (talk) 14:27, 9 January 2016 (UTC)
Thing is, I see a lot of the additions as good—Vai has done a lot of groundbreaking stuff within the guitar community, for many decades, and it's good to have all of it expanded upon with refs. It's just that right now, the article is starting to read very much like an advertisement, with more material flooding in weekly and making it tricky to keep track of what's acceptable. At some point, any editor heavily involved with the subject should step back for a while and allow the material to be checked over and copyedited by an impartial group of editors. Mac Dreamstate (talk) 15:16, 9 January 2016 (UTC)
It needs a hefty copyedit. And with the CoI tag Kav2015 has to cease editing the page and put in requests only here on the talk page. Karst (talk) 15:57, 9 January 2016 (UTC)
Hello, We are happy to work with you and step back from editing the page, but please note that the information we have included is cited. The end goal is not to advertise, but to portray the subject in an accurate, well-written manner that is easily accessible to the reader. Thank you, vai.com 16:43, 9 January 2016 (UTC)Kav2015
As you are a paid editor, all your contributions will have be under review. If there any issues then they can be raised here. Karst (talk) 10:24, 10 January 2016 (UTC)
Hello,

Mr. Vai had called us and expressed his concerns about the accuracy of the information on his page, so we set out to help update it. Neither of us are being paid for these edits and our only goal is to dispel inaccuracies and bring the page up to date. If you look at the previous page before our edits, it was full of out of order, often wrong, trivial information. Often the first thing done when researching a notable figure is to read their Wikipedia page, so it is important to have one that accurately displays (in a well-written fashion) the subject, while adhering to the guidelines of Wikipedia. It is surprising that we have received lashback for our complete overhaul and fixing of the page, as the page before our edits obviously needed work. Thank you, vai.com 13:58, 10 January 2016 (UTC)Kav2015

No worries. All we are doing is making sure that contributions from any source heavily affiliated with the subject matter are acceptable to include in the article. We are not rejecting your content, but rather checking it over so that it adheres to the site's rules and guidelines on biographies of living persons. If any of this seems like lashback, that's only because the BLP rules are very strict, and have always been that way to ensure a neutral point of view. With that said, if there are further additions or changes to be made, please post them here (rather than continue to edit the article yourself) and we will collaborate with you to incorporate it within the article. Mac Dreamstate (talk) 15:56, 10 January 2016 (UTC)

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to one external link on Steve Vai. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add {{cbignore}} after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add {{nobots|deny=InternetArchiveBot}} to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at {{Sourcecheck}}).

checkY An editor has reviewed this edit and fixed any errors that were found.

  • If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
  • If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—cyberbot IITalk to my owner:Online 04:26, 28 February 2016 (UTC)

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to one external link on Steve Vai. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add {{cbignore}} after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add {{nobots|deny=InternetArchiveBot}} to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at {{Sourcecheck}}).

checkY An editor has reviewed this edit and fixed any errors that were found.

  • If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
  • If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—cyberbot IITalk to my owner:Online 06:41, 4 March 2016 (UTC)

Steve Vai guests on 2cellos

someone should add this youtu.be/qfGggAGITwg — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.181.141.182 (talk) 14:22, 22 July 2016 (UTC)

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Steve Vai. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

  • If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
  • If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 02:01, 9 December 2017 (UTC)

COI tag

@FlightTime: What is the reason for this cleanup tag that you added to this article? Jarble (talk) 01:10, 8 January 2018 (UTC)

@Jarble: During that time either the page subject or a very close person was making edits, I seem to remember that it was Vai himself. - FlightTime (open channel) 18:07, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
It was a company or individual relaying instructions directly from Vai, they said. Mac Dreamstate (talk) 20:59, 8 January 2018 (UTC)

guitar sales

The section 'JEM, PIA and Universe guitars' contains what I would consider a rather spurious assertion

Since its original 1987 release, the JEM has become one of the longest-running and most successful signature series guitars in history, with its sister guitar, the Ibanez RG, being the second highest-selling guitar (behind the Fender Stratocaster) on the market.

Given there is no citation for this, I would find it hard to believe the RG has sold in greater quantity than say a Fender Telecaster or Epiphone SG. This desperately needs a citation or it needs to be deleted.Robbmonster (talk) 12:45, 3 July 2021 (UTC)