Steve Vai uses FAS amp modeling with (parts of) his Hydra

Not a fan of Hydra - just cuz its possible doesn't mean it should be done 🤣. Great rig rundown though, as always with John Bohlinger - great player and rig rundown host.
 
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sprint said:
ya...guess I'm a bit putzy myself, so maybe that's why I dig John B. Have to say though, having watched PG RR vids for some time, imo Rebecca was the best host.

One of my fav selections:
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That was funny lol... awesome way to explain what gear you got and why you use it hahaha hilarious. Compared to the steve vai rig rundown tech talk, this was easier to follow 😅
 
I like that his new tech almost talks and has the same mannerisms as steve. Although I prefer his longtime tech Thomas and hearing some of the innovations he came up with over the years, im glad thomas gets to take a break.
 
It seems like religiously praising tubes over modelers is becoming something posh and highbrow 😄
fanart dont be dumb GIF
 
I don’t have a problem with Bolinger. Read that dude’s Wiki page sometime, it’s got some surprises.

The best Bolinger RR was the one with Devin Townsend and Devin was in full Devin mode, Bolinger didn’t know if he should laugh, cry or both at any given moment.

This Vai RR was awesome as a Vai nut. Thomas is amazing and I think most Vai nuts have just as much respect for Thomas as they do Vai, but it was really cool hearing Douglas get the little specs right, which was not a common or consistent thing in Camp Vai for a long time. I’m not sure Vai has ever gotten the names of the trems right when he’s discussed them, the little dorky stuff we know every detail about but he doesn’t care about because he’s busy being Vai. Douglass got all that stuff (except it was 5 7V’s Ibanez sent him, not 4, the 5th was Pogo, owned by his former tech Roger Bell) dead on and man, that was insane how much he talks exactly like Vai, same inflections, same praise for others, the little corny jokes, I had to check to see if it was one of his sons out with him again.
 
I like Bolinger. He's got that surfer vibe down. In this vid, he's definitely not an amp modeling fan, but whatever. Miss Rebecca Dirks.

Vhalen50 said:
I like that his new tech almost talks and has the same mannerisms as steve.
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I thought exactly the same thing! Must be from the same area. Very close...same conversation style, attitude, etc. Wow.
 
Interesting. Did anyone of you guys try putting bridge pickup in the neck position flipped around as described in the video? I am tempted test it on one of my JEMs to explore tones, perhaps also along with that high pass filter push/pull. Thoughts?
 
MrGuitarabuse said:
Interesting. Did anyone of you guys try putting bridge pickup in the neck position flipped around as described in the video? I am tempted test it on one of my JEMs to explore tones, perhaps also along with that high pass filter push/pull. Thoughts?
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I’ve got the push/pull capacitor, never use it and actually don’t enjoy it much. I can see how it works for him but in my use the tone gets very brittle and and lacks any warmth when it’s engaged. The odd thing is that I’m 95% sure the JEMs have had a capacitor hard wired to the pot for this already, maybe it’s a different spec’d cap. I wanted to put the solderless guts in my JEM and just grabbed the EVO kit from Mad Hatter.

Never tried flipping a bridge pickup around but FWIW, Vai’s so used to those original Evolution pickups that back in ‘97 he mentioned to his tech one night the neck pickup was sounding funny, Roger swapped it out assuming that‘s what Vai wanted, throwing the original pickup away. Vai wasn’t enthused about this and they had to turn the bus around, drive back to the venue and dig the pickup out of the trash. :D I’d imagine, due to him having plenty of guitars with Evolutions and none of the others are flipped around that this is just an EVO-specific thing.
 
Many many years ago I always flipped the bridge pickup around on my Gibsons. L5, 335. Fatter, less harsh.

I haven't tried that on my Collings, but maybe I should. It's nothing like harsh, but it might be a nicer match for the neck pickup.
 
MrGuitarabuse said:
Interesting. Did anyone of you guys try putting bridge pickup in the neck position flipped around as described in the video? I am tempted test it on one of my JEMs to explore tones, perhaps also along with that high pass filter push/pull. Thoughts?
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i can say "it works" :) just like Thomas and Doug are representing (i spoke to Thomas on the 2016 P&W 25th anniv tour :p)
 
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