“At that point, I thought, ‘OK, this is what it feels like at the end of the road. I’m going to have to retire from the thing I love.”
That quote is from none other than Steve Vai, who – after back-to-back surgeries (one on his shoulder and another on his thumb) – was in danger of possibly having to give up the guitar for good. Luckily, Vai is no quitter, so he basically stopped complaining and put in the work required to keep him in his natural spot — at the top of the guitar-playing universe.
Along the way, he recorded a dazzling new album and picked up a crazy, triple-neck guitar called the Hydra – custom built by Ibanez, of course!
The new issue of Guitar World is on sale now.
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