Journeyman guitarist Steve Vai has recalled two of his most poignant meetings with his early hero Brian May, and how it created “the most satisfying full-circle twists the universe has offered me.”
The former Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth, and Whitesnake man has taken to Instagram to show off his ‘Green Red Special’ — a gift from the man himself. Modeled on Brian May’s homemade axe, it is bestwowed with some important tweaks to eliminate the possibility of a repeat of the first time he met the Queen guitarist.
The electric guitar was built by U.K. firm Guyton Guitars and has been described by Vai as “devotion made tangible.” It features a longer scale length than the guitar May built out of an old fireplace with his dad while he was still a teenager — it has a 25.5” scale, usurping May’s 24” creation.
It also has a stunning quilted maple top, a much thinner neck, and Yonderbosk Vai-Sonic pickups. This trio of single coils was custom-wound for Vai specifically for the instrument. For Vai, it’s the realization of a near-lifelong dream.
“In the 1970s, when I was a kid in Carle Place trying to figure out how to play anything in tune, Brian May was one of my absolute heroes. His tone and touch oozed rock and roll class,” Vai writes on Instagram. “The songs he wrote and the notes he chose dug deep into my psyche and helped shape a future fantasy image of myself in my mind.
“His Red Special was not just a guitar to me, it was a mythical object, an alchemical wand built by a young genius and his dad,” he adds. “I studied every photo and rumor I could find. That guitar planted the seed that maybe someday I could build my own, which thankfully never happened, due to a total lack of expertise.”
But the guitarist didn’t stay locked away in Vai’s imagination or on his record player forever. At 20, he relocated to Los Angeles. There, he started work as Frank Zappa’s transcriber, before being promoted to guitarist and learning an invaluable lesson from the eccentric musician.
“I landed a tiny apartment at Fairfax and Sunset, and one night I walked into the Rainbow Bar and Grill and saw Brian just standing there. Alone. Like a normal human,” Vai remembers. “I thought I was hallucinating.
“Brian was incredibly kind to this unknown kid and then did the unthinkable: he invited me to a Queen rehearsal at Zoetrope.”
It was a ”pinch me” moment for Vai, who was still coming to terms with the fact that he was on the payroll of another one of his heroes.
“Sitting in a room with the entire band was already unreal enough, but then I saw the Red Special,” he says. “I pointed and said, ‘Is that it?’ Brian said, ‘Yup. Want to try it?’ Time definitely slowed down.”
Guitars, though, can be highly personal things. He soon realized that he and the Red Special were not the perfect match.
“After idolizing that guitar my whole youth, holding it was seismic,” Vai purrs, before dropping the all-important ‘but.’ “I thought, ‘This is it, I’m finally going to sound like Brian May.’ But much to my chagrin, I didn’t. I sounded like me. And between the gauge .08 strings, ultra-low action, and a neck the size of a small tree, I played it like a baby giraffe on roller skates. Still, it was heaven.”
Though the guitar wasn’t quite what it was in his dreams, it remained a memory he held dearly. It seems May didn’t forget that meeting, either.
Vai continues: “After [Vai‘s second studio album] Passion and Warfare came out [in 1990], I was invited to perform at a Guitar Legends concert in Seville, Spain, and Brian was the musical director.
“Brian told me the story about a young guitarist he once let play his guitar at rehearsal, a kid who was in town working with Zappa and who played amazingly well. I let him tell me the whole story and then said, ‘Brian, that was me.’ This stands as one of the most satisfying full-circle twists the universe has offered me.
“Through the years since, I’ve been blessed to have had the opportunity to get to know Brian, jam with him on multiple occasions, and even work with him. It’s always an immense pleasure and honor, and he always delivered like a boss.
“And now comes the part that still makes me blink, laugh, and shake my head in disbelief: The true unspeakable honor of this extraordinary guitar he had custom-made for me and gifted to me.
“It’s a ‘Green’ Red Special! It’s hard to find the words. I’m truly humbled.”
Elsewhere, May has gifted his best friend, Tony Iommi, with a special left-handed version of the Red Special, which could yet get a Gibson-made reissue. The Queen guitarist signed with the historic gear makers in 2024, with his first-ever signature guitar, a 12-string SJ-200 acoustic, hitting the shelves last year.
