Pedalpocalypse: Steve Vai And The Pedals He Couldn't Live Without

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Steve Vai gives us a quick glimpse into his huge pedal collection. But which pedals couldn't he live without?

Steve Vai
(Image credit: Pedalpocalypse)

Pedalpocalypse is a new show from Guitar Player, MusicRadar and Guitar World. Produced in the US by British guitarist Robin Davey, in each episode we ask guitarists: “If you could only take three guitar pedals with you into a future lockdown and/or zombie apocalypse, which ones would they be?”

We kick off a new round of episodes with Steve Vai. Recorded at his home studio in LA, Vai talks us through his favorite pedals and demonstrates how he uses them to get the Steve Vai sound. 

He also gives us a peak at his extensive collection of effects pedals. Vai is the third installment of Pedalpocalypse – catch up on all the videos below.

Steve's choices include the Ibanez Jemini Distortion pedal, a signature pedal ("I love tube screamers"), the Boss DD-7 digital delay ("a beautiful workhorse") and the Jim Dunlop Cry Baby Wah. Why Steve? "I like wah-wahs," he says, "Delay, distortion and wah-wah. I just like it!"

Previous episodes of Pedalpocalypse are available to watch below:

Pedalpocalypse #1: Josh Smith

Pedalpocalypse #2: Scott McKeon

Scott Rowley
Scott Rowley
Content Director of Music @ Future plc

Scott is the Content Director of Music at Future plc, responsible for the editorial strategy of online and print brands like Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, Prog, Guitarist, Guitar World, Guitar Player, Total Guitar etc. He was Editor in Chief of Classic Rock magazine for 10 years and Editor of Total Guitar for 4 years and has contributed to The Big Issue, Esquire and more. He is the author of the Sunday Times Bestseller, Stay Alive: The Life & Death of Stuart Adamson and was the writer/researcher on 2017’s Mick Ronson documentary Beside Bowie.