Thomas is a good friend of mine. I’ve been to his home and also his shop. You wouldn’t believe the projects and advanced electronics throughout the place. He is indeed the “Wizard of Vai”.
Aw yes, the chair. Thomas and all of his amazing inventions and various things he’s modified are like walking around in a movie. He’s amazing. Not sure if you knew but he’s going to be moving back to Vienna Austria. I’m really going to miss him.
this interview is amazing, such a humble person to show every little trick he makes to keep the guitar working at the highest demands. Keep them coming thomann!
@ThomannsGuitarsBasses fantastic video. So much tech in that guitar. Thanks for showing 👌 I couldn't catch the names for the tuners and the locking nut he uses. Can you please provide those product names?
Holy moly! The Thomann crew keeps pushing this amazing content. You guys provide the guitar community with information and tips from the legends. Thank you for perserving the art of the guitar and for making the information avaiable for all players!
That's sooo nice to hear man, thanks a lot! We're as interested in what we're filming as you guys are. I guess that helps, haha! Thanks for the support! //Kris
@@ThomannsGuitarsBasses Thomann really goes above and beyond the parameter's of what is expected from a guitar company! Even one and a half year's after I purchased my Harley Benton Fusion 2 I contacted them about issue's with my intonation. I asked them if they had any instructional video's on the subject and bam, the very next morning I had 3 of these video's in my email !!! 😁 They really do care about their customer's, thank you so much Thomann, I believe I'm going to use this company for all my future business, you all are a proud bunch and you have every right to be! You are totally proffessional and it seems like you really care about us as individual's! Have a wonderful day !!! 😉✌
That part "let me give you the 2 of 100 and I'll keep the 1 of 100" was so hilarious 😂😂 Steve has already been a funny, humble, fashionable and spiritual person, apart from the fact that he's the living God of guitar
I guess it's pointless for me to hide my excitement... so I just don't. Haha! I love to learn these little tricks and secrets. They make me a better tech and a better player. If you understand your guitar more, you play it and use it differently. At least that's how I see this. Cheers and thanks! //Kris
So how much relief there was...0.13 - 0.15mm (measured from the half way, with capo on 1st and pressed from 17th fret)? And the action from the 12th fret was 1.0mm on high E and 1.2 - 1.5mm on low E. But the lower right corner of that specsheet also suggests 1.25 for Hi E and 1.75 for Lo E. Pickup height is 1/8th, which is 3.175mm, but the paper says 3mm.
This is incredible. I LOVE these videos from the old timers and what a joy it is to see this tech. He seems so humble and you can tell he loves to explain things which I appreciate so much because people today have a hard time explaining in detail how something is done. Thank you for this video, it's literally priceless.
I really enjoy nerding out over how different artists prefer their guitars setup. There is such good advice / wisdom here! I hope we keep getting more of these!
The additional title should be HOW TO PROPERLY STRING A FLOATING TREMOLO besides the content he seems the kind of tech you have long talks with, talking about the meaning of the universe. he's so cool!
Ohh absolutely! Thomas and I had a call the day before to check if everything works and we had a nice talk about all kinds of things. :) He is a great guy! Cheers //Kris
This is how I was taught "The Thomas Nordegg way" by my Guitar teacher who learned it when he worked at the Hollywood Guitar Center in the 90's. Awesome video!!!
VINDICATED! I have ALWAYS strung my Floyd's with the BALL end at the tuners. For 3+ decades. If its good enough for Thomas and Steve, it's perfectly good enough for little ol' me.... Thomas is a LEGEND,,,,
I started doing it years ago myself to save time since i don't have to cut the excess string at the headstock. Plus there are no sharp string ends to poke you when you are cleaning the headstock.
I just got myself a pia, and this video is one of the greatest videos i’ve ever seen. Such a great, non interrupting host, and thomas is a wonderful instructor. Could not have asked for better content. Thank you for making this
Super cool to see that Steve's tech does the ball-end in the headstock trick. I've been thinking of trying it myself one day. I guess that's a queue to give it a shot next string change.
@@gprice1978 I find it odd that they don’t ship out this way then. But this is by far the simplest method I’ve seen other than buying a little plastic piece that holds the bridge in place without moving.
@@imoffendedthatyouareoffended They probably already have the strings pre-cut and measured before each guitar gets re-strung. This way of doing it that works great to prevent string slipping but it's considerably slower if you have to do thousands of instruments at a production line.
It's never too late. That's what makes YT superior to other social media platforms in my book. You can find older videos much easier here. Cheers //Kris
That was one of the best interviews I have ever seen ! Thank you so much. Perfect timing as well as I’m seeing Steve this Sunday live. Maybe see Thomas as well. Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱
Seriously there could'nt have been a better time for this video to come out. After many years in it's case I finally woke my Jem 7V from 1999 from it's beauty sleep and it really needed a good setup. Not so easy to find a really good video on the topic though. Really loved this one here! Best takeaway for me was the 5cm measurement from the trem bar to the body. Way more precise than the little line of the knife edge on the side of the trem. I just miss Thomans talking a bit about truss rod adjustments though. Thanks guys!
Well, you first need to make sure your trem springs are adjusted properly for a level trem (the little lines on the side you talk about). Then, you can move it up and down.
I've met this legendary man, I had the honor. He is the most humble, simple and great man at the same time. Sad thing is did not take a picture. I met him on Tbilisi Open Air Festival 2016, when we had an honor to have Steve Vai as a headliner of the festival. Thom gave me some stuff as a memorabilia :)
It's been so long that I appreciate the reminder of what I used to do. I forgot that I used to stretch the hell out of my strings. Painful? Yes but it worked to stabilize the strings so I could get back to playing. Got a Floyd coming. I am a little apprehensive. I set my old Strat to the widest range down and up possible. It took hours to get the bridge right. We didn't have any of today's tool. We did it all ourselves by hand. It was a workout and it made one appreciate a newly broken in set of strings. Ah, Steve named it after his wife Pia! ❤
Just found this and at last, a proper interview with a guitar tech about setups and measurements!! Great stuff! Also love that you copy that setup on your guitar...brilliant! Maybe more close-ups of measurements and spec sheets if possible please?
Great video. I was very fortunate to meet Steve and Thomas at one his back stage events back in the day and got to play EVO. Great to see the guitar again and will always be a great memory more me.
OMG, thanks so much for this video🙏🙏. Easiest string change EVER on my 2005 JEM!!!! I can’t believe I’ve never seen this method before. Thanks again. I just subscribed to your channel 👍
It figures that someone as crazy as Steve Vai would have a master guitar technician as crazy as he is. And I say that with the greatest amount of reverence for both! 🙏🏻 Since I just bought an Ibanez Presitge with the same Edge tremolo, I’m going to watch this video very closely. Thank you!
The QC at Ibanez is fantastic, I own a Prestige RG770 and the setup was perfect out of the case from new.. Impressive that the Pia so closely matches Steve's personal guitars so closely.
I was waiting for this for a long time, Thomas was my favourite guitar tech, thank you for bring him in and for sure we have something new that we've learnt from him 🙏
I still remember the first JEM i ever played at a music store while i was on tour back in late 87 or early 88. it was a pink 777 and the neck was so perfect for me. I had been playing Kramers due to the floyd systems they came with.(Baretta and pacer imperial) and before that a old 1981 Charvel with a V trem which i still play. The Jem's neck was real thin front to back and i loved the PAF pro's it had stock. It played like butter and sounded amazing. Pink was not my thing so i did not buy it but did buy a desert yellow one later. was the only guitar that i kept stock the entire time i owned it.
Pink ain't my bag either, but I sure wish I'd have bought the Jem I saw in a shop when they were still pretty new on the scene. It had floral fabric covering the body under the clear coat and was absolutely gorgeous despite the pink bits. It was $750, which seemed like so much money considering a decent used Les Paul cost maybe $400 at the time. I wonder what it would be worth today if I had ponied up the roughly 5 weeks worth of take home pay for it back then.
@@ClusterFugue Yeah i regretted not grabbing that pink one later. The one you almost bought with the fabric is a highly sought after collector item now and probably would pull in several thousand dollars to a collector. $750 was a little high back then BUT we never know what the future has in store. Look at all the people that bought a 1959 Les paul back in 59 and paid $350 which back then was a good chunk of change, now that same guitar sells for over a half a million dollars! a really good re-issue sells for $10K
I do the Ball at the tuning peg end on my 98 7vwh,but I DO have extra turns,because IF I break a string on my cover band or solo gigs,I can simply re use the string by letting out a little tidying the broken end,and refixing,the tone is the same,and it’s quicker to get the guitar back for my set.
I've done it like this on my RG440 and 540R since the late 80s! Instead of a 1.5V battery, I have an old rubber eraser I put under the bridge and it is just perfect.
This was the best TH-cam video I've watched this year. Instant subscribe. Next - can you interview Jon Gomm about his acoustic model, and the specific design elements chosen so that he can do percussive effects, shredding, hand-stretching chords, bass-lines on the low strings, and tapping clean harmonics, all at the same time?
I got a Dimarzio EVO2 pickup I bought because it was the only pickup the store had and was marked to 59.99 to get rid of it. I bought it and was blown away by how nice it made the guitar I built sound, I was super impressed. I had no idea it was Setve Vai's signature pickup, I always referred to Vai's guitars as his signature guitar so I didn't make the connection. If anyone out there is ever confused on which pup to buy the EVO 2 is one of the best. I give it way more points because it sounds that good being passive. It is truly one of the best ones out there, even the FLEOR Knock off of it sounds really close with it sounding a bit thick, not muddy but thicker than the real EVO2. You can easily change that by changing a cap as I put it into a cheap guitar so I have to make sure the caps are exactly the same to properly compare the two. But out of the box the FLEOR is goddamn close to the EVO2 even carries the same ohms reading. Also I thought I was the only one still doing the ball end thing on a floyd guitar. Never knew where it really came from, now I know who made it popular, and yes it does make it much faster to change strings.
I have been stringing my locking trem guitars ball end at the tuner for years now. The reason i started doing it was i got tired of the sharp plain strings ends sticking me like a needle when i would clean the headstock! Plus it is faster for me overall.
Thomas is a cornucopia of guitar knowledge. From Zappa to Vai. One thing I liked was the tuner. I can vouch for that. I hve had ten different tuners, but that one is my favorite.
I believe it's the TC electronics polytune, the clip on version. It's kind of expensive (50€?) but if there are a lot of cheaper clip on tuners that work alright. Imo the polytune is the best and most accurate compared to 5-15€ ones. D'addario sells one that is great as well (eclipse?) and it's half the price of the polytune. If you don't care about the price you might as well get a pedal tuner but those are close to 100€ and I personally prefer the clip on
Freaking awesome. That guitar tech I can listen to all day long. But I think I need to hear him say I'll be back in hasta la vista. And that guitar he has at the end the gym awesome. Excellent innovations!
Just superb!! Had this on my Watch List but have only just got around to it. Long story short, I got to sit in on a Steve Vai soundcheck. Sat there a couple of minutes when the EVO group came in (fans who paid for sitting with Steve answering questions and so on). Thomas was great with everyone giving out used strings as "Steve Vai's DNA". He's a glorious mad scientist who's as exacting as his boss.
Kris, Hello my friend. Great show. Such amazing tech information. He had so much informative ways of working on Steve's guitar. Just incredible! Just a incredible show. It was hard to keep up with him. Just a master guitar tech. So great to see you again Kris. Terrific show.
I bumped into Mr Nordegg after a G3 show years back. I was as starstruck as if I'd met one of the headliners. Shook his hand and told him I'd admired and appreciated his work for many years.
This is an awesome video. I bought an Ibanez Jem which Steve fondly calls "Woody" (it means something else in England...lol). I always felt crying when changing new strings on the guitar. This video is an absolute god-sent. Awesome!!!
Thanks so much Jerry! Take good care of old... Woody 😆 and I hope string changes and setups are going to be more enjoyable after this video. Cheers //Kris
I have a Floyd and somewhat agree, yet I think about the old saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it"...depending on the neck/nut F.R. does kick arse IMO These tricks/tips gave me much more confidence when changing strings...not to mention the AA batt. killed me! Also worked with Zappa, speaking of GENIUS!
There's several different Floyds that have "evolved" . They just haven't evolved enough to have a market impact. A good trem that set up correctly is rock solid.
@@dvscool I have a parts caster with a Vegatrem that is currently getting an LSR nut installed. Vegatrem is starting to get traction and if you haven't tried one, it is essentially the range and smooth of a Floyd that is a Strat form factor. I owned a Kahler equipped guitar for 30+ years and to me, there is simply zero comparison. Floyds work great, but so do Kahlers and compared to a Kahler, a Floyd is a contraption. I break too many strings to ever own a Floyd that isn't a speed loader.
And thank you to Thomann for taking the incentive to make such an informative and entertaining vid. I'm going to post this clip to my socials. Now you have a little peek into Thomas and his passionate craft. Imagine this sense of humor he has on tour. Thomas is the life of the touring party. Everything he does and says is unique, entertaining, and so Thomas. There's nobody like him. Thanks again, Steve Vai
Thomas is a good friend of mine. I’ve been to his home and also his shop.
You wouldn’t believe the projects and advanced electronics throughout the place.
He is indeed the “Wizard of Vai”.
I have been fortunate enough to try THE CHAIR, mind blowing experience, did you try it?
Aw yes, the chair. Thomas and all of his amazing inventions and various things he’s modified are like walking around in a movie. He’s amazing. Not sure if you knew but he’s going to be moving back to Vienna Austria. I’m really going to miss him.
@@thegolfingmusician6345 Please explain the chair lol
@@thegolfingmusician6345 I heard about it recently yes :( I think Steve already found a new tech
this interview is amazing, such a humble person to show every little trick he makes to keep the guitar working at the highest demands. Keep them coming thomann!
Thanks a lot Fernando! Glad to hear you enjoyed the video! Cheers //Kris
@ThomannsGuitarsBasses fantastic video. So much tech in that guitar. Thanks for showing 👌
I couldn't catch the names for the tuners and the locking nut he uses. Can you please provide those product names?
Holy moly! The Thomann crew keeps pushing this amazing content. You guys provide the guitar community with information and tips from the legends. Thank you for perserving the art of the guitar and for making the information avaiable for all players!
That's sooo nice to hear man, thanks a lot! We're as interested in what we're filming as you guys are. I guess that helps, haha! Thanks for the support! //Kris
@@ThomannsGuitarsBasses Thomann really goes above and beyond the parameter's of what is expected from a guitar company! Even one and a half year's after I purchased my Harley Benton Fusion 2 I contacted them about issue's with my intonation. I asked them if they had any instructional video's on the subject and bam, the very next morning I had 3 of these video's in my email !!! 😁
They really do care about their customer's, thank you so much Thomann, I believe I'm going to use this company for all my future business, you all are a proud bunch and you have every right to be! You are totally proffessional and it seems like you really care about us as individual's!
Have a wonderful day !!! 😉✌
Steve's hilarious for putting "1 of 100" on all those relic Evos. He's in fact not lying lmao
Yeah I love what he did there. Haha! Steve's awesome! //Kris
That part "let me give you the 2 of 100 and I'll keep the 1 of 100" was so hilarious 😂😂 Steve has already been a funny, humble, fashionable and spiritual person, apart from the fact that he's the living God of guitar
Love Kris's expressions of life changing amazement by all of these epic setup secrets finally coming to light here!
It's Truly a bonafide revelation!
I guess it's pointless for me to hide my excitement... so I just don't. Haha! I love to learn these little tricks and secrets. They make me a better tech and a better player. If you understand your guitar more, you play it and use it differently. At least that's how I see this. Cheers and thanks! //Kris
So how much relief there was...0.13 - 0.15mm (measured from the half way, with capo on 1st and pressed from 17th fret)?
And the action from the 12th fret was 1.0mm on high E and 1.2 - 1.5mm on low E. But the lower right corner of that specsheet also suggests 1.25 for Hi E and 1.75 for Lo E.
Pickup height is 1/8th, which is 3.175mm, but the paper says 3mm.
I like when you asked about how often he changes strings because for him "not very often" means every 2-3 days, haha.
This one is special because EVO. So great to see such a legendary guitar this close. You can see clearly all the story through her body. Amazing!
This is probably one of the most useful videos I have ever seen. All the straight answers from the legendary Thomas himself. Thank you so much.
THOMAS!!! Thomas is a good friend of mine, this makes me so happy to see him again!! It's been to long! Thanks!
This is incredible. I LOVE these videos from the old timers and what a joy it is to see this tech. He seems so humble and you can tell he loves to explain things which I appreciate so much because people today have a hard time explaining in detail how something is done. Thank you for this video, it's literally priceless.
I've watched this a bunch of times and pick up more bits every time. This is really a masterclass! Thanks to Thomas for sharing!
I really enjoy nerding out over how different artists prefer their guitars setup. There is such good advice / wisdom here!
I hope we keep getting more of these!
Absolutely my most favorite TH-cam video in a long time.
that's awesome Shawn, thanks! //Kris
The additional title should be HOW TO PROPERLY STRING A FLOATING TREMOLO
besides the content he seems the kind of tech you have long talks with, talking about the meaning of the universe. he's so cool!
Ohh absolutely! Thomas and I had a call the day before to check if everything works and we had a nice talk about all kinds of things. :) He is a great guy! Cheers //Kris
@@ThomannsGuitarsBasses 😊🙌
This is how I was taught "The Thomas Nordegg way" by my Guitar teacher who learned it when he worked at the Hollywood Guitar Center in the 90's. Awesome video!!!
What a great vid. Thomas is such a Gem. I could listen to him all day.
VINDICATED! I have ALWAYS strung my Floyd's with the BALL end at the tuners. For 3+ decades. If its good enough for Thomas and Steve, it's perfectly good enough for little ol' me.... Thomas is a LEGEND,,,,
I started doing it years ago myself to save time since i don't have to cut the excess string at the headstock. Plus there are no sharp string ends to poke you when you are cleaning the headstock.
@Mark Seymour it always used to happen to me when i was wiping down the headstock before i started stringing it with the ball end at the tuner.
@Mark Seymour Ouch! lol yeah that shit stings!
The question i would to ask to him : Will you be happy if one day, Steve wanted to play on a hardtail model ?
No whammy no Steve. Lol
Well he kind of did in candle power
No because that would mean an alien is impersonating vai and the real steve vai is probably dead
The JEM 7EAFX from 2009 has a fixed bridge, no FR 😉
@@gtrkitarr True, i forgot that model... that said, she's also the most ugly ibanez guitar ever.
Great video! As a JEM owner, I always wondered how Steve's was set up. And the AA battery hack, how cool is that! Thank you!
I just got myself a pia, and this video is one of the greatest videos i’ve ever seen. Such a great, non interrupting host, and thomas is a wonderful instructor. Could not have asked for better content. Thank you for making this
Super cool to see that Steve's tech does the ball-end in the headstock trick. I've been thinking of trying it myself one day. I guess that's a queue to give it a shot next string change.
It's how floyd rose recommend you do it
@@gprice1978 I find it odd that they don’t ship out this way then. But this is by far the simplest method I’ve seen other than buying a little plastic piece that holds the bridge in place without moving.
Measure twice cut once hahaha
@@imoffendedthatyouareoffended They probably already have the strings pre-cut and measured before each guitar gets re-strung. This way of doing it that works great to prevent string slipping but it's considerably slower if you have to do thousands of instruments at a production line.
This is next level stuff, two years ago and i haven't seen it yet.
It's never too late. That's what makes YT superior to other social media platforms in my book. You can find older videos much easier here. Cheers //Kris
I don't know who is more innovative Steve Vai or his Tech!!!
-------------------------
Rocks!!!
That was one of the best interviews I have ever seen ! Thank you so much. Perfect timing as well as I’m seeing Steve this Sunday live. Maybe see Thomas as well. Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱
Seriously there could'nt have been a better time for this video to come out. After many years in it's case I finally woke my Jem 7V from 1999 from it's beauty sleep and it really needed a good setup. Not so easy to find a really good video on the topic though. Really loved this one here! Best takeaway for me was the 5cm measurement from the trem bar to the body. Way more precise than the little line of the knife edge on the side of the trem. I just miss Thomans talking a bit about truss rod adjustments though. Thanks guys!
Well, you first need to make sure your trem springs are adjusted properly for a level trem (the little lines on the side you talk about). Then, you can move it up and down.
I've met this legendary man, I had the honor. He is the most humble, simple and great man at the same time. Sad thing is did not take a picture. I met him on Tbilisi Open Air Festival 2016, when we had an honor to have Steve Vai as a headliner of the festival. Thom gave me some stuff as a memorabilia :)
Fantastic to sit “in the room” with that gentleman and learn more about his craft!
Your contributions to the internet are ultra mega huge, thanks!!
Thanks ever so much Sebastián! :) That's a huge compliment and we're very thankful! Cheers //Kris
It's been so long that I appreciate the reminder of what I used to do. I forgot that I used to stretch the hell out of my strings. Painful? Yes but it worked to stabilize the strings so I could get back to playing. Got a Floyd coming. I am a little apprehensive. I set my old Strat to the widest range down and up possible. It took hours to get the bridge right. We didn't have any of today's tool. We did it all ourselves by hand. It was a workout and it made one appreciate a newly broken in set of strings.
Ah, Steve named it after his wife Pia! ❤
Just found this and at last, a proper interview with a guitar tech about setups and measurements!! Great stuff! Also love that you copy that setup on your guitar...brilliant! Maybe more close-ups of measurements and spec sheets if possible please?
This video is gold! Thomas is such a knowledgeable fellow and you can tell he loves what he does!
Wow! Thomas is a guitar tech genius !! It seems he has a tool for everything, including the ones he made himself !!!
I bought a JS1 back in the early 90,s and I was told that ball end trick, been doing it ever since
Great video. I was very fortunate to meet Steve and Thomas at one his back stage events back in the day and got to play EVO. Great to see the guitar again and will always be a great memory more me.
Not every day you get an hour with Thomas Nordegg doing one to one setup tutorials. Pretty cool
What a character and knowledgeable guy, I see why Steve keeps him around.
OMG, thanks so much for this video🙏🙏. Easiest string change EVER on my 2005 JEM!!!! I can’t believe I’ve never seen this method before. Thanks again. I just subscribed to your channel 👍
All questions about Jem I have been wondering about for years that 2 of a hundred was such a eye opener to the general public thanks again
It figures that someone as crazy as Steve Vai would have a master guitar technician as crazy as he is. And I say that with the greatest amount of reverence for both! 🙏🏻
Since I just bought an Ibanez Presitge with the same Edge tremolo, I’m going to watch this video very closely. Thank you!
My favourite video on TH-cam right now! So informative. The Ibanez setups are so hard to find online. Would love to see one on Joe Satriani as well!
Very cool! I know a lot of fans would love to see Adam Jones tech do a similar walkthrough!
Yet more proof that locking trems are either the bane of techs, or their raison d'etre. This guy really knows his stuff.
I am 100% trying this method when I change my strings later today.
THE Danny Gatton! What a treasure that simple knob is!!
Thanks for the shoutout Thomas!
The QC at Ibanez is fantastic, I own a Prestige RG770 and the setup was perfect out of the case from new.. Impressive that the Pia so closely matches Steve's personal guitars so closely.
I thought I know everything about guitar setup. But this information is The holy grail for guitarists.
Thanks so much! We love making these interviews and it's awesome seeing that you guys enjoy them too. Cheers //Kris
I was waiting for this for a long time, Thomas was my favourite guitar tech, thank you for bring him in and for sure we have something new that we've learnt from him 🙏
This is a truly great video, and this is one wise dude. This ladies and gents is why we respect our elders… experience.
absolutely adore this series. awesome concept.
The PIA ! It's magnificent! I may live long enough to own one!
I still remember the first JEM i ever played at a music store while i was on tour back in late 87 or early 88. it was a pink 777 and the neck was so perfect for me. I had been playing Kramers due to the floyd systems they came with.(Baretta and pacer imperial) and before that a old 1981 Charvel with a V trem which i still play. The Jem's neck was real thin front to back and i loved the PAF pro's it had stock. It played like butter and sounded amazing. Pink was not my thing so i did not buy it but did buy a desert yellow one later. was the only guitar that i kept stock the entire time i owned it.
Pink ain't my bag either, but I sure wish I'd have bought the Jem I saw in a shop when they were still pretty new on the scene. It had floral fabric covering the body under the clear coat and was absolutely gorgeous despite the pink bits. It was $750, which seemed like so much money considering a decent used Les Paul cost maybe $400 at the time. I wonder what it would be worth today if I had ponied up the roughly 5 weeks worth of take home pay for it back then.
@@ClusterFugue Yeah i regretted not grabbing that pink one later. The one you almost bought with the fabric is a highly sought after collector item now and probably would pull in several thousand dollars to a collector. $750 was a little high back then BUT we never know what the future has in store. Look at all the people that bought a 1959 Les paul back in 59 and paid $350 which back then was a good chunk of change, now that same guitar sells for over a half a million dollars!
a really good re-issue sells for $10K
The man, the myth, the legend, and proud to call one of my best friends!!! Miss you, my friend!!! 🤘☺️🙏
He pumped me yup to go over my guitar
What a legend. Thanks Thomann 👏🏻
Old school keeping the new school rocking. It's great to see!
Omg! This dude is like 100 years old! No way! That’s awesome! I pictured some long haired 80’s rocker dad
Steve Vai is the KING!!! A true guitar god.
This dude a legend. I learned how to setup a guitar on my RG with an Edge trem for years… when I setup a tune-o-matic it seemed much more difficult.
I do the Ball at the tuning peg end on my 98 7vwh,but I DO have extra turns,because IF I break a string on my cover band or solo gigs,I can simply re use the string by letting out a little tidying the broken end,and refixing,the tone is the same,and it’s quicker to get the guitar back for my set.
What a wonderful video. Very insightful. Thank you Thomas for sharing your experience and thank you Thomann for the upload!
I've done it like this on my RG440 and 540R since the late 80s! Instead of a 1.5V battery, I have an old rubber eraser I put under the bridge and it is just perfect.
This was the best TH-cam video I've watched this year. Instant subscribe.
Next - can you interview Jon Gomm about his acoustic model, and the specific design elements chosen so that he can do percussive effects, shredding, hand-stretching chords, bass-lines on the low strings, and tapping clean harmonics, all at the same time?
For Brazilians who are fans of Steve and your work, we would love Portuguese subtitles
It's a shame that I can't hit the "like" button more than once.
You are awesome Brian, thanks! //Kris
I got a Dimarzio EVO2 pickup I bought because it was the only pickup the store had and was marked to 59.99 to get rid of it. I bought it and was blown away by how nice it made the guitar I built sound, I was super impressed. I had no idea it was Setve Vai's signature pickup, I always referred to Vai's guitars as his signature guitar so I didn't make the connection.
If anyone out there is ever confused on which pup to buy the EVO 2 is one of the best. I give it way more points because it sounds that good being passive. It is truly one of the best ones out there, even the FLEOR Knock off of it sounds really close with it sounding a bit thick, not muddy but thicker than the real EVO2. You can easily change that by changing a cap as I put it into a cheap guitar so I have to make sure the caps are exactly the same to properly compare the two. But out of the box the FLEOR is goddamn close to the EVO2 even carries the same ohms reading.
Also I thought I was the only one still doing the ball end thing on a floyd guitar. Never knew where it really came from, now I know who made it popular, and yes it does make it much faster to change strings.
That was phenomenal! Great stuff Chris!
Thanks a lot Julien! cheers //Kris
I have been stringing my locking trem guitars ball end at the tuner for years now.
The reason i started doing it was i got tired of the sharp plain strings ends sticking me like a needle
when i would clean the headstock!
Plus it is faster for me overall.
Thomas is a cornucopia of guitar knowledge. From Zappa to Vai. One thing I liked was the tuner. I can vouch for that. I hve had ten different tuners, but that one is my favorite.
Nordegg is a mad scientist of the highest order.
great interview - Nordegg is a legend!
This video is a lifetime treasure for the guitar community.
Btw, can anyone please tell me, what tuner my man is using here? Looks handy.
I believe it's the TC electronics polytune, the clip on version. It's kind of expensive (50€?) but if there are a lot of cheaper clip on tuners that work alright. Imo the polytune is the best and most accurate compared to 5-15€ ones. D'addario sells one that is great as well (eclipse?) and it's half the price of the polytune.
If you don't care about the price you might as well get a pedal tuner but those are close to 100€ and I personally prefer the clip on
I do the same thing with my ball ends! I never heard of anyone else doing that until now. Everyone I know clips them off. Awesome😎
So much to absorb in this video - really informative, fun and with twists and turns like an action movie.
Haha! Yeah, Thomas has a lot of interesting things to share. And we are happy to listen and learn. :) Cheers //Kris
Such useful tips from a legend. Thank you for this content!
The EVO replica is just mind blowing ! Great video.
I'm glad I have a non tremolo, non locking nut system ;) Great video for those who have it though
Freaking awesome. That guitar tech I can listen to all day long. But I think I need to hear him say I'll be back in hasta la vista. And that guitar he has at the end the gym awesome. Excellent innovations!
That’s how I change my strings too, balls to the posts lol and when I cut it at the fine tuners, it’s the perfect length for slack
The Einstein of guitar techs!
Just superb!! Had this on my Watch List but have only just got around to it.
Long story short, I got to sit in on a Steve Vai soundcheck. Sat there a couple of minutes when the EVO group came in (fans who paid for sitting with Steve answering questions and so on). Thomas was great with everyone giving out used strings as "Steve Vai's DNA". He's a glorious mad scientist who's as exacting as his boss.
Wow! I wish he could setup my guitar! He would make my inexpensive guitar play like butter!!
What a truly awesome individual, Now we all know more than before which now I'm a better guitarist. Thanks for your hard work on this video.
finally secret reveal, thanks for the content, i'm really enjoyed it! backstopper on the tremolo, that's the legendery things setup!
Kris,
Hello my friend. Great show. Such amazing tech information. He had so much informative ways of working on Steve's guitar. Just incredible! Just a incredible show. It was hard to keep up with him. Just a master guitar tech. So great to see you again Kris. Terrific show.
Hey, thanks so much Joe! Glad to hear that you liked it. :) Thomas is without doubt fantastic! Cheers //Kris
Thanks for this gem of guitar tech nuggets 🤘🤘
I bumped into Mr Nordegg after a G3 show years back. I was as starstruck as if I'd met one of the headliners. Shook his hand and told him I'd admired and appreciated his work for many years.
What a cool story! :) Thomas is such a nice guy too, isn't he? //Kris
I love the idea every guitar is a 1/100.
Everyone can brag about it and market will never fight about the number one (but now can for two)
No rambling comment just
BAD ASS GUITAR TECH
Thank you, sir, for the tip on the ball ends. How many times I've stuck myself with a cut end for nothing.
This is an awesome video. I bought an Ibanez Jem which Steve fondly calls "Woody" (it means something else in England...lol). I always felt crying when changing new strings on the guitar. This video is an absolute god-sent. Awesome!!!
Thanks so much Jerry! Take good care of old... Woody 😆 and I hope string changes and setups are going to be more enjoyable after this video. Cheers //Kris
Finally, a guitar person who knows that frets are the spaces of fretboard between the fretWIREs which are NOT the frets.
Balls at the tuner! That's litterally a turning-things-upside-down idea.
Amazing. So much love and passion and craftsmanship. Thanks to both of you
OMG this guy is a genius. That being said? The Floyd needs to evolve.
I have a Floyd and somewhat agree, yet I think about the old saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it"...depending on the neck/nut F.R. does kick arse IMO These tricks/tips gave me much more confidence when changing strings...not to mention the AA batt. killed me! Also worked with Zappa, speaking of GENIUS!
There's several different Floyds that have "evolved" . They just haven't evolved enough to have a market impact. A good trem that set up correctly is rock solid.
@@dvscool I have a parts caster with a Vegatrem that is currently getting an LSR nut installed. Vegatrem is starting to get traction and if you haven't tried one, it is essentially the range and smooth of a Floyd that is a Strat form factor. I owned a Kahler equipped guitar for 30+ years and to me, there is simply zero comparison. Floyds work great, but so do Kahlers and compared to a Kahler, a Floyd is a contraption. I break too many strings to ever own a Floyd that isn't a speed loader.
Check out the Zr trem and Coherent Light in Sound.
Check out Steinbergers TransTrem. Floyds evolved and there’s a reason why they don’t need to change to be popular.
Excellent guitar tech God bless him!
Thomas, you are the best. I would be dead in the water without you. Thank you, also for making me laugh as usual.
Fake Steve account.
And thank you to Thomann for taking the incentive to make such an informative and entertaining vid. I'm going to post this clip to my socials. Now you have a little peek into Thomas and his passionate craft. Imagine this sense of humor he has on tour. Thomas is the life of the touring party. Everything he does and says is unique, entertaining, and so Thomas. There's nobody like him. Thanks again, Steve Vai
2 awesome people to watch, and you sure know how to play that guitar!
The stories that guitar could tell... awesome!