Steve Vai gear interview with Carvin amplification

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Steve Vai gear interview with Carvin amplifiers talking to Carvin when his first Carvin Steve Vai Legacy amp came out. He talks about how he first got into guitar. Steve Vai gave a full interview with Carvin at the release of his first Carvin Legacy Amp. Vai first guitar influence was Led Zeppelin and Jimmy Page and the influences of his studies at Berkely Music School and Frank Zappa.


After his time with Franks Zappa Vai joined a bad called Alcatrazz which had Yngwie Malmsteen. Steve of course then toured with David Lee Roth and Billy Sheehan to form a supergroup, then he joined Whitesnake.


From the third part of the video Steve Vai starts to talk about his Carvin amplification fascination, when he was 12 years old looking at Carvin catalogues. One the frist Carvin Legacy Vai didn't know about electronics, but with the second one (see other posts) he tells us he research diods and valves and all the electronics thoroughly the second time.

Steve Vai gear - Carvin Legacy II at NAMM 2009

Steve Vai in 2009 releases his Legacy II amp. He makes a good point that as he's a instrumentalist people have to listen to his guitar and amp all night through the gig, so he better have a amp that's not too abrasive. So he's designed the Carvin legacy to be smooth as can be. Vai lives up to his reputation for being a perfectionist and guitar geek by explaining that he read up about every single thing about amps such as the electronics ect. The second video is the press conference and Vai talks about his memories of Carvin catalogues, and talks about tone and the 3 channels.

The Carvin features 3 channels, clean, dirty, and something in between.

"VL2100 Head/VL2212 Combo Specifications: Three channels (clean, clean boost & lead) • Master Volume • Volume, Bass, Mid, & Treble for Clean and Lead channel & Presence for Lead channel • Tone, Drive & Volume for Boost channel. • 25/50/100w output switch • 5 12AX7 (V1, V2, V3 Groove Tubes™) & quad EL34 matched Groove Tubes™ • All tube design • Bias switch for 5881, 6L6GC or EL34 • Cabinet voiced line output • 4, 8 or 16? speaker impedance switch • Effects Loop • Hand crafted 7-ply poplar wood cabinet • Optional FS33 foot switch for selecting channels • Dimensions: VL2100: 24.5"W x 9.5"H x 10.5"D Weight: 39 lbs. 1 Year Warranty" source Carvin amplifiers official site

The first interview is with Premier Guitars, and the second interview also from Premier Guitar but shows the press conference held.

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