Ibanez Pia Live

1385 Views 13 Replies 10 Participants Last post by Jeroenn, 12 d ago

dn151864

Discussion Starter · 2 mo ago

I posted this on Reddit but figured this would be a better place to discuss this question/topic.

Hey Everyone, I was watching some live videos of Steve Vai from 2022 and I noticed he doesn't use the Pia live as much as he uses his JEM. It seemed like he used the PIA for 3, maybe 4 songs. The rest of his live show he used his JEM and a hollow-body guitar.
Has anyone else noticed this that have gone to his live concerts?
Do you think he is still more comfortable and prefers the JEM over the Pia? Any thoughts?
Growing up I always wanted a JEM and now that the PIA is out I've been eyeing one. I might change my mind and buy a JEM if it's still Steve's go-to guitar!

Someone posted a question to me on Reddit:

"No offense, but why does it matter to you which Steve prefers?"

I thought this was a sill question but here was my answer (I feel it's relevant):

"Why does anyone buy a signature guitar? I'll try to keep this short.
Anyone can can make their guitar sound like Jimi Hendrix (throw some 69 single coils in a guitar) or Jimmy Page (get a les paul) or Eddie Van Halen (throw some hot alnico humbuckers in your guitar) but people buy signature guitars because they want to own a guitar that their favorite musician plays/prefers.
When Eddie Van Halen left Kramer for Ernie Ball there are countless photos of him playing Ernie Ball Wolfgangs and then when he switched to Peavy, the same thing happened. After Peavy he went to EVH and you rarely saw a Peavy Wolfgang in his hand. Most people buy either guitar because of the phase of EVH they preferred or the guitar at the time that they preferred. When it comes to JEM vs PIA, for me, the same holds true. Do I want the phase he was in with JEM or phase with PIA. Well, if he hasn't switched to using the PIA at least as much as he uses the JEM then to me it seems like the JEM is more important to him and why should I buy a PIA? There is a video of him playing Bad Horsie with the PIA during an announcement show for the PIA so it's not like the PIA can't play old Vai songs.
I obviously can't speak for Vai but when I see him playing the JEM more than his newest guitar that he and Ibanez are trying to sell it makes me think that the PIA isn't going to be "the next phase" of Vai and become iconic like the JEM is."

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ibaraki_gaijin

· #2 · 2 mo ago

When I saw him in Europe fairly recently he played one song on the hollow body and one on the green strat style Jem.

Then it was roughly 50:50 between Pias (a black one and a green one) and the usual Evo Jems..
Might've been a UV in the mix for one or two songs as well I wasn't keeping count.

For me, play the one you like the look of and feel/sound of.

I played a Jem for a decade before really getting into any Vai music (other than with Zappa). I'm still more of a Jem fan than I am a Vai fan. So there's lots of reasons to buy a signature model.

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dn151864

Discussion Starter · #3 · 2 mo ago

ibaraki_gaijin said:
When I saw him in Europe fairly recently he played one song on the hollow body and one on the green strat style Jem.

Then it was roughly 50:50 between Pias (a black one and a green one) and the usual Evo Jems..
Might've been a UV in the mix for one or two songs as well I wasn't keeping count.

For me, play the one you like the look of and feel/sound of.

I played a Jem for a decade before really getting into any Vai music (other than with Zappa). I'm still more of a Jem fan than I am a Vai fan. So there's lots of reasons to buy a signature model.

Good to know! And that makes sense. Thanks for the response. I don't have any way to try a Jem out but I have tried the PIA in a store and I liked it.

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ibaraki_gaijin

· #4 · 2 mo ago

I looked through a few photos I took. The other one he used as the mirror finish Jem with the LED fret markers.

No hydra in Europe. He may have switched things up for USA

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dn151864

Discussion Starter · #5 · 2 mo ago

Yeah, the video I watched he didn't play the Hydra either and he started the show with the Jem with LED fret markers.

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msm944

· #6 · 2 mo ago

The JEMs he uses live have specific setups for songs. The same with the PIAs and the hollow body. His back up for Bad Horsie is a powder blue PIA. I think he used 7 different guitars when I saw him live late last year. The hydra doesn’t count as it’s in its own class of instruments.

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guitarguy8788

· #7 · 1 mo ago

When I saw him in November, he was playing a mix of both models. He played the PIA's on a handful of songs, ultimately he probably played the JEM's a little bit more but not a staggering amount.

I'm sure you'd be happy with either guitar. They are both outstanding instruments!

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eddyrox

· #8 · 1 mo ago

i think Vai loves both - i saw and met him in Sept 2022... i asked Thomas and Dave about whether Steve's PIA's sound different to them?
Both said they sound different but in a good way - when i asked Steve.... of course he said the same

(of course)

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RevDru

· #9 · 1 mo ago

I’d assume whatever reasoning Vai has for switching between the JEM or PIA live would be small, idiosyncratic/personal preference things. “I’ve just played this song on this guitar so many times it feels like home” or “The different pickups in this allow me to hit that harmonic in that one section slightly easier than other guitars”

They’re way too close in design/sound to have astronomical differences between them.

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Jeroenn

· #10 · 1 mo ago

The guitars on tour have specific functions which are mostly tuning and sustainer related.

Evo, main guitar without sustainer and tuned in E
Flo III, main guitar with sustainer, tuned in E.

These two have been his main players for eons and while the secondary group of supporting guitars switches on occasion, these two won't really retire until they fall apart.

There are backups for each, don't know on this particular leg of the tour, but last year it was Xavia as backup for Flo III (and the original Flo was along for the ride as well. Note that Xavia hs been given away last christmas).

Bo, used for the intro and Avalancha is tuned differently. This too needs a backup.

The Green Pia (called "Envy") was used for Bad Horsie, again tuned differently. He actually wanted to ressurect Bad H. for this tour, but since that one didn't have a sustainer, that idea was ultimately dropped.

Then there's the black Pia (Onyx), which is slated to become the tour alternative for Flo III and one of the main workhorses. It's been used as a platform to try out different incarnations of the Sustainiac but recently that was replaced again by a Fernandes unit.

Ultimately, while it makes some sense to bring new models to tour, and that happens every now and then, these guitars are primarily tools to server the music, so Steve will decide based on whatever feels right / sounds right, always. Steve being a creature of habbit, that often means that he can't go around Evo and Flo III for the most part.

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angryification

· #11 · 18 d ago

I saw him live in Portland last year and it seemed that it was a 50/50 split between a white JEM (Evo?) and a black Pia that had a sustainer fitted to it.

At this point, if Ibanez don't want to put a sustainer in the retail JEM/PIAs, they could at least do the routing for it for the factory to make it easier for people to install one later.

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Jem777DesertDiamond

· #12 · 17 d ago

Suppose it's a case of pushing a new model vs playing guitars you've got countless hours on that is a perfect fit for you - also there's a reliance on sustainers for some songs. The more broken in the PIAs are maybe the greater play time they get. He's rather spoilt for choice.

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Chud

· #13 · 15 d ago

I was intrigued by the thread because I thought it curious seeing Steve play in Guildford UK a week ago that PIAs weren't in use.

It wasn't a full gig but a clinic style thing so makes sense that it was a smaller rig - just a pedalboard and a Synergy green module half stack.

What I found interesting was the guitars brought were [although I was in the nose bleed seats] two JEMs - Wouldn't be 100% on it but honestly looked like EVO and FLO III.
One was white with cosmo black hardware and the other gold hardware with a sustainer.

I think the ol' discussion of "Who cares! Play what you want!" are meh. It's a discussion forum so always interesting to discuss these things!

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Jeroenn

· #14 · 12 d ago

Chud said:
I was intrigued by the thread because I thought it curious seeing Steve play in Guildford UK a week ago that PIAs weren't in use.

It wasn't a full gig but a clinic style thing so makes sense that it was a smaller rig - just a pedalboard and a Synergy green module half stack.

What I found interesting was the guitars brought were [although I was in the nose bleed seats] two JEMs - Wouldn't be 100% on it but honestly looked like EVO and FLO III.
One was white with cosmo black hardware and the other gold hardware with a sustainer.

I think the ol' discussion of "Who cares! Play what you want!" are meh. It's a discussion forum so always interesting to discuss these things!

They were Evo and Flo III. This was an Alien Guitar Secrets masterclass. The rest of the tour guitars where shipped home after the EU tour finished. Steve then proceeded to NL for a concert with the Metropole orchestra and took only Evo and Flo III with him. For that concert, two other guitars were borrowed locally, one as backup for Flo III (with sustainer) and one with different tuning for Kill the Guy With The Ball ( A FP2, Tuned to D). Steve took Flo III & Evo with him for the masterclasses.
The rig was a single synergy and a small pedal board (Wah, Jemini and Digitech Whammy), along with a Fractal FM3 he borrowed from Dante (his rythem guitar player).

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