“I was embarrassingly inexperienced.” Steve Vai on the guitarist who “saved his bacon” with a vital piece of gear when he was a greenhorn in David Lee Roth’s band

Steve Vai was still building his résumé when David Lee Roth handpicked him to front the former Van Halen singer’s band in 1985. But as Vai now explains, it took the intervention of a seasoned pro to ...

How Steve Stevens saved Steve Vai on his David Lee Roth debut

In 1985, David Lee Roth left Van Halen – apparently, Van Halen's secret recording of Michael Jackson’s Beat It solo was the last straw for him. So, he set out on a solo career and recruited a new ...

The 21 greatest guitar scenes in film and TV history

As Guitar Week plucks on, we’re taking stock of our favorite guitar-featuring scenes in film and TV history. There aren’t any real guidelines for eligibility here, but we unintentionally stayed away ...

The 75 greatest guitarists of the 21st century

In a few days Paste will stake its claim on who the “greatest guitarist of all time” is, but first we have to talk about the ...