Steve Vai's "For The Love Of God" on steel

Steve Cunningham · Post by **Steve Cunningham** » 4 Mar 2011 5:45 pm

I've been working on diversifying my YouTube channel with more guitar stuff of varying styles, and figured it was time for some lap steel...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6wGL18a8zc

Not everyone's cup of tea I know, but it's a cool tune.

For those interested in checking out some other stuff I've done...

http://www.youtube.com/user/SingingStri ... ature=mhum

Thanks for listening.

Frank James Pracher · Post by **Frank James Pracher** » 4 Mar 2011 8:34 pm

That was awesome!!!. I've always loved that song, fun to play and a nice melody. I never thought to play it on steel though.
Nice job!!!

John Seitz · Post by **John Seitz** » 5 Mar 2011 5:22 am

You nailed it. Very nice.

David Eastwood · Post by **David Eastwood** » 5 Mar 2011 8:11 am

Very, very sweet indeed, Steve...

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 5 Mar 2011 11:21 am

Hey bro, that's hot. There is some octave jumping sickness in there and it really captures the Vai vibe.

How about doing "The Attitude Song?"

Stephen Abruzzo · Post by **Stephen Abruzzo** » 5 Mar 2011 1:52 pm

Superb playing Steve!!! What tuning did you use?

Steinar Gregertsen · Post by **Steinar Gregertsen** » 5 Mar 2011 2:03 pm

That's awesome Steve! "Passion And Warfare" was the last Vai album I bought, and this tune is one of my favorites from it. Great job!

Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 5 Mar 2011 3:24 pm

Not everybody can do that overdriven sound as well as you do, Steve. It's a pleasure to hear you play. Thanks for sharing!

Peter Jacobs · Post by **Peter Jacobs** » 5 Mar 2011 3:29 pm

Nice, nice, nice! Great tone, awesome playing. Thanks for posting this, Steve -- ti's a real treat to see and hear.

Russ Cudney · Post by **Russ Cudney** » 6 Mar 2011 8:37 am

Very good. Never wanted a humbucker on a lap until I saw this...you got me thinking....

AJ Azure · Post by **AJ Azure** » 6 Mar 2011 12:07 pm

exactly the style I am working on. Nice work

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 6 Mar 2011 12:18 pm

Cool stuff, Steve!

Steve Cunningham · Post by **Steve Cunningham** » 6 Mar 2011 2:11 pm

Thank you very much fellows. I really enjoyed trying to nail Mr. Vai's arpeggiated lick on the B section of the solo...I would have never thought to play that left to my own devices.

Mike Neer wrote:How about doing "The Attitude Song?"

Sorry Mike, I don't have any disability insurance.

Stephen Abruzzo wrote:What tuning did you use?

Open E...I just had to watch out for that open G# string.

Craig Stenseth · Post by **Craig Stenseth** » 6 Mar 2011 3:32 pm

Steve plays Steve! Great stuff, I see you ran out of fretboard a few times!

Steve Pierce · Post by **Steve Pierce** » 6 Mar 2011 8:04 pm

Cool stuff!

Any chance you'd tell us your signal chain there?

You got a very slick tone.

I'm a big fan of all the stuff you post. You have very good musical taste.

Do you always play bare fingers in the right hand?

AJ Azure · Post by **AJ Azure** » 6 Mar 2011 8:16 pm

this is precisely why I want a kahler trem on my 8 string lap

Steve Cunningham · Post by **Steve Cunningham** » 6 Mar 2011 9:58 pm

Craig Stenseth wrote:Steve plays Steve! Great stuff, I see you ran out of fretboard a few times!

Thanks Craig...I actually made some very crude fret markers with electrical tape on the side of the neck pickup, for reference.

Steve Pierce wrote: Any chance you'd tell us your signal chain there?
You got a very slick tone.
I'm a big fan of all the stuff you post. You have very good musical taste.
Do you always play bare fingers in the right hand?

Thanks Steve. On that tune I'm playing through a POD XT Live, directly into a Korg D1200 digital 12-track recorder. I always use a flatpick and bare fingers. I've tried using fingerpicks in the past, but they didn't feel right on electric. Sometimes when I'm messing around with that Indian, Debashish-ish kind of stuff on acoustic, I'll use a fingerpick on my middle finger for playing melodies.

AJ Azure wrote:this is precisely why I want a kahler trem on my 8 string lap

For real? That could be cool for dive-bombing hammer-ons and harmonics.

Steve Ahola · Post by **Steve Ahola** » 6 Mar 2011 11:53 pm

I like that better than the original! I don't see the flat pick you mentioned- would that be a flat thumb pick?

It is interesting how you use your fingers to do things that could never be done with metal fingerpicks.

Steve Ahola

Tom Pettingill · Post by **Tom Pettingill** » 7 Mar 2011 4:29 am

Nice job Steve, I enjoyed it very much. Just goes to show how versatile a steel can be in the right hands.

Steve Cunningham · Post by **Steve Cunningham** » 7 Mar 2011 8:37 am

Thank you guys. Steve, I'm using a regular flatpick, which is obscured by the video angle...it looks like index finger picking, but it's actually a pick.

Steve Hotra · Post by **Steve Hotra** » 7 Mar 2011 6:34 pm

Nice playing, Steve!
Thanks for sharing.
Still have the Peavey Powerslide?

Steve Cunningham · Post by **Steve Cunningham** » 8 Mar 2011 10:21 am

Thanks Steve. I still have my Powerslide, but I don't play it anymore.

Jeremy Steele · Post by **Jeremy Steele** » 8 Mar 2011 11:29 am

Fantastic job, Steve.

I would love to hear your take on Jeff Beck's "Cause We've Ended As Lovers"...I'll bet you could tear it up in a lap steel version.

AJ Azure · Post by **AJ Azure** » 8 Mar 2011 2:45 pm

Steve Cunningham wrote:
Craig Stenseth wrote:Steve plays Steve! Great stuff, I see you ran out of fretboard a few times!
Thanks Craig...I actually made some very crude fret markers with electrical tape on the side of the neck pickup, for reference.

Steve Pierce wrote: Any chance you'd tell us your signal chain there?
You got a very slick tone.
I'm a big fan of all the stuff you post. You have very good musical taste.
Do you always play bare fingers in the right hand?
Thanks Steve. On that tune I'm playing through a POD XT Live, directly into a Korg D1200 digital 12-track recorder. I always use a flatpick and bare fingers. I've tried using fingerpicks in the past, but they didn't feel right on electric. Sometimes when I'm messing around with that Indian, Debashish-ish kind of stuff on acoustic, I'll use a fingerpick on my middle finger for playing melodies.

AJ Azure wrote:this is precisely why I want a kahler trem on my 8 string lap
For real? That could be cool for dive-bombing hammer-ons and harmonics.

I've started using this pick:
http://fredkellypicks.com/bumble-bee/de ... -hand4pcs/

currently i have my ibanez saber outfitted for steel playing and i do trem stuff withe edge Floyd style bridge.

blocking is the biggest issue

Steve Cunningham · Post by **Steve Cunningham** » 8 Mar 2011 10:50 pm

Thanks Jeremy. Actually, "Cause We've Ended..." was the other tune I was considering...great tune.

AJ - I never had you pegged as a Saber owner. You need to post some vids of you playing steel on that thing.