5 Wackiest Custom Guitars

2. Steve Vai's Triple Neck JEM

Steve Vai has had a history of innovating through his tenure with the Ibanez guitar company, after all he was the principle designer and first client for the now ubiquitous Seven-string electric guitar, having had Ibanez build him the Universe guitar in the 80s as he was writing the sublime 'Passion & Warfare' album. Vai had experimented with multi-necked guitars over the years, getting Ibanez to build him an insane three-necked, heart-shaped guitar for the Passion & Warfare tour, but with it proving unwieldy to play - by his own admission that he's not that good playing left handed - he eventually commissioned Ibanez to make this beast for him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY8wyKuLY2k What they built was the three necked version of his signature JEM guitar, featuring a twelve string electric on the top (which can be hooked to a guitar synth), a standard JEM neck and set up in the middle and a fretless neck on the bottom. The guitar was originally built to allow him to play songs from the 'Sex And Religion' album without changing instruments between tracks, however it was proved that it was either too unwieldy, too heavy or too fragile for regular touring, which has lead Vai to halfway retire the instrument and only bring it out on special occasions. What is most impressive though, is not the instrument itself, it's that Vai can effectively play all three necks at roughly the same time using nothing more than his own skill and a looping pedal. Check out the video above and be ready to have your mind blown.