For an aspiring rock guitarist there can’t be many better signs of impending superstardom than a birthday comprising all the sixes. Like a blessing at the crossroads from old Nick himself, those three digits in your birthdate promise rock and roll mayhem to come. So why then is Steve Vai, owner of more sixes than the beast himself, one of the most famous guitarists in the world, while iGuitar’s Stuart Bull isn’t? It’s a question that Stuart is keen to ask.

“You’re a Gemini?” he asks coolly.

“Yes I am!” replies Steve, sounded somewhat bemused.

“You’ve got three sixes in your birthday?” Stuart continues.

“Yes I have!” chirrups Steve.

“I have three sixes in my birthday,” Stuart replies, beginning to sound uncharacteristically bitter.

“You do?” asks Steve, noticing the change in tone.

“You’ve got loads of hair, loads of talent and loads of money. I’ve got no hair, no talent and no money. What’s that all about?” Stuart concludes. Perhaps for the first time in his life, Steve Vai doesn’t know what to say.

As it turns out, it’s all a matter of how many sixes you can cram in. While iGuitar’s Mr Bull boasts a birth date of the sixteenth of the sixth, nineteen sixty two, Vai has him outclassed.
“On 6/6/66… I turned 6,” he explains with a wicked grin. “It was one o’clock. But it was six o’clock somewhere…”


No wonder the name Steve Vai has become synonymous with the kind of guitar excellence that only a handful of players in the world will ever aspire to. iGuitar has met with him during a brief moment of calm in the storm that is the 2007 London Guitar Show. Over the last few days message boards around the world have been buzzing about Vai’’s appearance at the show, which is set to include a masterclass with the virtuoso himself. Accordingly, London’s Excel exhibition arena is packed with fans from all around the planet. They’re hoping to walk away with a little of Vai’s genius sprinkled over their own playing.


Yet the man himself is remarkably detached from the furore surrounding his arrival in London. Sat before the iGuitar camera with a cheerful, open smile, he betrays not a hint of ego in the face...

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