Ibanez Steve Vai Signature PIA3761 in Onyx Black

Presenting the all new Steve Vai Signature model PIA3761, this one in the Onyx Black finish.

Steve Vai’s first collaboration with Ibanez, the JEM, debuted in 1987. In the more than three decades since, the revolutionary electric guitar has become firmly established as one of the most popular, celebrated and instantly recognizable designs in modern guitar.

Steve has spent the last few years developing and designing a brand-new guitar with the company that made its debut at the 2020 Winter NAMM Show, the new Ibanez PIA. For the design, Vai says, “I wanted something simple, and something that for me also had personal meaning.” Those ideals are reflected in the guitar’s moniker - the PIA. “It stands for Paradise in Art,” Vai says. There’s a second personal meaning as well. “It’s also my wife’s name,” he adds.

The PIA features a redesigned body, inspired by the original JEM, but with new lines and a redesigned handle.

Steve collaborated with DiMarzio on a new pickup design for the PIA, the UtoPIA, that, he says, “is sort of based on my Evolution pickups, but with less mids, a tighter bottom and a little lower output.” These new pickups come complete with stamped covers designed by Michael Mesker - Vai’s art director for the past 13 years - that reflect the PIA Blossom fretboard inlay and petal grip.