Steve Vai’s guitars and the story of his groundbreaking Ibanez signature guitar, the JEM, is to be documented in a truly epic coffee-table book with a heavyweight 1,000-plus page count – and Vai describes it is “a masterpiece”.
Wire & Wood: The Guitars Of Steve Vai is the work of Michael Mesker, who took five years to complete the book. The task took Mesker around the world in search of some of the more obscure instruments in the Vai canon. Many of these electric guitars were no longer in Vai’s possession.
Vai says he had no doubts that Mesker would be able to track them down, let alone shoot them and get the in the book.
“I was approached by Rufus Publications back in 2019 with an interest to create a high-end and compelling book of 100 of my most unique and used guitars,” says Vai. “I knew there was only one guy that could do this job most effectively and that was Michael Mesker, who was eager to do it. There isn’t anyone who knows the history of my guitars, nor has the artistic overview of photography and forensic attention to detail as he does.”
Vai says Mesker’s presentation of his guitars will “blow your mind”. Even Vai had forgotten about some of the guitars featured in the book.
“He scoured the globe to find many of these guitars, as I had given many away or sold them through the years, but he tracked them down and got the necessary shots,” says Vai. “The results are stunning and the book is a masterpiece.”
Published by Rufus Publications, with preorders open now for a late March 2025 release, Wire & Wood is available in three editions, all of which are super high-end – the Ultra Edition especially so.
The Standard Edition, available at the reduced pre-order price of £277/$360, and comprises a two-volume hardcover book that’s contained in a slipcase, with pages measuring 9.5” by 13.5”. The Deluxe Edition is similarly on a pre-order price special at £538/$699, and is limited to 500 copies, each signed and numbered by Vai, and with a larger A3-sized format.
But if you are a Vai super-fan looking for a super-collectible book and an über high-end electric guitar to go with it, the Ultra Edition is for you. It partners the Deluxe Edition with a Jem77WFP in White Floral Pattern. This truly is a gem of a JEM, limited to 14, with each guitar named by Vai, and including a signed certificate of authenticity.
The spec is on the money, with Tree of Life inlay in green, a set of Vai’s signature DiMarzio Evolution pickups, the five-way switching that makes it capable of almost any electric guitar tone you can imagine, and you’ve got that Lo-Pro Edge vibrato unit nested atop that Lion’s Claw trem cavity. It even comes with a handle. Hey, don’t underestimate how useful the Monkey Grip comes in.
Vai is the latest high-profile guitarist in recent years to release a book celebrating his guitar collection, following superlative releases from Johnny Marr (Marr’s Guitars) and Slash (Slash: The Collection). Vai said he was surprised by what he saw.
“I didn’t realise how diverse, eclectic and innovative my guitar collection was until I saw this book,” he says. “Besides the documenting of various models, this book is the penultimate definitive word on the history of the JEM and the guitars that were part of its evolution. It’s magnificent and I’m blown away.”
Wire & Wood: The Guitars of Steve Vai is available to pre-order now. Head over to Rufus Publications for more.
