Steve Vai's guitar tech Thomas Nordegg shares his setup tips

Thomann's Guitar Tech Tips series offers a valuable insight into what makes an acoustic and electric guitar play well. Hosted by Kris Barosci, it also allows us to see exactly how great players like to have their guitars set up. We've already heard from John Petrucci's tech Maddi Schieferstein and now it's the turn of Thomas Nordegg – Steve Vai's longtime wingman on tour.

Nordegg reveals how Vai's Ibanez signature guitars are se tup – including some excellent advice for anyone who uses a locking tremolo system. The tech has worked with Yngwie Malmsteen, Frank Zappa and Dweezil Zappa too so he has some great stories to share. 

Rob Laing
Guitars Editor, MusicRadar

I'm the Guitars Editor for MusicRadar, handling news, reviews, features, tuition, advice for the strings side of the site and everything in between. Before MusicRadar I worked on guitar magazines for 15 years, including Editor of Total Guitar in the UK. When I'm not rejigging pedalboards I'm usually thinking about rejigging pedalboards.