Guitar legend Steve Vai has checked in with the following update via Facebook:

"Hey folks,

In 1985 the Roland company came out with the finest digital delays I believe have ever been made, the SDE 3000. I was 24 at the time and saved to purchase two of them.

This was literally my full rig, with the exception of a few stomp boxes. I came out of the send in the back of the amp and went into the first SDE 3000 and used it mainly for delay. Then the output of that unit went into the input of the second SDE 3000 which I used mainly for stereo chorus. Then the stereo outputs that came out of SDE 3000 number 2 were sent to the return of each amp. This gave me a wide range of various delays and stereo chorusing.

I absolutely loved these units. No other delays seemed to be made with the care and attention to quality as these units. I used them ALL THE TIME. This was my rig through my band days after the release of Flex-Able, and all the way to Passion and Warfare. They were used on virtually every recording I’ve done up to The Story of Light (my last record). They were in my live guitar rig all through Alcatrazz, Roth and Whitesnake and beyond and can be heard on all those records.

Some months ago I had a meeting with Roland about some gear ideas and I met a gentlemen, Mr. Yoshihiro Ikegami. He is posing with me in the photo above.

I immediately took a liking to this soft spoken man and then half way through the meeting I was told that he was the inventor and builder of the original SDE 3000.

Well, you can imagine my surprise and delight to finally meet the man that created the gear that was my signature sound for all those years. It made me love the gear even more.

Just the other day I came across those two SDE’s that I purchased 30 years ago and they lit me up again. And then a thought crossed my mind. It was more of an inspiration.

I had another meeting with Roland scheduled for earlier this week and Mr. Ikegami came to my home. When he left I presented him with my original SDE 3000’s.

I just thought, how appropriate would it be for the guy who made these units, to own my original ones. It’s sort of a thank you for making them in the first place. In this photo I’m presenting them to him.

And once again, thanks Yoshi."

Vai has announced a whopping 10 Alien Guitar Secrets masterclasses from Brazil, which kicked off on Saturday, June 20th. His schedule is now as follows:

June
23 - Florianopolis, Brazil - Teatro Ademir Rosa 
24 - Curitiba, Brazil - Teatro Positivo Pequeno Auditório
26 - Brasília, Brazil - Auditório do Colégio La Salle Brasília
27 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Auditório da Igreja Batista Nova Filadelfia
28 - Vitoria, Brazil - Teatro Universitário da UFES
30 - Belo Horizonte, Brazil - Cine Theatro Brasil Vallourec

July
1 - Salvador, Brazil - Candyall Guetho Square

Go to this location for ticket links and information.