“I never thought I would ever see anything like this”: Steve Vai considers this solo to be his “ultimate achievement” – and one fan’s cover has left him in awe

Steve Vai has taken to Instagram to shine a light on a player who nailed the guitar solo from And We Are One – which the electric guitar hero considers to be one his crowning achievements.

Songs like For The Love of God, and the ultra-inspiring Crossroads shred battle, stand as two of the shred master general's most influential guitar moments. However, they supposedly pale in comparison to And We Are One when it comes to trickiness, but Japanese guitarist Tub has seemingly made light work of it.

“I never thought I would ever see anything like this,” Vai writes on Instagram, re-sharing Tub’s “extraordinary cover” to his 1.2 million followers.

“Frankly, this is one of my favorite solos that I’ve ever done, and he just nailed it. Seeing someone take the time, patience, and passion to recreate something like this put a huge smile on my face and in my heart. Truly outstanding, my deepest appreciation to you, Tub.”

There are no half measures from the performance, with Tub cosplaying as his hero in front of a psychedelic backdrop and wielding one of Vai's Ibanez signature guitars in Onyx black. There's even some nifty double-footed volume pedal action to accurately deliver Vai's violin-imitating leads.

Taken from the 1984 album Modern Primitive, Vai once told Guitar Player that he regards it as his Magnum Opus of soloing for one specific reason.

“I’ve never gotten as deep with my phrasing as I did on this solo,” he explained. “It may go right over the head of most people, and others might just hear it as Vai meandering, but, for me, this solo is my ultimate achievement of phrasing on the instrument.”

Vai’s post has racked up more than 16,000 likes at the time of writing, meaning that Tub’s humble follower count of 447 may be about to bloat considerably.

And We Are One - YouTube

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His posts are very Vai-centric, with the guitarist tackling guitar solos from across his career, including his David Lee Roth era (Elephant Gun) and some dextrous one-handed legato playing on Knappsack.

Away from social media, Vai has been discussing how his on-stage chemistry with Joe Satriani in the newly-formed StachVai Band works and why Pete Thorn's rhythm guitar playing is unrivalled.