My first thought looking at Ibanez and Steve Vai’s Hydra guitar was that there’s no way you can possibly play it. Then I found out that the song you’re hearing in the background, named “Teeth Of The Hydra” off Vai’s new album Inviolate, actually uses it. So the lesson here is that there is quite literally nothing Steve Vai can’t do at this point.
The Hydra is a 7 and 12-string guitar (the latter of which is half fretless), 4-string bass with a 3/4 scale (which appears to be fretless on the lower strings), 13 sympathetic harp strings, and a ton of buttons that do whatever it is they do. The Hydra is not currently for sale, probably because nobody can figure out how to ship it or display it in stores.
However, Ibanez has rolled out some great new models like the headless EHB, SR, and fanned-fret BTB basses; AZ Premium and RG guitars; and a neck-thru Iron Label RG that you can actually get your hands on.
