Carvin belair

fastonebaz

Are these any good for Vai tones? 

Roland

Mine isn’t.

fastonebaz

What are they good for? 

Winny_Pooh

Been years but they do a decent voxy/fender clean. No idea on the overdrive channel. Good value in the same style as a peavey classic 50 but a bit more portable.

fastonebaz

Cheers

Fortheloveofguitar

Belair won’t get you anywhere near. Need to go with a full fat Legacy. Really is Vai in a box 

Roland

As @Winny_Pooh says, the clean channel sits between Vox and Fender. The overdrive channel doesn’t have the gain and compression which a Legacy has. Instead the drive channel uses diodes to put an edge on the the valve distortion. There is a modification which clips the diode, giving it a smoother sound.

fastonebaz

Doesn't sound like the amp for me then.  Ta

guitarmangler

I think Holdsworth had a hand in designing the lead/distortion channel. I think I played through one once , about 15 years ago, and it was quite good. I think the legacy is probably what you want , tho .