Steve Vai signature.
PIA stands for "Paradise in Art" but it could also be a beautiful tribute to Steve's wife, Pia Vai. Or maybe a nice combination of both?
PIA is an evolution of Steve's incredibly successful JEM models, a series that has remained unchanged with minor variations for almost 35 years. At a glance, there's a lot of JEM about the PIA model, a JEM with a new monkey grip, now called Petal Grip. But if you look closely, there are some things that set it apart from a JEM.
The edges of the body have become softer and rounder.
The body's arm cut has a different and larger shape, it goes further forward (towards the neck), further down and is deeper. This is to make the guitar more comfortable to sit down and play.
The volume control has been moved further down to avoid getting in the way of the pick hand.
The flower vine has a different look and a new name, PIA Blossom.
Then there are a whole bunch of changes that aren't visible, but can be heard and felt.
New neck profile called PIA (thickness is the same as a newer JEM).
Stainless steel jumbo tie rods. Tape sticks that have a magical, smooth, playing feel and are much longer than regular tape sticks.
A highpass/lowcut filter on the push/pull volume control. When you turn down the volume, the low register tends to take over and become too dominant, this filter counteracts that and is a filter Steve has had on his personal JEMs for a long time.
