Perhaps his most readily-identifiable stylistic feature is his creative use of the floating vibrato, using it to add melodic lines that sound odd to the ear. His playing can be described as lyrical, as if sung by a human voice. During the recording of “Eat ’em and Smile” with David Lee Roth, he employed several guitar techniques that “mimicked” the human voice, as heard in the opening bars of the opening track “Yankee Rose.” He is noted for being physically expressive as he plays his guitar. He often uses exotic guitars: he plays both double and triple neck guitars.
In this video, Steve demonstrates an Ibanez guitar using the wammy / vibrato bar to create sonic sounds not commonly heard, but he sets them into a very melodic line of the song.