With the death of guitarist Joey Alves in March 2017, Meniketti is the last surviving member of the band's classic lineup (1974–1986), which also included bassist Phil Kennemore (d. 2011) and drummer Leonard Haze (d. 2016).

Perhaps it is the diversity of the artists that influenced him as a kid (Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane, Leslie West, James Brown, Led Zeppelin) that is responsible for his varied expressions in both his singing and his guitar playing.

His style has influenced some of the major stars in rock and over the years he's been asked to join many top bands including Ozzy Osbourne, Peter Frampton, Whitesnake and others.

The Story of Anvil, in the bonus feature interview Lars Ulrich of Metallica talks at length about seeing one of his favorite bands Y&T for the first time at a club in Hollywood in December 1980.

One of the reasons Sammy chose Dave was Hagar's feeling that Meniketti would be the right choice to do justice to the memory and playing style of Ronnie Montrose.

He has been playing a sunburst Gibson Les Paul Standard since the early 1970s, and even during the late-'80s when such a guitar was considered out of style, as seen in the music video for Contagious.