EVH Charvel fiasco part three

[Hot _Grits]

found this post on the PRS forum:

I just called over to Fender (480-536-9690) and asked about "the Charvel rumor", before I finished the question, he told me he received word today (7/20/04), that Eddie is joining up with Charvel to do mass produced striped guitars (not the Artist Series on Ebay).

-Here's hoping.

the thread:

http://forums.birdsandmoons.com/forum/showthread.php?p=44188#post44188

If (and it's good to traet anything you read on a forum with a pinch of salt) this is true, I wonder if the ebay auction thing was a scam to generate publicity. The whole thing has 'guerilla marketing' written all over it: First Ed is seen playing a new guitar at a gig, starting rumours, then the ebay auctions appear, then they are hauled off...

[Shnook]

Re: EVH Charvel fiasco part three

That guy posted the same 'Fender confirmed' story over at Peavey's forum too.
I can't imagine a company allowing a customer rep to 'confirm' such information over the phone, instead of or before an official press announcement.

[Mike M.]

Re: EVH Charvel fiasco part three

To me it seemed like nothing more than Eddie's way of trying to re-spark peoples interest in Van Halen. Van Halen 3 did'nt sell and there was a huge lack of attendance for that tour. Then we heard nothing for what, 6 years? Eddie may be thinking if people see a reminder of the past ( the stripped guitars ) then maybe it might help get the band back in people's minds. I think he know's that he blew it in a lot of way's ( firing Sammy, VH3 and then not a word for years) and if he does'nt get the band back on track in a big way then the party is over.

[Hot _Grits]

Re: EVH Charvel fiasco part three

Time will tell. I'm guessing his Peavey contract is over or has been terminated at his or Peavey's request. Charvel need an endorser, and FMIC would welcome him with open arms. He'd still sell more planks than most endorsers I can think of.

So the question is, are they going solely for the nostalgia market, or will they do a production guitar? -if so, would we expect a sustainer equipped version? -the peavey Ed's using most these days is the sustainer one.

One further option down the road is a limited run of exact replicas of the frankenstein guitar, similar to the SRV #1 that fender did a few months ago. Those ebay guitars were nowhere near accurate versions of the original guitars.

Personally, I'd like a sustainer equipped, non-striped, musicman/wolfgang neck profile EVH Charvel, esp with a strat head. That would be a very cool guitar.

[Shnook]

Re: EVH Charvel fiasco part three

I'm just not picturing a guitar shop full of EVH Striped Charvel's, with 14 year old boys trying to play Linkin Park on them. IMHO, you A. have to have the balls and chops to play an EVH Striped guitar, or B. you need to spend the time and effort to stripe it the old fashioned way. A good ole 'do it yourself' project in the spirit of the original EVH Frankenstrat. Buying a mass produced Striped Charvel just seems cheesy to me. I've been a fan of EVH's playing since 1980, but I have zero interest in one of these guitars, should they ever make the mass production line. I love the EVH Stripes...but only on the guitars EVH himself is playing. If this is a stab at boosting Van Halen's popularity, the opposite has happened with me. In fact, I'm less interested in Van Halen now than I've ever been. I might change my mind if EVH could produce a CD's worth of NEW music, instead of an outrageous priced 'Art Guitar'
that's not nearly as cool as the original Frankie in all it's different colors.

[7th Hell]

Re: EVH Charvel fiasco part three

Man- Eddie must need CA$H!

[Gearjoneser]

Re: EVH Charvel fiasco part three

The whole beauty of that striped guitar is that it's Ed's signature...nobody else's.

It's goofy enough seeing a guy walk onstage with an SRV Fender strat, but if you walk onstage with a Van Halen striped guitar, you'd better be some sort of comedy act or something. I'd literally fall out of my chair, laughing, if I saw a guy in a serious band, strapping on one of those VH guitars.

Charvel should just make them in solid colors, or they may end up with warehouses full of unsold striped guitars.

[Hot _Grits]

Re: EVH Charvel fiasco part three

Agreed, though something about playing a funk gig with a striped EVH guitar tickles me. My flatmate has an Ibenhad mini explorer, and I'm dying to get onstage with it.

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: EVH Charvel fiasco part three

I dunno ... I like signature model custom shop guitars ... I'm not a Lynch clone, but the man has had more influence ony my wanting to play guitar than any other guitarist combined ... I show my allegience to him by playing his guitars. But they're also high quality instruments. I would never play an LTD Lynch guitar, for example ...

I agree that to take something like the striped axe, which was never intended to be a production model (unlike Lynch, Vai, etc) and to sell it is pretty base money-grabbing.

[Gearjoneser]

Re: EVH Charvel fiasco part three

I have a feeling that striped Charvel will be a lot of the 80's generation's 'guilty pleasure" purchases, just for nostalgia sake, to stand in front of the mirror, and hit A chords and whammy squeals.

[boze]

Re: EVH Charvel fiasco part three

Quite a neat view on this from all concerned.


My .02, for what it's worth.
Even though it seems on the surface as a money-grabbing thing that Eddie's doing with this "ART-Series" gtrs, it just could be a way of him finally putting a control issue of the "striped-gtr" market.

Sometime ago, if you can remember, there was an obvious market on EBAY for Van-Halen striped (mainly red/white) merchandise, guitars included. Some of it was the real-deal but alot of it was just some person or company trying to pass it off as a VH connected item. You & I & every gtrist on the planet can recongize the "stripes" deal as a Eddie thing. In fact, so can my mother. Which in fact could be making Eddie's point exactly in patenting/copy-writing/liscensing(not sure which exactly) the "striped-image". He came up with it, not really putting any serious thought behind it and through out the 80s,90s, & today, other people are making money off his created image. So why not secure it. We all agree it's his idea, right?

Well, since he put the law down on the red/white,black/yellow, white/black stripe pattern, this ART-Series could a way for him to control it like I mentioned before. This way, if the market wants it, they could get it OFFICAILLY from him and what ever company agreed to put it out. Peavey still has the Wolfgang deal going with him, and HIS choice of guitar for 95% of this tour IS the Wolfgang w/sustainer pup installed. There is speculation that the Wolfgang contract might be up soon, but it really doesn't make sense to me for Eddie to use anything else due to the fact that HE designed the Wolfgang to his liking. Why would he start using a slapped together gtr NOW. I'm sure that he still uses every now & then his 5150 Kramer, his amber 5150 EBMM-EVH, and anything else that lying around his studio. But to go into a mass production of a slapped together gtr??......like I said, it doesn't make sense to me.

There is also the EBMM-type of outcome with this in that if Eddie does break ties with Peavey on the Wolfgang, Peavey could continue it under another name like EBMM did with the Axis. But I am not sure how much of the Wolfgang Eddie can take with him IF he goes. He didn't like the outcome with EBMM and he might have taken some precautions when he hooked-up with Peavey for the Wolfgang.

Who's to say, everything is just speculative right now. It would be VERY interesting to see what happens.

Boze.

[Hot _Grits]

Re: EVH Charvel fiasco part three

Rumour has it the peavey contract expires soon.

Here's a press release form www.charvel.com :

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (July 20, 2004) - To follow up the recent news of the collaboration between Edward Van Halen and Charvel to produce a limited run of hand “striped” art guitars, Charvel now proudly announces that it will introduce a production run of EVH Art Series guitars that are based on Van Halen’s own original, iconic designs.

This new line of production run EVH Art Series guitars will be painted and built exclusively by Charvel at its facility in Corona, California, and they will be introduced at this summer’s NAMM show in Nashville, Tennessee.

These new Charvel EVH Art Series guitars will feature three instruments, each with its own striped color scheme, including white with black stripes, black with yellow stripes and red with black and white stripes. The artwork for each different model will be based on the designs originally created by Edward Van Halen for his personal guitars, which have since become legendary rock ‘n’ roll icons.

Charvel will introduce these production guitars to its network of retailers at this summer’s NAMM show, and it will begin taking orders immediately. Production will begin after the show’s conclusion, and delivery to Charvel retailers is expected to begin by November of this year.

In addition to the new Charvel EVH Art Series guitars, the Charvel Custom Shop will introduce a limited run of guitars that will be faithful recreations of Edward’s classic red guitar with black and white stripes. The Charvel Custom Shop will work closely with Van Halen to create no more than 100 pieces, all of which will replicate the original down to every detail, including original specifications, as well as its nicks, scratches and wear marks. More details with regards to pricing and availability will be forthcoming.

Another quote from the site:

The wait is over! Legendary guitarist, Edward Van Halen, is back in the fold and is once again working with Charvel® to create hand built replicas of his original striped guitar designs

So, back in the fold means he has a fender/charvel AND a peavey deal? -probably not. I'm guessing the peavey thing has run it's course.

[boze]

Re: EVH Charvel fiasco part three

Well, perhaps the Wolfgang thing has.(..run it's course.) I must say that Eddie's NOT on the tip of young player's tongue these days. Alot of them haven't even heard him. The Wolfgang/EVH sell might not be a "sell" anymore. My initial interest in the Wolfgang was due to EVH, but even if he wasn't involved with it, it's STILL a great guitar. Change the pups and it's extremely versitile.

I'd like to see what happen's with the 5150 series from Peavey, if that will be affected.


Boze.

[inter]

Re: EVH Charvel fiasco part three

Lol,

Funny stuff. Any guitarist who uses a signature axe live is asking for it from the muso's in the audience. I recently saw a guy playing a floral jem on stage and even though he was ok, the poor guy was really coping it. I was 'trying' to take the moral high ground, but the more heckling he got, the more mistakes he made. It was painful to watch.

The legacy that the floral jem, EVH striped and various other guitar's carry is huge. If your a spotty teenager playing punk or a jazz guy with great chops you can probably get away with it, but play any kind of music associated with the signature artist's guitar.........

[Gearjoneser]

Re: EVH Charvel fiasco part three

Yeah, I think of that stuff as keepsakes for collectibility someday, but as serious gigging guitars, they seem silly to me. The prerequisite for being an "artist" is to show the world what "you" are. Showing them a signature guitar, or even amp just makes you look like you lack an identity. Ed's the only guy who needs to play his striped guitar. I agree with Hot Grits that it would make a funny thing to pull out at the right time. I think I remember Weezer on the cover of Guitar Player holding an EVH.