EVH Wolfgang Special guitar?

mrfunnyman

mrfunnyman

Member
I was just wondering if any of you guys on here have had a chance to play the new EVH Wolfgang Special and if so what can you tell me about it? I would like to purchase one but I first wanna find out what I can about it to see if it's worth the price that's being asked.
 
Re: EVH Wolfgang Special guitar?

I haven't had the pleasure of playing that one, but I've played the $3k one and it's AMAZING. If this thing is a fraction as easy to play and crisp sounding (think "full range"), it's worth the $1500.

I'm pretty sure it's a Mexican version of the Wolfgang, with no carbon rods in the neck, a flat top and a lesser Floyd Rose. The pickups are supposedly the same spec, but wound in a foreign land.
 
Re: EVH Wolfgang Special guitar?

i hate to admit it but i've kind of been wanting a Floyd guitar, and since I'm a snob now I don't want to go buy a used Ibanez or whatever.

EVH really has me gritting my teeth over the Specials. On the one hand I don't want to go and drop three stacks on a ****ing Van Halen guitar, but the one thing that grabbed my eye about the American ones in the first place was the arched top.

I thought, "Whoa awesome, it would be a really kick-ass Super Strat with an arched top and a switch / knob position that's close to my Les Paul."

Wire 'em both up with push / pulls for single-coil tones and holy ****ing crap, that guy is completely unstoppable. But THREE STACKS?!

Then i got all hard about the Specials...and it doesn't have an arched top..?! Then I just look at my USA Strat and ask myself what the hell I need a Floyd for anyway :smokin:
 
Re: EVH Wolfgang Special guitar?

I think the USA Wolf is easily worth $3k, if you compare it to Gibsons which are antiquated and way overpriced. It's basically the best of both worlds (haha) of a bolt on Strat type guitar and an arched top Gibson style thingy. It has all the advantages of both with none of the drawbacks. So, if I was in the market for a premium, US-made guitar, I might just splurge on the EVH flagship.

I think it's more than a "Van Halen" guitar. Frankly, there's probably more music being made with his designed guitars, than he's actually making himself (in fact, I'd bet the farm on that) and if he died tomorrow, sales would go crazy. But I think the Wolfgang and Special are very good all-around versatile guitars. You could play a jazz gig, a blues gig and then turn around and play a metal show with one. You can't that with most guitars out there.
 
Re: EVH Wolfgang Special guitar?

the special is japanese. i've owned 2 peavey wolfie specials and 2 peavey standards. i preferred the specials by a long way. at some point, i'll pick up an evh special
 
Re: EVH Wolfgang Special guitar?

No, but I've played some of the Music Man types. The one thing I found about these designs is that they're somewhat small feeling. I don't think it's the neck scale but more about the neck joint location and the body size.

A nice guitar, just not for me.
 
Re: EVH Wolfgang Special guitar?

Wow, I didn't know it was Japanese. You can't go wrong with a well-designed ax from there!
 
Re: EVH Wolfgang Special guitar?

brunogio said:
No, but I've played some of the Music Man types. The one thing I found about these designs is that they're somewhat small feeling. I don't think it's the neck scale but more about the neck joint location and the body size.

A nice guitar, just not for me.
Click to expand...

Yes they are small. I like a lot of the good (dare I say modern) design that is built into the EVH's the hard mounting of the pickups and the neck join both are things that should be carried across to other ranges. Imagine if Fender did a Tele with a Floyd, hard mounted pick ups bolt in neck and carved top. Oh wait they did in 1994.
 
Re: EVH Wolfgang Special guitar?

I havent played or even seen in person, any of the evh guitars.. I hadnt even heard much about them til now.. Glad they are good. I did figure they would be versatile.. I just cant get excited about them cuz of the price and the small frets... I like big frets..

FWIW, I have a buddy that bought one of the low end peaveys with the flat top and it was a killer guitar. Had the same pups in it and they sounded great
 
Re: EVH Wolfgang Special guitar?

I think Ed's aversion to large frets was a transition. Remember when he replaced the vintage frets on his Charvel neck with "jumbo" Gibson ones and allegedly "dressed" them with sandpaper and steel wool? (makes me cringe). Of course, with such a trained ear, the terrible intonation problems that plague most guitars are worse with big, fat, flattened frets because the leading edge of the string when a fret is pressed, changes and sharpens the note unnecessarily. So, he started using small frets after the Kramer period and started getting his axes Buzz Feiten corrected.

Of course, now Earvana makes a intonation-corrected locking nut for Floyds, so that's the route I would go if I bought one.

I'd trade better intonation for a slightly fatter fret feel.
 
Re: EVH Wolfgang Special guitar?

IanBallard said:
I think the USA Wolf is easily worth $3k, if you compare it to Gibsons which are antiquated and way overpriced. It's basically the best of both worlds (haha) of a bolt on Strat type guitar and an arched top Gibson style thingy. It has all the advantages of both with none of the drawbacks. So, if I was in the market for a premium, US-made guitar, I might just splurge on the EVH flagship.

I think it's more than a "Van Halen" guitar. Frankly, there's probably more music being made with his designed guitars, than he's actually making himself (in fact, I'd bet the farm on that) and if he died tomorrow, sales would go crazy. But I think the Wolfgang and Special are very good all-around versatile guitars. You could play a jazz gig, a blues gig and then turn around and play a metal show with one. You can't that with most guitars out there.
Click to expand...

i feel you on that for sure.

the only other guitar i can think of that'll "do it all" like that is a Les Paul Custom...and that's only if you don't use a trem.

Maybe sometime soon Van Halen will go out of style and those guitars will be available for super cheap :smokin:
 
Re: EVH Wolfgang Special guitar?

So yesterday I was able to find a store within a half-hours drive from me that had in stock a EVH Wolfgang and the Wolfgang special, so I made the drive and tried them both. After playing both the Wolfgang and the Wolfgang special I came to the conclusion that the Wolfgang special sound waayyy better overall than the actual $3 grand Wolfgang. I dunno if it had something to do with how thick the maple top is or what but the Wolfgang special had an overall better sound, feel and playability to it, the Wolfgang sounded way to trebly and thin, the neck on the Wolfgang even felt really cheap and it looked really dirty Honestly I would not pay $3 grand for that Wolfgang guitar! I did however like the Wolfgang Special ALOT that I decided to go ahead and buy a sunburst one. I'll post some pic's of it when it gets here.
The only cosmetic differences between the Wolfgang and the Wolfgang special is the Wolfgang has a 1/2 inch maple archtop, 5 layer multi-ply binding on the body and front of the headstock and the headstock is angled back. The Wolfgang special has single layer binding around the body, a 1/16 of an inch flat maple top and the headstock is not angled back and it's made in Japan. Both have vintage sized stainless steel frets and the graphite bars in the neck aswell.
 
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Re: EVH Wolfgang Special guitar?

I have the 3k one and it's definitely superior. I don't have ANY GAS for the special. The good one has a better bridge, better pickups, nice arched top, just better. It's flawlessly constructed. I've played the specials and they are nice but not in the same league as the Wolfgang. I honestly can say it's one of the finest crafted guitars I've ever seen.

The intonation is perfect. The Floyd sounds so good because it rests against the body. It's not a recessed trem cavity like a lot of Floyds have. No the cheap ones are decent for cheap guitars but nothing like the good ones unfortunately.
 
Re: EVH Wolfgang Special guitar?

Agreed UMD. I've only played the American one, but I have been hearing that the Special is warmer, due mostly the thinner maple cap. The same exact pickups and a Gotoh Floyd which is actually quite good... all steel.

I honestly feel that the 3K Wolf is one of the nicest off-the-shelf guitars I've ever played or seen. Comparing it to anything Gibson, Washburn, ESP, Ibanez and Fender (the other brands this place carried), it was by far the best balanced and well appointed. BUT, I must say it was a little bright for my taste. I hate to use tone knobs but I found myself rolling it down a hair. If the Special is a typical well-made Japanese guitar that is slightly warmer than the US-made one, I'm sold. The only things I might do is upgrade the sustain block and put one of these puppies on.
 
Re: EVH Wolfgang Special guitar?

What kind of frets are you guys playing?

The ones on the Wolf are hardly small...

go buy a Telecaster, string it with 12s and quit yer b!tchin
:friday:
 
Re: EVH Wolfgang Special guitar?

i like reading that the Wolfgang is kinda bright

my les paul is kinda bright too...and i looove riding my tone knobs :smokin:
 
Re: EVH Wolfgang Special guitar?

IanBallard said:
Agreed UMD. I've only played the American one, but I have been hearing that the Special is warmer, due mostly the thinner maple cap. The same exact pickups and a Gotoh Floyd which is actually quite good... all steel.

I honestly feel that the 3K Wolf is one of the nicest off-the-shelf guitars I've ever played or seen. Comparing it to anything Gibson, Washburn, ESP, Ibanez and Fender (the other brands this place carried), it was by far the best balanced and well appointed. BUT, I must say it was a little bright for my taste. I hate to use tone knobs but I found myself rolling it down a hair. If the Special is a typical well-made Japanese guitar that is slightly warmer than the US-made one, I'm sold. The only things I might do is upgrade the sustain block and put one of these puppies on.
Click to expand...

Well I think it's a combination of the arch top and pickups, etc... I love the bite of the Wolfgang because it's better to have it there when you need it than to wish you had more of it. The tone knobs work amazingly well though. I had to put a little felt washer under mine because they have zero friction and I kept accidentally moving them when I played.

I'll give the Japanese version another look this weekend. A dealer friend of mine is getting two of them in today so I'm going to carry my Wolfgang down there and do a comparison.
 
Re: EVH Wolfgang Special guitar?

Can anyone comment on the neck size of the special? Is it on par with the regular Wolfgang or is it smaller/larger?
 
Re: EVH Wolfgang Special guitar?

It's a medium C to my recollection. It's not the asymmetrical neck of the Kramer, EBMM and Peavey. It's more like a typical Strat.
 
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