EVH Guitar questions

[At0micPunk]

Hey all,

Was hoping you guys could spare me from diving deep into the various rabbit holes to get all my questions answered. I'm sure many that frequent here have a lot of knowledge and seasoned experience with the Fender EVH Wolfgang and striped series guitars.

I feel like buying a few. Wasn't gonna do it in the past but I feel like it now. I don't want custom built ones, I want the official EVH line.

Short history and preferences..I played super strats for a long time with floyds but then fell in love with a Les Paul and love the versatility of them. Experienced with both styles. prefer lower action and for these, a floyd that's flush/non floating.

Questions.

For the USA Wolfgang gutiars..

With a Les Paul you van have the volume low/cleaning up the tone on one pickup and another turned up and with the toggle switch, switch between pickups, clean and distorted for tunes that have that type of dynamic.

1. Is that possible with the Wolfgang or are there not separate volume controls for the pickups?

2. Do the Wolfgang's have the option or come with push pull pan pots to change the phasing of the pickups or they just standard?


For the Striped Series.

Thinking of the bumble bee first. Will get the relic Frankie down the line too.

Ive read the original run of the EVH striped series Bee had issues with the floyd being at a slight angle, the back up a tad and kinda floating... and also that the pickup cant be lowered so lowering the bridge has the strings hitting the pickup. Ive seen fixes with a trem block installed and stuff..

Questions.

1. Do the newer Bee's still have this issue? Do they all have it or just some lemons do?
If so do you have some solid solutions.

2. Thew new relic'd Franks that are just under $2k.. do these have a similar issue to the Bee with the bridge/setup?


Any info, tips and advice you can offer would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Jedi McFly]

1. Is that possible with the Wolfgang or are there not separate volume controls for the pickups?

2. Do the Wolfgang's have the option or come with push pull pan pots to change the phasing of the pickups or they just standard?

Wolfgangs come with just a 3-way toggle, master volume, and master tone. So the answer to both your questions is no - you can't control the volume separately and you do not have phase or split options...in a stock format. I've modified various Wolfgangs to have push-push knobs to coil split the pickups or to have a master volume + a neck only volume to get a cleaner tone on the neck vs. the bridge pickup.

Ive read the original run of the EVH striped series Bee had issues with the floyd being at a slight angle, the back up a tad and kinda floating... and also that the pickup cant be lowered so lowering the bridge has the strings hitting the pickup. Ive seen fixes with a trem block installed and stuff..

Questions.

1. Do the newer Bee's still have this issue? Do they all have it or just some lemons do?
If so do you have some solid solutions.

2. Thew new relic'd Franks that are just under $2k.. do these have a similar issue to the Bee with the bridge/setup?

Sounds like those may have been neck shim/angle issues. If you buy one that has that problem this is nothing a good tech can't resolve pretty easily. You can solve this yourself at home too. This is resolved by finding the right balance of neck angle, trem post height, and sometimes trem spring tension.

All of the striped series guitars are essentially the same other than the paint job and pickup/control routing. The exception is the '78 style black/white that has a standard trem. I've found the quality of all the MIM guitars has been increasing over the years, so hopefully you won't encounter the above issues again.

[garbeaj]

How many of these guitars are you buying and what do you plan to do with them? The best Fender/EVH replicas are the ‘79 Bumblebee and the ‘78 Eruption masterbuilt guitars but they are generally around $30,000 each. Are you flipping these?

[At0micPunk]

Thank You Jedi,

Appreciate the info. Still thankful for the time you took to help me with my pedal board questions...10 years ago?! lol

You're the man. Pedal board is still awesome btw. Ive expanded it, added, replaced a few pedals but still the basic bones and it's been a work horse for me, for the weekend warrior bands I've used it with. All advice was gold and has held up. SO TY again brother.


I haven't really looked into the details or tried a Fender EVH Wolfgang or striped series in a long time. I have no idea whats cahnged and there's a lot of videos and reviews saying good things and bad. Hard to know the truth.

Right after they first all came out I looked into stuff and played a USA Wolf out of curiosity/fanboyism lol but I wasn't really in the market for them then and I have no idea what may have changed since then....like with the volume knob/push pull question, didn't know if any of that would be an option now. Thanks for answering my questions. Good to know. My LP is my #1 anymore and I'd never put a trem on it but I was thinking a beautiful Wolf with the similar pickup config could be a solid working guitar. Maybe when I get one I'll just take it in to get it modded that way. Would be cool, imo.

I said fk it today and ordered a striped series Bee, EVH case, EVH strap, EVH picks lmao and stuff today, should be here next week. Hopefully it's good out of the box besides minor tweeks but whatever.

Up until now besides a custom made frank i had made for me years ago the only semi "official" EVH axe I have is my original Baretta, that I got right out of high school and gigged with until moving on to Ibanez.


As awesome as all the striped series variants are they came out with I have so many axes I never felt I really needed one.

Things kinda changed in my thinking of it now with Ed gone. Anymore my work is so busy, working 6 days a week often, I have more money than time lol and with Ed's passing I've gotten really sentimental and nostalgic about him, those young years I got into them and all of it. I feel like owning a official EVH Bee, Frank and possibly USA Wolf. Debating that one.

Garbeaj, Thx for the info. I know about the high end ones. Not interested in those at that price. These are all for my own personal enjoyment. I may play out with a striped series for a few songs but not as a main guitar. I don't flip any guitars unless throwing a guitar around your shoulder back in the day when I was young and dumb..and once having one smash to the ground breaking off the headstock counts? lol

Thanks guys

[ScottyBHarris]

I agree with Jedi, all the Striped series guitars are essentially the same, except for the relic’d Frankie and the relic’d ‘78.

I’ve owned a lot of the Striped Series guitars, at one point or another (I still have the VHI B/W with the Floyd, and the relic’d Frankie), and I’ve never had an issue with any of them. I have to say though, the relic’d Frankie plays like butter, and my go to guitar. Something about that guitar just feels so right, fits me perfectly, and the way the neck is relic’d just feels like an old familiar guitar.

I feel the same way you do about EVH, I really miss him, and get so much joy playing the EVH guitars. I currently have 3 Wolfgang, 1 Deluxe 5150, and 2 Striped Series EVH Guitars (mentioned above).

I picked up Jedi's modified Wolfgang Standard (he added a 5 way toggle and a Fender S-1 switch tone pot that splits the bridge and neck pickups when in their respective selector switch positions) and the guitar is Killer Good. Just an example of the possibilities you can do and get exactly what you want, or at least pretty close.

Enjoy your Bumblebee!

[At0micPunk]

I agree with Jedi, all the Striped series guitars are essentially the same, except for the relic’d Frankie and the relic’d ‘78.

I’ve owned a lot of the Striped Series guitars, at one point or another (I still have the VHI B/W with the Floyd, and the relic’d Frankie), and I’ve never had an issue with any of them. I have to say though, the relic’d Frankie plays like butter, and my go to guitar. Something about that guitar just feels so right, fits me perfectly, and the way the neck is relic’d just feels like an old familiar guitar.

I feel the same way you do about EVH, I really miss him, and get so much joy playing the EVH guitars. I currently have 3 Wolfgang, 1 Deluxe 5150, and 2 Striped Series EVH Guitars (mentioned above).

I picked up Jedi's modified Wolfgang Standard (he added a 5 way toggle and a Fender S-1 switch tone pot that splits the bridge and neck pickups when in their respective selector switch positions) and the guitar is Killer Good. Just an example of the possibilities you can do and get exactly what you want, or at least pretty close.

Enjoy your Bumblebee!

Thanks man, nice to hear good things about the relic'd Frankie. That's next for me. You have a sweet collection my man and it sounds like you've had fun adventures buying and trying all these guitar out. Amazing you bought a Jedi modified Wolf. That's so uber cool! Awesome.

Ed was a special talent and the whole package in every way. His riffs, rhythms, his technique and phrasing, how he played to a song and when he let loose. To play with such staggering groove and EMOTION. Still staggering.

I know nothing was recorded on the Bee but when I was a kid I saw the limited Charvel Bee's in a catalog a GF's brother had but I couldn't remember the name of the company. When I asked a week or so later he said he didn't know and his mom threw away the catalog. lol I called around and searched high and low back then, early 80's but no one, not even bigger places in Philly knew wtf I was talking about. So this axe has a special sentimental/nostalgic place in my heart. The fact that it's an official EVH braded guitar makes it that much more special to me even if a custom made one from a master private builder would be a better axe.

The first thing I'm going to do after I unbox it and assure it's tuned up properly is crank my amp to 10 and do the DOA dive bomb with it! lol

[joezlo]

If you used to play super strats I would look into the 5150 series.
A Wolfgang is not a Les Paul.
If you want some of those attributes (coil tap, separate volume, etc) you're better off buying a standard and having a luthier mod it out to your specifications.

[Brett]

I agree. If you’re looking for something that is like a Paul, that IS NOT a Wolfgang. Any Wolfgang…Peavey/Fender whatever.

[At0micPunk]

Thanks guys,

Yah, it's been a while since I've investigated what's new with the Wolfgang's.Didn't know what new options they may have. I know Fender does sell some guitars with two volume knobs and push pulls. They sell the push pull pots separately as well. WVH was playing a EVH at the FooFighters tribute that looked inspired by a Gibson ES 335 and it had four knobs on it. Hence uncertainty if that config was available on normal Wolfgangs.

Jedi already cleared that up for me. They don't and sadly the EVH line at Fender doesn't have a custom shop like straight up Fender does, to tweak and custom build your axe to your specs.

No biggie. Down the road I want an American Wolfgang with a beautiful top and I'll then explore my options in adding what I want.

I know a Wolfgang is more a EVH evolved super strat than a Paul type axe but it's his last signature model. I want to own one.

I've grown very fond of the versatility of the Paul's pickup config. I don't have to have them on the EVH but I think they would be cool and wouldn't look out of place either.

Anyways thanks for the feedback. I've been out of the loop and what EVH Fenders have done in recent years. As a credit to this site and guitar section, I knew you guys would know what's up.

TY

[Jedi McFly]

The guitar you saw Wolfgang playing was his signature SA-126 prototype. It’s sort of a scaled up hollow body Wolfgang. Since it’s copping Gibson ES vibes it does indeed have distinct volume and tone controls per pickup. It’s not released publicly yet though.

There was also a run of Wolfgang Customs that were based on Les Pauls that have distinct volume and tone controls. I have one. They’re relatively rare and pricey now though.

[KS 5150]

I will throw another one into the mix. Yesterday, I picked up one of the new MIJ EVH signature Wolfs in ivory. It's just a fabulous guitar to play right out of the box, and I hope that I can keep it. Gotta sell a few other things but I think it's doable. Extra bonus is that the serial # ends in 000126.

[At0micPunk]

The guitar you saw Wolfgang playing was his signature SA-126 prototype. It’s sort of a scaled up hollow body Wolfgang. Since it’s copping Gibson ES vibes it does indeed have distinct volume and tone controls per pickup. It’s not released publicly yet though.

There was also a run of Wolfgang Customs that were based on Les Pauls that have distinct volume and tone controls. I have one. They’re relatively rare and pricey now though.

Nice! I just searched for that Custom and after seeing pics of Ed holding it I do faintly remember that. That's a sweet acquisition. Mahogany body and neck with a maple top, very much Les Paul inspired. Hold on to that one. I definitely wouldn't want to bastardize one and decrease it's long term value with routing for a Floyd. lol

Wasn't Wolf using his dad's ES 335 or something similar when recording his original material and even on tour and video(s)maybe? I seem to remember that. I guess he really likes the vibe of it. I wouldn't want one if they produce them but I think it's cool he's introducing his preferences among the EVH line. I'd bet Ed would think it's awesome.

[At0micPunk]

I will throw another one into the mix. Yesterday, I picked up one of the new MIJ EVH signature Wolfs in ivory. It's just a fabulous guitar to play right out of the box, and I hope that I can keep it. Gotta sell a few other things but I think it's doable. Extra bonus is that the serial # ends in 000126.

lol Awesome. Grats dude, those are sweet guitars.

[jaybird]

I will throw another one into the mix. Yesterday, I picked up one of the new MIJ EVH signature Wolfs in ivory. It's just a fabulous guitar to play right out of the box, and I hope that I can keep it. Gotta sell a few other things but I think it's doable. Extra bonus is that the serial # ends in 000126.

Had one exactly like that a while back. My first Wolfie. Sweet player. Really enjoyed it.

[ScottyBHarris]

I forgot about these Custom USA Models (there my have also been an import version as well), this version seems to have a Les Paul type of volume and tone controls.