NGD: EVH Wolfgang Special

photek

I had some store credit to use up and headed down the shop looking something a bit more modern / faster than my DGT. I was planning on getting a Charvel Pro Mod (MIM) but they were all a bit pants which was disappointing.

Anyway picked up one of the new Chinese Wolfgang Specials and straight away it felt a more quality guitar. Plugged it in and after half hour or so took it home with me, put some more manly strings on it and took it to a gig where it performed perfectly all night. No tuning issues and the pickups and pots are spot on.

Floyd is cool for a dive bomb only, D Tuna works very well, frets are cool considering I am used to jumbos and these are vintage skinny's.

Don't be put off by the Chinese build they are great guitars, for it to hold its head high next to my DGT (which I love by the way) makes it a bargain!

Pics later

daveyh

photek said:
Don't be put off by the Chinese build they are great guitars, for it to hold its head high next to my DGT (which I love by the way) makes it a bargain!

Agreed, people *really* need to get over where something is made. My Ravelle is Chinese and I would take that over any LP I've ever owned (or played).

mike_l

Sweet, I played one in Coda a while ago, shame I was a bit skint........lovely feel

dindude

Nice!

 

What was wrong with the pro mods btw? I wasn't aware that the MIM ones had landed yet, they are on my "to try" list.

photek

Can't put my finger on it really. Poor setup didn't help but it felt quite cheap compared to other rockier guitars I have had in the past. Neck pocket looked a touch large on one of them and the finish wasn't very nice on another.

Also they had the newer distortion pickups which sounded dead compared to the old JB / '59 pickups and also highlighted how good the Wolfgang pickups are!

Edit: They didn't seem very resonant either, compared to the Wolfie.

Si_

I've had an EVH Special Stealth since January and love it.. I've also had an EVH USA Wolfgang and ended up selling it.. I preferred the feel of the Stealth. The ebony board and the whole feel of the neck is just fantastic. They use the exact same hardware, pickups, and woods than the USA counterpart, it's just the location of construction that's different (and the arched top). 

horse

Still no pics??

photek

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b371/Markcupra/72416D76-B986-4057-B801-592F8EE55091-3516-000002531826386B_zps5aad9536.jpg http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b371/Markcupra/2F087E4D-79DE-4E80-9030-D619B594FDAA-3516-000002532F6A5348_zpsad3b89e7.jpg

mike_l

Sweet, very very nice guitar, I'm really loving the finish on it.

Trotter

Plays like a beaut has to be said. Good gassage here mr P

horse

Very nice.

johnnyurq

Hadn't realised they switched production to China. Mine is an earlier Fender MIJ one in Vintage White and it is awesome to play. It also came really well setup with no QC issues that I can find.

If the Chinese ones are similar they will be great value for money and the plush case is a nice touch too, you can shut it with the whammy bar attached. EVH wanted this feature and his tips for caring for it are use it hard and put it away wet.

That explains the rather sudden price drop though.

photek

johnnyurq said:

Hadn't realised they switched production to China. Mine is an earlier Fender MIJ one in Vintage White and it is awesome to play. It also came really well setup with no QC issues that I can find.

If the Chinese ones are similar they will be great value for money and the plush case is a nice touch too, you can shut it with the whammy bar attached. EVH wanted this feature and his tips for caring for it are use it hard and put it away wet.

That explains the rather sudden price drop though.

I didn't realise they dropped the price, how much were the Jap ones?

octatonic

Very nice.

johnnyurq

Hi Photek.

When I bought it about 8 or 9 months ago they were £850 to £880 depending on finish with a plain one like mine being at the £840 and SB ones being £880.

Mine came courtesy of Coda and they knocked off £20 and gave me free delivery, so not bad for the time.

I think the prices changed around 4 to 5 months ago and I obviously didn't realise they were now MIC. For sure I was peeved that this price drop devalued the 2nd hand value of mine (not that I am selling it any day soon).

So it may be on the 2nd hand market the MIJ ones may fetch more, not too sure whether that will be the case in practice though.

photek

I paid £600 which I think is a good price. I would be interested in trying a Jap one to see how they compare.

johnnyurq

photek

I paid £600 which I think is a good price. I would be interested in trying a Jap one to see how they compare.

I suspect they will be very similar in feel and with decent fit and finish, I would doubt if the MIJ ones are worth £200 to £250 more than the MIC ones TBH.

It is a pretty good price and the MIJ ones were selling for £550 to £600 on the 2nd hand market, well up to the MIC ones being released. Not sure how much for the MIJ ones these days though.

photek

Cool, I probably wouldn't have bought one if it wasn't for the fact that I had store credit to spend but I haven't put it down since (apart from when I am in the shower, I don't think Eddie meant them to go back in the case that wet!).

I did a couple of small mods, first was to turn the selector switch the right way round! Bridge in up position?!

The second was adding a treble bleed on the volume pot, 180pf seems to work the best for me, keeps just enough brightness with the volume backed off without killing the bass. Well worth trying imo.

Si_

One of the things I like most about mine is the low friction volume pot.. really smooth. I wish all my guitars had them.

mike_l

It really is a sweet guitar, sounds and looks awesome. Lovely neck too, not too big, not too small, just spot-on

johnnyurq

photek;7158" said:

Cool, I probably wouldn't have bought one if it wasn't for the fact that I had store credit to spend but I haven't put it down since (apart from when I am in the shower, I don't think Eddie meant them to go back in the case that wet!).

I did a couple of small mods, first was to turn the selector switch the right way round! Bridge in up position?!

The second was adding a treble bleed on the volume pot, 180pf seems to work the best for me, keeps just enough brightness with the volume backed off without killing the bass. Well worth trying imo.

LOL guitars in showers now that is devotion.

Yes I turned the pickup selector switch right away too, silly idea by EVH and I bet he was chemically enhanced at the time.

Sounds cool I may try that cap mod for fun and games.

Interestingly prior to buying mine I was going to get a US one until I tried them side by side in a shop or two, the slight improvement to me was not worth the extra (almost £1000 difference) candy.

Of course they may have been poor examples and maybe I wasn't able to discern the difference.