Peavey EVH Wolfgang
Encyclopedia
The Peavey EVH Wolfgang guitar
series is the result of the collaboration between guitarist Edward Van Halen
and Hartley Peavey
's company, Peavey Electronics
.
Peavey included the following endorsement in their advertising: "For as long as I've been playing guitar, I've always been searching for a certain feel and tone...I've experimented by tearing apart and reassembling hundreds of guitars in different ways searching for these qualities. Although I've ruined a lot of great guitars by having done this, I have learned what it takes to make a truly great guitar. The Wolfgang, after years of trial and error, (for me) is that guitar. Our collective efforts in designing the Wolfgang guitar have resulted in a versatile, quality-crafted guitar that feels great, sounds great and is truly inspiring to play. I've already put mine to the test in the studio and on tour and now it's your turn."
The EVH stands for "Edward Van Halen" while Wolfgang is the name of Edward Van Halen's son (born in 1991).
regularly performed on the Pasadena
club scene, and with the release of Van Halen's self-titled debut album, Edward Van Halen's guitar tone—nicknamed the "Brown Sound" for being full yet distinctively aggressive and articulate—had been widely acclaimed. It immediately set a standard for guitarists all over the world.
To achieve the legendary "Brown Sound", Edward Van Halen employed a variac to limit the voltage of his guitar Marshall amplifier while still allowing the volume to be at its maximum. He also used a custom-assembled strat
-like guitar with a PAF
humbucker
(taken from a Gibson ES-335
) mounted directly to the guitar's body. Van Halen's infamous Frankenstein
(a.k.a. the "Frankenstrat") guitar laid the groundwork for most of the custom guitars he played throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
Prior to working with Peavey, Van Halen had worked with and endorsed Charvel
, Kramer
and Ernie Ball Music Man
.
Production of the Peavey EVH Wolfgang began in late 1996 (after a year-long development process) and lasted until 2004, when Edward Van Halen and Peavey parted amicably. Production of the Wolfgang guitar (along with other Peavey models) occurred in a dedicated Leakesville, MS
plant but was moved to Meridian, MS
in early 2003. Van Halen had also developed three amplifiers with Peavey, starting in 1991.
In 2009, Edward Van Halen announced the release of a new Wolfgang guitar built by Fender but only carrying his own "EVH" brand label. The newer Wolfgang retains many of the exact same attributes as its Peavey-built predecessor.
and often had (like its predecessor) a maple
cap. This combination is considered by some, such as renowned luthier John Suhr
, "the Holy Grail of tone." The Ernie Ball model, however, used a 1/8" figured maple cap, which is itself less likely to change the overall affect of the tonewood. Peavey Wolfgangs had maple caps ranging from 1/4" to 5/8".
Many Peavey Wolfgang owners have incorrectly adopted the terms "Standard" and "Deluxe" and applied them to their guitars. Though common, these terms were never officially used by Peavey. Wolfgang owners were simply seeking a way to distinguish between arch top and flat top model Wolfgangs and maple cap and solid basswood model Wolfgangs. The word "Deluxe" was used by Peavey, but only to describe Custom Shop models.
Approximately 285 Custom Shop guitars were produced in Leakesville, of which 92 of these were made to fill specific orders while the rest were built for the "Wolfgang Vault".
Another 130 specific customer orders were produced in Meridian after mid 2003 as well as another 70 guitars, many of which are not really true Customs as they were using up remaining materials inventory. Some guitars where the only upgrade is a rosewood fretboard is technically called a Custom Shop, but most really are not. Edward didn't want the production guitars to have rosewood fretboards so the only way they could produce them like this was to call them Custom Shop guitars.
Thus, approximately 500 Custom Shop guitars were built from 2002 through 2004, some 220 of them being specific customer orders (more than 100 of those were ordered or purchased by guitar collector Geoff Knapp and are pictured at his website, Rock'N Roll Weekend).
Peavey had an area at their website for people to "build" (and order) their own Custom Shop guitars. The basic options that anyone could select were; the body wood: top wood; fretboard wood; fretboard inlays; bridge type; hardware color; top color or graphic and matching/standard headstock. The body wood options were basswood (standard), alder
, ash, mahogany
, or even koa
or korina
which weren't standard options. Bridge options were a stop tail bridge or a Floyd Rose Tremolo system in chrome (standard), gold or black. The Special models came with the birdseye (not hard rock) maple neck, which was an upgrade from a production special. For the fretboard you could select Birdseye (standard), Rosewood or Ebony. For the inlays they had pearl or black dots (standard), EVH Blocks, Tribal Flames, Skulls or no inlays at all. For the top you could select flame maple (standard), quilted maple, koa or none (solid body construction). There were about 30 colors to choose from including graphics and a custom graphic option.
Peavey Wolfgang serial numbers were stamped on the back of the headstock between the tuners. Edward Van Halen's signature and the patent number (USA Patent Number 388,117) were both branded just below the serial number. Early Wolfgang models (1996–1998) contained the term "Pat. Pend." in place of the patent number. Korean model EXP Wolfgang Specials had serial numbers printed in black on the back of the headstock.
In 2007, a single run of 300 official replicas of his original Frankenstein guitar were made available by Fender under the EVH brand, in strict collaboration with Edward Van Halen. The guitars were priced at $25,000 and had a massive demand.
After the 2007-08 concert tour, the evolution of the Wolfgang became available to the public, with the EVH Wolfgang (in 2008) and the EVH Wolfgang Special (in 2010), as well as an amplifier series and several guitars accessories and merchandise.
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
series is the result of the collaboration between guitarist Edward Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen
Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen is a Dutch-American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
and Hartley Peavey
Hartley Peavey
Hartley Peavey is a founder and CEO of Peavey Electronics Corporation and a well-known innovator in the musical equipment industry. A 1965 graduate of Mississippi State University, Peavey has been recognized by his alma mater as an Alumni Fellow and as the 2004 commencement speaker...
's company, Peavey Electronics
Peavey Electronics
Peavey Electronics Corporation is one of the largest audio equipment manufacturers in the world, headquartered in Meridian, Mississippi in the United States.- History :...
.
Peavey included the following endorsement in their advertising: "For as long as I've been playing guitar, I've always been searching for a certain feel and tone...I've experimented by tearing apart and reassembling hundreds of guitars in different ways searching for these qualities. Although I've ruined a lot of great guitars by having done this, I have learned what it takes to make a truly great guitar. The Wolfgang, after years of trial and error, (for me) is that guitar. Our collective efforts in designing the Wolfgang guitar have resulted in a versatile, quality-crafted guitar that feels great, sounds great and is truly inspiring to play. I've already put mine to the test in the studio and on tour and now it's your turn."
The EVH stands for "Edward Van Halen" while Wolfgang is the name of Edward Van Halen's son (born in 1991).
History
Since the late 1970s, when Van HalenVan Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
regularly performed on the Pasadena
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
club scene, and with the release of Van Halen's self-titled debut album, Edward Van Halen's guitar tone—nicknamed the "Brown Sound" for being full yet distinctively aggressive and articulate—had been widely acclaimed. It immediately set a standard for guitarists all over the world.
To achieve the legendary "Brown Sound", Edward Van Halen employed a variac to limit the voltage of his guitar Marshall amplifier while still allowing the volume to be at its maximum. He also used a custom-assembled strat
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...
-like guitar with a PAF
PAF (pickup)
P.A.F. or just PAF is the world's first humbucker guitar pickup, invented by Seth Lover in 1955 as an engineer for Gibson and began use in mass production guitars in 1956 or 1957. However Rickenbacker and Gretsch had developed humbucking pickups also...
humbucker
Humbucker
A humbucker is a type of electric guitar pickup, first patented by Seth Lover and the Gibson company, that uses two coils, both generating string signal. Humbuckers have higher output than a single coil pickup since both coils are connected in series...
(taken from a Gibson ES-335
Gibson ES-335
The Gibson ES-335 is the world's first commercial thinline arched-top semi-acoustic electric guitar. Released by the Gibson Guitar Corporation as part of its ES series in 1958, it is neither hollow nor solid; instead, a solid wood block runs through the center of its body...
) mounted directly to the guitar's body. Van Halen's infamous Frankenstein
Frankenstrat
Frankenstrat is a guitar created by Eddie Van Halen.-Overview of the Frankenstrat:The Frankenstrat represented Van Halen's attempt to combine the sound of a classic Gibson guitar with the physical attributes of a Fender. It was originally made from an ash Stratocaster body, with pickup routing that...
(a.k.a. the "Frankenstrat") guitar laid the groundwork for most of the custom guitars he played throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
Prior to working with Peavey, Van Halen had worked with and endorsed Charvel
Charvel
Charvel is a brand of guitar originally founded in the 1970s by Wayne Charvel in Azusa, California and then later, Glendora, California. Charvel guitars became popular in the 1980s due to their association with famous rock guitarists such as Edward Van Halen , Richie Sambora , Warren DeMartini ,...
, Kramer
Kramer Guitars
Kramer Guitars is an American manufacturer of electric guitars and basses. Kramer produced aluminum-necked electric guitars and basses in the 1970s and wooden-necked guitars catering to hard rock and heavy metal musicians in the 1980s; Kramer is currently a division of Gibson Guitar Corporation...
and Ernie Ball Music Man
Music Man (company)
Music Man is an American guitar, and bass guitar manufacturer. It is a division of the Ernie Ball corporation.-Early years:The Music Man story began in 1971 when Forrest White and Tom Walker talked with Leo Fender about starting a company they would call Tri-Sonic, Inc...
.
Production of the Peavey EVH Wolfgang began in late 1996 (after a year-long development process) and lasted until 2004, when Edward Van Halen and Peavey parted amicably. Production of the Wolfgang guitar (along with other Peavey models) occurred in a dedicated Leakesville, MS
Leakesville, Mississippi
Leakesville is a town located along the Chickasawhay River in Greene County, Mississippi, United States located around the junction of route 57 and route 63. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 1,026...
plant but was moved to Meridian, MS
Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi. It is the sixth largest city in the state and the principal city of the Meridian, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area...
in early 2003. Van Halen had also developed three amplifiers with Peavey, starting in 1991.
In 2009, Edward Van Halen announced the release of a new Wolfgang guitar built by Fender but only carrying his own "EVH" brand label. The newer Wolfgang retains many of the exact same attributes as its Peavey-built predecessor.
Models
In some senses the Peavey EVH Wolfgang guitar picked up where the Ernie Ball Music Man EVH model left off. The body was made of basswoodTilia
Tilia is a genus of about 30 species of trees native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The greatest species diversity is found in Asia, and the genus also occurs in Europe and eastern North America, but not western North America...
and often had (like its predecessor) a maple
Maple
Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...
cap. This combination is considered by some, such as renowned luthier John Suhr
Suhr Guitars
Suhr Guitars is an American company that manufactures electric guitars and basses, guitar amplifiers, and effect units...
, "the Holy Grail of tone." The Ernie Ball model, however, used a 1/8" figured maple cap, which is itself less likely to change the overall affect of the tonewood. Peavey Wolfgangs had maple caps ranging from 1/4" to 5/8".
Many Peavey Wolfgang owners have incorrectly adopted the terms "Standard" and "Deluxe" and applied them to their guitars. Though common, these terms were never officially used by Peavey. Wolfgang owners were simply seeking a way to distinguish between arch top and flat top model Wolfgangs and maple cap and solid basswood model Wolfgangs. The word "Deluxe" was used by Peavey, but only to describe Custom Shop models.
Peavey EVH Wolfgang
The original and top-of-the-line model. Made in the USA. It featured an arched (carved) top, body binding, two knobs (volume and tone), three-way pickup toggle switch, two Peavey/EVH-designed humbucker pickups, oil-finished bird's eye maple neck and fingerboard with dual graphite reinforcement rods, ten-degree tilt headstock, and Schaller mini M6 tuners (with either pearloid or ivory colored buttons). Two base versions were offered: a solid basswood model and a solid basswood/maple cap model. (The maple cap was 5/8" before carving.) Each version could come with either a licensed Floyd Rose tremolo with D-Tuna (d-tuner device) or a tune-o-matic bridge and hard tail piece. Solid basswood Wolfgangs were offered in gloss ivory and gloss black; solid basswood/maple cap Wolfgangs were offered in various transparent figured maple finishes (sunburst, amber, red, purple, blue, green, cherryburst, and black cherryburst) as well as vintage gold and seafoam green. Very occasionally a rejected maple top was painted either gloss black or gloss ivory.Peavey EVH Wolfgang Special
Peavey and Edward Van Halen's attempt to make a "budget" version of the Wolfgang that didn't compromise quality in parts or craftsmanship. Made in the USA, and first offered in 1998. It featured a flat top, masked "faux" binding, one knob (volume), three-way pickup toggle switch, two Peavey/EVH-designed humbucker pickups, licensed Floyd Rose tremolo with D-Tuna (d-tuner device), oil-finished hard rock maple neck and fingerboard with dual graphite reinforcement rods, straight headstock, and chrome tuners. Two base versions were offered: a solid basswood model and a solid basswood/maple cap model. (The maple cap was 1/4".) Each version could come with either a licensed Floyd Rose tremolo with D-Tuna (d-tuner device) or a tune-o-matic bridge and hard tail piece. Solid basswood Wolfgang Specials were offered in gloss ivory, gloss black, vintage gold, gloss purple, and sunburst; solid basswood/maple cap Wolfgangs were offered in various transparent figured maple finishes (amber, red, purple, green, sunburst, and black cherryburst). Very occasionally a rejected maple top was painted gloss black; it still retained its masked "faux" binding, however.Peavey EVH Wolfgang & Wolfgang Special Deluxe (Custom Shop)
The Peavey EVH Wolfgang Custom Shop operated from January 2002 to December 2004. It was run by four highly talented craftsman, each with a different area of specialty. The Custom Shop launched with a contest held via Van Halen's official website. Twelve unique Wolfgangs were given away throughout 2002—one every month.Approximately 285 Custom Shop guitars were produced in Leakesville, of which 92 of these were made to fill specific orders while the rest were built for the "Wolfgang Vault".
Another 130 specific customer orders were produced in Meridian after mid 2003 as well as another 70 guitars, many of which are not really true Customs as they were using up remaining materials inventory. Some guitars where the only upgrade is a rosewood fretboard is technically called a Custom Shop, but most really are not. Edward didn't want the production guitars to have rosewood fretboards so the only way they could produce them like this was to call them Custom Shop guitars.
Thus, approximately 500 Custom Shop guitars were built from 2002 through 2004, some 220 of them being specific customer orders (more than 100 of those were ordered or purchased by guitar collector Geoff Knapp and are pictured at his website, Rock'N Roll Weekend).
Peavey had an area at their website for people to "build" (and order) their own Custom Shop guitars. The basic options that anyone could select were; the body wood: top wood; fretboard wood; fretboard inlays; bridge type; hardware color; top color or graphic and matching/standard headstock. The body wood options were basswood (standard), alder
Alder
Alder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family . The genus comprises about 30 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, few reaching large size, distributed throughout the North Temperate Zone and in the Americas along the Andes southwards to...
, ash, mahogany
Mahogany
The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....
, or even koa
Koa
Acacia koa is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, where it is the second most common tree. The highest populations are on Hawaii, Maui and Oahu...
or korina
Terminalia superba
Terminalia superba is a large tree in the family Combretaceae, native to tropical western Africa....
which weren't standard options. Bridge options were a stop tail bridge or a Floyd Rose Tremolo system in chrome (standard), gold or black. The Special models came with the birdseye (not hard rock) maple neck, which was an upgrade from a production special. For the fretboard you could select Birdseye (standard), Rosewood or Ebony. For the inlays they had pearl or black dots (standard), EVH Blocks, Tribal Flames, Skulls or no inlays at all. For the top you could select flame maple (standard), quilted maple, koa or none (solid body construction). There were about 30 colors to choose from including graphics and a custom graphic option.
Peavey EVH Wolfgang Special EXP
First offered in 2002, the Peavey EVH Wolfgang Special EXP was a Korean-made version of the Wolfgang. It contained no markings to differentiate it from USA models, but there were several deviations. The Wolfgang Special EXP had a 1/20" quilt maple veneer top and came in four transparent colors: amber, maroon, blue, and sunburst. The body was made of solid basswood and had a masked "faux" binding. Like the USA Wolfgang Special it featured a flat top, one knob (volume), three-way pickup toggle switch, two Peavey/EVH-designed humbucker pickups, licensed Floyd Rose tremolo with D-Tuna (d-tuner device), hard rock maple neck and fingerboard, straight headstock, and Grover mini tuners (a feature unique to this model). Aspects of the Wolfgang Special EXP were inferior to its USA counterparts; the neck had no graphite reinforcement rods and was finished with a satin poly rather than a natural oil, and the majority of the hardware was much cheaper in quality. A hard tail version was not offered.Serial Numbers
USA-built Peavey Wolfgangs typically had serial numbers that started with "91" followed by six more digits. Late-run USA Wolfgangs had serial numbers that started with "50" or "51". A very few prototype models had serial numbers that started with "1". Though Peavey Wolfgang owners have often sought to find a corroboration in the serial numbers of their guitars and the year in which each was built (similar to the system Gibson uses), there was no such information contained in the serial numbers. There was also no code specific to Custom Shop models.Peavey Wolfgang serial numbers were stamped on the back of the headstock between the tuners. Edward Van Halen's signature and the patent number (USA Patent Number 388,117) were both branded just below the serial number. Early Wolfgang models (1996–1998) contained the term "Pat. Pend." in place of the patent number. Korean model EXP Wolfgang Specials had serial numbers printed in black on the back of the headstock.
Work with Charvel and Fender - the EVH brand
After parting with Peavey, Edward Van Halen joined forces with Charvel to produce replicas of various striped guitar models, the Charvel EVH Art Series.In 2007, a single run of 300 official replicas of his original Frankenstein guitar were made available by Fender under the EVH brand, in strict collaboration with Edward Van Halen. The guitars were priced at $25,000 and had a massive demand.
After the 2007-08 concert tour, the evolution of the Wolfgang became available to the public, with the EVH Wolfgang (in 2008) and the EVH Wolfgang Special (in 2010), as well as an amplifier series and several guitars accessories and merchandise.