Saturday I visited my favorite local Mom and Pop after receiving a tip that the new EVH Specials were in. There have been several incarnations of this guitar from Peavey to EB and I cannot make a comparison but I can say FMIC Japan did a great job on these instruments.

The guitar is light (I'm guessing 7lbs or less?), well appointed, and the neck was perfect for short fat fingered people like myself. The guitar itself felt shorter than my Strat but the scale length is 25.5. The radius was compound and very easy to play. Overall the neck was my favorite part of this guitar.

I didn't care for the tremelo; Floyd Rose type, non floating with a drop D tuna function. Nothing wrong with it I'm just not a divebomber and it tended to get in the way of my picking hand.

The Pups had a good range, were fairly hot, and with the right setting on the amp it was easy to get pinch harmonics out of them. There was no coil splitting function but who needs it on this guitar? The guitar tone was rich, warm, and crunched like a champ on the higher gain settings.

I was pumped up till I saw the price and then reality set in... No new toys today and he was $100 cheaper than other retailers at $1299.00 to $1329.00. The scary thing is that the MIA version is in the $3000.00 range.

Give me my Jimmie Vaughn or any vintage vibrato equipped Strat any day.The idea of the stainless steel frets is pretty good but otherwise the guitar doesn't do anything for me.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

I'm with my brother here!! I am a traditional Strat/Tele guy.
ABS

Well, I will through in my two cents here.

I had a chance to play a new Fender made EVH, and I own a Peavey built Wolfgang standard.

The EVH has a thinner neck, lost is the great feel of the Wolfgang, it's best feature. The EVH I played seemed to have a painted neck while the Wolfgang is all oil finish. The pick-ups sounds almost identical, no surprise they were voiced by the same guy.
I did like the knobs on the EVH, same as the Mustangs knobs.

The only improvement I can really see or feel is the alder body over the basswood. Basswood is soft and dents easily, tone wise I think it's a draw.
I have not had an issue with fret wear, but if it comes to needing a fret job I would go with the SS frets, that should set me back about 200ish.

Then there is the price, Edward has lost his mind if he thinks this guitar is worth 3K, I paid 1590.00 for mine brand new, and you can still get new one on e-bay for less then 1900.

Overall, if you want a Wolfgang, buy a Peavey one, it has a far better neck and can be had for 1/2 the price.

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Marriage is like playing cards...

At first all you want are Hearts and Diamonds.

But in the end, all you really want is a Club and a Spade.