The EVH Wolfgang Legacy

The Wolfgang Guitar by EVH has an interesting story that stretches over 30 years and 3 different guitar manufacturers. Eddie Van Halen is one of the most influential guitarists of all time. He grew to popularity with his band Van Halen in the 80s. They were popular for their iconic rock hits and Eddies virtuosic playing.

Music Man Axis Guitar

In the Mid 80s, Ernie Ball began working with Eddie on his unique 5150 String sets. This opened the door for them to work together on building a signature guitar model. The process was a grueling back and forth between the manufacturer and Eddie. They tinkered for several years to create a guitar that could live up to Van Halen's name. They even added a neck pickup which Eddie rarely used because he didn't like how they sounded. But, the Wolfgang model added a fat warm DiMarzio neck pickup that was Eddie approved. The Music Man released in 1991 and became an icon of the Eddie Van Halen guitar line.  

Peavey HP2

The Music Man was a great guitar, but Peavey was able to poach Eddie after his contract ended with them in 1996. They had already been working with Eddie on the 5150 Amps and Cabs in 1992 which gave them an in with Eddie. Given that Eddie had already built the Wolfgang guitar, it should have been easy to replicate. But, it was not. Jim DeCola was the primary engineer on the model, and he said that the Wolfgang became his life’s work. They spent so much time on the guitar that he called the guitar "his model" while giving Eddie the job to approve it. The release of the Wolfgang model was a huge task. The Music Man was a great guitar, and Peavey was worried about taking on the challenge of the Wolfgang. However, the Guitar did well because they still make a version of the Wolfgang today.

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While Eddie was working with Peavey, he named the Guitar Model the Wolfgang. This came from inspiration of his favorite composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He also named his son Wolfgang. Before Peavey, Ernie Ball it called the guitar the Edward Van Halen guitar. After Eddie left Peavey, they started calling the designs the HP models.

The Fender Wolfgang

In 2004, Eddie left Peavey and licensed the famous Striped Series guitars to Charvel. Charvel is a guitar company owned by Fender. This series did well. Fender wanted to build on the success, so they created a guitar brand called EVH in 2007. The EVH brand started by recreating the 5150 amps which are still super popular today. The Head and Cab are some of the best sellers at Roxy Music. They also have great combo amps that sound incredible for as low as $649.99 all tagged below. After the Amps they recreated the Frankenstein that was played in popular songs like eruption and more!!! Then in 2009 they started to work on the Wolfgang again. Now the 3rd iteration of the guitar should be pretty simple to do by now, but it was not. The previous two Wolfgang models were not road durable according to Eddie. This process led to Fender recreating about 90% of the guitar. But, this made them Road Ready. Finally in 2009, they released the Fender Wolfgang which is still in production today!

Specs and Pricing

The EVH Wolfgang Guitars are awesome. At Roxy Music, we did a great test to the comparisons between the Indonesian Model and the American model. Check it out at the YouTube Video attached.  

The Indonesian Models are great guitars. The first instance is the price. These guitars are only $799.99 and have most of the same working as the the American Model. They come with a Floyd Rose, Basswood Bodies, and a wheel truss rod rotator at the base of the neck. They sound awesome. If you want to hear them check out the YouTube video above. They have a volume, tone knob and pickup switch allowing a huge amount of tonal options for most players.

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The American model does level up the game a little bit, but the price is much higher. The American model is $4499.99 and worth every penny. It comes in a beautiful Matte Black that would make yo’ momma cry. It is a Made in America guitar, and it also has incredible pickups that make the guitar sound beautiful. It comes with a D’Tuna which allows the player to go from standard tuning to drop D instantly. The bridge is a Floyd Rose that allows crazy Dive Bombs. The Floyd Rose can only go down because of the D'Tuna. The Wolfgang Special is a fantastic guitar that can master any Rock Tone. 

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The Story of the Wolfgang is rich and exciting. If you’re interested in a Wolfgang check them out a roxymusic.com. If you want to learn more about Fender guitars check out our recent article on the brand new Player II guitars.