Hey Brow
Did a reply earlier then hit something on my keyboard by mistake refreshed the page and lost it all...
No experience with the EVH Wolfgangs (although i have finally come to accept the headstock), would like to try one, but i think they've almost got too flash if you know what i mean? ebony boards, posh hardtails etc
However I did own a Peavey wolfgang standard way back. It is the one guitar in hindsight, even owning what i own now, that i wish i'd never let go.
Things to know about Wolfgangs:
2 types, the deluxe and standard, the deluxe being the maple topped one and the standard being either a three piece solid basswood construction (like mine) or 2 piece construction (resprayed deluxes that didn't make the visual grade).
What i distinctly remember was it having a great low mids snarl and growl. The bridge was very high output very rich and sweet but with cut, pinch harmonics galore. Fat and thick but not muddy. The neck was suprisingly open and woody, it nails parisian walkways, but my fav trick it did, with the right crunch from the amp was a COC albatross fuzzyness.
The neck is very similar to it's Axis predecessor, maybe a little more wide and conventional. Be aware, those things much up fast which you can either live with, or you can do what i do and scrub it with a soft toothbrush and lighter fluid, then some lemon oil. Like the axis, one of the comfiest necks out there and that wax finish feels incredible.
All EVH's guitars are body set trems, meaning it only divebombs, no floating. this enables you to use the Dtuna which is standard on these and is an incredible piece of kit. In fact, it was the Wolfie that made me prefer FR's setup this way. I avoid floating arrangements if i can these days.
hardware is all premium, the finish is tougher (but thicker) than musicmans. But i don't think this really has any effect on the sound, because it sounds the nuts.
Possibly the deluxe will sound a bit brighter (unless you get a 2 piece standard).
Something worth checking out also is the USA (NOT korean) special. its cheaper, has more of a maple veneer than an archtop, but is suprisingly similar in spec to the axis. I think it had a plain maple neck to but retained the wax finish.
EVH was actually using these in preference to the standards and deluxes between the peavey and fender years, see him using them live and in vids quite a bit.
As for the Fender.. well.. i said what i said about all the special editions, the stealth etc, and i hold to it.. however, the models that follow the peavey and MM template (maple necked floyd), i woudl have no reservations about them, that man knows how to design/spec a guitar plain and simple.
Might be worth mentioning that with the specials (EVH/Fender) the earlier ones were made in Japan, in the same factory as the MIJ charvels (That factory shut for some reason, think it was flooded or something) and they moved production to Mexico. The only thing about that was that the price has stayed the same. Not to get into MIJ vs MIA vs MIM but at the same price point, I'd take a MIJ over and MIM. And there's a lot of MIJ's i'd choose over MIA's short of custom shop.
