Ever since Peavey came out with an affordable model of Eddie Van Halen’s signature guitar, the Wolfgang, I’ve made myself somewhat of an expert on the guitar. I’ve owned 2 of the Peavey Wolfgang Specials, and currently own 3 EVH Wolfgang Specials made by FMIC (Fender Musical Instrument Corporation).<\/p>\n
When scouring eBay (or even large online musical instrument retailers) for EVH Wolfgangs I’ve noticed that a lot of the time, the information about the Wolfgang Special is simply incorrect. It’s not a surprise really; the Wolfgang Special has been manufactured in multiple countries (Japan, Mexico, and China) and the information available online only provides the specifications for the most current origin of manufacture. So, with this little article I hope to clear up some of the misinformation out there. (This article will mainly cover the differences between the Japanese and Mexican models because I’ve never owned a Chinese model.)<\/p>\n
There’s essentially 2 body types and 2 top types for the Wolfgang Special, depending on where it was made. The earlier Japanese models have a FLAT top, in either a solid color, or a veneer flame top. The Mexican models are a ARCHED top, also coming in either a solid color or a veneer top. Many website fail to mention that the top is a veneer and not an actual maple top. Don’t be fooled – it’s a veneer.<\/p>\n
Again, the information on many websites is incorrect. My suspicion is that it’s simply out of laziness; a cut-and-paste job to shorten the time it takes to get the guitar up for sale on a retailer’s site. I own (and prefer) the Japanese Wolfgang Special models. One of the reasons I prefer them is because of their fret size. Many sites state that the frets are “jumbos” but in actuality, the frets are what FMIC call “vintage” frets. They’re thinner and shorter than jumbos and I dig them. On the Mexican Floyd Rose models the frets are actually jumbos, with the hard-tail models still sporting the “vintage” frets. There’s also a difference between the Japanese and Mexican models in regard to fret material and fretboard woods. The Japanese Wolfgang Special has stainless steel frets, and has a Birdseye maple fretboard as an option. The Mexican Wolfgang Special has nickel frets and a plain maple fretboard as an option.<\/p>\n
One of the most popular EVH models is “The Stealth” and I’ve even seen this model misrepresented on eBay by private sellers and large retailers alike. The Stealth model is a black satin finish EVH Wolfgang with faux cream binding and an ebony fingerboard. (I say “faux binding” because there isn’t a separate maple top for anything to “bind”.) It’s available in a hard-tail and Floyd Rose variant, both with black hardware. On several occasions I’ve seen people list a “Stealth” for sale, even though it had a maple fret board and a gloss black finish. Be careful, just because it’s a black Wolfgang doesn’t mean it’s a Stealth.<\/p>\n
Hopefully this will clear up some of the misinformation out there regarding the EVH Wolfgang Special. I wish I knew more about the Chinese models, but since I’ve never had any hands-on experience with them I’m not positive about their specs. When buying a used one, keep in mind that the seller most likely copy and pasted the current specs from the EVH Gear website instead of researching the actual specifications of the model they’re selling. Even the EVH website itself does nothing to differentiate between the different models’ origins of manufacture so I’m not surprised there’s been so much confusion. Regardless, they’re all great guitars, but if you’re like me and you’re picky about fret size and top style, it’s important to know what you’re buying.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My History with The Wolfgang Ever since Peavey came out with an affordable model of Eddie Van Halen’s signature guitar, the Wolfgang, I’ve made myself somewhat of an expert on the guitar. I’ve owned 2 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[38,24,35,37,36],"class_list":["post-1283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music","tag-eddit-van-halen","tag-evh","tag-evh-wolfgang","tag-peavey","tag-peavey-wolfgang"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p32FB4-kH","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1196,"url":"https:\/\/www.pressleypress.com\/blog\/?p=1196","url_meta":{"origin":1283,"position":0},"title":"EVH Wolfgang Questions Answered","author":"Matt","date":"January 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I recently ordered an EVH Wolfgang Special with Floyd Rose tremolo, and I plan to start a fan site around all the Wolfgang models. (Which began with Peavey, and then later Fender.) As such, I had some\u00a0questions regarding the EVH Wolfgang Special model that needed answering as the EVH Gear\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Music"","block_context":{"text":"Music","link":"https:\/\/www.pressleypress.com\/blog\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1288,"url":"https:\/\/www.pressleypress.com\/blog\/?p=1288","url_meta":{"origin":1283,"position":1},"title":"Peavey and EVH Wolfgang Pickups Are the Same Says Jim DeCola","author":"Matt","date":"May 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\"I worked at Peavey.\u00a0Yes, I designed them and they were all the same across the range of models. The bobbins changed early on, but they were always wound with the same specs on both neck and bridge pickups. The current Fender made pickups have the same exact specs. The initial\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Music"","block_context":{"text":"Music","link":"https:\/\/www.pressleypress.com\/blog\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32,"url":"https:\/\/www.pressleypress.com\/blog\/?p=32","url_meta":{"origin":1283,"position":2},"title":"Peavey HP USA Review – Guitar World","author":"Matt","date":"June 27, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Guitar World has reviewed the Peavey HP USA. The HP essentially is a more versitile Peavey Wolfgang. Eddie Van Halen no longer has a relationship with Peavey, and therefore it can no longer be called the EVh Wolfgang. The HP adds push\/pull pickup tapping, a tone knob, and differently shaped\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Music"","block_context":{"text":"Music","link":"https:\/\/www.pressleypress.com\/blog\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1203,"url":"https:\/\/www.pressleypress.com\/blog\/?p=1203","url_meta":{"origin":1283,"position":3},"title":"EVH Demos new 5150III-S, and Plays Some of His Most Famous Riffs","author":"Matt","date":"March 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Eddie Van Halen Demos the 5150IIIS from EVH GEAR on Vimeo. I think it's interesting that he has the high E string muted with electrical tape on his EVH Wolfgang Stealth.","rel":"","context":"In "Music"","block_context":{"text":"Music","link":"https:\/\/www.pressleypress.com\/blog\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1216,"url":"https:\/\/www.pressleypress.com\/blog\/?p=1216","url_meta":{"origin":1283,"position":4},"title":"What’s That Red Button on Eddie’s Guitar?","author":"Matt","date":"June 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been wondering what that red dot or button on Eddie's EVH Stealth was for a while. After some Google-Fu I came across the following video that explains what it is and where you can get one. It's basically a mute button, to replicate that Jimmy Page quick muting oscillation\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Music"","block_context":{"text":"Music","link":"https:\/\/www.pressleypress.com\/blog\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/OsbyvCpzq_k\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1316,"url":"https:\/\/www.pressleypress.com\/blog\/?p=1316","url_meta":{"origin":1283,"position":5},"title":"Fender Fret Wire, and My Preference","author":"Matt","date":"May 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"From Fender: The main fret wire maker, California-based Dunlop Manufacturing Inc., produces five main fret sizes. Listed by part number, name (where applicable), crown width and crown height, they are, from smallest to largest: 6230:\u00a0The smallest fret wire found on older Fender necks (.078? x .043?). 6150:\u00a0Vintage jumbo. 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