EVH Introduces Wolfgang® Hardtail and Wolfgang Special Hardtail Guitars

August 24, 2011 88 Comments

The original EVH Wolfgang USA guitar is now available in two distinctive new sans-tremolo versions—the EVH Wolfgang Hardtail and Wolfgang Special Hardtail. These are special editions of the legendary high-performance guitar that started it all, this time with the addition of a TonePros® hard-tail bridge with stop tailpiece and fine tuners for the ultimate in stable intonation and precise tuning.

The Wolfgang Hardtail features a basswood body with arched AA maple top; oil-finished quartersawn maple neck with dual graphite reinforcement rods; compound radius (12”-16”) AA birds-eye maple fingerboard with 22 vintage stainless frets, dot inlays and Floyd Rose® locking nut; five-ply black/white body and headstock binding; dual EVH Wolfgang humbucking pickups with three-position switching; EVH custom low-friction volume (500k) and high-friction tone (250k) potentiometers; chrome Schaller® string retainer; EVH-branded tuners; and EVH molded-stripe case by SKB®. Finish options include Black, Vintage White, Tobacco Burst, Black Cherry Burst and Transparent Amber.

The Wolfgang Special Hardtail has a flat-top basswood body with single-ply Ivoroid binding. It too features an oil-finished quartersawn maple neck with dual graphite reinforcement rods; compound radius (12”-16”) AA birds-eye maple fingerboard with 22 vintage stainless frets, dot inlays and Floyd Rose® locking nut; dual EVH Wolfgang humbucking pickups with three-position switching; EVH custom low-friction volume (500k) and high-friction tone (250k) potentiometers; chrome Schaller® string retainer; EVH-branded tuners; and EVH molded-stripe case by SKB®. Finish options include Black, Vintage White and Tobacco Burst.

Below, the Wolfgang Hardtail in Transparent Amber (left) and Wolfgang Special Hardtail in Vintage White (right).

Filed Under: Eddie Van Halen Tagged With: Eddie Van Halen, EVH, Hardtail, Wolfgang Special

mojo

sweet!
dan slaughter

not a whole lotta difference between the EVH and the Peavey Wolfie….they had a hard tail version as well. I have two of the Peaveys myself. Will Eddie ever go back to playing wireless on stage again? And they gonna release an EVH Wolfie with the TRANS-TREM bar tailpiece so people can play “Me Wise Magic” and “Get Up”???????????????
http://vh1roth84@yahoo.com vh1roth84

So this is what were going to see on the new tour??? I like!!
Waldo

Eddie,

When are you going to bring Michael Anthony back to Van Halen? He is really missed by fans who like original Van Halen. They miss his bass playing and his background vocals. You have to bring him back sometime in the future for a Van Halen reunion.

Waldo
Laurent

EVH guitar “sans-tremolo” WTF ?
Kevin

Well, it would be nice to see EVH actually play one of these guitars on stage one day..
Johnny the Boy

Nice, wonder if he used either of these on the album. . .there is an album coming, right?
Johnh

I’m willing to trial one for awhile for free… say for forty years or so…I’m offering my services, free of charge….
Garrett

Mighty fine lookin’ Geetars ya got there Ed…
Mat

A floyd nut on a hard tail guitar? Whats the point? I see the fine tuners on the bridge but how far out of tune is it going to go with out a trem? The MusicMan didn’t need it, the Peavey didn’t need it… ok, good luck with that.
Andy

Why the locking nut on a hardtail?
Awesome looking guitars though!
Frankenfoot

No trem, or trim for that matter….stupid.
D.Tomas

…And the Dickhead-Troll award goes to….Waldo
Robert

It’s probably just cheaper to produce the same locking nut neck for all of the guitars (hardtail and tremelo). Wish that I could afford one.

It would be cool if EVH Gear raffled one off for charity or something.

Has anyone looked closely at the Wolfgang’s Ed plays on stage? Some of them have big Sharpie pen Xs on the top side of the neck. Once at a VH soundcheck, I asked a roadie what was up with the Xs. He said it helps Ed find his way around the neck while on stage, that the little dots on the neck for the third, fifth, seventh fret, etc., are too small for Ed to see during a show. I thought that was kind of funny that Ed needs big Xs felt penned onto his neck to help him play. Maybe that is his real secret to the brown sound.
DiamondInTheBuff

Why graphite reinforcement rods? You’d probably get a “browner” sound with a very hard wood like Bois d’Arc (Maclura pomifera) dowels/rods.
spaceman

This probably will be what you see Edward playing to showcase the new Guitars on this coming tour.Also I have a feeling Vh will putting out music where 1984 left off, Edward mention years ago they have tons of music in the vault after Dave Left That Sammy never wanted to record, So I am Thinking 1984 revise to 2011 Van Halen Style.New Guitars,New Time.New Van Halen, Get Ready!
BrownSound101

I’m still waiting for EVH to “introduce” the new album!!!!

YES, WE’RE STILL “READY”, DAVE.

LET’S GO!!!
famac

This might be a Photopshop altered image. There’s a shot for the hard tail in the new Musician’s Friend catalog where there is a regular nut.

Hate the headstock on this guitar. The cut out at the very top is not in the style of the guitar. I like a symetrical design on side by side headstocks.
Atomic Pete

Those are SAWEET!!!
I personally like the idea of the fine tuners.
It’s great to be able to lock it down and not have to worry
about going out of tune, even sans trem.

@Robert
Yeah I heard that before too about Ed doing his own markers.
Hey, whatever it takes!

!!!!=VH=!!!! Still ready!
Hamm I Am

this is awesome…when is the new album coming out?
Rob Newell

So many experts telling EVH how to recreate the sound he has become famous for. Funny stuff. Some guitar building guru’s too. That EVH clearly knows nothing and has been winging it a little and riding that initial wave for, oh, let me see, 30+ years. Pah, Eddie. You are one clueless musician that will never be successful…………! WTF are these people on about.
MarVin

Locking nut on hardtail:
Some call this thinking out of the box. It’s a pretty good idea actually. If you’re a heavy string bender, you can easily go out of tune once the string moves across the nut. Regardless of guitar companies tell you, there is no such thing as a frictionless nut. Think about it; based on string tension, bending strings is the equivalent to using a whammy bar – you’re changing the string tension. The guitar is a static system of tension (strings) and compression (the neck and body). When you change one force, the others must compensate. When you bend one string up (increase tension) on a floyd-equipped guitar, the other strings drop in tension. Same on a fixed tail as well, but most probably don’t notice it (yes the neck moves).

That’s all for now.
Your friend, MarVin
Hall

Since the bridge has fine-tuners, it kinda-sorta needs a locking nut at the other end. Otherwise it will just un-wind the tuning pegs at the headstock end.
Atomic Pete

Hall says:

“Since the bridge has fine-tuners, it kinda-sorta needs a locking nut at the other end. Otherwise it will just un-wind the tuning pegs at the headstock end.”

LOL!
Tom

What would be nice is if they were affordable so that the average working man in today’s economy could afford one..other company’s make flat top,flame maple guitars for way less then $1,300 bucks…just look at Epiphone
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/El-Hannora/152232141489313 Blake Snow

My own personal opinion the headstock is different and bad ass looking. Eddie is out helping the musical community for fellow musicians (creating and producing instruments that in my opinion kick ass) We have a new album coming out with a tour. So basically what I’m getting at is look at the positive things in life. The man who changed the guitar forever could of kept his opinions and secrets to himself but no he produces and creates awesome tools for us musicians and more. Thank you Eddie! Keep doing what you do and what you want to do!
http://grindey.webs.com Grindstonem

These guitars, for me personally I wouldn’t play! when I first performed on stage I used a Amber Wolfgang Peavey Special, but It never felt right! I mean I loved the MusicMan VH Sig, and I played a Kramer Pacer Classic, but for me it was the 5150/Frankie that did it for me!

Sadly not everyone has $25,000 for something that you could make for $4500 or less…
MICAL VEE

I’m ready for Eddie to release a Frankenstrat style wolfgang!!!!! That would sell like hot cakes!!!!!!!!
McQuestion

The promotion machine isn’t too busy to let us know when new guitars are coming out…

…not one breath of word about a new album.

Distressing.
http://james5313@sbcglobal.net james

Interesting, however playing guitar in a Van Halen tribute band I wonder how one can play 90% of the songs without the floyd? Especially for pretty much every solo Eddie ever did. Maybe Eddies playing has once again evolved into new territories. looking forward to hearing if he uses the new Wolfgangs!
JC

Would be great guitar to record a cover of Crossroads with. Just sayin…
http://www.markwilliamjewelry.com Mark the Jeweler

Since there seems to be a lot of opinions about what the Brown Sound is and at what point someone thinks that era of Ed’s playing best represents the “sound”, it would be interesting to see if with Ed’s new equipment (guitars and EVH3 amp) if you could essentially dial in the said eras faithfully.

Many of us here are partial to the CVH sound like from VH1-1984. That tone changed a bit over those records but was still always Marshall(y) sounding. The later albums with the Peavey 5150 series also had their own version of the brown sound. However, at the time, it was always what Dr. Ed had determined was right. We can’t argue with him about that but it is interesting discussion for sure.
Ian

Hate the locking nut. Sorry. All you need is a TusqXL nut (teflon polymer: bright and musical as bone but slippery) and locking tuners. Dropping to D or doing open tunings are HELL with fine tuners, as most Floyd owners will tell you.

I will not even entertain the idea of these guitars. The Wolfgang Custom is a way better idea and guitar. Make a Special version: Made in Japan, similar specs, half the price and I’m sold.
JungleSTUD

a LEFTY version would be nice…
http://twitter.com/johnnybeane johnny beane

Wonder if Eddie uses 10-46′s on these?
What do they come stock with?
All guitars at Guitar center come with 9′s so they will play better and make u wanna buy it.
I use 9′s on guitar with Floyds & 10′s on guitars without em.
hawk51

when will ed play this masterpiece??
Robert

@famac:
I agree with you. Never cared for the headstock on these guitars. The design doesn’t flow with the design of the body, IMO.
Al

Nice looking axes.If Eddies putting them out they gotta be cool,Eddie would not push them out if He didnt use them.Would not be surprised if He used one on one of the new tracks soon to be released.
http://www.ievolvedintothis.com Ken A

Ed is no stranger to hardtail guitars. Half the first album was recorded with a hardtail bridge, as is “Hot for Teacher” and several others.

What I don’t understand is Ed’s current fondness for basswood. If you really want an Ed-style guitar, you’re better off making your own out of Ed-authentic swamp ash instead of paying several thousand more for an official yet less faihful version. There are many woods I’d choose before basswood–in fact, I have a mahogany guitar with an SD JB pickup that, on balance, gets a fairly woody sound. Basswood is rather characterless to my ears.

Not to knock Ed, because he could get great tone out of plywood, but mere mortals are better off sticking with ash if they’re chasing that old Van Halen sound.
Valen

Sweet!!
famac

I’m just not a fan of the Wolfgang. It’s an akward blending of a Strat and a Paul, with an ugly headstock plopped on top. I find the body to be a little bloated as well – it looks too large for the neck.

I wish Ed and Fender would make a Strat with a little smaller body, a nice carved top, locking trem and some nice humbuckers. I would consider buying that. When you buy these bodies that are new creator designs, you just end up looking like a fanboy.

I also associate this style guitar with the Sammy years, which I would happily forget.
3hater

I don’t know about sound, but these Wolfgangs are the prettiest (for lack of a better word) guitars second only to
PRS guitars. I may be a bit bias as PRS are made in my hometown, but what do you all think is the best looking (solid body) guitar out there? I’m talking straight out of the factory without any customization.

My top 5 would be…
1. PRS
2. Wolfgang
3. Les Paul
4. Gibson Flying V
5. Telecaster

I really hate the look of a fender strat unless it has EVH stripes!
RobCT

Very nice guitar and interesting design features as well. A locking nut on a non trem axe? Ed must really wrestle the thing when he plays! We have to remember that he designed these for himself first and if some other folks dig, well…cool. If not, oh well! I have a few of his Peavey and love’em but for non trem I will stick with my LP.
david w

Before ALS took my hands, my main guitar was a gold top Peavey hardtail Wolfgang. Best guitar I ever owned. Survived beer, cigarettee smoke, clumsy bar patrons, and being dropped in a gravel parking lot. A beast with great tone. These look great.
crystal dawn

The headstock looks like you could open a bottle of beer with it.
chrisom

That is one ugly-shaped guitar. Nice maple though. Does the headstock double as a bottle-opener?

How’s about a new album for the fans? So we won’t feel so bad about all your gear-selling, Ed…
chrisom

Sorry Crystal- didn’t read your post before I posted. Great minds think alike I guess…
pabloramirez716

I have a 2009 Vintage White EVH Wolfgang—It kicks ass !
Can we just please get some new music already ?
Patrick

What happened to the D2H ??? am I the only one wondering ??? personally I find one of the pros to a STP is being able to change tunings some what easly, now what ? I used to alway praise EVH for not throwing his name on just about anything I’m starting to wonder a little bit. I guess I shouldn’t worry too much that is until they put out the semi hallow body wolfgang.
JPo

I’m sure there is some sort of contractual obligation with Floyd Rose, so since they decided to make a hardtail they slapped a locking nut on it to cover their ass.