# EVH Guitars - Worth It?



## ESPImperium (Jun 26, 2015)

Im looking at getting a EVH Striped Series Strat in the Red/White/Black as i fell in love with one I saw at a gig i was at on Tuesday night.

What Im asking is are the ones like the ones in the link (EVH® Product Information) are any good?

Or would i be better off saving the money to put it towards a PRS P22?

Thanks.


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## GuitarBizarre (Jun 26, 2015)

From what I hear, they're excellent, but you have to really want them for what they're good at.

EVH may have made the 5150, but that's not a metal machine. It's a rock machine, built for standing in front of walls of marshalls, long hair, etc. 

Is it an excellent guitar? Hell yes it is. But it's a one trick pony with a really, really good trick. 

Also, for P22 money you're not far off custom territory. Consider.


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## Shask (Jun 26, 2015)

The few I have picked up in the store remind me a lot of the Charvel Pro Mod guitars. Similar feeling, different paint.

I have always found the Charvel guitars to be very good quality.


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## USMarine75 (Jun 26, 2015)

No experience with the strat, but i can tell you a lot about the company and products in general. I've been playing and collecting EVH's EBMM, Peavey, and EVH/Fender products for 20 years.

The EVH models have been produced in several countries. The USA models are definitely the premiere line, but all countries of manufacture use the same parts and production machinery, from what I have been told. So, a MIM or MIC EVH Wolfgang Special have the same SS frets, pickups, EVH trem, etc. In years past, Peavey had used lesser quality parts (tuners, trem, neck wood, etc) on their MIK models vs their USA. Thus, there was an extreme difference between the Peavey MIK and USA Wolfgangs. 
EVH/Fender has used Mexico, Japan, and China for their non-USA guitar plants. The only difference between a MIC and USA is the talent of the luthiers and the quality control.

Regarding quality control... I bought a MIC EVH Wolfgang Special Stealth Hardtail. Paid around $600 from online retailer. One of the pickups and the selector switch had faulty wiring and cold solder joints. But, it only cost me $50 to repair and set up, and after that I was quite happy. You might find the occasional sharp fret end or a bad factory setup (who cares), but they're all things that can be taken care of on the cheap and shouldn't make you regret your purchase. 

My advice is, if you buy a MIC one, to buy one from an online retailer that has free returns, just in case you do get a factory lemon. Or try one at a local store first. But if the strat is anything like the singlecut Wolfgangs I'm pretty sure you'll fall in love.

The lowest quality models are definitely the Indonesia made EVH Standards. Personally, they remind me of the old Peavey MIK one's that had very poor quality control. I did some digging and these do not have a lot of the same parts as all other models (no SS frets, diff electronics, diff tuners, no d-tuna). There is such a small difference between the price of Indonesia model and MIC or MIJ that I would never buy one of these.

FWIW, the Charvel So Cal is another guitar like the Wolfgangs that doesn't get the love it deserves. So if you're looking for a hot rod (high output humbuckers, Floyd trem, etc) EVH style Strat for around $600, you might want to give one a try.


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## USMarine75 (Jun 26, 2015)

Shask said:


> The few I have picked up in the store remind me a lot of the Charvel Pro Mod guitars. Similar feeling, different paint.
> 
> I have always found the Charvel guitars to be very good quality.


 
Haha exactly! Damn you for beating me by 2 min!


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## electriceye (Jun 26, 2015)

Search online for a review from either Guitar World or Guitar Player from about a year ago. It was mixed. Quality wasn't superb, but it was an overall decent axe for the price.


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## AndruwX (Jun 26, 2015)

I played that guitar in Guitar Center some weeks ago.
It's utter thrash, in my opinion.


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## Zado (Jun 26, 2015)

AndruwX said:


> I played that guitar in Guitar Center some weeks ago.
> It's utter thrash, in my opinion.



Please explain,I was interested


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## Steinmetzify (Jun 27, 2015)

Grabbed this NOS MIJ a couple months ago, it's since become one of my favorite guitars. 



Untitled by Scott Steinmetz, on Flickr

The pickups will do anything you want them to and sound fantastic while doing it. They are rapidly becoming some of my favorites for pretty much everything....decently hot but not too much, really clear as well, no matter how much gain you dump on em. 

They market it as a hard rock EVH type guitar, but mine is in drop C and slays for brootz. Quality is good, a bit better than I was thinking it would be, considering what I paid which was around $600 shipped with a HSC. I was iffy on the purchase as I'd heard stories, so I bought from a place with a return policy....it showed up with some sharp fret ends, but it's since acclimated to my pad and they're not a problem anymore.

The smaller neck took some getting used to, as did the vintage sized frets.....I'm mostly a LP guy and my LPs have GIANT necks....this is really comfortable though, now that I'm used to it.

Clip in drop C....just a forum drumjam, one track straight thru on L and same on R:

[SC]https://soundcloud.com/steinmetzify/killzonejunegab[/SC]

TL;DR: I'm pretty impressed with the EVH products for the most part, and wouldn't hesitate to buy another one.


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## glpg80 (Jun 27, 2015)

Played a Suhr series strat against the EVH strat guitar and loved the EVH strat more. Extremely good quality, great playing, just overall killer guitar. The neck was just super comfortable. I might be a bit biased in that I gigged a wolfgang for many years, but I have played a few fender wolfgangs that I have hated. As far as the EVH line of guitars - I have nothing but praise to offer in my experience with them. Highly recommend it.

BTW I am not talking about the fender products here, I am talking about the actual EVH product line:


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## mniel8195 (Jun 27, 2015)

I think the biggest question for me looking at these guitars was if i could deal with top mounted floyds or non sunken toms...The answer is no! I hate the feeling!


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## ngrungebb91 (Jun 27, 2015)

I would get a Peavey Wolfgang off of ebay or something... those things were crazy..


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## cubix (Jun 27, 2015)

I tried the cheaper one, not the USA made one and I could shift the neck left and right in my hands (I noticed the strings were awefully close to the edge of the fretboard on the high E side, so I tried to move it and well... it did). Not impressed, I personally also like the Peavey more, the headstock is just weird on the EVH one - I really liked the part they removed to make it different from the Peavey Wolfgang.


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## NeubyWanKaneuby (Jun 28, 2015)

I haven't played the striped series, but am a fan of the Wolfgangs.


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