EVH Custom Guitars, part 2 - looks as if he's offically defected again!

PurpleSport · Jul 24, 2004

The Charvel site has been updated and, as predicted by some here, has this news:

"The wait is over! Legendary guitarist, Edward Van Halen, is back in the fold and is once again working with Charvel® to create hand built replicas of his original striped guitar designs. EVH Art Series guitars feature custom-striped basswood bodies, a special-wound humbucking pickup, Original Floyd Rose® tremolo and a compound-radius, maple neck carved from his original specs. Even the volume pot has been replaced with a “Tone” knob just like Eddie's"!

This may seem like old news, considering the recent thread about his hand painted "art guitars" - but the site now shows pics of what will be from a line of not-customized-by-Ed regular production instruments, which are painted EXACTLY like his original black/white, black/yellow, and red/white/black ones. Apparently these go into production after the NAMM show in Nashville is over.

And, in the "big guitar company with a Custom Shop (a/k/a contracted ghost builders from outside the factory)" tradition, there will be a limited run of sure to be even more overpriced 100 red/white/black Frankenstrats which will duplicate the original's scratches, nicks, burns, etc...(my question is, will they duplicate the Kramer headstock it was last seen with? <hah!> )...

A press release with more gory details is here: http://www.charvel.com/models/evh/press_release.html

Anyone want to get their bets in early on how long THIS association will last?

Jimi D · Jul 24, 2004

I don`t know how long this deal will last, but if it's as long as his run with Peavey, Charvel has plenty of time to make a few bucks off the EVH name... Of course, it remains to be seen if a stripey super-strat will have the same kind of mass appeal that the Wolfgang has enjoyed; I'm sure they'll sell a few, but if EVH is defecting because Peavey isn't selling enough Wolfs, I don't think he's going to be too happy with the sales on these things. You can comp jazz on a Wolf and no one's likely to look twice - these Charvels are strictly tap'n'shred metal; I don't think anyone's gonna be playing "Stray Cat Strut" on one, if you know what I mean

Funny coincidence, I was checking out Eddie's red stripey Kramer at the Experience Music Project yesterday (the one with a humbucker, no other routes and a Floyd - I think it's the one he was playing it on/around 1984 recording/tour? I'm sure Darrell will know...), and the paint job on it is really amateur hour - totally "home made" - and up close, it looks pretty sloppy... I hope the refine the technique sufficiently to give them a professional look.

Anyway, I went over to the Peavey forums and it seems that they've been deleting threads asking about this topic over there, or ignoring the issue (in hopes it will go away?)... I posted a Q re: the press release - we'll have to see what happens to that one...

Truth is that I'd love to have one if the price is fair - I somehow doubt we'll see the same value from "Charvel" (*cough*Fender*cough*) as we've seen from Peavey, though, and I'd much rather have an old EBMM EVH than drop equivalent $$$ on a new Charvel...

Doktor Rawk · Jul 24, 2004

Unless you got 8 grand right now forget it man cause that's what they're goingf or on EBay!

Hookpunch · Jul 24, 2004

Hopefully Peavey can successfully transform the Wolfgang model from being a signature series to a non-endorsed series the way EBMM did with the Axis. Not that I am a great fan of the series but Peavey has so much invested in the Wolfgang and the 5150 that it is going to be a corporate nightmare for them

To me this just adds to the flakiness of Ed, when he left EBMM he claimed the Wolfgang was the greatest guitar since the Strat, like Cherone was the greatest lead singer of all time - I am sure more over the top rhetoric is on the way from him.

PurpleSport · Jul 24, 2004

Doktor Rawk said:
Unless you got 8 grand right now forget it man cause that's what they're goingf or on EBay!

Sorry if I didn't make it clear, but my note above refers to ANOTHER run of EVH guitars in regular production that's different than those you're seeing on eBay - they look almost identical to his original striped guitars, but he's not doing the striping...in other words, they will basically be made in a normal factory and sold in stores like any other mass-production guitar, just like the Wolfgangs you'd see in Sam Ash or Guitar Center.

On top of that, there will be a limited custom run of guitars that are supposed to recreate his famous bashed up one down to the smallest scratch. Fender recently did this with Stevie Ray Vaughn's main "number 1" Strat, Gibson did it for some of their Jimmy Page models (which also have a regular non-custom shop version like these), and it's been done on a few other artists too. Those fetch HUGE bucks too, but are sold in stores, and EVH will most likely not have much to do with how these are made other than handing over his guitar for the custom shop guys to pull out the cameras and micrometers on (oh, and signing the checks he gets from his take on them)...

OrangeChannel · Jul 24, 2004

No D-Tuna on these. PV trade that one too?

PurpleSport · Jul 24, 2004

OrangeChannel said:
No D-Tuna on these. PV trade that one too?

Interesting observation. I didn't notice that! The pics of the guitars he's playing live and auctioning off have 'em, though.

I don't think they did, as I believe this was something else that EVH supposedly developed and licensed independently on his own.

The D-Tuna's distributor is right around the corner from us in Jersey, and I they're the same folks who distribute the original Floyd Rose trems as well...no mention of Peavey on that site at all, nor on EVH's DTuna.com site. Interestingly, though, at the moment the "Order" link at Dtuna.com leads one to a dead/misconfigured server webpage, though it's quite possible they might just be down for maintenance at this hour.

If he'd contracted the metalwork for them out to Peavey, tho, that could make for another interesting angle in this drama; however, I bought some "Peavey" straplocks years ago that were in fact made by Schaller, so I dunno if they do their own metal fabrication (what was really funny about that was that they cost less than the Schaller branded version of the same thing!)...

Warg Master · Jul 25, 2004

Rather Fickle...eh?

dwf1004 · Jul 25, 2004

Jimi D said:
Funny coincidence, I was checking out Eddie's red stripey Kramer at the Experience Music Project yesterday (the one with a humbucker, no other routes and a Floyd - I think it's the one he was playing it on/around 1984 recording/tour? I'm sure Darrell will know...), and the paint job on it is really amateur hour - totally "home made" - and up close, it looks pretty sloppy... I hope the refine the technique sufficiently to give them a professional look.

A couple o' things...

I'm not quite sure which one you speak of, Jimi, but it could have been one of many. My man had a tendency to have at least 3 of each of these git-fiddles (the 5150 alone had 2 brothers!), so maybe it was one of the backup brothers Striped that resides in the EMP (hell of a place, might I add...6 hours in there, and I still hadn't seen everything!)

As far as the Peavey postings, the posts are being deleted on their forum under the guise of "not contributing to rumors and speculation already rampant on the Internet and otherwise." (not verbatim, but enough to get the idea across) I think that's fair, at least on their behalf. I don't know, I don't see too much in that. Enough to care, at least. They can handle their business as they want, just as EBMM does.

So, trying to take a logical look at this, here's what I see: EVH and Peavey are the best of friends, and all is happy in Guitarville. No EVH references are gone from the website, and no press release has been issued regarding dissolution of the EVH/Peavey partnership. EVH is playing Wolfgang guitars, as well as 5150/5150II's w/ fully displayed Peavey logo on both.

Fender is trying to get the Charvel line back off the ground, and can't do it with just the $2500 San Dimas model alone. Some marketing genius says, "hey, didn't Eddie use to play Charvel back in the day?" So, they set up the EVH Art Series, since EVH is synonymous with selling guitars (references: see EBMM, Peavey, and any of the stripers of previous), and EVH agrees to punch out 100 of each of these a year, and then it goes away. (That is, until the public demand rises and the amount of coin that Fender/Charvel can pull in is realized, which will bring them back "by popular demand".)

Enter the kickoff gimmick/attention drawer: EVH is going to punch out 30+ of these on tour, play each of them for one song, then date and sign it, and add the location that it was played. It's then sold on eBay to the collector with more money than you or I, which will then hang it on his wall, or in a glass case with all of his other guitars that he owns.

Now, with all of the attention, let's get back to the primary parties, Peavey, EVH, and Fender/Charvel. They are sitting back and loving this, because:

1. You can bet that my man gets a cut from each guitar sold on eBay and overall.
2. Fender/Charvel has dropped almost close to nothing for exposure/advertising, since the Internet and folks like you* have done all of the "hey, did you hear" for them.
3. Peavey's well aware, has given the OK, and enjoys playing dumb** on the sidelines.
(If they weren't cool with this, don't you think that they would have ripped up the contract faster than Britney Spears' first marriage certificate, and issued a PR to cry foul?)

* Not being detrimental towards y'all here, just that everyone else has been talking about it, and I haven't said word one about it publicly...until now.

** Not knocking Peavey either, I say "playing dumb" as in they knew of this, but are not involving themselves in the hoopla, etc.

So, in essence, this is nothing but a way for Fender/Charvel and EVH to make some bread off of the reunion...and they did it, IMHO, the smart way, using the resources of the Internet to get the product out. I tip my hat to them both.

Hell, another example of cheap promotion: the "Not Enough" video shows a (then newly released) 5150II head on a 5150 4x12, along with a (then newly released) 5150 combo amp, and EVH sporting the Wolfgang for the first time. How's that for two birds with one stone? The band gets their video, EVH gets his products displayed.

I dunno...maybe I'm off base, maybe I'm not. I read into these "limited editions", "classics", etc. of the day, and it's all about the majestic coin, and however you can tie one thing together with another to make more bread is what it's all about. Hey, a 2 disc set to commemorate the reunion. Hey, Sammy Hagar released (another) greatest hits package, "The Essential Red Collection", which goes well with Cabo Wabo Tequila or Mad Anthony's Hot Sauce. Ironically, it also includes "Little White Lie". Correct me if I'm wrong...wasn't that the song that he wrote to jab back at the brothers VH after the split?

So...should we expect to see the Eddie Bauer edition Wolfgang soon?

Don't get me wrong...I'm glad to see the boys back in action, but the commercialization is almost too much to fathom. Overall, I just hope for two things:

1. That egos, as well as EVH having to stamp out these 450+ guitars this year and next does not prevent VH from putting out a new album as promised. I need that to go with my striped Converse.
2. That we can find and flog the person who decided that it was a good idea to give Benji Madden his own signature guitar. We go from Steve Morse to Steve Lukather to EVH to Albert Lee to John Petrucci to this?!?! Probably the only thing that I have to disagree with EBMM on. I may be a mod, but I can still have an opinion, right?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go empty someone's pee out of my Cheerio's, which is the only leading cold cereal clinically proven to help lower cholesterol in a low fat diet.

Doktor Rawk · Jul 25, 2004

This is getting a bit ridiculous now don't y'all think?

I totally agree with you on this Darrell!

OrangeChannel · Jul 25, 2004

PurpleSport said:
Interesting observation. I didn't notice that! The pics of the guitars he's playing live and auctioning off have 'em, though.

I don't think they did, as I believe this was something else that EVH supposedly developed and licensed independently on his own.

The D-Tuna's distributor is right around the corner from us in Jersey, and I they're the same folks who distribute the original Floyd Rose trems as well...no mention of Peavey on that site at all, nor on EVH's DTuna.com site. Interestingly, though, at the moment the "Order" link at Dtuna.com leads one to a dead/misconfigured server webpage, though it's quite possible they might just be down for maintenance at this hour.

If he'd contracted the metalwork for them out to Peavey, tho, that could make for another interesting angle in this drama; however, I bought some "Peavey" straplocks years ago that were in fact made by Schaller, so I dunno if they do their own metal fabrication (what was really funny about that was that they cost less than the Schaller branded version of the same thing!)...

Yeah Fender does the same thing with their straplocks. They're all schaller accept fender repackages with smaller screws.

OrangeChannel · Jul 25, 2004

dwf1004 said:
2. That we can find and flog the person who decided that it was a good idea to give Benji Madden his own signature guitar. We go from Steve Morse to Steve Lukather to EVH to Albert Lee to John Petrucci to this?!?! Probably the only thing that I have to disagree with EBMM on. I may be a mod, but I can still have an opinion, right?

I agree totally. Infact I was considering posting a thread about this but figured it was inappropriate. Thanks DWF! All it looks like a SUB (least the black and white ones...). Also the press release was wrong, Billy Martin is the lead guitarist, Benji is the rhythm player in that band.

Jimi D · Jul 25, 2004

dwf1004 said:
So, trying to take a logical look at this, here's what I see: EVH and Peavey are the best of friends, and all is happy in Guitarville. No EVH references are gone from the website, and no press release has been issued regarding dissolution of the EVH/Peavey partnership. EVH is playing Wolfgang guitars, as well as 5150/5150II's w/ fully displayed Peavey logo on both.

I have to disagree, for a couple reasons. First, it's not in Peavey's best interest to have rumours of a split between them and their only high profile guitar endorser slamming about the 'net (I mean, I love Steve Cropper as much as the next guy, but...) - it can only hurt them, and they know it, so they would be quick to issue a "everything's fine" statement if that were the case. Second, Eddie would be contractually bound to use Peavey products in public until the end of his contract in October, so it's no surprise he's using them on tour, because we know he has good lawyers...

Besides, he's been using this stuff for the last ten years and he's no doubt comfortable with it. Third, they deleted my post pointing to the Charvel press release from the Peavey forum without explanation or excuse, which stinks of someone hiding something. At this point, I'll bet CA$H MONEY that Peavey and Eddie are splits come October.

deadringer · Jul 25, 2004

OrangeChannel said:
I agree totally. Infact I was considering posting a thread about this but figured it was inappropriate. Thanks DWF! All it looks like a SUB (least the black and white ones...). Also the press release was wrong, Billy Martin is the lead guitarist, Benji is the rhythm player in that band.

I just hope for EB's sake that Good Charlotte stick around for a little while. I know that Benji and the band have brought some attention to EB but they always struck me as a "gimic" band that wouldn't last forever. Especially considering the fickle market that they appeal the most to. I guess Mommy's and Daddy's can buy EB/MM for their teenagers just as easy as they are buying up the Paul Reed Smith's.

OrangeChannel · Jul 25, 2004

CA$H MONEY MILLIONAIRES! Anyone kow what happened to those clowns? Hehehehe.

Yeah dead.....I agree. Having been somewhat associated with that scene by default (there is no other scene except for the 35+ adult rock scene where these clowns think they're in Creed or something...) ere on Long Isalnd with my previous band, I totally see the national market for cheese punk dissapating and some musicianship finally coming back to the rock world, even if it is with some noisy stuff, there's quite a few progressively tinged indie bands gaining populatiry....like The Mars Volta, Sparta, Cursive, Thursday, and Coheed and Cambria.

hbucker · Jul 25, 2004

dwf1004 said:
A couple o' things...

I'm not quite sure which one you speak of, Jimi, but it could have been one of many. My man had a tendency to have at least 3 of each of these git-fiddles (the 5150 alone had 2 brothers!), so maybe it was one of the backup brothers Striped that resides in the EMP (hell of a place, might I add...6 hours in there, and I still hadn't seen everything!)

As far as the Peavey postings, the posts are being deleted on their forum under the guise of "not contributing to rumors and speculation already rampant on the Internet and otherwise." (not verbatim, but enough to get the idea across) I think that's fair, at least on their behalf. I don't know, I don't see too much in that. Enough to care, at least. They can handle their business as they want, just as EBMM does.

So, trying to take a logical look at this, here's what I see: EVH and Peavey are the best of friends, and all is happy in Guitarville. No EVH references are gone from the website, and no press release has been issued regarding dissolution of the EVH/Peavey partnership. EVH is playing Wolfgang guitars, as well as 5150/5150II's w/ fully displayed Peavey logo on both.

Fender is trying to get the Charvel line back off the ground, and can't do it with just the $2500 San Dimas model alone. Some marketing genius says, "hey, didn't Eddie use to play Charvel back in the day?" So, they set up the EVH Art Series, since EVH is synonymous with selling guitars (references: see EBMM, Peavey, and any of the stripers of previous), and EVH agrees to punch out 100 of each of these a year, and then it goes away. (That is, until the public demand rises and the amount of coin that Fender/Charvel can pull in is realized, which will bring them back "by popular demand".)

Enter the kickoff gimmick/attention drawer: EVH is going to punch out 30+ of these on tour, play each of them for one song, then date and sign it, and add the location that it was played. It's then sold on eBay to the collector with more money than you or I, which will then hang it on his wall, or in a glass case with all of his other guitars that he owns.

Now, with all of the attention, let's get back to the primary parties, Peavey, EVH, and Fender/Charvel. They are sitting back and loving this, because:

1. You can bet that my man gets a cut from each guitar sold on eBay and overall.
2. Fender/Charvel has dropped almost close to nothing for exposure/advertising, since the Internet and folks like you* have done all of the "hey, did you hear" for them.
3. Peavey's well aware, has given the OK, and enjoys playing dumb** on the sidelines.
(If they weren't cool with this, don't you think that they would have ripped up the contract faster than Britney Spears' first marriage certificate, and issued a PR to cry foul?)

* Not being detrimental towards y'all here, just that everyone else has been talking about it, and I haven't said word one about it publicly...until now.
** Not knocking Peavey either, I say "playing dumb" as in they knew of this, but are not involving themselves in the hoopla, etc.

So, in essence, this is nothing but a way for Fender/Charvel and EVH to make some bread off of the reunion...and they did it, IMHO, the smart way, using the resources of the Internet to get the product out. I tip my hat to them both.

Hell, another example of cheap promotion: the "Not Enough" video shows a (then newly released) 5150II head on a 5150 4x12, along with a (then newly released) 5150 combo amp, and EVH sporting the Wolfgang for the first time. How's that for two birds with one stone? The band gets their video, EVH gets his products displayed.

I dunno...maybe I'm off base, maybe I'm not. I read into these "limited editions", "classics", etc. of the day, and it's all about the majestic coin, and however you can tie one thing together with another to make more bread is what it's all about. Hey, a 2 disc set to commemorate the reunion. Hey, Sammy Hagar released (another) greatest hits package, "The Essential Red Collection", which goes well with Cabo Wabo Tequila or Mad Anthony's Hot Sauce. Ironically, it also includes "Little White Lie". Correct me if I'm wrong...wasn't that the song that he wrote to jab back at the brothers VH after the split?

So...should we expect to see the Eddie Bauer edition Wolfgang soon?

Don't get me wrong...I'm glad to see the boys back in action, but the commercialization is almost too much to fathom. Overall, I just hope for two things:

1. That egos, as well as EVH having to stamp out these 450+ guitars this year and next does not prevent VH from putting out a new album as promised. I need that to go with my striped Converse.
2. That we can find and flog the person who decided that it was a good idea to give Benji Madden his own signature guitar. We go from Steve Morse to Steve Lukather to EVH to Albert Lee to John Petrucci to this?!?! Probably the only thing that I have to disagree with EBMM on. I may be a mod, but I can still have an opinion, right?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go empty someone's pee out of my Cheerio's, which is the only leading cold cereal clinically proven to help lower cholesterol in a low fat diet.

Well said dwf. I can't add much. But I wonder why the rumor mill that is the internet seems to focus only on "it's the death of PV" angle on this whole thing. Like PV is some little scared company sitting in the dark corner of a closet afraid to come out and see that their only source of income has dried up. Honestly, if EBMM didn't dry up when EVH left, PV certainly won't. They've got many irons in the fire.

At this point anything could happen and I wouldn't be surprised with any of it. But my money is with you dwf. I think PV has blessed this union because it doesn't really compete with their Wolfgangs. Unless they practically give them away, they won't sell nearly as many of the Charvels as Wolfgangs. The market just isn't that big for the Charvels.

Jimi, EVH is not contractually obligated to play PV gear in the studio or live. Obviously it's a wise business move for him to do it but PV has told me straight out, he is not obligated to play Wolfgangs. He can play whatever he wants. Of course the conspiracy theorists out there will assume PV was lying to me but I really doubt that. I think they choose to be silent instead of lying... hmmmmmm.

We give this much more press than it's worth but it's still interesting to discuss.

OrangeChannel · Jul 25, 2004

I just got the inside track on something in the works over there that currently has 12 different headstock shapes that were submitted for approval to the man himself. I'm guessing there's gonna be something new for NAMM 2005.

dwf1004 · Jul 25, 2004

OrangeChannel said:
I agree totally. Infact I was considering posting a thread about this but figured it was inappropriate. Thanks DWF! All it looks like a SUB (least the black and white ones...). Also the press release was wrong, Billy Martin is the lead guitarist, Benji is the rhythm player in that band.

Leave it to me to start the controversy, OC.

As far as who's who in the band...yeah, I'm still just not caring at this point. It's all pink noise to me, but I do know that Benji is the dog, er, guy that most people associate with that band, hence why he got the sig over the "lead guitarist".

Next, the Britney Spears signature guitar: an impulse buy, you decide against it and return it 2 days after purchase. Then, a mistake in the manufacturing process cancels production of the whole line for the rest of the year. It then surfaces again with a lower quality guitar manufacturer.

OK, I'm done...I promise.

OrangeChannel · Jul 25, 2004

Ouch!

nobozos · Jul 25, 2004

Peavey supposedly hasn't been told anything by Eddie right? Some people here have stated that his contract with Peavey expires in October. That being the case, the Charvel project certianly gives Eddie a little bit of negotiating power, doesn't it?

I mean, Van Halen hasn't exactly been burning up the airwaves for the last 6 years, and Peavey dealers have been sitting on a lot of Wolfgangs in that time. When Eddie went in to re-negotiate his contract in October, they could easily point to these facts for negotiating leverage.

It sure is convenient for Eddie that this Best of Both Worlds collection, and a tour with Sammy happened to coincide with this side venture with Charvel. Now he can walk in to Peavey and say, "Fine, you won't give me what I want, I've got someone already working on something, so I'm going to leave and take my three initials with me."

As far as the D-Tuna not being on this "Custom Shop" Charvel, well, doesn't it make sense. He makes money off of every D-Tuna he sells, doesn't he? You know everyone with a striped Charvel is going to want a D-Tuna.

It all falls into place once you start to follow the money.

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