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tjon901 « Black with ebony »
Published on 11/12/11 at 06:30These new EVH guitars are pretty cool. They look like the old Peavey models but have more modern features. After his time with Peavey he hooked up with Fender to produce a very similar guitar through the new EVH brand and this is that guitar. This guitar has the round EVH shape that the Peavey version had. It has a basswood body with a maple top. It has a fender scale neck with an ebony fretboard on this model. The neck is maple and has 22 vintage sized stainless steel frets. The fretboard has a compound radius as well. The neck is pretty chunky. The neck has two carbon fiber rods inside of it along with the truss rod to keep it nice and straight. It has an EVH signature Original Floyd Rose with a D-tuner attached so you can easily go to drop tunings on the fly. You get a set of custom voiced EVH humbuckers. The controls are simple with a volume and tone. The pickup toggle on the upper bout is reversed.
UTILIZATION
With this new EVH line of guitars there is more variants in the line. There are some guitars that are more Les Paul like and some with more modern features. The ebony fretboard on this is super smooth and looks great. This with the stainless steel frets means that its like playing on water. EVH swears by stainless steel frets now. He said that before he use to have to refret his main touring guitar every couple weeks. Now with the stainless steel frets he can go a whole tour without refretting it and it doesnt affect tone at all. It has a compound radius fretboard like a Jackson. It goes from 12 inches to 16 inches near the body. With the compound radius you get good comfortable playability with chords on the lower end of the neck and the higher end of the fretboard is nice and flat so you can bend away. The pickup selector switch is reversed. Up is the bridge position and down is the neck position. This is the way EVH likes it.
SOUNDS
The pickups in this guitar are pretty low output PAF like pickups but they have a lot more dynamics and harmonics to them. You can really hear every note you play and they are all clear as a bell. The low output pickups respond well to picking and volume dynamics. Better than most super high output pickups would. The pickups are attached directly to the wood of the guitar not on springs. The direct mounted pickups get more sustain although they are not adjustable. If you have heard any Van Halen you know what this guitar sounds like. The bridge has a crunchy wide open sound. You can really hear every string and every note in the chords you play. The neck is a bit smoother but still has lots of bite. Your tapping lines come through smoothly but with enough bite that you can tell what notes you are playing.
OVERALL OPINION
EVH is doing some pretty cool stuff with Fender and his own company. This guitar has a lot of features that you would only find on custom made boutique guitars. These are features that should be used on more production models. The modern features on this guitar help improve tone and help improve durability. You dot not have to be an EVH fan to appreciate a good guitar. This guitar is solidly built and has tons of tone.
UTILIZATION
With this new EVH line of guitars there is more variants in the line. There are some guitars that are more Les Paul like and some with more modern features. The ebony fretboard on this is super smooth and looks great. This with the stainless steel frets means that its like playing on water. EVH swears by stainless steel frets now. He said that before he use to have to refret his main touring guitar every couple weeks. Now with the stainless steel frets he can go a whole tour without refretting it and it doesnt affect tone at all. It has a compound radius fretboard like a Jackson. It goes from 12 inches to 16 inches near the body. With the compound radius you get good comfortable playability with chords on the lower end of the neck and the higher end of the fretboard is nice and flat so you can bend away. The pickup selector switch is reversed. Up is the bridge position and down is the neck position. This is the way EVH likes it.
SOUNDS
The pickups in this guitar are pretty low output PAF like pickups but they have a lot more dynamics and harmonics to them. You can really hear every note you play and they are all clear as a bell. The low output pickups respond well to picking and volume dynamics. Better than most super high output pickups would. The pickups are attached directly to the wood of the guitar not on springs. The direct mounted pickups get more sustain although they are not adjustable. If you have heard any Van Halen you know what this guitar sounds like. The bridge has a crunchy wide open sound. You can really hear every string and every note in the chords you play. The neck is a bit smoother but still has lots of bite. Your tapping lines come through smoothly but with enough bite that you can tell what notes you are playing.
OVERALL OPINION
EVH is doing some pretty cool stuff with Fender and his own company. This guitar has a lot of features that you would only find on custom made boutique guitars. These are features that should be used on more production models. The modern features on this guitar help improve tone and help improve durability. You dot not have to be an EVH fan to appreciate a good guitar. This guitar is solidly built and has tons of tone.