American Wolfgang vs Indonesian Wolfgang 

Thank you for the honest review of the Wolfgang EVH models, it was very helpful.

Trace…I just picked up a 2010-11 MIJ wolfgang last week…its a great guitar…still had the plastic film on the back plate covers…love your vids bro!!!!

Good stuff Trace, pls keep up the awesome reviews. I happen to luv the MIM EVHs for price / performance

I used to own 2x USA Peavey Wolfgang Standards - one fixed bridge, one trem. They were beautifully built. I sold them due to some life changes years back and still have some regrets about doing that. I now own 2x eVh Wolfganags - a Cherry Red Quilt top MIC Special (same specs and build quality as the MIJ) and one of the first Purple Quilt top MII Standards to be released. The MIC Special is beautifully built and sounds phenomenal. Fitted with the USA Wolfgang pups, original Floyd Rose and the eVh branded (Schaller?) tuners. The neck is a little slimmer than the MII. The Stainless frets are narrow vintage style and take a bit of 'getting used to'. This probably sounds weird but, apart from the frets, it just feels a bit more 'modern' construction than my Peaveys did. More like a Fujigen Ibanez (no bad thing...). The Peaveys blow them away for quality of woods used though... The MII Standard is also beutifully built. Perfect fretwork. Pups are great - it also sounds phenomenal (maybe a little 'rawer'...). If anything the neck carve is more comfortable than that on the Special. The BIG fail was the Floyd Rose Special trem. It wouldn't hold tune from day #1. String slippage at the saddles (esp. G & B). Very frustrating.... Anyhoo (TM). I updated the trem with a new set of saddles, a Brass Block and a D-Tuna (well under £100 in parts at the time..) and it has been absolutely perfect since. I actually think I prefer to play the Standard over the Special. A used MIC/MIJ Special is the sweet spot in the range IMO, no mods required and 'bullet-proof'. Used bargains can still be found. Especially on the MIC as many see them as inferior to the MIJ variants. Trust me, they are not inferior in any way. I've back-to-backed mine with a friends MIJ. No difference. Also, the gorgeous Cherry Red and Natural colours are only available on the MIC. However, if you're happy doing your own set-ups and like a bit of potential modding, buy a used MII Standard. Absolutely brilliant guitars that 'punch way above their weight'.

good comparison man!

Great review, I'm in total agreement with 100% of this Superb, honest great professional review.

As someone who owned 3 USA made Peavey Wolfgang’s years ago and who recently bought a 2023 EVH Wolfgang Standard in Absinthe Frost, I can say your review is spot on! For the last 15 years or more most of my guitars have been expensive custom shop or ‘boutique.’ Then last week I randomly picked up the he EVH WG Standard and was blown away. I bought it on the spot. I easily picked out the PV Wolfgang in your comparison clips and feel that the cheaper electronic components in the Indonesian WG don’t allow the guitar to be all it can be. I’ll be upgrading those soon enough, but over all I’m floored at how good this import guitar is. It feels very close to my old Purple PV Wolfgang Special.

Dude, you absolutely nailed it!!!! 😊😜🤗 Thats why I got a Standard for € 400,- on Ebay!!!

AWESOME!!!💯🌍

great comparison. I have a WG standard and a special love them. What are your thoughts an an american Ernie ball Music Man axis compared to the American peavey?

Many thanks for your EVH reviews. I have played two of these Black Standards and I liked them a lot and may buy a maple cap one. But not all Indonesian ones are great. My very first guitar (yeah at 47yo) was a Cort-made Schecter and it turned out to be totally awful (reverse compound neck, 12-10, was supposed to be 14!, dreadful bridge pickup, sub-spec string spacing....). So I will be checking it very, very thoroughly :) But, I agree, I thought they sound great, felt fantastic. Cheers!

Bro, I have the black one that's just like yours and the Ernie Ball that I like a lot, as well. The 2 black rubbed areas are just as noticeable, by any chance did you sell it?

I bought a kit and my evh kit is awesome and clocked in under 400 with dark matter pickups. I guess I’m like young Edward not having money to buy a real Wolfgang so I worked on a cheap kit to suit my taste and I love it. Frankie was a second body and an 85 dollar neck.

Congrats on the J. Custom man, so cool. And stop telling people about it, it’s still “somewhat” affordable 😂. This is for everyone, not just Trace. But even the way he had to like defend himself in the video for liking the Peavey. It’s very simple. Younger generations don’t think Peavey is any good because aesthetically it’s not modern or cool enough looking. I know that sounds shallow, but it’s reality. I’m a pro and i still choose pedals based on looks, and definitely guitars as well. But the Peavey brand, Logo, Colors. Except for the Invective Amps which is a great design, and the Cirrus 6 jazz bass which is Custom Shop quality, most of the Peavey stuff is still branded like it was in the 80’s. Its quality product, guitar influencers have proven it with their videos on the Decade, Bandit and Session Combos. But that’s because those amps are SUPER trendy right now. In reality Millennials think Peavey is cheesy. Well they’re not really musicians then. Because if you pick up almost any old or new American Made Peavey guitar model, it plays just as good as most American and Japanese models from the last 30 years. It’s not custom shop quality, but neither is the Fender Performer or Ibanez Prestige or any entry level American/Japanese model. I bought a Peavey Detonator JX for like $400 on rvrb. Made in America, plays great, looks better than most super-strats. Probably a $1200 guitar in reality. 🤦🏻‍♂️ Almost all of the American models are awesome. Check them out. Grow up and get over how everything looks. Meaning, who cares what the Logo looks like, or whether John Mayer likes it or not. Music is about listening.

To me it was very hard to hear significant differences between the two. I preferred A for Clean Neck, Middle Crunch and all Lead sounds. B sounded best on Clean Bridge and Middle, and on Crunch Bridge and Neck. To make a desicion, I listned through my soundbar on the TV, then on my studio monitors and finally through a decent set of headphones. Maybe RU-vid compresses the sound, but I guess that in the end, when loud enough, it doesn't really matter :-)

How's the Mexican Wolfgangs compared to the American and Indonesian ones? They looks to be priced somewhat in between the two, and some of them looks pretty cool. I think I would prefer a Japane one, though - but they are harder to come by, it seems?

Have you tried a new Peavey hp2 yet?

I like the Peavey Wolfgang better myself. That takes nothing away from EVH Wolfgang. I just prefer the neck on the Peavey.

The Peavey Wolfgang was an entirely different guitar on the inside. To start with those Peavey Wolfgang pickups used Alnico V magnets, much hotter than the Fender built EVH Wolfgang USA model and the Indonesian one you're demoing here. The Fender-EVH pickups use Alnico 2 magnets. This widely known, but I also got this info Jim DeCola the man who actually created these pickups. For the Fender built EVH models, EVH went with the same pickup spec on the foreign built and USA built models. For the Peavey models this was not the case. The foreign built Peavey Wolfgangs had a different spec pickup. There's also different suppliers for capacitors, pots etc... If you had a Fender-EVH Wolfgang USA signature it would sound nothing like the Peavey USA Wolfgang you have there.

I don’t change stuff on a guitar to make it sound better…I change things to make it “work” better…hope that makes sense!!

Played through what - That Sort or processing sorta send out sliced Cheese regardless of what you put in .. any amp tests

Two Gibsons in late 80's and early 90's. Both sucked rocks. American Start in 1991. Sucked rocks. MIJ Esquire..top three of guitars I've owned. All my Ibanez S and SA models are Korea and Indonesia. Fantastic quality. Last guitar, last month, D'Angelico Bedford Bob Weir, fantastic quality. Indonesia made. I have no intention of ever buying American again because they are just overpriced. The quality may be better than it was in late 80, early 90, but not worth 3x the cost of an Indonesian guitar. Best Regards and Best Wishes! Just got to reveal :) I like B Better :). Ears and Prefs :) . BR.

I have an Indonesian wolfgang standard qm, and i absolutely love it. I actually preferred guitar B the whole time up until the last test where i like A better. I eventually want to get my hands a usa one. For now I plan on doing more upgrades to the qm.

B every time for me....More dynamic and less muddy. Have not watched the reveal.

In the end I think how the guitar feels to you is most important. You can switch parts but feel is feel. The better it feels to you, then if you can afford it, then it’s worth it. It’s like buying a steak. Sure ya can save money by buying a good sirloin, but ya just cant beat a great ribeye. Lol. That’s my take 😊

How common is for guitars to have uneven frets from their manufacturing? Is it possible for the frets to pop out because of weather conditions difference? If so , even if you get them leveled and your environment is different from the luthier's lab then will you face issues again? It's just so annoying ( from personal experience ) to buy a guitar and then need to pay a visit to a tech just because you want a medium-low action .

My go to guitar to this day is my 98 WG special for $799. at the time. I've ha LP's, Ibanez and Fender stripe series when Ed pasted but still love this cheap WG the best. But this is just what my ear hears but may be subjective to other musicians. I cant see spending $3000. more and may not like what my own ears hear. And when you play in front of people most of them are tone deaf and just want to see a show and sing along but only you know something is off when you play.

This is like comparing the speed of the iPhone 12 Pro Max to the 13 pro max. The 13’s are 30% more faster but you can’t tell the difference. The screen is clearer but to the human eye it doesn’t matter. I couldn’t hear the difference. Unless you’re making an album in a studio, I say get the cheaper Wolfgang. If you’re just beginning anyway.

Hell if I know. B seems brighter. I liked A but I'm not using headphones.

Peavey was A and EVH was B 100% I like both but I own 3 EVH guitars. I'm hooked on EVH. 1st guitar was a Peavey T15 2nd was a Fender 1 humbucker upgrade Fender squire strat. I like Fender (EVH) better. EVH left Peavey for Fender and the 5153 blows away Peavey's version of the 5150. IMHO.

I thought B (Indonesian) was better sounding on 5 of the 6 tests and the remaining a pure tie.

I think i like B more but it's so close. Could just be the difference you played

the peavey is better. I have one and it's by far one of the best guitars I've ever played. the only other guitar that rivals the Peavey is my Ibanez Jem. Totally different beast, but in terms of sound, playability and build quality, the Jem is right up there with my wolfgang

Wow I was totally surprised. I heard the complete opposite of you.

EVH Wolfgang being made in Indonesia is fitting since Eddie was half Indonesian.

No matter how much u upgrade a low quality wood it's gonna sound worse given all the same components. But only 10% worse...would we pay 2-3x for 10%...maybe...maybe not.

American sounded pro

I don't like archtops and I would be interested in american made flat top with maple neck. They checked all the wrong boxes with the American....

i have a american made and a indonisian i like th indo better

I have an Indonesian Standard in Silver Sparkle. I paid $400.I had to do little work but I love it, the neck is great , I can get harmonics on every fret as well as pinch harmonics on demand.

Blabbla bla. Get to the god damned point.