I've owned my EVH Wolfgang Special guitar for about 6 weeks now. I did a review when I first got it but thought it was worth doing another now I've used it live and spent many hours playing on it. #evh #vanhalen #guitar
You have to think of a Floyd Rose like an Italian sports car... finicky, and a real pain in the arse to maintain, but having it properly set up and staying in tune is like a Ferrari running tip top.
I’ve had 3 EVH Wolfgangs. 1 Special all striped up and 2 USA’s. The 2020 Special was my first Wolfgang. BEST guitar I ever played. Super easy to play. Stayed in tune. I had to sell it for financial reasons. Sold it at the last Guitarlington show in Arlington, TX (2023). I acquired a 2011 USA. It was fantastic, though not quite to the playability of the Special. AND…..it wouldn’t stay in tune for more than a day. Got rid of it. Now I have a 2015 USA and it is perfect. Stays in tune for days on end and the playability is absolutely spot on.
TJ Walker, Great Job, I've seen your previous video as well, both give a different take on this guitar from what we have been seeing on RU-vid, plus the gig footage was great as well.👍
Stumbled across your channel and subscribed. Great playing! Speaking of radius at the bridge, you may already know this but the saddles are not all the same height. They are different height to setup the intended radius at the bridge. So if you ever take it totally apart (to clean or something), you should ensure you put them back in the same position so they maintain the intended radius. Mixing them up would mess up the radius, and if you have shims under some saddles to suit your action height preference it would also mess that up. Something to watch for. Anyways, great playing and thanks for the Wolfgang Special review! Great video!
Absolutely smoking demo, playing like the look of the guitar ❤🔥❤🔥. Looks amazing and your playing made me want to buy one within 60seconds. The roasted neck looks great with that colour. Great extra info re the bridge - can't say I've noticed anything similar on the Gotoh on my Jackon or Lo-Pro on my Ibanez but you'd kind of hope not as they are both made in Japan. I'd love this guitar, it just looks so nice to play.
Thank you, appreciate that! It's a great guitar, so nice to play. It's very subtle the thing with the bridge but it has helped make the action more even above the 12th fret. Check out my more recent video about my EVH Frankie which has the same bridge/radius, I go into more detail on it!
Cool jam!! Nice top on that one too. I bought an MIJ stealth sig this week to replace my '98 Peavey Wolfgang. The blades wore out on the Peavey, and I can't find parts to replace it properly. Took it to multiple techs. Their answer was to use comparable parts which raised the bridge a bit. Now, I kinda hate it. It won't stay in tune unless you raise the action a lot. I'm hoping I can fix it down the road. I feel much better now that I have a working Wolfgang again. I love my other guitars, (I have an Ibanez RGT1220 as well) but nothing beats the Wolfgang imho.
Gr8 vid Tom and tasty playing as usual and a very interesting facts about that bridge! Not sure what the science is behind that? Also feeding the strings through the tuning heads although sounds like a good idea, depending on the properties of the string I wonder if it affects the intonation of the string? Interesting too that you are basically just been playing it straight out of the box, one review on GAK said although its a fine guitar the setup leaves alot to be disired!? May be he got a Friday afternoon job lol..and you just got lucky ! See you soon at the Mesmerist on Wednesday 😊
Thanks Glenn. I’ve strung it keeping the ball ends on the machine head end and it’s worked great! Mine was fine out of the box, I have tweaked it since but it was pretty much ok straight away…..and it was straight out of the box, it hadn’t been set up in the shop. See you Wednesday!
Radius: Schaller, which manufactures the “original” Floyd Rose in Germany, also produces a Floyd Rose under license and a model they call the Lockmeister. (So German lol ) The Lockmeister is available now with different bridge radius and nut radius options so you can match it up to a particular guitar. It is a drop in replacement and made of the same hardened steel , etc. as the expensive “original” version. Found this out doing research about trems. I also found out that the expensive “original” model is made by Schaller in Germany. The Floyd 1000 series are made in South Korea and the SE models are made in some dodgy guy’s backyard near Birmingham. Gotoh in Japan makes them under license for about a third of the price of the “original” model but they use all high quality steel. But if someone wants to swap to a Gotoh they have to measure post distance carefully and may have to have a luthier enlarge and install the posts the Gotoh comes with.
Hey there! Absolutely loved your video! The content was awesome and that backing track you used? Pure perfection! Got me grooving throughout! 😄 Any chance you could drop a link or share where to find that fantastic backing track? It would totally make my day! Keep up the fantastic work!
I don't have the track to hand....I'll have to find the audio and remove my guitar! But if you send me an email to tom@tomwalkermusic.com I'll see if I can find it for you and email it over.
Hey TJ, nice video! Great playing! Something that I have always hated with the guitar is my fingers getting poked by the strings that are sticking out of the tuners at the headstock.. so what I did when it came to the Floyd Rose was to string them backwards, with the ball ends at the headstock and then I cut the string shorter and clamp it in at the bridge. Then I pull the balls up and away from the headstock to show them off in all their ball glory 😂 What is really cool is that D'Addario strings have different colors for their balls. That really looks cool!
If you check the interweb for a diagram there is virtually no difference between a 12" and 16" radius fretboard until you get to the extreme outer edges of the fretboard. So, you shouldn't really have needed to shim the Floyd to get great action (1.5mm Low "E", 1-1.2mm High "E" - both at 12th fret). Both my Wolfgangs (a Standard and a Special) and Jackson Soloist Pro have 12-16" compound radius and Floyds with no shims at all. It does require perfectly level frets and minimal/zero relief. As you mentioned, the Floyd Rose is set-up as standard for 12" radius. This is achieved by having 3 different height saddles. It's worth checking that your saddles are fitted to the baseplate in the correct order as this can seriously 'mess' with string heights. There should be a number (or numbers) underneath each saddle to show which position they should be on the baseplate. Typically, "16" for Low or High E, "25" for A & B and "34" for D & G. So, the 6 saddles should be arranged in a 123321 pattern.
My first “real” guitar was an Ibanez with a Floyd. What a joy to play. Tuning it after a restring was a feat but once you got it and locked it down, nothing like it. No issues with tuning going out of whack. I’m eyeing a Wolfgang and really interested in the dtuna.
If you get a chance to get a wolf fang, do it. I love mine. It has a distinctive sound that I really like, especially with power chords or bar chords. I play it more than I play my Jem Jr. I don’t have the D-Tuna on my Wolfgang yet, though I have a tone vise on my Ibenez. I already like the Wolfgang as is but imagine it with D-Tuna installed.🤯
Don't cut the ball ends off. Feed the strings through from the machine heads. The ball ends then act as another sting lock and reduce the number of windings on the pegs.
@@iamtjwalker as someone who has used floating bridges since 1984, primarily FR and Ibz Edge please I wouldn't do this long term. It doesn't really help, can eventually damage your tuners and to many, maybe just old FR snobs, it just looks bad. The locking nut works, string the guitar and lock it. I know of people do this or have over the years for many reasons. The one thing it will do though is save some time, however if that is a really big issue, I would suggest adding locking tuners. Remember that Eddie used a standard strat 6 bolt bridge on Eruption, a properly lubricated and cut nut with strings wound correctly work amazingly well most of the time. If you can lock that then it should be even better! I'm not having any issues with my FR in regards to the radius, mine is set closer to ~14 from the factor which is working for me with the compound radius on the guitar. I will note that my block is a little offset so I'm going to have to take the bridge apart to fix it and may just upgrade to a larger brass one. Glad you are still loving it, I'm enjoying mine as well! Your playing is fantastic!
@@MarbsMusic Thanks for that. I have to say, I agree that with the locking nut, that having the ball ends in place can't make much difference....the only thing I really like about doing it that way is that you don't have the little sharp ends of strings which I have occasionally stabbed my finger on over the years! I did worry about having the thicker double twist by the ball end going through the machine heads....I'll do it the other way next string change! I have since added shims to the 5th and 6th strings. It has solved the problem of the 4th & 5th strings being quite a bit higher....definitely enabled me to get the action uniformly lower!
I just got the MIJ Wolfgang and like it. The problem was it needed a good set up. I had to adjust the truss rod and bridge. I want it float and right now it’s really stiff. How do I make that adjustment? Thanks with any info. David
I've used several setups for recording the EVH. If you look back over my videos you can see the different methods I use......I go into detail. I've used Guitar Rig 6, the Marshall JCM800 you see behind me and my Quad Cortex.....I've been pleased with all the results.....it's basically getting a Marshall plexi type sound and tweaking from there!
I have the issue of my 1st string being the only string that is a bit dead and non sustaining from the 12th fret up (also a Wolfgang).. but if I raise the entire bridge until it rings clear then the action is a bit much across all strings.. there is no inbetween - it's either annoying action or a dead 1st string above the 12th fret. So now I have raised one side of the bridge making it slightly wonky. Thoughts? might have to try those metal strips if I can find them seems like a fix.
The Floyd Rose shims made the action perfect across the bridge for me. I think I put 2 under the 1st and 6th string and one under the 2nd and 4th. This flattened it out more in line with the radius above the 12th fret (which is 16" I think). The action is perfect now.
Wow! Killer vid. I was just going to type a little comment that I liked you. Like your style. Love the guitar! But I was going to gripe a tiny bit... and whine like a lil' bich that you were talking too much. And then... you blew my freaking socks off!!! Holy crap. Man you are one heckuva player, and for a minute there.... I thought I was listening to Van Halen 4. You SMOKED it!! Love it Brother, and subbed! PS - I have this guitar, in Stryker Red. Been thinking about a second one - dif color. And now I want this one!!
Thank you....really appreciate that! Sorry I was talking too much ....I used to get told off for that at school too!😀 I think getting another one in a different colour sounds like a good plan!! Mind you, I like the new Star shaped EVH they've just brought out too....that looks fun!
Hi, nice tips about the saddle heights. But,¿That floyd is good enough? I wouldn't trust in a Floyd Rose Special, ¿or being EVH branded means that is made like a 1000 series Floyd Rose?
great guitars ,,Ive had mine a year and found if your a seasoned player it takes some tweaking to adjust the guitar to your comfort . i have done a lot of shimming ,tweaking, string gage changes and adjustment to find that magic setup for me. so yes ,,fantastic guitar but maybe not for the beginner ,,you need to know how to set up a somewhat complicated guitar to get it to your playing style and level . once its there its solid and absolutly a fantastic guitar for the money. one thing i never hear reviewers talk about is how fantastic these pickups sound clean ,,! after watching tons of YT videos you would think this guitar can only play Van Halen or shreddy type songs ,,,and that is a huge dissservice to the years of research and work Eddy put into this instrument and the pickups
I didn't have to do too much.....I flattened the radius of the saddles with shims and tweaked the action to my liking but other than that it was pretty good out of the box. I've done this video on how versatile it is as a guitar.... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7n0vsuHWdIs.html
Judging by the sound and shape only these are like "Extreme" Super Teles with those rather bright Wolfgang pickups although I know that Teles don't usually have a locking vibratos on them.
@@iamtjwalkerYes, true, which is a VERY GOOD thing since some actually prefer the sharper edges of a slab Tele like body actually and for paradoxically ergonomic reasons like, it won't so easily slide off your chair bottom in the 'Classical' position or wiggle off of your, say, polyester pants leg like a Strat could. That is why some guys just come to Love the Flying "V" shape too when they discover that it comes with a built in chair stand at the bottom of the "V" and/or leg brace that very securely holds the guitar in the sitting "Classical" position which gives you far more wrist flexibility and fretting hand reach plus, the same V bracing technique works wonderfully while standing and doing "crazy" bends too. Variety is God's pleasure I think and it even manifests in guitars, thankfully.
i have the floyedrose on my Godin redline 2 and actually i never use it and hate it. because i only have 2 guitars and change tunes kinda often. is there any chance to totally "LOCK" it ?
I don’t think you can lock it exactly….on a fender you can screw the screws at the back so it’s flush against the body all the time….some people put a block of wood in to secure it too.
You can a device called “trem lock” or something like that, it’s kinda expensive but it lets you make your floyd rose function like a fixed bridge but you can also take it off and make it float again.
I like my floyd.. especially my dive only Floyd. Nothing stays in tune like that guitar. I can't play rocksmith with it though because different songs require different tunings and switching tunings is a chore.
I'm still hesitant to take it on a gig....I'm worried about breaking a string and having to loosen the nut etc....my close up eye sight isn't as good as it was!!
I assume the grammatical error in your comment was in jest! 😀- (when I first seen it) Anyway I just checked and according to Grammarly - Learnt and learned are both used as the past tense and past participle forms of the verb learn. The difference in spelling depends on whether it’s American English or British English. learnt is the correct spelling in British English learned is the correct spelling in American English (and for Canada, too)
@@iamtjwalker no I did not intentionally make that mistake. I never understood that part. Seen or saw. But interesting that the word learnt is a different country pronunciation.
@@jimyounger9490 I didn't know the difference either, that why I looked it up....I've used both in the past!! In the UK they didn't teach grammar at school when I was there.....now my kids are learning it and I know less than they do from the age of about 6!! I've bought books on it to keep up!
You’re too good to be playing that import. As good as the Indonesian ones are these days (especially compared to older imports), you still feel more and more of the things that lack quality the better you play. Most players I’d say it doesn’t matter because you can’t sonically hear the difference. but the feel when you’re playing the actual music is night and day sometimes. And it’s holistic, so you can’t just point to one aspect of the guitar that’s better or worse. Pick up an EBMM Axis or a Peavey EVH Wolfgang (the American model not the Korean EXP). Unless you want to pay for a USA made EVH brand. I assume they’re pricey, id say Japanese made is the best bet. Same quality as a US built guitar, at about the same price as the Peavey and EBMM. 🤙
I was struggling with mine to start with but after much fiddling about and frustration I’ve now sorted it and it works well. Not sure how often I’ll use it live but I like the idea of it!!
