Well! I never!!! ...just kidding.
Sounds reasonable. I think he put on his business hat as of the time he copywrited the stripes and had any likeness removed from Ebay and such. Maybe he realized he needs to cash in on all things EVH while he's still young enough and people still remember when he was god. I don't blame him one bit and am surprised he didn't do it 15-20 years ago.
As an owner and avid supporter of Wolfgangs I feel qualified to say that he was not wearing his business hat when he went to PV for construction of the Wolfgang. I think it was logical based on his experience developing the 5150 amp. But IMO he could have Fender, Gibson, Charvel, Jackson, etc. build the Wolfgangs EXACTLY the way PV built them and he would have sold many more. It's unfortunate but it's reality. I'm sure many folks liked Wolfgangs but because they had a predisposition to dislike PV guitars, they didn't buy one. They believed the hype more than their own eyes and ears.
I still say though that it's not a smart move to put all your eggs in the basket with those striped guitars. IMO there just isn't the vast market for those. NOW maybe he has the name recognition with Charvel that he didn't have with PV. But he has a guitar that doesn't hit nearly as wide of a market as the EBMM or the Wolfgang did/does. So maybe he hasn't gotten any smarter... IMO he'd be smart to do the Charvel thing AND keep doing the Wolfgangs. Maybe he'll eventually have Charvel building the next generation Wolf just like he did when he went from EBMM to PV. If he indeed does that, he would really be wearing his business hat then. I'm not sure they'll build the comparable guitar for the same money (especially based on what they want to sell the 25th anniversary models for) but it will be interesting to see.
Oh well. We'll see what happens but I have to agree that the earmarks are showing that he might be leaving PV and taking the Wolfgang with him. Not smart IMO but it looks that way none the less.