What are your guys personal opinions about these? I am tempted to get one, but for some reason I keep hesitating. I'm a huge VH fan so this is something that I think kicks ass. I wouldn't just get it and put it up. I would play it(granted not well). I know, yes you can make yourself one for less than $1000, but if you could get one would you?
- Thread starter VinceV
- Start date
You're talking about the Charvel EVH guitars that are selling for $5000+ ? I'd buy an original Barretta and paint it up for under $1000 before I'd drop that much money on a guitar that doesn't even have an Eddie lineage - yes, I know the original frankenstrat had a Charvel 2nd bod, but the Charvel company has never had anything to do with EVH. Actually, I'm surprised he didn't go with Silvertone on this one, but I guess he didn't want to have to compete with Paul Stanley ! 
koogie2k
Well-known member
Simply put......no. Too much $$$ for an axe that I have not played to see if I even like it.......this is getting ridiculous if you ask me. I personally know a dude who makes guitars in that price range (and up) that blows that thing out the water. His are worth that kind of money...not these.
hbucker
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I'm a child of the 80's. An "Ed Head". I have 3 EVH signature guitars... but I'm done. I love the guitars I have but even if they were only $1,000 I wouldn't buy one of the new ones. I take that back, I might if he actually played it and it was only $1k. But I'd still think twice about it.
At the prices they're asking, no way. I don't have that kind of extra money. I could get my hands on that kind of money one way or the other, but when I think of the other things I could do with $15k, I just shudder.
There is absolutely no reason from a component and construction standpoint that these guitars should be anywhere over $1,500. And that amount is generous. The rest of the asking prices is all based pm intangables and placing a silly high value on those intangables at that. If that's all worth it to you, go crazy. But I'll be saving my $$$ for now.
At the prices they're asking, no way. I don't have that kind of extra money. I could get my hands on that kind of money one way or the other, but when I think of the other things I could do with $15k, I just shudder.
There is absolutely no reason from a component and construction standpoint that these guitars should be anywhere over $1,500. And that amount is generous. The rest of the asking prices is all based pm intangables and placing a silly high value on those intangables at that. If that's all worth it to you, go crazy. But I'll be saving my $$$ for now.
PurpleSport
Well-known member
Aside from the "oh wow, cool!" factor of having a guitar that EVH played onstage and did a little "artwork" on, these guitars are strictly collectors items. I mean, c'mon....they're bolt-on, backrouted solid bodies with one humbucker based on an instrument made for $150, fer cryin' out loud!
The things are more of a profit generating machine than a revolutionary product, or a truly well-crafted piece of art, and should be considered as such by all but the most rabid/gullible VH fans (not knockin' VH fans, as I've been one for longer than I care to admit - just not happy how EVH conducts business with 'em nowadays)...
The things are more of a profit generating machine than a revolutionary product, or a truly well-crafted piece of art, and should be considered as such by all but the most rabid/gullible VH fans (not knockin' VH fans, as I've been one for longer than I care to admit - just not happy how EVH conducts business with 'em nowadays)...
Van Heineken
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I definitely wouldn't buy one. IMO, Eddie's playing the nostalgia card with this guitar, but I don't feel there's a lot of value there for actual players. I think this will end up in more display cases and on people's walls than it will in actual player's hands and that's a shame.
If he really wanted to put out something special for those who actually picked up a guitar because of him, why not a Wolfgang with a transtem or a variation of the Ripley Guitar with the individual eq's for each string (the one played on the beginning of Top Jimmy)? The Ripley was a real neat concept from a recording perspective. I'm surprised that never seemed to go anywhere.
If he really wanted to put out something special for those who actually picked up a guitar because of him, why not a Wolfgang with a transtem or a variation of the Ripley Guitar with the individual eq's for each string (the one played on the beginning of Top Jimmy)? The Ripley was a real neat concept from a recording perspective. I'm surprised that never seemed to go anywhere.
nobozos
Well-known member
I'm a pretty huge VH fan myself, but there is absolutely no way I would spend that kind of dough on that guitar. Sure, it's cool that he put the stripes on it, and that he played it on stage and autographed it, but I don't think that justifies the cost.
It would be different if the winner of every auction for one of those guitars got it personally given to him by Eddie at a concert or something. For that kind of money, you should get to meet and spend the day with Eddie, and attend one of his concerts that night with full backstage privelages to party with the band. That might be worth it, if you got to sit down with Eddie and jam, or if he let you demo your new guitar through his rig at the sound check. At least that way you would have some kind of personal connection associated with the guitar.
The ones I think are rediculous are the ones that Charvel is making as "reproductions" of the original VH Frankies. They are asking PRS prices for a one humbucker, bolt-on, Floyd equipped strat. That's nuts. No way in hell when I could get an original EBMM/EVH for that kind of scratch.
Just on a side note here:
I think it is pretty crappy of Edward to do Peavey the way that he did. I mean, they wanted to make a striped Wolfgang ever since the line came out, and Eddie said no. There was much speculation that when the Custom Shop opened, that the striped paintjob whould be one of the first options offered, but again Eddie said no. It would have absolutely been the fastest selling EVH guitar ever produced if they had been allowed to do it. Then, for whatever reason, Eddie goes to Charvel to have them make a striped STRAT of all things. Don't stripe your own signature guitar, but then offer the most widely available body style ever produced in the history of electric guitars with your signature stripes?? That's just wrong.
It would be different if the winner of every auction for one of those guitars got it personally given to him by Eddie at a concert or something. For that kind of money, you should get to meet and spend the day with Eddie, and attend one of his concerts that night with full backstage privelages to party with the band. That might be worth it, if you got to sit down with Eddie and jam, or if he let you demo your new guitar through his rig at the sound check. At least that way you would have some kind of personal connection associated with the guitar.
The ones I think are rediculous are the ones that Charvel is making as "reproductions" of the original VH Frankies. They are asking PRS prices for a one humbucker, bolt-on, Floyd equipped strat. That's nuts. No way in hell when I could get an original EBMM/EVH for that kind of scratch.
Just on a side note here:
I think it is pretty crappy of Edward to do Peavey the way that he did. I mean, they wanted to make a striped Wolfgang ever since the line came out, and Eddie said no. There was much speculation that when the Custom Shop opened, that the striped paintjob whould be one of the first options offered, but again Eddie said no. It would have absolutely been the fastest selling EVH guitar ever produced if they had been allowed to do it. Then, for whatever reason, Eddie goes to Charvel to have them make a striped STRAT of all things. Don't stripe your own signature guitar, but then offer the most widely available body style ever produced in the history of electric guitars with your signature stripes?? That's just wrong.
OrangeChannel
Well-known member
Nah.
I keep hearing it's just a bolt on strat with 1 pickup. But honestly does anyone here know how well they are made? Most people don't consider USA Jackson/Charvel stuff junk. I mean for people (especially us EB fans) to put down a guitar for being a bolt on is kinda silly. It's just strange to me that because it's a strat guitar everyone thinks it's a ripoff. Those Jimmy Page Gibsons don't seem to be hated like these are(is that just the Gibson snob factor, cause I've had a few even an R9 and they were all junk for the price), and they have even less to do with Jimmy Page(all he does is sign it and strum a chord or 2), yet at $25,000 they were all sold in minutes, and no one questions their collectability. I realise that as an everyday player these wouldn't be practical, but how about as a collection piece?
Quote from Bozo
"The ones I think are rediculous are the ones that Charvel is making as "reproductions" of the original VH Frankies. They are asking PRS prices for a one humbucker, bolt-on, Floyd equipped strat. That's nuts. No way in hell when I could get an original EBMM/EVH for that kind of scratch."
Why is a EBMM/EVH worth it but a EVH Charvel reproduction not. Both are Bolt on Basswood bodied guitars right. Does the extra Humbucker justify the EB price?
Quote from Bozo
"The ones I think are rediculous are the ones that Charvel is making as "reproductions" of the original VH Frankies. They are asking PRS prices for a one humbucker, bolt-on, Floyd equipped strat. That's nuts. No way in hell when I could get an original EBMM/EVH for that kind of scratch."
Why is a EBMM/EVH worth it but a EVH Charvel reproduction not. Both are Bolt on Basswood bodied guitars right. Does the extra Humbucker justify the EB price?
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dwf1004
Well-known member
VinceV said:
1. The heart's not where it was in the$e guitar$ as it was when the EBMM was designed/created.
2. The EBMM model was limited to the 5000 (ballpark) that were made, and that's it. No more...either player's guitars, or they go in the closet, depending on the buyer. Charvel models are produced only so many per year, and will be ongoing (I believe for quite some time in the future, if the popularity and current interest in the band continues)
3. Anyone that will buy an EBMM will buy it to play it, 9 times out of 10.
4. An EBMM would be more stage-friendly, without setting up expectation. I've seen many a folk get on stage with an EVH and not be expected to break off some VH. Step up to the plate with a striped, and all eyes are on you.
Just my take on it all...
Warg Master
Well-known member
For $10K you could get 5 used EBMM EVH sigs! Screw his new ****, it's not worth that at all!
PurpleSport
Well-known member
Vince -
Most original Charvels aren't junk by any means, indeed. They were custom made in small batches by a small specialty company, with a LOT of hands-on work done to make them unique. Try an original vs. a mid 80s import, and there's NO comparison. Those originals were certainly each one of a kind.
This is just speculation on my part, but I'd bet dollars to donuts that the newest generation of EVH Charvels are likely run off en masse from a CNC router in the Fender factory, just like all their other mass production guitars you see in Guitar Center.
Sure, maybe they have a nifty neck carve and a better fretwork/setup job - for the money, there better be - but there's nothing revolutionary at all in the design that justifies those $3,000-$15,000 pricetags. 15 grand for one of these is what...100 times more for basically the same simple parts EVH originally used? With a not very complicated, taped-off opaque paint job on a pedestrian basswood body? With all due respect to Ed....pah-leeze. There ain't no fretjob or rockstar autograph THAT special...taking future Antique Roadshow collectability out of the discussion, this is nothing but a massive gouge based on EVH's cult of personality, pure and simple, and further aided and abetted by the specialty guitar collector/dealer network who'll snap them all up the moment they roll off the assembly line.
Yes, EBMM, Gibson, and most other manufacturers use CNCs too - it's more economical and consistent to crank out a bunch of necks and bodies that way. But it seems to me they put a bit more work and finesse into the finished product than Fender because their production is smaller (however, I too have seen some really stoopid high priced Gibson clunkers on the shelves over the years...too many for my taste, in fact...and their prices keep going up up up, which is the greatest mystery of 'em all)...
At least the Page guitars were from their Custom Shop, had a set-in neck and hand-customized relic finish, and were an even more limited run of the first guitar that JP ever officially endorsed (and arguably, Led Zeppelin was a more popular band with an even larger fanbase - I don't have exact numbers, but I'm pretty sure they've sold more albums than VH has - so there's even more nutjobs with too much money out there willing to pay the hefty price to a scalper...whoops, I mean dealer).
Look at it this way: for 15 grand, you can get a pretty exquisite custom-made guitar made to YOUR specs by many top independent luthiers. You can fly around the world to their shop, book a hotel room, figure out the most minute details with a consultation session or three with the luthier, use the choicest, rarest woods, have them work on your guitar exclusively, aggravate them over the phone while it's being made, and get the finished product with several thousand in change left over in your pocket. For instance, a top of the line John Suhr guitar is about 5 grand-ish...you could buy three for the price of one EVH Charvel that you've basically seen already done a zillion times by other builders for a lot less.
So yes....perhaps if one is going to put one under glass or lock it in a safe somewhere, the new EVHs might be investment-worthy. As a player instrument, though, even the $3000 entry level cost for a production model is just really, really ridiculous....
Most original Charvels aren't junk by any means, indeed. They were custom made in small batches by a small specialty company, with a LOT of hands-on work done to make them unique. Try an original vs. a mid 80s import, and there's NO comparison. Those originals were certainly each one of a kind.
This is just speculation on my part, but I'd bet dollars to donuts that the newest generation of EVH Charvels are likely run off en masse from a CNC router in the Fender factory, just like all their other mass production guitars you see in Guitar Center.
Sure, maybe they have a nifty neck carve and a better fretwork/setup job - for the money, there better be - but there's nothing revolutionary at all in the design that justifies those $3,000-$15,000 pricetags. 15 grand for one of these is what...100 times more for basically the same simple parts EVH originally used? With a not very complicated, taped-off opaque paint job on a pedestrian basswood body? With all due respect to Ed....pah-leeze. There ain't no fretjob or rockstar autograph THAT special...taking future Antique Roadshow collectability out of the discussion, this is nothing but a massive gouge based on EVH's cult of personality, pure and simple, and further aided and abetted by the specialty guitar collector/dealer network who'll snap them all up the moment they roll off the assembly line.
Yes, EBMM, Gibson, and most other manufacturers use CNCs too - it's more economical and consistent to crank out a bunch of necks and bodies that way. But it seems to me they put a bit more work and finesse into the finished product than Fender because their production is smaller (however, I too have seen some really stoopid high priced Gibson clunkers on the shelves over the years...too many for my taste, in fact...and their prices keep going up up up, which is the greatest mystery of 'em all)...
At least the Page guitars were from their Custom Shop, had a set-in neck and hand-customized relic finish, and were an even more limited run of the first guitar that JP ever officially endorsed (and arguably, Led Zeppelin was a more popular band with an even larger fanbase - I don't have exact numbers, but I'm pretty sure they've sold more albums than VH has - so there's even more nutjobs with too much money out there willing to pay the hefty price to a scalper...whoops, I mean dealer).
Look at it this way: for 15 grand, you can get a pretty exquisite custom-made guitar made to YOUR specs by many top independent luthiers. You can fly around the world to their shop, book a hotel room, figure out the most minute details with a consultation session or three with the luthier, use the choicest, rarest woods, have them work on your guitar exclusively, aggravate them over the phone while it's being made, and get the finished product with several thousand in change left over in your pocket. For instance, a top of the line John Suhr guitar is about 5 grand-ish...you could buy three for the price of one EVH Charvel that you've basically seen already done a zillion times by other builders for a lot less.
So yes....perhaps if one is going to put one under glass or lock it in a safe somewhere, the new EVHs might be investment-worthy. As a player instrument, though, even the $3000 entry level cost for a production model is just really, really ridiculous....
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SteveB
Well-known member
I was looking into a new Charvel San Dimas before I ordered my EBMM Petrucci guitar. I have played several Charvels, and personally I have liked them. But the price tag just wasn't justifiable.. and that price was *much* lower than what they're asking for the new EVH Charvels. I think they make a decent quality instrument, but they are simply too expensive.
As for the EVH model price tags.. forget it! I could see big $$ if this were Ed's one-and-only line of axes.. but he keeps changing companies and models. How many times does he think the fan base will buy into the same trick?
As for the EVH model price tags.. forget it! I could see big $$ if this were Ed's one-and-only line of axes.. but he keeps changing companies and models. How many times does he think the fan base will buy into the same trick?
Eddie Van Halen
Well-known member
he didnt play them on stage, he played the ones with the kramer headstock vintage fender body and gibson pickups, this is a charvel replica, its not the same. I wouldnt buy one hand striped or not because it doesn't have a neck pickup which is vital for solos and i doubt the Charvel is anywhere near as awesome to play as the custom guitars he had in he 70s and 80s
hbucker
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Vince,
Bottom line: I don't see anyone here saying the Charvels are bad guitars. They're just not worth the asking price.
The Toyota Camry is a good car. One of the best family sedans you can buy. Reliable, comfortable, quiet, etc. Am I slamming it if I say there's no way in hell I'd pay $200k for one?
This analogy holds with the EVH Charvels too. Guitar = good. Asking price = insane.
Bottom line: I don't see anyone here saying the Charvels are bad guitars. They're just not worth the asking price.
The Toyota Camry is a good car. One of the best family sedans you can buy. Reliable, comfortable, quiet, etc. Am I slamming it if I say there's no way in hell I'd pay $200k for one?
This analogy holds with the EVH Charvels too. Guitar = good. Asking price = insane.
PurpleSport
Well-known member
hbucker said:
Best analogy yet, hbucker....well done!
Warg Master
Well-known member
I think it's safe to say we all agree.. it's a good guiter, but not good enough for the money it's going for.
