What happened to me today was one of those Wolfgang thingies...

[Jimi D]

Yep, I went and bought another Wolf... It's a long story really, but to shorten it up I'll present the salient points:

I wanted another floyd-equipped guitar to back up my Axis, and besides I wanted another floyd-equipped guitar...

...so I thought I'd look at some Morse sig. models. I checked out two, and they were very nice, but after playing both for a while I decided I'd probably be happier with another Axis, so I went looking for an Axis...

...and came across a used Wolfgang Special that was suffering from a horrible setup (with .011s!!) and too much dirt and general neglect, and had been hanging on the wall for too long...

...but it was a goldtop, and it was virtually unplayed with no fret or trem wear, and there was no damage anywhere excepting a tiny, miniscule ding on the headstock, and was 1/3rd the price of the Morse or Axis...

...so I figured what the hey, I'll take a chance, and I bought it for a lousy 4 bills, took it home, stripped it down to parts, set it up and cleaned it, threw a Duncan Custom in the neck and voila, the Wolfgang I always wanted...

As good as my Axes? Nope... but darned cheap, and fun, and very reminiscent of my Axes (but the neck feels far more like a Morse neck to me!).... Anyway, it fits in well with my stable, and I'm gonna keep her as the odd duck in my aviary...

And now I can relax and save up for my next Axis!

Check her out - my new (to me) Wolfgang Special

 

[bing4sons]

Jimi,

So when did you end up selling your PRS? I must of missed something.

Congrats on the new guitar.

 

[jongitarz]

Jimi...I also used to own a PRS. A nice custom 24... 10 top, birds, hard tail. Traded it for a Gibson CS 336...I am WAY happier with the Gibson

 

[OrangeChannel]

336's are sweet. I just got another Petrucci today, see my other thread on the details. Jongitarz if you can I'd like to check up on it's serial. Just getting a feel for how long it's been in the shop there.

 

[jongitarz]

OC, email me on Monday at [email protected] and I will get the info for you. I work 4-10's..Mon-Thurs, and I'm at home now.

Jon

 

[OrangeChannel]

Cool! Good times. I replied to an email Derek sent me about one I thought about buying (didn't tho) with it too earlier, I'll mail ya just in case. I'm guessing it's pretty recent but I just wanted to check. I cleaned it up similar in the way that Jimi D did to the wolf and it plays great, so great that I decided to Lemon Oil the Desert Gold one too and polish it. these things look almost like lollipops. hehe.

 

[fsmith]

Hey Jimi,
Nice guitar! Based on your original description, I wasn't expecting to see such a nice looking axe. You did a nice job cleaning it up. It looks like it's in really nice shape. I like the look of the headstock.

congrats...

fred

 

[ex3.8]

Yep, I went and bought another Wolf...

hummmmmmmmmm OK we forgive you. But just this once

 

[peter71]

That is a very beautiful guitar! Bravo man!

 

[dwf1004]

Traitor. Renounce your modship and immediately go away.

Not bad, JD...I do like that gold, though, and I've always had a secret appreciation of the headstock design.

Just a webpage note...reverse the "left:" and "right:" in your descriptions for the body and headstock pics. Either that, or flip the picture locations around, and it will be right.

 

[hbucker]

Jimi,

I have the identical Wolf Special with stock pickups. I agree with a lot of your opinions and it is a nice addition to my EVH. Since I am an owner and supporter of both PV and EBMM products, I appreciate your willingness to acknowledge the mere possibility of life beyond EBMM on their own board, of which you are a moderator. (for a few more hours anyway Especially since there seems to be bad blood here once in a while re: Wolfgangs and EVH's departure from Music Man.

In geeral many people talk as though Specials are poor quality, cheap versions of the Standards but I whole heartedly disagree. They don't have the pretty carved top and the neck wood isn't as expensive. That's why they're cheaper, not because they are of inferior quality, tone or playability. In fact, if I had to sell my Wolf Standard HT or my Special, I'd probably end up selling my Standard. Not that it takes a big backseat to the Special, but overall, I like the workhorse feel of the Special and the tone is actually a little nicer on mine anyway.

I originally bought my Special as an everyday guitar to keep my EVH a little nicer. No, they aren't the same guitar but their differences are both good.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Jimi D]

Yes, it's true... my PRS is gonzo... I sold it a few weeks back and actually don't miss it at all - it was the best guitar I had ever played, up until the time I played an Axis!

fred ~ ya, the Wolf did clean up real nice, but part of the reason I got it so cheap was the layers of crud on it and the terrible setup kept other potential buyers away, I guess... Anyway, if I hadn't managed to pick it up for so little dosh, I would have waited on an Axis in the $600-$700 range (but those are scarce, lately)...

Traitor. Renounce your modship and immediately go away.

But who'd annoy the heck out of you if I did that Darrell?

Not bad, JD...I do like that gold, though, and I've always had a secret appreciation of the headstock design.

I like the color too, but the headstock is really very derivative of the EB/MM headstock imho... I mean, if Gibson can get trademark infringement against PRS for the Singlecut's resemblance to a Les Paul, it's a no-brainer that Ernie Ball could get the same action against Peavey...

Just a webpage note...reverse the "left:" and "right:" in your descriptions for the body and headstock pics. Either that, or flip the picture locations around, and it will be right.

Are you sure you don't have your monitor flipped around the wrong way? Oh, all right... I'll fix it this weekend.... thanks...

I have the identical Wolf Special with stock pickups. I agree with a lot of your opinions and it is a nice addition to my EVH. Since I am an owner and supporter of both PV and EBMM products, I appreciate your willingness to acknowledge the mere possibility of life beyond EBMM on their own board, of which you are a moderator. (for a few more hours anyway Especially since there seems to be bad blood here once in a while re: Wolfgangs and EVH's departure from Music Man.

You know, hbucker, I appreciate your posts about your Wolfs - both hear and on the Gear Page - I may not have bothered looking closely at this guitar if not for them, since I owned a Wolf Standard that I wasn't too thrilled about, but I feel the Special is quite different in a number of ways... As to the "bad blood" - you've mentioned this before but I honestly don't see it... most of the defensiveness I see when the Wolf vs. EVH topic rears it's ugly head comes from the Wolfgang camp, ime... I don't think most EVH owners care much either way about the Wolf crowd... my 2¢

 

[hbucker]

As to the "bad blood" - you've mentioned this before but I honestly don't see it... most of the defensiveness I see when the Wolf vs. EVH topic rears it's ugly head comes from the Wolfgang camp, ime... I don't think most EVH owners care much either way about the Wolf crowd... my 2¢

It certainly isn't here on this thread that's for sure.

I come to the defense of EBMM & PV whenever I feel it's warranted. I also criticise each of these companies' gear when I think it's warranted. As I frequent the boards I see the occasional comments about other gear that I think are out of place. I see it here too once in a while but I agree it isn't bad. I wouldn't come here so much if it was.

 

[OrangeChannel]

I still swallow hard at the notion of paying in excess of a grand for a Peavey guitar. Maybe it's me tho. I took a Wolfie Hardtail in on a trade a while back, used it for a coupla shows and then put it back in it's case and sold it. Methnks I'da rather had a Special, or obviously....an Axis. It was too clunky for a small guitar and the pups were the harsh. Those new Korean made ones are pretty spot on tho' for the beanage...but the SUB is still gonna be a better option.

 

[hbucker]

I still swallow hard at the notion of paying in excess of a grand for a Peavey guitar. Maybe it's me tho. I took a Wolfie Hardtail in on a trade a while back, used it for a coupla shows and then put it back in it's case and sold it. Methnks I'da rather had a Special, or obviously....an Axis. It was too clunky for a small guitar and the pups were the harsh. Those new Korean made ones are pretty spot on tho' for the beanage...but the SUB is still gonna be a better option.

I think what PV falls victim to (and it's probably their own fault) most often is the fact that people look at a $150 foreign made PV Raptor, see that it's an o.k. but cheap beginner guitar and decide, "Wow. PV makes some cheap guitars."

PV targets specific markets and puts their PV name on every product. One of those markets is the low end beginner market. They have mid market and pro market stuff too. All priced right and quality wise, each tends to be a great value for the money.

I think this is where Fender was smart in creating the Squire label for their low end stuff. And of course they have their Custom Shop lable for highest quality stuff even though a lot of the stuff under that label isn't actually custom. People don't associate a $150 Squire Strat with an American Strat as coming from the same company even though technically they did. PV could benefit by labeling their lower end stuff accordingly. It's probably a little too late for that though.

From what I can tell, Music Man doesn't have this problem because clearly all of their products are geared for the higher end markets. I guess the new Sub would be an exception, but even those look like they're geared for the mid priced intermediate players. They don't offer any lower end beginner stuff so their name is never associated with anyting but high end quality. It's hard to say that's a mistake if they can make enough money with that strategy.

Whether PV's are your cup of tea or not is beside the point. I don't care for many of their guitars myself. But it's not really a quality issue for me. It's a look, feature, need thing in general. But did you know: PV was the first company in the late 70's to use CNC machines? At the time the were largely panned for doing so but very soon thereafter other companies realized that it was a very efficient way to boost production while keeping quality consistant. Also, Chip Todd who was with PV in the early 80's and later went on to help Fender develop their Super Strats is credited for developing one of, if not THE first production model Super Strat and it was for PV. I've seen his name referenced for this in Vintage Guitar Magazine and several books on the subject at Barnes and Noble. Chip is a good guy and is a regular over on the PV forum. He'll answer anyone's questions about anything and is a wealth of info for all things "guitar".

This info is worth what you paid for it but I thought I'd pass it along anyway.

peace

 

[OrangeChannel]

I hear ya buckerbro! Not detracting from the actual Wolfie prooduct line, just that PV tends to or at least did tend to lend itself to the economy ideal as opposed to the boutique. Now a ton of people use their stuff and like it which is cool. But it took a little company with great ideals to come up with a design that they aped and tweaked a bit to their own liking.

 

[hbucker]

I like both companies (I hope I've established that by now) but have to disagree with your "aped and tweaked" comment. IMO they are more different than you give them credit for.

And don't forget, EVH designed the Wolf, not PV.

It's all good.

Have a good rest of the weekend...

 

[OrangeChannel]

Ha. I like intelligent debate. It's a great thing really. Having owned the Wolf Std that I mentioned above, I just prefer the MM's more. One thing I do have to give PV credit for is selecting the flame tops on the Wolfs (even the EXPs) since they're nice to look at, all deep and dancy. One thing I am interested in by Peavey is that new George Lynch amp (if it ever comes out...)

 

[Jimi D]

I like both companies (I hope I've established that by now) but have to disagree with your "aped and tweaked" comment. IMO they are more different than you give them credit for.

Well, I'm fond of my Wolf as well, but I don't think I can look at the picture of the Wolf Special and Axis side-by-side, or compare the Wolf and Axis headstocks, without recognizing that the Wolf is very derivative of the EVH/Axis design... in fact, to me the Wolfgang silhouette looks like nothing so much as an Axis outline that's had the upper horn and lower treble bout pulled slightly off line in AutoCAD! Which pretty much qualifies as "aped" in my mind... Just my 2¢

 

[hbucker]

Fair enough. This should make you feel good. I didn't care for the stock Wolfgang case, especially for my Special with a trem, so I purchased one of the cases EBMM uses for the Axis/EVH. It's identical to my EVH case. It works perfectly for the Wolf even though the Wolf is a tiny bit longer.

As similar as they are (I'll give you that) in a world where people complain about 1/32nd of an inch of neck width (See: Axis changes from the EVH) and "Do tone knobs effect pickup tone". I can count 10 changes from the EVH to the Wolf that would give these people enough to argue about for weeks...

angled headstock
15" radius
wider neck
taller frets
4 bolts instead of 5
carved top
angled neck
pickups sound noticeably different
tone knob
MUCH different trem arm assembly (which I don't like and changed on my Special by the way)

These seem like enough to qualify the Wolf as it's own animal and not just an "aped" EVH. And again, they were both designed by the same guy so surely something would be similar. No?

If you'd made this many changes to the EVH for the Axis would you still be able to call it the same guitar?

(I need to get a life...)