EVH WG Wolfgang Standard | Fender Music Australia | $1299
With EVH Guitars name ringing profoundly throughout the upper echelons of guitar-playing circles, it was only natural that a more budget-minded Wolfgang model would make itself known amongst its contemporaries.
Boasting all the tone, playability and style of its big brothers, the EVH Wolfgang Standard is an uncompromised vision come to life.
Clearly the mission statement is to put a pro-level Wolfgang into the hands of the working player, but retailing at around half the price of the next-tier Wolfgang Special, where exactly have the costs been cut?
Straight out of the box, the Wolfgang Standard oozes classic EVH style. Harkening back to the 1990s Soldano-driven aesthetic of Van Halen’s For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge era, the Wolfgang’s transparent red finish with masked-off natural binding looks absolutely fantastic.
Catch up on all the latest music gear reviews here.
By this point, the Wolfgang shape has become all too familiar, enduring a variety of renditions across various companies. However, I feel that it really has come into its own with the more recent EVH varieties.
The special “Comfort Cut” forearm contour makes for an easy playing experience regardless of whether you are seated or standing. Additionally, upper fret access is never hampered with the Wolfgang’s stylish double cutaway design.
The basswood body is both light and resonant, offering plenty of punch with a nicely balanced tonality, well-suited for modern playing styles and setups. EVH are also offering quilt maple versions for those who prefer a bit of added bling when it comes to their axe.
The gloss urethane finish feels great to the touch, never getting sticky or unpleasant to play on through even the most demanding of rehearsals.
EVH Wolfgang Standard WG
Another feature that really hits home when it comes to the EVH Wolfgang Standard WG is the baked maple neck. Its oiled finish feels fantastic with the patented Wolfgang Backshape profile that will appease even the most arduous shredder, without promoting the hand cramps associated with some skinnier neck carves.
Additionally, the Wolfgang Standard WG is spec’d with a nifty 12”-16” compound radius fretboard. This, in combination with the instrument’s 25.5” scale length, makes for a phenomenal playing experience regardless of playing style or genre.
Boasting 22 jumbo frets, I found that the EVH Guitars Wolfgang was a pleasure to play. Due in no small part to the excellent fret job provided by EVH’s Indonesian factory supplier.
If this wasn’t enough, the neck’s titanium reinforcement with heel mount truss rod adjustment wheel ensures that the Wolfgang WG Standard will remain stable in even the most demanding of conditions.
The heel-mounted truss rod wheel makes for easy adjustments on the fly if you do need to make them, meaning that you will never be scampering around looking for the right wrench before soundcheck.
The EVH Wolfgang WG Standard is equipped for war with a dual set of OEM EVH Guitars Wolfgang humbucking pickups.
EVH opting to use their own brand pickups instead of opting for brand name aftermarket options is a very clever way to keep the cost of the Wolfgang WG Standard down at retail without compromising on quality or tone.
As per the specification of the late Eddie Van Halen, these pickups are direct mounted to the guitar body without the use of more traditional mounting methods such as pickup rings or a pickguard.
According to many, this method of pickup mounting encourages the transference of sympathetic vibrations providing numerous tonal benefits, including but not limited to the increase of sustain, harmonics and other subtle nuances.
As for the pickups themselves, I personally found them to be up to the task of most playing styles, with a slight lean towards high-octane rock and metal. Despite this, they do clean up rather nicely for both crunch and clean tones even with the absence of any coil-splitting functionality.
The Wolfgang WG Standards electronics are further rounded out with standard master tone and volume controls. EVH have opted to ship this model with low friction 500k pots, enabling the player to easily engage in Eddie-inspired techniques such as his signature volume swells.
Floyd Rose Special
The Wolfgang WG Standard is packed with a quality mid-tier hardware package centred around an EVH-branded Floyd Rose Special bridge.
This model has few changes from the upmarket 1500 series that aid in reducing the cost of the bridge. For example the Floyd Special features a different sustain block and saddle parts to the aforementioned 1000 series, utilising a different, more cost efficient metal compound in its design.
Rest assured that the EVH Floyd works just as it should, with even the most harrowing of deep divebombs returning to perfect pitch over the duration of time I spent with the instrument with no troubles in sight.
When it comes down to the crunch the EVH WG Wolfgang Standard represents fantastic value for the aspiring rocker. Providing all the features one needs to bust through from the bedroom to the stage without breaking the bank, or skimping out on the things that matter.
For more info, keep reading at EVH Guitars.
