Shredder alternatives - peavey wolfgang?

2780 Views 21 Replies 10 Participants Last post by doriangrey, Feb 7, 2017

marauder

Discussion Starter · Jan 26, 2017

I have shredder GAS - strat style, floyd, hh or hsh...

Found what i believe to be a decent deal on an older Peavey Wolfgang. It's the "special" model, so pretty plain-jane, but I'm a home player so I don’t mind. Has a great rep from what I've googled. Is there a better bang for the buck, not too pointy, option that I should be considering in the sub-$800 range? I was originally looking for a MIJ Charvel, being more strat-like, but I can't find much that's not a neon color (I'm a little more conservative), and I figure the US peavey may be better than the more recent MIM charvels...

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Budda

· #2 · Jan 26, 2017

It's all about what you prefer in neck specs. I find the EBMM necks too small, though many people love them. I believe the Wolfgang has a similar neck profile.

Some MIM's are really great guitars, some USA's aren't. I would try the guitar in question before you buy.

Conversely, could try to flip this to add a couple hundred to your budget: This is an ESP for LTD price

ESP eclipse I standard w/ESP case | guitars | St. John's | Kijiji

Edit: or grab this Jackson:

Jackson SLXFMG soloist with HSC- mint! | guitars | St. John's | Kijiji

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marauder

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 26, 2017

Saw those. Not an emg fan, unfortunately. Floyd has to be part of the deal. Hoping the local L&M has an evh in stock to try, but the website doesn't think so. Either way, i know the neck will be an adjustment - current guitat is a LP Traditional, so a drastic change regardless...

Adcandour

· #4 · Jan 26, 2017

Consider the Sterling EBMM line - I like the luke when it's set up right. Fastest guitars I've ever played.

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dcole

· #5 · Jan 27, 2017

How about Jackson Dinky's? There are lots, with solid colors out there. I had one and was able to set the string action super low with no fret buzz.

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marauder

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jan 27, 2017

dcole said:
How about Jackson Dinky's? There are lots, with solid colors out there. I had one and was able to set the string action super low with no fret buzz.

I've seen a couple of these around - currently watching a reverse headstock one on ebay. Would prefer to find an MIJ one, which is really limiting due to the extra import costs...

Budda

· #7 · Jan 27, 2017

marauder said:
Saw those. Not an emg fan, unfortunately. Floyd has to be part of the deal. Hoping the local L&M has an evh in stock to try, but the website doesn't think so. Either way, i know the neck will be an adjustment - current guitat is a LP Traditional, so a drastic change regardless...

The Jackson has an FR, and I don't know if you have tried EMG's but don't write them off without spending a little time.

If you want MIJ anything, I reckon you may want to expand your search radius.

marauder

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jan 27, 2017

Budda said:
.
If you want MIJ anything, I reckon you may want to expand your search radius.

Well, the Peavey is in California...being in NL, that's about as far as I can go

Budda

· #9 · Jan 27, 2017

marauder said:
Well, the Peavey is in California...being in NL, that's about as far as I can go

True! Is it a rosewood fretboard? That'll be a wait.

grumpyoldman

· #10 · Jan 27, 2017

Budda said:
It's all about what you prefer in neck specs. I find the EBMM necks too small, though many people love them. I believe the Wolfgang has a similar neck profile.

I currently have two Peavey Wolfgangs, and have had several EBMM Axis/Axii/Axissssss...which of course were derived from the Peavey EVH model and had his preferred asymmetrical neck profile. While I agree the EBMMs had small necks, the Peavey Wolfgangs' necks are much wider than the EBMMs were. Still have an asymmetrical neck profile, but slightly flattened - certainly not nearly as pronounced as the EBMMs were.

John
thegrumpyoldman

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Budda

· #11 · Jan 27, 2017

grumpyoldman said:
I currently have two Peavey Wolfgangs, and have had several EBMM Axis/Axii/Axissssss...which of course were derived from the Peavey EVH model and had his preferred asymmetrical neck profile. While I agree the EBMMs had small necks, the Peavey Wolfgangs' necks are much wider than the EBMMs were. Still have an asymmetrical neck profile, but slightly flattened - certainly not nearly as pronounced as the EBMMs were.

John
thegrumpyoldman

Thanks for the insight! I have briefly played a Wolfgang, but not long enough to remember much about it besides it not being for me. I do know they are solid guitars though.

BSTheTech

· #12 · Jan 27, 2017 (Edited)

I have two Wolfgangs as well. For the price you specified you need to be certain that it actually is a Special and not a Special EX (or whatever they were called). The EX's were made in Korea and are ok guitars except they drilled the holes for the Floyd too close to the nut so intonating the bottom strings can be impossible. The way you tell is if the guitar only has one knob (volume). If that's the case you're probably better to move on. They usually run for about $450-$500 USD. One other thing to remember with Wolf's is that they aren't routed for the Floyd to pull up. Eddie sets the Floyd's flush on the body and the Wolfgangs are made to reflect this. You can back out the mounts to raise the bridge but then you're causing other problems. If you want easy positive and negative dives grab another guitar. Check out the PRS Torero. Full floating trem, EMG's, thin neck. Great guitar and $800 or less used.

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rearviewmirror2

· #13 · Jan 27, 2017

Once you try a wolfgang neck you'll never play anything else.

marauder

Discussion Starter · #14 · Jan 27, 2017 (Edited)

BSTheTech said:
I have two Wolfgangs as well. For the price you specified you need to be certain that it actually is a Special and not a Special EX (or whatever they were called).

It's a 90s era peavey USA wolfgang special, not an import. That means slab basswood body - really would have preferred maple cap, but seller just dropped the price significantly so I pulled the trigger. Figured it was worth the risk. If I don't like it, someone else here might get a decent deal

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grumpyoldman

· #15 · Jan 27, 2017

BSTheTech said:
I have two Wolfgangs as well. For the price you specified you need to be certain that it actually is a Special and not a Special EX (or whatever they were called). The EX's were made in Korea and are ok guitars except they drilled the holes for the Floyd too close to the nut so intonating the bottom strings can be impossible. The way you tell is if the guitar only has one knob (volume)...

The USA made Specials have the slab body with no binding, and one volume knob - no tone control. The Special EX (I had one of those, too) had one volume, but body binding and a photoflame top (at least mine did). Problem with Floyd Rose placement, and weighed a ton compared to the USA made Specials. Also, the Korean model did not have the oiled neck/fingerboard - it was clear poly coated like a lot of Fenders are. The USA Special neck and fingerboard are oiled.

John
thegrumpyoldman

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Lemmy Hangslong

· #16 · Jan 27, 2017

I've got some Wolfgangs. Two Peaveys one a Special and one a Custom and I have a EVH Natural Blonde. I've had one other Pat Pend Wolfgang I traded for a 83 Pacer.
The Peavey Wolfagang is by far my favorite guitar. I've owned $4500 PRS and the EVH Natural Blonde is over $4000. Not that the Peaveys are "better" they are my personal favorites for many reasons. The EBMM Eddie Van Halen Signature guitar... not the Axis, just for clarity... is a great guitar and guys who love them LOVE them. For me the neck is a bit too small. But the build quality is there and the pickups sound great.
The Peavey neck is a bit wider than the EBMM and the EVH Neck is thinnest and widest of them all.
Of the two Peavey's I have the White Special with Maple neck is a slightly different neck profile than the Custom. The Custom has a more pronounced asymmetry.
I play in a local cover band about 50 nights a year and the Peaveys hold up. The set up excellent with no issues I have to compensate for, the play killer and are well balanced and are just under 9 pounds, the tones are both classic rock and 80's as most of the 80's tones were out of that classic late 60's to 70's lineage.
I own a 69 plexi with no mods and a 2015 ReVv Generator 7-40. The Wolfgang through the Plexi nails EVH's best tones dead on. Throught the ReVv I can get modern and classic tones with no issues. For this reason I use the Peavey's live and for recording. I simply have not found a better guitar and I've owned over 70.
The USA EVH Natural Blonde has a USA Floyd and the Peavey's have the Gotoh 1996 Tremolo. Some people complain about the Gotoh but in truth I cannot hear a difference and there are no performance issues with it.
The Pat Pend I owned was very nice and had a great tone. Unfortunately someone had re -crowned the frets to a very low and uncomfortable profile. A 83 Pacer came along and I traded without hesitation. But I would trade that pacer right no for the right Peavey Wolfgang Special. The Pacer sells for about double a Peavey Special.
At the end of the day its got to be right for you so hope this helps a little.

marauder said:
I have shredder GAS - strat style, floyd, hh or hsh...

Found what i believe to be a decent deal on an older Peavey Wolfgang. It's the "special" model, so pretty plain-jane, but I'm a home player so I don’t mind. Has a great rep from what I've googled. Is there a better bang for the buck, not too pointy, option that I should be considering in the sub-$800 range? I was originally looking for a MIJ Charvel, being more strat-like, but I can't find much that's not a neon color (I'm a little more conservative), and I figure the US peavey may be better than the more recent MIM charvels...

See less See more

Reactions: 1

Rollin Hand

· #17 · Jan 27, 2017

Worth noting just for the sake of information: the hardware on a Peavey Wolfgang Special EXP is not nearly as good as it is on the US models. It's Sung-Il made stuff, if I am not mistaken, and is not bad, but the Gotoh bridge and lock nut are definitely superior.

Looking forward to the NGD!

Reactions: 1

marauder

Discussion Starter · #18 · Jan 27, 2017

Rollin Hand said:
Looking forward to the NGD!

I'll definitely put a post here when it arrives. Coming from across the continent and crossing the border though, so it'll take a while

Reactions: 1

marauder

Discussion Starter · #19 · Feb 5, 2017

So it didn't take near as long to get here as I thought it might! Just slapped a fresh set of strings on it and gave it a whirl. Definitely a well built guitar. Going to take me a while to get accustomed to the Floyd ergonomics though! Maybe I just should've bought a strat

Reactions: 1

Rollin Hand

· #20 · Feb 6, 2017

marauder said:
So it didn't take near as long to get here as I thought it might! Just slapped a fresh set of strings on it and gave it a whirl. Definitely a well built guitar. Going to take me a while to get accustomed to the Floyd ergonomics though! Maybe I just should've bought a strat

Everyone's tastes are different -- I actually find that a surface-mounted Floyd (as in, non-recessed -- it can still float) helps my picking. I guess I just got used to that in the years playing my RG410.

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