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EVH Wolfgang Stealth Ebony Fretboard

6K views 22 replies 9 participants last post by  DaylightDies 
#1 ·
I ordered an EVH Wolfgang Stealth (USA) and just received it yesterday. The guitar is awesome, I love it, but there's some specs on the ebony fret board as shown in the pics. Is this just something to expect with ebony and I'm picky, or should I return it? This runs all the way up the neck from one end to the other. Am I expecting too much from a $3k guitar?

 
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#2 ·
Believe it or not, ebony is VERY rarely all black. Usually has small whitish streaks. Most guitar companies soak their ebony is a black analine dye to get it a uniform black color.

If you don't like the streaks/specs, you can get some analine dye yourself pretty cheap and easily!

Edit: holy christ that action is low!
 
#3 ·
Yeah she plays like butter.

Yeah I may just get my usual setup guy to touch it up if it can be done well.

What got me though is that I've probably seen 10 of these guitars, all with flawless ebony fretboards (including the cheaper japanese/chinese version)... figures I order in a new USA one (I wanted the hardtail, which is rarely in stock in stores) and it has the freckles.
 
#4 ·
Yeah she plays like butter.

Yeah I may just get my usual setup guy to touch it up if it can be done well.

What got me though is that I've probably seen 10 of these guitars, all with flawless ebony fretboards (including the cheaper japanese/chinese version)... figures I order in a new USA one (I wanted the hardtail, which is rarely in stock in stores) and it has the freckles.
Just got one of he Japanese Stealth Hardtails a few weeks ago. It's a superb instrument, so much so I'm considering a USA version as well. Congrats on yours! Let's see some pics!
 
#5 ·
Ebony is becoming scarce because of our desire for so-called "flawless" black boards. Have you seen Bob Taylor's video regarding the issue?



In the not-so-distant past, loggers would cut down ten or more ebony trees to find one that was all-black. The streaked wood would then be left on the ground. Personally, I'd rather have a "streaked" ebony board on my guitar than to have that wood rot in the rainforest.

Nothing at all wrong with your board . . . I'd say, rather, what's flawed are the deeply ingrained standards of beauty and desirability to which we cling.

Peace

Mike
 
#7 ·
Yeah I had a chance to watch that video, and it's extremely informative. I actually love the look of streaked ebony, but these are just like freckles... makes it more look like a bunch of nick marks up the board. Either way, I think I'll keep her and maybe get it touched up. As I said, I absolutely love playing her.
 
#11 ·
It's not a height issue, it's a left/right issue, if you look at the nut head on, you can see about 1mm of fretboard on the left side (low E) but it's flush with the right. As I said, OCD, it probably has zero impact on the guitar... it plays great, sounds great.

I need to just enjoy the guitar. May affect resale value, but it's not my intention to ever sell my guitars. I just expect perfection for $3k. My Jems are perfect, my LP's are perfect... hell, my Japenese EVH's are perfect.
 
#12 ·
I just expect perfection for $3k. My Jems are perfect, my LP's are perfect... hell, my Japenese EVH's are perfect.
This. For $3K your OCD shouldn't be able to find anything to bother it, because the maker's OCD should've caught it first and never left it out of the factory. My Japanese EVH was dead flawless when I got it, so your US should be even better. If there's anything nagging at you, and you're still in the return period, I'd take it back until you get the one you can't find anything with.
 
#13 ·
I'm definitely within the return period, I only got it on the 3rd. I also have a really good relationship with the place I bought it from. My only issue is, there's no stock left of these guitars... I don't know if they're discontinued or just in production again and there's a supply gap... so if I return this I might not find another.

I actually originally ordered in a Japanese Stealth hardtail, but when it arrived it was in terrible shape. Frets cut my hands up to play they were so sharp (both sides), tone pot was almost seized up, pickup switch was super loose (compared to my others), glue on the fretboard... that's what made me go to the US, I wanted assured quality...
 
#15 ·
That's crazy (and crappy) that you had such a bad experience with EVH. The fit and finish of my Japanese Stealth HT honestly blew me away, even getting it from guitar center, where it'd been for several months. Fretwork is up there with the best I've ever owned, and from everything I've seen most people say about any of the Japanese Jackson/Charvel/EVH stuff, their QC is supposed to be very tight.
 
#17 ·
Thats pretty good news man. Awesome they are letting you keep your "new" one for the time being. I know that peavey had some "issues" wit hthe wolfgangs (EVH stopped production of some stuff), so some people had to wait a while before they got their orders in. Sucks, but he kind of takes his name on a guitar seriously. Hope it all works out for you man.
 
#18 ·
As another follow-up to this, and to give props to Fender for their customer service, I wanted to pass along some more info. I heard directly from Fender today, and they are looking at having a brand new neck made and shipped to me to replace the current one... I was pretty blown away at the personal response from them.
 
#20 ·
Fender ended up sending me a brand new guitar. Turns out the one I received was never supposed to be sold. It had been used for demos in Arizona for the new EVH amps, so was well used. It was put back in to stock my mistake. The new one is of the quality I expect from EVH.
 
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