New EVH Relic Blue Burst

[PDC]

And just to clarify - basswood is hit or miss, not universally ‘bad’ by any means. In the late 80s / early 90s ALL the Ibanez RG models and even the big dollar JEM series were basswood and most sounded just fine. I do think a thick, glossy paint finish like the original stripe series guitars have helps to firm up the bottom end on a basswood body and give it some ‘thunk.’ But that said, I’d grab an alder body off the rack for a build before basswood 8 days a week. And having finally sourced a Musikraft Northern Ash body for a build (the one in my sig pic) I totally get the hype. Never owned a guitar that sounded that good.

 

['63-Strat]

They had one color in these for a stupidly low price awhile back. I still passed because I just don’t think they look good. The striped one I get it even though not for me. These ones I don’t really get.

Edit: think the red one is still super cheap

 

[psychodave]

I'm thinking the minds at the EVH company are trolling guitar players by putting out these guitars.

 

[Fiesta Red]

The basswood bodies with the stock pickup sound really good in these. I tried a few other pickups and the stock not-made-in-the-USA pickup sounded best

 

[DanTravis62]

I'm thinking the minds at the EVH company are trolling guitar players by putting out these guitars.

They have to be, especially for the prices they charge for this broken ugly bullshit

 

[hopkinWFG]

Nice looking !! But wait !! A selector switch in the middle pickup cavity ? Lol

 

[Tone Junkie]

If you dig it get one.

I’m just burned out on the Fender Van Halen money grab. Every 6 months another strat with a EVH logo.

 

[dcburn]

I gotta stop being such a pussy!
I have zero trem experience, but there are so many cool guitars with a Floyd and locking nuts.
All the stuff I work on, they shouldn't make me nervous.

 

[GearGasms]

I feel like EVH misses the mark on these.

To me, the look of the Franky body only works in the context that it's Franky, stripes and all. The design of the body is a reflection of Ed's entire process leading him to that point, the reason it's so cool is because it embodies the DIY ethos of making something that doesn't work for you into something that does.

Trying to distance the Franky from Ed and make it into a regular non-signature production guitar makes as much sense as using a Sex Pistols song in a commercial for scented body wash.

IMO, EVH would be better off making non-striped finishes of their regular Striped models. Despite basically being the iconic form of a classic Charvel (a single pickup Strat with a non-recessed Floyd Rose), Charvel themselves make no guitars in this style outside of their Custom Shop. EVH releasing the Striped models with standard finishes would not only make more sense, it would fill a niche that Charvel doesn't do anymore.

I agree with this 1000%. Add a kill switch and make it a really fun ride!