Being an Eddie fan and a fan of anything custom made . I thought I would look into a few details of the new EVH/Charvel venture.
The first thing I took note of was Charvel .They were aquired as part of FMIC (Fender Musical Instruments Inc.) In the fine print of the web ads as quoted from www.charvel.com
"The registered EVH trademark and copyrighted striped guitar artworks are used by JCMI under license from E.L.V.H., Inc. The headstock and body designs of the EVH Art Series guitars are the trademarks of FMIC. All rights reserved. Used with permission"
This tells me 2 things. first and foremost Ed does own the copyright to stripes on the guitars. In order for him to market his idea he had to work with FMIC to bring it to light.
Charvel had the pants sued off of them over the original big headstock necks on the original Charvels of the late 70's by then known as CBS/Fender Musical Instruments.
The second thing this tells me is Ed doesnt have the infinite control over these that he did with the Wolfgangs.
I would look for a possible late 2005 or early 2006 production run of these guitars if the initial sales and marketing is anything of a success.
I don't know and can't really guess if they will be US made or made in either Mexico or overseas by FMIC.
The popularity and sales of other Retro 80's guitars ie.Kramer 1984 by Gibson has forced the other big manufacturers to rethink Technology vs. proven sales.
From the specs I have seen of the new EVH/Charvel its simply a single pickup routed strat style basswood body cnc'd for a Floyd Rose.
The neck Ed supposedly used was a 70's Charvel Neck . These spec out to the same as a Maple Fretboard 70's Fender neck probably a 11.5 R 1 5/8" nut with 22 medium jumbo frets. This would be identical to some of the 70's reissue Strats and Early 80's (up to about an 86) Jap strats.
Mighty Mite sells this identical neck licensed by FMIC with either the "big" or " small" headstock. These can be picked up for about $119.00 US.
The pickup is noted as a EVH custom wound pickup. Something close would probably be an older Duncan TBL4 ( Early JB predecessor) or pre 1985 Kramer Baretta (Zebra stripe) or Pacer Bridge pickups. These were loosely based on a hot rodded 57 PAF.
The Floyd Rose is self explanitory. Readily available on Ebay in an abundance or on many 80's Kramer's (Kramer had the FR tied up in legal mumbo jumbo for the early 80's) for under $100.00 or new for under $200.00 US.
(To get the most tone out of a Floyd use the old screw in fulcrum screws not the ones that use inserts.)
If your adventurous and a bit resourceful you can build your own Retro for under $600.00 US.
The first thing I took note of was Charvel .They were aquired as part of FMIC (Fender Musical Instruments Inc.) In the fine print of the web ads as quoted from www.charvel.com
"The registered EVH trademark and copyrighted striped guitar artworks are used by JCMI under license from E.L.V.H., Inc. The headstock and body designs of the EVH Art Series guitars are the trademarks of FMIC. All rights reserved. Used with permission"
This tells me 2 things. first and foremost Ed does own the copyright to stripes on the guitars. In order for him to market his idea he had to work with FMIC to bring it to light.
Charvel had the pants sued off of them over the original big headstock necks on the original Charvels of the late 70's by then known as CBS/Fender Musical Instruments.
The second thing this tells me is Ed doesnt have the infinite control over these that he did with the Wolfgangs.
I would look for a possible late 2005 or early 2006 production run of these guitars if the initial sales and marketing is anything of a success.
I don't know and can't really guess if they will be US made or made in either Mexico or overseas by FMIC.
The popularity and sales of other Retro 80's guitars ie.Kramer 1984 by Gibson has forced the other big manufacturers to rethink Technology vs. proven sales.
From the specs I have seen of the new EVH/Charvel its simply a single pickup routed strat style basswood body cnc'd for a Floyd Rose.
The neck Ed supposedly used was a 70's Charvel Neck . These spec out to the same as a Maple Fretboard 70's Fender neck probably a 11.5 R 1 5/8" nut with 22 medium jumbo frets. This would be identical to some of the 70's reissue Strats and Early 80's (up to about an 86) Jap strats.
Mighty Mite sells this identical neck licensed by FMIC with either the "big" or " small" headstock. These can be picked up for about $119.00 US.
The pickup is noted as a EVH custom wound pickup. Something close would probably be an older Duncan TBL4 ( Early JB predecessor) or pre 1985 Kramer Baretta (Zebra stripe) or Pacer Bridge pickups. These were loosely based on a hot rodded 57 PAF.
The Floyd Rose is self explanitory. Readily available on Ebay in an abundance or on many 80's Kramer's (Kramer had the FR tied up in legal mumbo jumbo for the early 80's) for under $100.00 or new for under $200.00 US.
(To get the most tone out of a Floyd use the old screw in fulcrum screws not the ones that use inserts.)
If your adventurous and a bit resourceful you can build your own Retro for under $600.00 US.