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Well, it's been about a week since my EVH AS arrived from Brian Meader at Washington Music Center. I've had mucho time on 'er and have arrived at the following overall conclusions:
1. this is one KICK ASS guitar - she's super resonant, w/ mega overtones. The p/up on the EVH AS is definitely NOT an SD EVH'78 (like my LE Bullseye). The output is much hotter, and the low mids are fairly pronounced (1978 Marshall JMP2203, 1981 Marshall JCM800 2203 - both Mark Cameronized, 1972 100W Greenback loaded cab, checkerboard grill, script logo handles, straight cab, Evidence audio lyric and siren cables). The basswood, IMHO, is very even sounding through this setup and the lower mids evident in a swamp ash or alder body, are not missed at all. In fact, I'd guess w/ a p/up this hot, that there maybe a bit of tubbiness or looser low end. Also, the body is slightly larger, which may account for the robust tone that springs forth as soon as you pick 'er up! Sonically, she also "cleans up" nicely, and I can go from "Women In Love/Hear About it Later" to "You Really Got Me/Unchained/Panama" w/ the turn of the "tone" knob. 9's are nice. (aside: I really dig the open trem cavity - it really "opens up" the acoustic quality of an otherwise killer electric. Try playing Satriani's "Always w/ You, Always w/ Me" acoustically, and just listen to the EVH AS RING!!!!)
2. the build quality is as good as I've ever seen on a mass production axe (vs. a John Suhr or Tom Anderson, who build only about 800 axes/annum). Here's where I'm really anal. BUT there are no dead spots on the neck, and I cannot find any instance of fret grab, or misfretting on this one. The bridge is set, and positioned perfectly, lining up the low and high E strings equidistant from the neck edges. The neck pocket is as tight as a 16 year old virgin. I was unable to insert even a $1 bill! The slight slim in the neck allows for very even action all the way across the finger board.
3. the tape and stripe jobs vary w/ each model, so be careful. This is the only area that I was a "bit" disappointed. BUT Brian at WMC took care of this and sent me a another EVH AS. The tapping job is definitely by hand, and as such, the stripping will vary. This is great, because each EVH AS axe, while a production model, will be slightly different. However, I wanted mine to be as "close" as possible to EVH's 79 Charvel. The taping behing the D-tuna varies from straight down to slightly angled (check out Slash's and mine). Also the skinny tape under the area where a neck p/up would be routed also varies - some are "starred", intersecting nicely, some do not intersect perfectly and create a "triangled" intersectional "joint". I know, totally anal. Anyway, all that said, the guitar build and tone ROXXXX. AND THAT's the MOST important thing (to me!!)
4. I bought this guitar for the EVH stripe paint job and the strathead (w/ a FR D-tuna). Am I satisfied? FUCK YES. [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]
Oh, and here are the pix!
1. this is one KICK ASS guitar - she's super resonant, w/ mega overtones. The p/up on the EVH AS is definitely NOT an SD EVH'78 (like my LE Bullseye). The output is much hotter, and the low mids are fairly pronounced (1978 Marshall JMP2203, 1981 Marshall JCM800 2203 - both Mark Cameronized, 1972 100W Greenback loaded cab, checkerboard grill, script logo handles, straight cab, Evidence audio lyric and siren cables). The basswood, IMHO, is very even sounding through this setup and the lower mids evident in a swamp ash or alder body, are not missed at all. In fact, I'd guess w/ a p/up this hot, that there maybe a bit of tubbiness or looser low end. Also, the body is slightly larger, which may account for the robust tone that springs forth as soon as you pick 'er up! Sonically, she also "cleans up" nicely, and I can go from "Women In Love/Hear About it Later" to "You Really Got Me/Unchained/Panama" w/ the turn of the "tone" knob. 9's are nice. (aside: I really dig the open trem cavity - it really "opens up" the acoustic quality of an otherwise killer electric. Try playing Satriani's "Always w/ You, Always w/ Me" acoustically, and just listen to the EVH AS RING!!!!)
2. the build quality is as good as I've ever seen on a mass production axe (vs. a John Suhr or Tom Anderson, who build only about 800 axes/annum). Here's where I'm really anal. BUT there are no dead spots on the neck, and I cannot find any instance of fret grab, or misfretting on this one. The bridge is set, and positioned perfectly, lining up the low and high E strings equidistant from the neck edges. The neck pocket is as tight as a 16 year old virgin. I was unable to insert even a $1 bill! The slight slim in the neck allows for very even action all the way across the finger board.
3. the tape and stripe jobs vary w/ each model, so be careful. This is the only area that I was a "bit" disappointed. BUT Brian at WMC took care of this and sent me a another EVH AS. The tapping job is definitely by hand, and as such, the stripping will vary. This is great, because each EVH AS axe, while a production model, will be slightly different. However, I wanted mine to be as "close" as possible to EVH's 79 Charvel. The taping behing the D-tuna varies from straight down to slightly angled (check out Slash's and mine). Also the skinny tape under the area where a neck p/up would be routed also varies - some are "starred", intersecting nicely, some do not intersect perfectly and create a "triangled" intersectional "joint". I know, totally anal. Anyway, all that said, the guitar build and tone ROXXXX. AND THAT's the MOST important thing (to me!!)
4. I bought this guitar for the EVH stripe paint job and the strathead (w/ a FR D-tuna). Am I satisfied? FUCK YES. [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]
Oh, and here are the pix!
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