EVH "Frankie" Replica to be at NAMM

[5074charvel]

I agree there´s a lot of irony in it. I thought the recent series was a bit on the high side but it was him and graaphics are expensive to produce. But this limited 100 run is not apealing to me.

I´d rather buy parts, tape and rattle cans for 20k and have the fun of my life building lots of guitars.

[Robert Burns]

Good point! :-) I just wish i was an "Idiot too!"

If we all had an extra $100K sitting around we would own 4!

I'm always curious why everyone always wants to call the people who buy the se limited or expensive guitars names like idiots/fools. If you want one and can afford them, then why are you a fool for getting one? Are guys who buy PRS private stock stuff of any other 10k + guitar idiots? I mean if your gonna go that far a First Act(after a setup lol)from Walmart will get the job done as much a Jackson, so why spend hundreds or several thousand when a $50 piece of plywood will do.

[Joe_Steeler]

I'm always curious why everyone always wants to call the people who buy the se limited or expensive guitars names like idiots/fools. If you want one and can afford them, then why are you a fool for getting one? Are guys who buy PRS private stock stuff of any other 10k + guitar idiots? I mean if your gonna go that far a First Act(after a setup lol)from Walmart will get the job done as much a Jackson, so why spend hundreds or several thousand when a $50 piece of plywood will do.

I will tell you why.
First, I can afford one of "those" if I really wanted to do it. I have the means, but the whole concept is incomprehensible to me.
It is a guitar made out of the same wood, paint, hardware, pickups, strings and skilled labor that would make a $2,000 guitar on the same bench, probably on the same day.

Aside from the moral and splurging issues it is the fact that on the very core, time after time, we are telling the manufacturers "sure! we'll pay whatever you want us to pay". Look at Gibson, raise the prices and sales go up! does that make sense? It is the false sense of exclusivity that drives idiots (some can barely play) to a material object while ruining it to the rest of the "average" player.
Look a at Brazilian board Fender Strat +$5k or any other CS Strat of any special cool feature +$3k and up. While the virtually the same guitar could be had for about $1k.
The differential in cost is not a true material and labor one, but one based on market willingness to pay. A market inflated and skewed for the "average" player by the fool who pays through the nose for a guitar that somehow will rekindle some memory of lost time.

I am not naive enough to think that we will all raise against the machine and stop buying them, therefore sending a message. I ain't going to happen.
It is just a fact of this economy and one we must live with. Still, we all have opinions.

What was the first thing FMIC did when they re-introduced Charvel. Set a new bar for Charvels with the FMT Anniversary Charvel at $4k. Say what?! a single hum, vintage hardware albeit pretty wood axe. Why?
No reason for you to know, just setting a new bar for CS Charvels. The most basic, flat out rockin' guitar out there. No OFR, no complicated wiring or pups, no intricate Learn artwork, no special case (God knows they don't to this day), no special about anything but the FMT top and BE neck. For $4k.

[shreddermon]

I'd love one myself but, if the figures being thrown around are in the ballpark, I couldn't justify spending that much $$$ on something like that. Some others can and will. We should all get over that. It's called supply and demand.

I mean, does it make it right if I pull out a key and scratch a dude's $100k Porsche, just because I can't afford one? Especially if there's a rich, vapid attention-whore behind the wheel doesn't have the skills to drive it on the track in the first place? No, it doesn't. And do you really think there's $100k worth of manufacturing and performance in the Porsche? Of course not - probably half of it's price is just the "rich guy exlusivity" premium. So I'll go out and buy a Mustang GT - which will match 95% of the Porsche's performance for 1/4 the price - and wish the other guy no ill will. Cool for him, cool for me. Might even drag race, if we happen to end up at the same stoplight.

[Shawn]

I'm always curious why everyone always wants to call the people who buy the se limited or expensive guitars names like idiots/fools. If you want one and can afford them, then why are you a fool for getting one? Are guys who buy PRS private stock stuff of any other 10k + guitar idiots? I mean if your gonna go that far a First Act(after a setup lol)from Walmart will get the job done as much a Jackson, so why spend hundreds or several thousand when a $50 piece of plywood will do.

Thats a great question Vince......

You know what? I couldnt give 2 shits what anyone thinks about how I spend my money. Let them talk. They always have and they always will. Jealousy runs rampant on these boards. Then you have the "well, its only a piece of wood~I could make 10 of them for that much". Yeah, but noone gives a shit if you make one.

Then there's the 'well, you can barely play, you dont deserve that cool guitar". I have gotten that before, just like Jose states above. Of course, my thoughts are, Yeah, I am not as good as you. But I play every night, take lessons twice a week, and oh yeah, actually have a Masters degree, including a minor in music. As a matter of fact, I play all day long now, because I dont have to work. While you were honing those awesome shred skills of yours, I was working hard in school and doing well for myself.


The crowd that says "well, I COULD buy one if I wanted to"....Thats BS too.

Either you like it alot, you pay for it, end of story, or you him-haw and say "well, I could." "Well, I could" means there are probably consequences if you did.

Anyone who is honest with themselves and really dug EVH would love to own one. That's a fact. The rest are just making excuses.



My .02

[VinceV]

I will tell you why.
First, I can afford one of "those" if I really wanted to do it. I have the means, but the whole concept is incomprehensible to me.
It is a guitar made out of the same wood, paint, hardware, pickups, strings and skilled labor that would make a $2,000 guitar on the same bench, probably on the same day.

Aside from the moral and splurging issues it is the fact that on the very core, time after time, we are telling the manufacturers "sure! we'll pay whatever you want us to pay". Look at Gibson, raise the prices and sales go up! does that make sense? It is the false sense of exclusivity that drives idiots (some can barely play) to a material object while ruining it to the rest of the "average" player.
Look a at Brazilian board Fender Strat +$5k or any other CS Strat of any special cool feature +$3k and up. While the virtually the same guitar could be had for about $1k.
The differential in cost is not a true material and labor one, but one based on market willingness to pay. A market inflated and skewed for the "average" player by the fool who pays through the nose for a guitar that somehow will rekindle some memory of lost time.

I am not naive enough to think that we will all raise against the machine and stop buying them, therefore sending a message. I ain't going to happen.
It is just a fact of this economy and one we must live with. Still, we all have opinions.

What was the first thing FMIC did when they re-introduced Charvel. Set a new bar for Charvels with the FMT Anniversary Charvel at $4k. Say what?! a single hum, vintage hardware albeit pretty wood axe. Why?
No reason for you to know, just setting a new bar for CS Charvels. The most basic, flat out rockin' guitar out there. No OFR, no complicated wiring or pups, no intricate Learn artwork, no special case (God knows they don't to this day), no special about anything but the FMT top and BE neck. For $4k.

To many people $2000 guitars are incomprehensible, when a guitar 1/10th the price will work. Why pay 2K for a guitar with stripes, when you can buy a old guitar and some cans of paint and do it yourself for a few 100.


These guitars are not for the masses, they are for the person who is a huge fan, and playing ability has no factor, and why should it. How many people are gonna get these and play them out at gigs? That isn't the purpose of these. Why it may seem 'stupid" to some, it's not to the people that buy them. If they enjoy them. Whether it be looking at it in a case on a wall, or plugged into an amp in their room. Then good for them. I see lots of guitars on these forums that make no sense to me, but I would never call the person who bought it/ordered it names. If it's what they want, then good for them.

Also how does a limited hand made expensive run ruin it for the average player? If any of the guitar comapnies decided that they were gonna price all the items in the 10K range, they would be outta business pretty dam quick, or go from a company of 100s to a 1 or 2 man shop. Making a few guitars a year.

[VinceV]

Thats a great question Vince......

You know what? I couldnt give 2 shits what anyone thinks about how I spend my money. Let them talk. They always have and they always will. Jealousy runs rampant on these boards. Then you have the "well, its only a piece of wood~I could make 10 of them for that much". Yeah, but noone gives a shit if you make one.

Then there's the 'well, you can barely play, you dont deserve that cool guitar". I have gotten that before, just like Jose states above. Of course, my thoughts are, Yeah, I am not as good as you. But I play every night, take lessons twice a week, and oh yeah, actually have a Masters degree, including a minor in music. As a matter of fact, I play all day long now, because I dont have to work. While you were honing those awesome shred skills of yours, I was working hard in school and doing well for myself.


The crowd that says "well, I COULD buy one if I wanted to"....Thats BS too.

Either you like it alot, you pay for it, end of story, or you him-haw and say "well, I could." "Well, I could" means there are probably consequences if you did.

Anyone who is honest with themselves and really dug EVH would love to own one. That's a fact. The rest are just making excuses.



My .02

LOL Shawn

I knew I could count on you to come in and set things straight. I'm with you in that at the core it's the jealous factor plain and simple(I was trying to not be so blunt, but fuck it). I remember when the EVH guitars came out, there was a group of, "those stupid things are a waste of money.". Anytime someone buys something expensive there will always be those who think it's dumb and feell a need to say it.

Really at the ned of the day, how many guys here on this forum, play and make a real living out of it. How many players on this board have put of stuff that anyone else has heard on the radio or played in venues, or have influenced othes to pick up a guitar, or whos names or style the average player would recognise. Then why would any of these guys need a several thousand dollar professional instrument, or a CS guitar. They don't, but why in the hell can't they have one if they want one, and it makes them happy. I'm always happy for the person who post a pic of their new/just got guitar. Doesn't matter if I like it for myself or not. I guess others can't always be happy for others

[Dolan]

Its a guitar made out of wood, metal and plastic just like the Wal-Mart guitars to the one your talking about here. Thats insane to spend that kind of money on something like that. If you want one, buy it. I certainly wont care I'll just think you have a loose screw like me is all.

[dg]

These are built to be instant collectibles. As long as enough people are willing to buy into their value, then they are worth whatever the asking price is. Not a whole lot different from buying art. It's nice to hang on the wall, and if you buy the right stuff it's a solid investment. They probably will go up in value, but my only concern would be that Fender is starting them out pretty high and cutting into the potential upside. The SRV Tribute Series strats shot way up in price quickly on the used market, and I'm sure Fender took notice of that when pricing the Blackies. They still sold out in 7 hours at $20k apiece, most within the first few minutes.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/061128/20061128005494.html?.v=1

So I just say congrats to you guys who want them and can buy them. Good luck and have a blast with your investment.

[JustinJ]

You can buy an Eric Clapton "Cream es-335" for less than the 12Kish GC was charging. Those have not appreciated yet and neither have the Crash Strats. I have no problem with people spending their hard earned any way they choose, the problem I have is that the 20K you spent on a Balckie or Frankie , as an investment, could buy a mint 64-65 Strat that would appreciate at a greater rate.....

[thetruthguy]

Anyone who buys guitars that I can't afford is an asshole!

[Frigo89]

I think that Ed should do some banana 5150's with Kramer, or I'll just buy a Meanstreet lol

[Zerberus]

I just love how the EVH sig axe threads ALWAYS, without fail, bring out certain packs of people:

1. The jealous hate raggers that can´t afford the guitars themselves, so they do whatever they can to taint others´ experience

2. The people that 5 years later still don´t comprehend (Or purposely do not acknowledge) that a company´s ownership and a company´s employee base have zero direct correlation.

3. The EVH haters that just need a chance to rag on him becasue, regardless of what he may look like now, he´s probably led a more fulfilling life than ractically anybody here, as well as having the fame that most of us aspire to. = More jealousy

4. The people that clearly and obviously do NOT understand the idea behind such runs, but of course speak as if they had organized hundreds of similar runs for large corparations, making millions of dollars in bonuses in the process.

5. The people these runs are actually targeted at.

and 6. Two or three people that actually have insight into the industry and /or product, but that almost nobody listens to because it doesn´t fit their personal agenda.

Lots of you guys constantly dis FMIC as some sort of root of all evil and guitarist assimilating Borg-cube that totally fucked up JCMI (Of course we all know that former owner Akai was by far the most prosperous ERA in JCMI history :ROTF: ). Ok, let´s go along with that somewhat preposterous theory .....

"Fender -made Jacksons", Pre-Post-Fender Jacksons:

- The Mistake: ESP owns Schecter, for example, but we don´t constantly see "ESP-built Schecter" or "Schecter-Built ESP" posts on any boards. But we see "Fender-made Jackson" posts left and right on this board. Ironically the decision to accept or deny this fact seems to be with the individual JCF member, as outside of this board people seem to either understand basic economics or not be entitled to their own facts, as outside of the JCF it is accepted that Fender´s acquisition of JCMI was not akin to dropping a nuke on the plant, but simply a change of ownership.

Honestly: What about Jackson and FMIC (who BTW also own Gretsch, SWR and Benedetto, among others) makes it impossible for some to comprehend this most basic principle? Most of me says that it´s primarily interest in a potential personal gain by giving the older Charvels a higher value through a false stigmata of mediocrity being applied to the new ones. Strangely, most of these posts seem to come from members who have extensive "pre-Fender" arsenals, yet equally interesting is that most of those that also have actual "post Fender" guitars in their stable have no major issues with either era.

And don´t come out with this and that QA error, because they were MUCH more common and also more extreme under Akai. Do some of you honestly think that something like what happened w/ the Sub camos NEVER happened before? If you do, please send me whatever you´re smoking, because I still have the invoices, RMA numbers, WO and Serial numbers to document just how shitty Akai was, and this was only ONE dealer that was affected (ironically the highest volume J/C dealer in a 500KM radius at the time, before the advent of online shopping). If, as is common, dealers are not treated with a significant preference based on anything outside of purchase volume, then other shops fared similarly if not worse.

"Fender is overpricing these guitars for the average joe":
-The Mistake: If FMIC is even remotely as malicious as you guys sometimes assume, then you´re lying to yourself if you assume they don´t know EXACTLY what said average joe earns. It is obvious to anybody with any idea of marketing and economics that nobody (sane) is going to spend half a year of their salary on a guitar that may only give them limited satisfaction beyond the "I want an EVH Replica" part. Are you honestly ignorant enough to assume that NOBODY at FMIC has thought of that, despite the dozens of people they employ worldwide who´s ONLY JOB is to think of things like this?? Sounds like someone needs a reality check to me....

Ironically, most average joes would never even consider these because of
1. THe EVH connection
2. the limited versatility
3. the ´80s paintjob

And as most of these are considered before the price, the price becomes irrelevant.

SO where exactly does FMIC /JCMI /EVH-Brand foul somebody here? THose that are whining would whine anyway and nobody that has anything to do with these instruments actually cares what they think anyway, becasue they´re either above that type of childish BS or understand that not every product released to the public is targeted to have sales in excess of 6 billion pieces.

Seriously, it´s like people dissing Saleen, McLaren, Ferrari or similar, CONSTANTLY, even though nobody ever told them they had to buy one, much less forced them to. There are readily available, more economical and more durable alternatives out there, all you have to do is buy one of those instead.

But INSTEAD of being men they call the WAAAHmbulance and still act like they´re the company´s best customer and have purchased every product the company has ever produced, against their own will at that, simply because they had no other choice. IMO this standpoint is primarily due to the way they´ve brainwashed themselves into a bubble.

Seeing threads like this, it´s quite easy to understand why JCMI has no current interest in keeping the channels open over here....

[Jack Napalm]

Post of the year Zerberus! Well Said.

[Shawn]

Post of the year Zerberus! Well Said.

I agree Zerb. Very well said.