The GOOD…
Positive: let me get this first out of the way
• the guitar looks stunning, the pictures don’t make it justice.
• It’s a compact guitar; it will look “good on” people that are smaller.
• the guitar sounds amazing! All three pick-up positions are very usable. It is a very versatile guitar; you get very good clean (as well as spanky) tones out of it. But at heart it’s a rock machine.
• It is very easy to play with a very low action. I have somewhat of a buzz on the lower E and A string but I think some adjustment might correct it.
• The neck is not as thin as I thought it would be but doesn’t hinder in any way the fast playing.
• The vintage style frets did not bother me at all.
• And did I say how stunning the guitar looks?
…the BAD….
But let’s be honest, you don’t pay €4K because you think the sound or the build is 4 times better than a €1K guitar. You pay it for everything that comes with it (e.g. finish) too. And here is where the negative comes point in…
I can’t describe how disappointed I am.
Negative: it ABSOLUTLY does not have a €4K custom-shop worthy quality (finish). I went through two guitars before I had to keep the second one. Both guitars came with issues which tells me that it is not a one-time thing but rather something to expect from Fender/EVH for the moment.
• dirty frets with glue bleeds from the frets
• guitar case came with no EVH logo. (The case hasn’t a premium feel to it. And the cases hinges don’t give me much confidence too.)
• no allen wrench key (it is supposed to be included)
• badly sanded neck; you can feel on certain areas that it isn’t smooth.
• body: bubble in the paint (some kind of dust or a glob of paint)
• paint bubbles under the bridge due to no sanded wood
• 4 cm long scratch on the finish near the pick-up selector
• Missing/scratched wood parts on the fret board (22th fret)
• Fret ends are sharp: maybe due to lack of humidity during transport ?
• binding lines on the headstock isn’t clean: there is a slight split where the lines meet
• the pot and bridge cavities are also a mess: it has been butchered. In the pot cavity, the holes for the cables seem to have been carved with a screw driver by a toddler (wood picks are sticking out) and in one place the tool seem to have accidently slipped and carved out a piece of the wood. In the bridge cavity the wood part directly under where the floyd rests is not sanded: on the contrary, it seems to have been carved by a purfling knife and stopped half way leaving the thin scratched wood hanging on to the body. Of course, this is something that most people won’t see but come on. Where is the passion? Where is the expected quality?
…the UGLY.
The thing that makes this all the more infuriating is that the EVH finish does not much my 400 euros worth guitar; it is miles away. Even the cavities of the cheap guitar can’t be compared to the EVH’s mess.
There is no attention to detail: these badly finished guitars should have never left the factory.
I accepted to keep the guitar mainly because Thomann didn’t have any other of this model in stock and restocking could take months.
Overall, a very disappointing experience. A very good sounding guitar and a terrible quality which is something that you – indisputably - shouldn’t find on a €4K “custom shop”- labelled guitar. (you don’t order a Rolls Royce to find a scratched and badly painted car to be delivered to you).
Once again it is not a €1K, not a €2K, not a €3K but a €4K guitar which definitely is not worth its price.
