Conference napalm::guitar

    I heard the list price is something like ~$1200.
    
    trickey (Van Halen junkie)  8^)
    

    What happened to .0?
    
    In any case, I went down to my local music store yesterday and lo and
    behold there on the wall was a new EVH model guitar.  Just a looksee
    over it confirmed my previous statement that this is one of the ugliest
    guitars ever made.  Such a shame to waste the beautiful tiger stripe
    maple top on such an ugly guitar...
    
    The fit and finish of the instrument was very good.  It was reasonably
    well set up, but the action could have been a little lower.  This one
    has a pink see-through finish over the tiger stripe maple top and a
    birdseye maple neck with either no finish or a very light satin finish
    on it.  It has a locking nut and a Floyd Rose licensed tremelo in
    chrome.  The tremelo is set up so that it cannot raise the pitch of the
    string, only lower it.
    
    Playing wise, the neck is rather thick, and the string spacing is
    pretty close.  It honestly reminded me of an old Tele, kind of club
    like.  Not to my tastes, I prefer the thinner necks myself.  On the
    other hand, it seemed to have a real nice resonance to it and it had a
    "lively" feel, which to me is the mark of a good electric guitar.
    
    I didn't plug it in, but I was talking to another guy in the store that
    had and he said that the pickups were among the best he'd ever heard
    (after he said that, I kind of wished I'd plugged it up, but they were
    closing and all that).
    
    So, all in all, I think this thing is probably a nice interesting
    guitar for someone, but it's overpriced.  I think putting it in the
    $600-$700 range would be more appropriate.  I didn't ask the price on
    that one, but a previous reply said something like $1200 list so I
    presume you could probably get it for about $800-$900.  
    
    I prefer the feel of a $550 Ibanez over this, but if a "super Tele" is
    what you're looking for, maybe this is for you.
    
    Greg

	Has anyone seen the new Michael Jackson video:  "Black and White"???
	I just caught the beginning last night and saw the kid from HOME ALONE
	jammin' on what looked to be the Ernie Ball Eddie Van Halen model guitar.
	Am I right or were my eyes decieving me????  If it was, does Eddie play
	anything on the album?  Remember he did the solo for "Beat It".....
			


	Spratty (in the process of learnin'  Runnin' With the Devil)

    Yep, I believe that's the right model ... the amp situation looked a
    little hoakey tho' ... 8^)
    
    
    Scary

    YUp, dat be the guitar!

    Yeah, I thought that part of the video was a pretty straight ripoff of
    the first 'Back to the Future' movie.  I'm kinda down on Michael
    Jackson, but I'm getting to like Slash's guitar parts.

    To me, it looks like a ripoff of the old Twisted Sister video `We're
    Not Gonna Take It' ...
    
    Scary

    Nobody has replied to this note for quite some time, but I thought I'd
    inject a little "buyer beware" here for anyone who might be looking at
    buying one of these guitars; The tops on these are not actual flame
    maple. I was told by a salesman that the flame top on these are venear,
    not solid maple. He also told me that this finish is only about as
    thick as a medium pick......
    
    Seems like a joke, considering that Ernie Ball wants $1699 list for
    one of these.....
    
    Mike

    I've seen some cheap Strats with "tiger stripes" recently that were
    some sort of veneer, but it looks super cheap/fake.  I'd expect that if
    the VH guitar is truly a veneer, it would be noticeable...of course,
    I've yet to see one of these.  
    
    							Brian

I saw one a few weeks ago, sure was pretty but I didn't look too close

veneer? cheezy!

dbii

    The flame on the cheap Strats is called "photo-flame"; like it says,
    it's a "picture" of flame maple.

>    I've seen some cheap Strats with "tiger stripes" recently that were
>    some sort of veneer, but it looks super cheap/fake.  I'd expect that if
>    the VH guitar is truly a veneer, it would be noticeable...of course,
>    I've yet to see one of these.  
    
    I doubt it'd be noticable 'cause it's got a bound flat body (Tele
    style).  Even a very thin veneer can look really hot if you can't see
    the edge.
    
    Greg

    Well,  put it this way...wot's the difference between a "cap" and a
    "veneer" anyway?  I mean, a flame-top LP is not solid maple!  

    Presumably the 1/4-1/2" thickness of the maple top on a Les Paul is
    enough to influence the sound, whereas the veneer is purely cosmetic. 
    
    Greg

    Furniture manufacturers abuse the term "solid" wood all the time. 
    Before DEC, I was a materials manager for a kitchen cabinet company. 
    We sold 'solid' wood oak cabinets.....right!  The frame, stiles, drawer
    fronts and rails were solid oak, the front door panel, sides, top and 
    bottom, were oak veneer glued over particle board......I suppose the 
    Les paul's 1/2" thick top laminate is not 'really' veneer.....veneer is 
    generally 1/8" or less in thickness.
    
    my $.02
    
    dawgWood