EVH

Wolfgang

Eddie named it for his son. It took three companies before it lived under the family name.

17 December 2008. The guitar press runs the headline “Eddie Van Halen Launches EVH Wolfgang Guitar.” It’s not the first time Eddie has launched this guitar. It’s the first time it carries his own letters.

Introduced: 2009
Type: Solidbody electric
Class: Production

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The short version

1991
Music Man
Ernie Ball Music Man builds Eddie’s signature EVH, through 1995.
1996
Peavey Wolfgang
Shown at NAMM in January, in production late that year.
1998
Flat top
Peavey adds the flat-topped USA Special next to the arched USA Standard.
2004
Peavey run ends
The Peavey Wolfgang stops. The headstock design stays with Peavey.
2007
EVH, the brand
Eddie’s own brand starts, with amplifiers.
2009
The EVH Wolfgang
Available from Fender’s Corona, California factory, under the EVH name.
2014
More doors in
A Wolfgang Special from Ensenada, and a WG Standard from Indonesia.

Side A

A kid’s name on a guitar

Most signature guitars carry the player’s name. This one carries his son’s. The Wolfgang is named for Wolfgang Van Halen, Eddie’s son, and the guitar spent more than a decade looking for a place to live that belonged to the family.

It started somewhere else. Ernie Ball Music Man built Eddie’s signature model, the EVH, from 1991 to 1995. When Eddie moved on, Music Man kept making the guitar under another name, the Axis. So the first home didn't keep his name on the door.

Then Peavey. The Peavey EVH Wolfgang showed at NAMM in January 1996 and went into production late that year, and it ran until 2004. It was basswood, and some had a carved maple cap as much as five-eighths of an inch thick, a real slab next to the Music Man’s eighth of an inch. A licensed Floyd Rose, and a D-Tuna, the little plunger on the bridge that drops your low E to D without unlocking anything. The arched version came first, a flat-topped one followed in 1998, and from 2002 to 2004 there was one built in Korea.

When Eddie and Peavey split, the headstock stayed behind. Peavey held the patent. Keep an eye on that headstock.

Third time out

In 2007 Eddie started his own brand, EVH, with amplifiers. The guitar needed a home under his own letters, and it found one at Fender. The launch headline ran in December 2008, but you couldn’t actually buy one until 2009. There were prototypes on the 2007–08 tour, and a guitar on Eddie’s stage isn’t the same thing as a guitar in a shop.

The idea didn’t change much. It’s still a basswood, maple-topped, bolt-on guitar with a Floyd and a D-Tuna. What changed is the details. Don’t move Peavey’s measurements onto this one, or this one’s onto the Peavey. They’re cousins, not twins.

While we’re sorting family: Peavey’s HP Special and HP2 look like Wolfgangs from the couch. They aren’t. No EVH marks, no D-Tuna. And a Charvel EVH Art Series is a different guitar again.

Flip the record · By the numbers

3
Companies that have built the shape. Music Man, Peavey, and finally EVH.
5/8"
The thickest carved maple cap on a Peavey Wolfgang. Music Man’s was roughly 1/8".
12"–16"
Compound fingerboard radius on today’s Wolfgang USA. Rounder by the nut, flatter up high.
2009
The year the EVH-brand Wolfgang was actually available. The launch headline came in December 2008.

Side B

What it feels like

Today’s Wolfgang USA comes out of Fender’s factory in Corona, California: basswood under a flamed maple top, and a maple neck stiffened with graphite. The ebony fingerboard is rounder by the nut and flatter up high, so chords are comfortable down low and big bends don’t choke out up top. The stainless frets are vintage size, not jumbo.

Two direct-mounted humbuckers, and a pickup switch that runs backward from what most people expect: position one is the neck. The volume pot turns easily and has a treble bleed, so it keeps its bite as you roll it back. The tone pot is stiff, so it stays where you left it.

If the USA is more guitar than you need, the Special (made in Japan at first, in Mexico since 2014) and the Indonesian WG Standard are other ways into the same shape.

The family name

I can’t point you to a famous album made on this exact model, so I won’t pretend to. Eddie’s famous earlier ones are the Music Man and Peavey guitars.

The headstock is the giveaway. Peavey kept the old one. Eddie’s company owns this one.

So look at the headstock instead. EVH gave it a new one, shaped like a bottle opener, and Eddie owns it. If you know the Peavey patent stayed put, you can tell the third Wolfgang from across a room. After two companies’ logos, the guitar with his son’s name on it finally had his own letters on it too.

The cast

The people, and the specific guitars, that made the legend.

2009
Eddie Van Halen
The shape, three times
Music Man in 1991, Peavey in 1996, and finally his own EVH brand at Fender.
1996
Wolfgang Van Halen
The name on it
Eddie’s son. The guitar is named for him.
1996
Jim DeCola
Peavey Wolfgang
The name attached to Peavey’s Wolfgang at its January 1996 NAMM debut.

Liner notes

Specs, construction, rarity, value, and every source we used.

Basswood, a 5A flame maple cap, and a Floyd with a D-Tuna — the EVH-brand Wolfgang, after Music Man and Peavey had already built the shape.

Body: Basswood, 5A flame maple top, 5-ply bind, gloss urethane
Neck: Quartersawn maple, bolt-on + graphite, Wolfgang Backshape (.805" at 3rd, .890" at 12th)
Fingerboard: Ebony, MOP block, 12"–16" (304.8–406.4 mm) compound, 22 vintage stainless
Scale: 25.5" (648 mm)
Pickups: Dual direct-mount EVH Wolfgang USA humbuckers, zebra, Alnico 2
Hardware: EVH Floyd Rose locking + D-Tuna, brass block, 1000 Series arm; EVH Gotoh
Electronics: Volume 500K Bourns low-friction + treble bleed; tone 250K Bourns high-friction; reverse 3-way (pos 1 neck)
Finish: Gloss urethane
Nut: Floyd Rose R2 locking, 1.625" (41.3 mm)

Open the full research fileConstruction details, the complete player record, production numbers, dated value estimates, and sources

Current Wolfgang USA, SKU 5107920858, Corona. Factory table prints the nut 1.625" (41.3 mm); same-page copy says R2 (41.8 mm). Table wins. Wolfgang Special, WG Standard, and USA Edward Van Halen Signature / Stealth (1.650" / 42 mm) are other cards.

Construction

By 2007 the Wolfgang shape had already left two factories. Ernie Ball Music Man built the EVH from 1991 to 1995; the later name is Axis. Other brand. Then Peavey — Jim DeCola, NAMM January 1996, production late 1996 through 2004, Leakesville, Mississippi, then Meridian in 2003. Basswood, some with a carved maple cap 1/4" to 5/8" against Music Man’s roughly 1/8". Licensed Floyd plus D-Tuna. Recessed truss spoke. Arched USA Standard, flat USA Special from 1998, Korean EXP Special 2002–04. Wikipedia and forum copy sometimes put that EXP neck “approximately 1.2 mm” wider at the 12th. Not factory millimetres, and not this card. When they split, the Peavey-patented headstock stayed with Peavey. HP Special and HP2 look like cousins and are not: no EVH marks, no D-Tuna. Charvel EVH Art Series is a different object again. Do not paste this plate’s 25.5" (648 mm) onto Music Man or Peavey. Those factory millimetres are missing here.

That is why a third Wolfgang exists. EVH as a brand started with amps in 2007. The guitar needed a factory home under Eddie’s own letters, at Fender. Premier Guitar, 17 December 2008: “Eddie Van Halen Launches EVH Wolfgang Guitar.” Wikipedia and Reverb (Tony Bacon, “The Wolfgang Saga”) put it available in 2009. Prototypes on the 2007–08 tour are not the production first year by themselves. This plate is 2009.

What Corona ships as Wolfgang USA, 5107920858, is still a maple-cap basswood bolt-on with a Floyd and a D-Tuna. Family idea. Not Peavey’s millimetres. Not Peavey’s headstock. Basswood, a 5A flame maple top on this SKU, five-ply bind, gloss urethane. Quartersawn maple neck, graphite in the bolt-on. Wolfgang Backshape, .805" at the 3rd and .890" at the 12th — not the Standard’s .790" / .880". Compound 12"–16" (304.8–406.4 mm). Ebony, mother-of-pearl blocks, twenty-two vintage stainless, not jumbo. Dual direct-mount EVH Wolfgang USA humbuckers, zebra, Alnico 2. The 3-way runs reverse: position 1 is the neck, 2 both, 3 the bridge. Special and Standard run conventional, position 1 the bridge. Peavey Wikipedia also lists reverse; that is not a license to merge brands. Volume is a 500K Bourns low-friction with treble bleed; tone is a 250K Bourns high-friction. EVH Floyd Rose locking with D-Tuna, brass block, 1000 Series arm. EVH Gotoh. Strings .009–.042. Hardshell in the box.

Scale is 25.5" (648 mm). The locking nut is a Floyd Rose R2 at 1.625" (41.3 mm) on the factory table. Same-page copy calls it “Floyd Rose bridge and R2 (41.8 mm) locking nut.” Table wins. Do not millimetre-convert 1.625". Do not flatten 41.8 onto 41.3.

The headstock is EVH’s bottle opener. Ed-owned. You can tell the third brand from across the room if you know the Peavey patent stayed put.

Special and Standard keep the 25.5" (648 mm) / 1.625" (41.3 mm) envelope. Same numbers are not a license to merge them with the USA card. Wolfgang Special, 5107701585: arched basswood, 1-ply cream bind, maple board, 22 jumbo, standard 3-way with position 1 the bridge, black hardware. Wikipedia: Japan 2010–11, Ensenada from 2014. Wolfgang WG Standard, 5107003521: basswood with a comfort-cut forearm, baked maple neck and board, .790" / .880", 22 jumbo, Floyd Rose Special — not the USA/Special brass-block 1000. Wikipedia: Indonesia, 2014.

Wolfgang USA Edward Van Halen Signature / Stealth, 5107920868, is the other Corona millimetre card. Same 25.5" (648 mm), 12"–16", .805–.890, 22 vintage stainless. Nut 1.650" (42 mm). Pearloid dots, not blocks. Do not paste 42 mm onto 5107920858.

Players

The guitar is named for Wolfgang Van Halen.

Eddie’s famous earlier Wolfgangs are other brands: Music Man EVH (1991–95) and Peavey EVH Wolfgang (1996–2004). Those millimetre cards are not this one. No album, tour, or named-studio credit for 5107920858 is in the sources used here.

Rarity

You can buy a new Wolfgang tomorrow. USA, Special, and Standard coexist. Current production. Not rare. Factory totals were not published in the sources used here. None invented.

First-year 2009 EVH-brand examples are used modern, not a numbered run. Artist-owned pieces are not sourced here. Stealth 5107920868 is another current USA card, not a scarcity claim. Music Man EVH and Peavey Wolfgang are finite other-brand runs. They do not make this SKU scarce.

Value

Informal estimate, 25 August 2026. Not an appraisal.

Catalog dollars were not sourced for this plate. A street-price card for 5107920858 was live 29 August 2026; the dollars were omitted. None invented. Data is thin.

New street. Wolfgang USA, Special, and Standard are current catalog. Three constructions, three prices — none named here. Special and Standard are other cards; do not borrow their street as the USA number.

Used modern. No sold sample, histogram, or dealer band in the sources used here.

Vintage / collectible. The 1991–95 Music Man EVH and 1996–2004 Peavey Wolfgang trade as other-brand used markets. They are not comps for 5107920858. Artist-owned examples would be a separate market, labeled not-a-comp. None sourced here.

Sources

Wolfgang USA 5107920858 — live millimetre table, 29 Aug 2026; Corona USA; table nut 1.625" (41.3 mm) vs same-page copy R2 41.8 mm.
Wolfgang USA Edward Van Halen Signature / Stealth 5107920868 — nut 1.650" (42 mm); pearloid dots.
Wolfgang Special 5107701585 — 648 / 41.3, jumbo, 1-ply, standard 3-way.
Wolfgang WG Standard 5107003521 — 648 / 41.3, baked maple, .790 / .880, Floyd Special.
Premier Guitar, 17 Dec 2008, “Eddie Van Halen Launches EVH Wolfgang Guitar.” — EVH-brand launch; not the 2009 ship date by itself.
Reverb / Tony Bacon, “The Wolfgang Saga” — Music Man 1991, Peavey 1996 NAMM, EVH 2009 availability.
Wikipedia: EVH Wolfgang — lead only: 2009 Corona; Special Japan 2010–11 / Mexico 2014; Standard Indonesia 2014.
Wikipedia: Peavey EVH Wolfgang — lead only: 1996–2004; maple cap 1/4"–5/8"; headstock patent stayed with Peavey; reverse 3-way listed there is not a merge license.