Wayne
"VH-1984" Rock Legend
|
This was the second EVH
graphic Wayne that I purchased, and it remains my favorite of the three. All of them play
equally well, but this is the first one that I grab nine out of ten times. |
While the graphic is not
the same as the "original" red Frankenstein, I actually like this one better.
This one is from the Baretta type guitar that was used in the '84 - '86 time frame. Added
D-Tuna and EVH pickup. |
I have heard from
several different sources that this particular graphic is very rare. Rumor has it that
prior to receiving a cease and desist from Ed, Wayne and Michael shipped between 21 and 30
guitars with the EVH type graphics. One source quotes Wayne as stating that 9 White/Black,
9 Black/Yellow and 3 candy striped guitars were shipped, while another has Michael stating
that 12 White/Black, 12 Black/Yellow and 6 candy stripes made it out the door. |
I have seen several
examples of both the White/Black and the Black/Yellow, but have only seen three (including
this one) of these candy striped Red/Black/White ones - four if you count a star bodied
example. Another interesting note is that the stripe patterns on all three
"Strat" examples I have seen was different - one being Red with White stripes
and no black stripes whatsoever. |
The White/Black examples
that I have seen appear to be pretty consistent - I did see one where the striping varied
slightly in one area, but all have had unpainted headstocks and the standard single hum
configuration. I have seen some variations on the Black/Yellow examples however. The
stripe pattern is consistent, but I have seen at least one with a single coil PUP in the
neck position and one with a painted black headstock. |
At the end of the day,
I'm glad I chose to acquire these Waynes before Charvel introduced the EVH Art Series. Not
only do I like the stripe pattern on this red one much better than the one used on the
Charvel version, the EVH Art logo plastered on the Charvel headstocks do nothing for me.
And did I mention that the necks on these early Waynes are second to none? Only time will
tell if these were indeed good investments, but in the interim, I'm sure enjoying the hell
out of playing them! |
Pictured to the left are the other three known strat-bodied candy striped Wayne
examples. As you can see clearly, all of these guitars have their own unique stripe
pattern. |