Neck:
Very fast 12-16 inch radius AA birdseye maple fingerboard, the back of the neck is oiled so it's smooth and equally fast, and on mine the maple has a slight flame to it, so that's a nice little extra. Not having any experience with the previous incarnations of the EVH guitars, I can't make a direct comparison, but the asymmetrical contour is very comfortable, it's not a very thin neck, it has some meat to it. It also has a 1-5/8 nut width, my fingers don't feel cramped up when playing chords up there. I like the addition of stainless frets. The edges of the fingerboard and frets are rounded off nicely, very smooth and comfortable. Fret access is much better than I expected from looking at it, with the bottom cutaway being pretty deep, and with the rounded "all access" style neck pocket, playing all the way to the 22nd fret is effortless. In a nutshell it's a perfect neck to me, wish I could have this neck on all my guitars.
Body:
The bound body is fairly lightweight, and very well balanced, yet still pretty thick. I typically prefer carved top guitars, but seeing how I don't have 3 grand for the carved top USA version, I have to settle for the flat top, but for some reason I find it comfortable to play. I like the look of the direct mount pickups, I thought it might be uncomfortable because I typically rest my fingers on the bridge pickup ring, but it feels no different, some swear the direct mount pickups give greater sustain and resonance, I really don't hear it, I think it just looks cool.
Pickups:
I like the tones the Seymour Duncan made EVH pickups produce, and they are very versatile, they sound great playing classic Dino hard rock, and great playing something more Blues flavored. Like most Duncan's they have a very organic natural sound.
Assorted Parts and Accesories:
Top of the line chrome Gotoh high ratio tuners with pearl knobs, a chrome Original Floyd Rose, low friction Bourns pots with MXR style knobs all lend to the the overall functionality and aesthetic beauty of the guitar. The case is very nice also, high quality form fitted SKB case, with red velvet interior, and a large compartment that you can park a car in. I have no use for a D-Tuna, but I like the way it looks on the guitar.
Finish and Action:
The finish is flawless, and the action/setup was dead on out of the box, low how I like it. The Floyd is very loose, using only 2 springs, something I might consider doing to my other Floyd equipped axes. The guitar also stays in tune very well with heavy bending and dive bombing.
The Price:
All things considered, this guitar doesn't have 4 things that the $3000 USA custom shop model has: A 1/2 inch quilted maple top, carved top, 5ply body binding, headstock binding... Everything else is identical. It's a lot of guitar, for a very nice price.
Some people may not like the upside down toggle switch wiring, and the fact that it's up on top like a Les Paul may not sit well with superstrat players.
Would have prefered jumbo frets, the vintage size that Eddie prefers feel noticably smaller, but they shouldn't be a deal breaker for anyone.
The EVH pups are nice sounding, but not my favorite pickups, I prefer a higher output in the bridge, with a tad bit more treble, not much, I have Slash's pups in my Les Paul, which aren't that much more output or trebley, but enough to put just at where I like. If I ever bought another Wolfgang Special I'd stick one of maybe 4 other Duncan's in the bridge, but I have no inclination to change the EVH's in this, but I also wouldn't spend $280 to put a set of them in another guitar.
The neck pocket is not very snug, could probably slide a credit card between the neck heel and pocket.
The fine tuners need to be lubed, they are tough to turn on mine.
Strap locks would have been nice.
Hate the fact that EVH is branded on every inch of the guitar, including the pots which no one ever even sees... Ok Ed, we get it!
I'm already considering the possibility of getting another at some point. I wanted to wait and play this guitar for a while before reviewing it, wanted to get passed the honeymoon phase, I previously rushed to review a Carvin CT4 which I sold after 5 or 6 months... 99% of the review is still spot on though, I would have kept it if I could have afforded to. It's been a month or so, and I absolutely love this guitar, hands down my favorite guitar. I think it's a great marriage of old and new, but while I'd not consider it a replacement for my Charvel, I do find myself playing this guitar much more than my Les Paul to play music I always used my Les Paul to play, because of the body woods and pickups it has A LITTLE more Les Paul tones to it than super strat, it's a warmer sounding guitar, but is so much easier to play... I need to note that my Les Paul is the chambered 08 model.
4 and 1/2 stars