My First Year Peavey EVH Wolfgang

On March 16, 1991, Wolfgang Van Halen was born to Edward and Valerie Van Halen. On the album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, Ed named the instrumental "316" after his son...

...and in 1996, Ed began a collaboration with Hartley Peavey, and Peavey Electronics. The result of that collaboration was the Peavey EVH Wolfgang, named after Wolf.

In this picture, Ed is playing the original and top of the line model, first year quilt sunburst, Made in the USA. It features a solid basswood body with 5/8" inch maple cap arch top, body binding, two knobs, 3 way pickup toggle switch (in reverse wiring from a Les Paul), 2 Peavey/EVH designed humbucker pickups, oil finished bird's eye maple neck and fingerboard with dual graphite reinforcement rods, 10 degree tilt headstock, Schaller mini M6 tuners with pearloid colored buttons, and liscenced Floyd Rose tremolo with D-tuna.

On March 17, 1998, one day after Wolf's 7th Birthday, Van Halen released the album, Van Halen III, featuring vocalist Gary Cherone, formerly of the Boston band, Extreme. While the album was the least successful of all previous releases, it contained some of Ed's most advanced guitar work, and was recorded with the Peavey EVH Wolfgang, which Ed also played on the supporting concert tour.

The photos below are of my first year, Sunburst Quilt Top Peavey EVH Wolfgang:

Early Peavey Wolfgangs all had serial numbers that began with "91", a tribute to Wolf's year of birth, of course. The serial number on mine is 91002053. I'm assuming that means that my guitar was the 2053th Peavey Wolfgang produced, but I could be wrong about that...

Here's a nice shot of the oiled birdseye maple neck

As much of a collector's item as the guitar, is this Peavey EVH Wolfgang leather strap. They no longer make them, so they become rarer every year, and are rarer than the guitars.