NGD - Wolfgang Special

CodePoet

Fractal Fanatic
I've had one of these on order with Sweetwater for a few months now but one popped up on eBay and I grabbed it. Seeing all of @bishop5150 's new Wolfgang purchases was too much to handle :). It's a 2018 MIM in perfect condition - seems awesome so far. I've never held one before...

Anyone know if there are any differences in the 2018 models compared to the current ones?

Wolfgang Special.jpg
 
Nice! AFAIK, aside from the Sassafrass/baked maple version, there haven't been any changes since 2018, aside from color changes.
 
No differences. My only concern with a new one is the quality. With the incredible demand for them right now I'm worried that they are going to be getting these out the door so fast that the quality might suffer some but that's just me thinking out loud.
Happy new guitar day!
 
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That could be the case - we'll have to see.

Playing it a bit thru the Axe-Fx and the harmonics really jump off of it - much more so than my Les Paul or JP6. It's almost a bit of a mushy mess with my distorted patches. I'll have to re-dial things for this guitar. Any experiences or thoughts on that @bishop5150 @GlennO ?
 
My experience has been mostly the reverse, with patches becoming clearer :), so I'm not sure what to recommend. But yeah, that bridge pickup has a distinctive voicing.
 
I think the bridge pickup isn't screwed down all the way and is too close to the strings. I'll set it up and see where we stand.

I'd been wondering how EVH dives the G string way down and then touches the harmonic around the 2nd/3rd/5th fret when the string is slackened and brings it back up for the big squeal. I couldn't really make that happen on my other guitars. But it happens on this one. :D
 
My Ivory Wolfgang sounds darker than my others. And it needed a good setup right out of the box. Actually needed a shim under the locknut. Same with my sassafras model. Both have mfg. dates of Sept 2020.
 
After playing with things tonight, it could just be that my JP6 and the Wolfgang are polar opposites. I've struggled to get enough bass into things with the JP6 so I've found I have to dial a lot of bass out of those patches and lower the drive when using the Wolfgang. But the Wolfgang is very lively - it's a lot of fun.

How do you guys like the clean tones with the Wolfgang? The middle position seems to have a pretty good tone that gets in the neighborhood of a single coil for cleans. Not sure about the neck position so far, but I haven't used it much either.
 
Dang you guys.... I'm jonesing for a White Maple Board Special... I always dismissed these guitar in the past but now I'm wanting one... You guys are feeding the fire 😂 I keep checking Sweetwater and MF and nothing..
 
Haven't had any experience with the newer ones ,I have one made in china ,stainless frets and birds eye maple neck. I do know the pickups aren't the same as USA wolf gangs in the new wolf gang specials .
 
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I put in a freeway 6-way switch in my original (2010?) and my standard to be able to have 3 single coil sounds as well. Love it!
Curious about this.....did you have any trouble fitting it in the cavity? Or just general issues installing it? I have never heard of this until your post and I just checked it out a bit online.....looks really cool. So I assume you get single coil neck and bridge?
 
Curious about this.....did you have any trouble fitting it in the cavity? Or just general issues installing it? I have never heard of this until your post and I just checked it out a bit online.....looks really cool. So I assume you get single coil neck and bridge?

It fits right in place of the existing switch. I could have done it myself, but to save time, I had a pro at my local guitar shop put it in for me.

Yes, so it has 3 HB positions and 3 SC positions, on a six-way switch. They have many wiring diagrams, but I kept it simple. So I have it leaning slightly forward for the 3 HB positions, and slightly backward for the 3 SC positions.
 
It fits right in place of the existing switch. I could have done it myself, but to save time, I had a pro at my local guitar shop put it in for me.

Yes, so it has 3 HB positions and 3 SC positions, on a six-way switch. They have many wiring diagrams, but I kept it simple. So I have it leaning slightly forward for the 3 HB positions, and slightly backward for the 3 SC positions.
How's long have you had it in there?
I've wondered about its durability.
If that's not an issue, I don't know why everyone wouldn't use one, seems like a great way to fit 6 positions in a small space, without the fiddly-ness of a 6 position rotary.
 
How's long have you had it in there?
I've wondered about its durability.
If that's not an issue, I don't know why everyone wouldn't use one, seems like a great way to fit 6 positions in a small space, without the fiddly-ness of a 6 position rotary.

At least 6 years now. I also put one in my Wolfgang standard as well. I think Jimmy Page is listed as an endorser of them as well. Made in England, if I recall. Stew Mac sells them in the USA.
 
I've ordered a Free-Way switch for the Wolfgang and one for my Strat to check out. Seems like a great way to get a variety of tones with just a switch swap. Will see how it works out. I'll probably keep to the simple split coil options but it's nice you can do some other configurations with it too. Thanks for the tip on the Free-Way switch @rushfan!

I'm guessing the split-coil tones from the Wolfgang pickups are serviceable and worth the effort?
 
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