No more black ebony? New EVH Wolfgang Stealth not so stealthy...

[GlennO]

FWIW, my stealth special from October has a black fretboard.

 

[scottp]

The dye comes off on your fingertips.
I have a LP that was professionally dyed.
Looks great for a while, then the dye starts coming off.

 

[rsvette12]

Dye doesnt last interesting good to know

Sweetwater is no joke - they will take it back but it looks like a special order and they are out of stock so up to OP if he will be happy with it

 

[mr_fender]

The dye comes off on your fingertips.
I have a LP that was professionally dyed.
Looks great for a while, then the dye starts coming off.

You can seal the dye in with a rubbed oil finish or a few coats of wax if you don't mind the sheen change. It's not perfect, but it can help slow the bleeding.

Unfortunately it's the new norm. Supposedly Ebony trees take something like a hundred years to reach the size needed to prove a large amount of deep black heartwood. Nice dark rosewood is getting more and more scarce too.

 

[mr_fender]

Buyer beware - buying guitars out of the States is crap shoot you will receive it - almost didnt get my 2012 Prestige Ibanez from Japan a few months ago and had to pay Fedex imports fees also

Guitar broker had to intervene quite a bit to make the delivery a success

Biggest thing they are looking for is the woods used on a your guitar purchased outside the states - thank goodness found my keeper guitar - never buy outside states again

Were the fees a US Customs thing or a FedEx thing? I bought my Edwards Les Paul from Japan years ago, but that was before they really cracked down on the importing of protected woods. I was thinking there might be more fees involved these days as a result.

 

[CodePoet]

FWIW, my stealth special from October has a black fretboard.

What's the serial # on that one? This one is WG201580M.

 

[skolacki]

Here’s what ebony looks like. I like the figured ebony myself. Taylor makes some really sweet cutting boards out of the figured waste woods from guitar building.

 

[Justincase]

What's the serial # on that one? This one is WG201580M.

I think I just saw a Chinese one go up on dhgate with your serial number just now. Lol

 

[Hellbat]

I don't mind the figured ebony, apparently it feels the same and the feel is what I like about ebony. But I'm picky about grain on any type of wood when it's visible. I want it to be consistent along the length of the fingerboard, not spotty or knotted. I'm lucky though. My Jackson, PRS, and Sully guitars all have beautiful boards of really uniform deep black ebony.

 

[Andy Eagle]

I don't mind visible streaks at all, I think it stops it looking like Richlite.

 

[rsvette12]

It was US Customs and Fedex collected the tax money

 

[CodePoet]

OP Update - I received the guitar this week - put together a little video to show what it looks like. It definitely is natural ebony that wasn't dyed - all of the ebony-fretboard EVH models have been in the past. So it's a bit of a change - wonder what others out there will look like. It seems that Sweetwater added some new product shots that show natural ebony as well.

Fretboard color aside, the build quality of the guitar seems on level with my other 2018 model - looks and plays super.

 

[Rex]

OP Update - I received the guitar this week - put together a little video to show what it looks like. It definitely is natural ebony that wasn't dyed - all of the ebony-fretboard EVH models have been in the past. So it's a bit of a change - wonder what others out there will look like. It seems that Sweetwater added some new product shots that show natural ebony as well.

Fretboard color aside, the build quality of the guitar seems on level with my other 2018 model - looks and plays super.

Sexy guitar! Gonna send me one?

You're right. If you see ebony that's a pure, uniform black, it's been dyed. Natural ebony has at least a little visible grain. If it bugs you, you can get "ebonizing" dye. Wipe it on, let it dry, repeat as desired.

 

[GlennO]

My stealth has a 2019 serial number. If you look close, there's some slight variation, but it's pretty dark...darker than in your video. I've never noticed any dye coming off, but I couldn't say for certain whether it's dyed or not.

P.S. I have a couple of other ebony fretboard guitars besides the stealth: a PRS Holcomb SE (2019) and an Ibanez SIX6FM (2018?). I'd call both of them black, but if you look close I believe they both have slightly more variation than the EVH Stealth.

 

[Justincase]

Man I'm really surprised they used that fingerboard on a stealth model. I have an Ibanez 570 that's got darker rosewood.

 

[CodePoet]

Sexy guitar! Gonna send me one?

You're right. If you see ebony that's a pure, uniform black, it's been dyed. Natural ebony has at least a little visible grain. If it bugs you, you can get "ebonizing" dye. Wipe it on, let it dry, repeat as desired.

No, not sending you one . I did read up on ebonizing - thanks. Looks like it could work fairly easily enough. And who doesn't need another guitar project...

 

[CodePoet]

My stealth has a 2019 serial number. If you look close, there's some slight variation, but it's pretty dark...darker than in your video. I've never noticed any dye coming off, but I couldn't say for certain whether it's dyed or not.

P.S. I have a couple of other ebony fretboard guitars besides the stealth: a PRS Holcomb SE (2019) and an Ibanez SIX6FM (2018?). I'd call both of them black, but if you look close I believe they both have slightly more variation than the EVH Stealth.

Great photo and guitar! That is how the fingerboard typically looks.

 

[CodePoet]

I got a reply back from EVH last night, and they seemed surprised at the photos I sent in and said they're supposed to be dyed fretboards. They asked for the serial #, photos, etc. and will get back to me.

 

[CodePoet]

They got back to me and they couldn't be less interested that after eight months of delay they delivered a guitar that doesn't match the model's signature aesthetic. They said that the spec just says "Ebony" and not "dyed Ebony", so it's to spec, regardless of how their photos show it. This is after they initially told me that yes, all of their ebony fingerboards are dyed. I asked if there was something more they could explain or do, and their only reply was that I could buy some of their fretboard conditioner - "it can darken the wood".

I'm not wanting anything from them, other than perhaps some official dye to do the job they missed, but it's disappointing they don't seem to care if they had a manufacturing issue or to explain why there's a discrepancy. I don't actually know if there was a manufacturing issue, or if this is how they're shipping them now. They wouldn't say. IMO, I think it's a shame if they lose that stealth look.

On top of that, they looked up my serial number and came back and said it doesn't exist in their system, although they confirmed by the photos that it's a legit EVH/Fender product. In this sense it truly is a Wolfgang Stealth - it doesn't exist. . Hopefully they'll still warranty it.

So, not a great customer service triumph. Has me a bit worried the product line may drift/decline now that EVH is gone (not that he ran the business), but time will tell as it always does.

But the good news is that the guitar plays and sounds great, so back to that!

 

[Justincase]

Wow...sounds to me like what you got is a blem and it should be priced as such. Not cool. You should get what you pay for and you obviously did not. Personally I'd send it back.
Edit: not sure how much fender blems are reduced but I know a Cort dealer and he sells blems at 43% of retail price. You should contact the seller and tell them exactly what you've told us. Maybe get a credit.