EVH FRANKENSTEIN RELIC SERIES - I WANTED TO SEND IT BACK!

[@motrock2]

Yeah; I have heard a lot of people have to have setup. I do that with all the guitars I have bought. I would like to own an EVH guitar someday. That guitar would be awesome.

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

👍 yeah a slight adjustment is fine with me. This one was the worst guitar I ever played when I took it out of the box. It infuriated me is an understatement. lol It was hideous. I can’t believe they would send a guitar out like this. It is set up fine now. 👌

[@autodidacticprofessor869]

Just build one. You could build an All Parts or Warmoth version with US-Wolfgang pups and all premium parts for way less than a MEXICAN Fender and never have to deal with a bad setup.

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@autodidacticprofessor869 I could but I don’t think I could get it to look this good. That’s what initially got me, the look of this thing. It’s just what I wanted and it’s done. 👍 👌 ✌️

[@paulburton5150]

I had an initial run striped Frankie which had an issue with the trem cavity being routed too deep which cause the wood under the back of the floyd to crack and sink. Mine was not an isolated case. After a fair bit of wrangling with the shop i contacted Fender directly and they agreed to send me a replacement. Supply was low and i had to wait another 3 months! But the replacement was perfect and set up really well. I love it.

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@paulburton5150 nice! Glad that worked out for ya. Really cool guitars. ✌️

[@edb1913]

Mine was setup fine out of the box. Low action with no buzzing. The only flaw and a pretty big one in my opinion was the trem. It would not stay in tune and the fine-tuners were very coarse and rough to turn. I had to constantly loosen the screws on the nut and center the fine-tuners. I had an old Floyd-Rose special laying around and installed it. Now it stays in tune and I haven't had to recenter the fine-tuners once. I don't know if this is the case with all of these, but if a guitar is already two grand just charge a little more and install a decent trem. at the factory.

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@edb1913 cool, I have zero issues with Trem, works just as good as all the FR Trems I’ve owned. Fine tuners were very smooth and accurate as well. Hmmmmmm. ? Who knows man. ✌️

[@jamesmarcin4787]

I bought that exact guitar in black from Sweetwater and I had to setup the guitar also. The bridge now sits flush and plays and sounds great.

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

👌 ✌️ nice!

[@sarinadouglas]

I just bought one, same color, and you’re on point with the tremolo. Mine came the same way. The Dtuna is also way out of whack. The intonation is close but still needs fine tuned. The action is pretty good and the neck feels amazing. I’m guessing the Mexicans don’t know how to setup a Floyd rose. And I agree, for the price, that FR shouldn’t be laying on the body.

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@sarinadouglas 100% 👍 it takes some work to dial the Floyd in but it’s worth it in the end.

[@JohnnyBeane]

Have yet to try one of these yet since EVH hasn't been at NAMM the past few years but I do own a striped one and it rocks!

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

Hey Johnny, he will be truly missed. Thankful we still have his music though. 👍 Played the striped one today, this one’s the exact same guitar minus the Stripes. Now that it’s setup decently, it’s such a fun guitar to play. When I get the chance, I check out your show, great stuff man. Thanks for stopping by. Cheers! 🤘 EVH 🤘

[@JohnnyBeane]

@@JasonHobbsGuitarist Yeah, still can’t believe he’s gone. Luckily I got to meet him and talk with him a little bit about 10 years ago ago. He was just a normal dude. Yeah, I do guitar shows on my channel and if you would like you should jump on sometime and hang out with us and talk Guitars.

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@JohnnyBeane cool! Love to, I have to figure out how to do the live thing. That’s a new gig to me. Thanks. 🙏 by the way, that is awesome. You’re lucky to have met the king of rock guitar. 👌

[@JohnnyBeane]

@@JasonHobbsGuitarist It's easy. All i do is send you a link and you allow your cam/mic. I do shows almost daily.

[@monstrok]

I got a red one from this series. It arrived with buzz-saw fret sprout at every fret end location, detuned, and action at nearly 3/8" at the 12th fret. After performing a 1.2 hour setup in which the truss rod was maxed out to achieve standard E tuning (still very high action), the other flaws became apparent. The neck was literally dirty as though the finish was mixed with fine dirt particles: back, headstock and fretboard. The B-string warbles below the third fret which indicates a sympathetic resonance even when the strings above the nut are dampened. This is the first Mexican Strat that left me utterly disappointed. You got lucky that you were able to salvage this!

[@I.am_Groot]

That is sad to hear especially at this price point. I am turned off by the idea really and think EVH is way off target for the market here

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@monstrok if you know how to set up a guitar, they are awesome guitars. One of the nicest fun rock guitars I’ve ever owned. Love the look and the neck, it’s all in the setup 👌

[@monstrok]

@@JasonHobbsGuitarist 30+ years of guitar building, mods, repairs and setups here. Getting a replacement because of the maxed-out truss rod. I really want to give this model a chance.

[@monstrok]

@@I.am_Groot Luckily I got it new for $799 during the recent sale at Adorama.

[@I.am_Groot]

@@monstrok That is a lot of guitar for $799! Sucks their quality control is not better the MIM lines have always been good to me. I do my own work also and being able to get it playing right and to my own taste made all the difference.

[@ThisOldGuy3]

I want to get rid of my EVH striped for the exact same reason, I want something a little less "Hey play some VH" and something just a little more 80's rock/metal. The neck pick us real you can hook it up Marty5150 did on his. Nice playing my friend, Keep Rock'N 🤘😎🎸

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

Thanks man, much appreciated. I may do some upgrades down the road. We’ll see. I like the one pickup thing though. 👌

[@autodidacticprofessor869]

Why not just keep the guitar for yourself and gig with other guitars? I can't even imagine selling a guitar I like because choads in the audience act like choads. lol

[@ThisOldGuy3]

@@autodidacticprofessor869 Well sometimes we have to sell something to justify having something else. I just bought an R9 so now I need to sell my 335 to justify the purchase.

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@autodidacticprofessor869 this one I have now is much nicer now than the one that I had that was parted together. Evh necks are 👌

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@ThisOldGuy3 that always sucks, I’ve parted with a lot of nice ones I wish I had back again now. 😔

[@danidcr]

yes.... my EVH Frankie also needed a BIG setup to fix the bad initial feeling🙄😕

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

👌 right on.✌️

[@flinto2002]

I have the white one. Initial setup is whack AF, but that’s normal with any guitar from a big box store. The fretwork was great and the guitar guitar rings like a bell.

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@flinto2002 🤘 right on! 👍

[@StealthParrot]

Yeah, my Epiphone Les Paul needed setup work right out of the case but now it's a really good guitar. A bit surprising that the EVH name comes that badly setup, not good for the reputation and it's not inexpensive. It sounds great!

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

Yeah I feel the same way man, it’s a shame. After spending that kind of money. It’s the poorest setup guitar I ever held in my hands to this day. After a hour or more and some help from others online I got it setup real nice now. World of difference. 👍 thanks!

[@WickedFesterBand]

I have a Bumblebee. Action sky high. Lowered it and the strings almost touched the pickup. Also now the trem was so low using it levered the posts out of the body. I had to shim the neck to make it play. It’s great now but come on Fender!

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@WickedFesterBand yeah I hear ya, they have to get those guitars setup before they ship them. Once setup, they’re great. It’s a pain in the butt though having to deal with that when you’re buying a fairly expensive guitar. Here Canada 🇨🇦 they are a tad bit over $2G’s ✌️

[@daviddonaldson5908]

Exact same thing happened to me with my Bumblebee. Lowered the Floyd and then the first time I used it pulled the posts out of the body. Had to reset them and shim the neck. The Floyd is lowered now but still points back at a slight angle. I think the only way to get it straight with the body would be to put a trem stop in the back.

[@WickedFesterBand]

@@daviddonaldson5908 I put a small block of wood in mine for a while but just sprung for the $17 and installed a trem stop. Of note, when I had mine apart when I first fixed it I noticed 6 little dimples under the bridge. The body was clearly meant to have a 6 screw vintage trem originally.

[@daviddonaldson5908]

@@WickedFesterBand I think the dimples are caused by the front of the Floyd touching the body when it is set “too low”.

[@WickedFesterBand]

@@daviddonaldson5908 No. six little pin holes right where the screws would go. Under the Floyd, not in front of it.

[@leftygtrplr6184]

@JasonHobbsGuitarist, what did you do to loosen the D-Tuna? Thanks in advance for your response!

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

The Floyd rose mounting studs were raised too high and it Floyd was basically doing a “wheelie” and slamming the back of the Floyd and D-Tuna into the guitar. I lowered the studs until they bottomed out. If you do it, don’t force them down. When the bolt stops, stop. Take the tension off the strings too for it will damage the knife edge on the Floyd if you slam the bolts down under string tension. Just a heads up for you. You need to get that Floyd flush with the body while having zero back pull and only dive on the Floyd. I tightened the two spring at the claw in the back of the guitar to get this. 👌 I think I ended up having 4/64ths action on the 12th fret from the bottom of the string to the top of the 12th fret on both low E and high E. ✌️

[@leftygtrplr6184]

@@JasonHobbsGuitarist Thanks, that was super-helpful! I'll see how it goes.

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@leftygtrplr6184 any time 👍 ✌️ good luck.

[@slimsantilli4476]

My most recent guitar purchases is from a Japanese brand called "Saito". It is the best guitar I ever played. Take a look❤

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@slimsantilli4476 I will. 👍

[@wizardsouthJP]

Floyd’s are a bitch to setup up - action, intonation, tension etc - but once they’re dialed in they’re killer. I generally set them for dive only so I can go from standard to drop. You’re getting some nice tones out of this rig 👍🏻

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

Thanks man. I agree 100%. I pretty much had to adjust everything, clamped down the retainer bar to get it right, lowered the pickup, lowered the bridge mounting studs, neck adjustment, adjust the string tension so that string tension =spring tension, I do like the setup now. 👍 a good string stretching goes a long way too along with a good understanding of how to tune on a Floyd. Like you said though, when they’re dialed in they are killer. ✌️

[@fasteddievh2072]

Excellent playing! I just purchased the white one. Mine is also horrible. The action is so low the strings are laying the fretboard. When I raise the posts, the bass plate is leaned back and not level with the body. Not sure what to do man. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

I hear ya man, the very minimal they can do is have it set up to where it’s playable. If Eddie was alive and could play one he wouldn’t be happy to have his name attached he’d go something like this, I’m certain. So sad. Check your neck relief first, then check the retainer bar behind the nut to see if it seats the string passing through the locking nut correctly. Lots of info o line about Floyd setups. I had to read up on it myself. I bottomed my mounting studs right down as far as they could go. Your action will determine this. Don’t force them. Take the tension off the strings as well while doing that, if not it’ll potentially destroy your knife edge on the trem. I set the action to 4/64ths I believe at the 12th fret. Like I say, I had to do my own research, I have it dialed in now. 👍

[@fasteddievh2072]

@@JasonHobbsGuitarist Wow! I can’t thank you enough for the quick response. I really really appreciate it. I’m going to try your suggestions. Subscribed! 🙏🤘👍

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@fasteddievh2072 no problem sir, thank you. Much appreciated… 👍 🙏

[@tonedriverss8629]

Jason + Wizard = Canadian TONE powerhouse ! Sounds great after it got your Canadian touch and fix . Great review , buddy . You made that axe worthy . Cheers from the east .

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

Thanks man! I do appreciate it. ✌️

[@Osssssssssssssh]

This guitar is insane. good demo

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@Osssssssssssssh thanks! 🙏

[@BillLarkinmusic]

I see your reasons... nonetheless, i love my striped frankie... i don't give two cents what "other" people think. I play live with her. That is what you do. Everyone says it has a killer sound btw.. Got mine fromm Thomann germany, set up perfectly, didn't have to do anything.

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@BillLarkinmusic nice! 👍 they wouldn’t let that guitar leave their store set up like crap anyway. They have a good reputation. 👍

[@cmikesmith664]

I love my striped relic EVH. ❤

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@cmikesmith664 great guitars when you get them dialed in. 👌

[@GeorgeZimmermen]

I’ve played 2 or 3 of the 5150 series evh’s at guitar center. Theee worst and sharpest fret edges I’ve ever felt in my 20 years playing guitar. They were both used granted, but still. I couldn’t believe it and it totally turned me off from buying one. I expect any guitar I buy to not be set up regardless. I would just do it myself. That’s a non issue for me, usually beginners it’s a problem.

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@GeorgeZimmermen easy to fix, but a fret dressing file from Stu Mac. 👌 Mine were fine.

[@MarkBarna1]

Seems like what you need from a guitar is a hot bridge humbucker, ultra flat radius, a Floyd Rose and decent wood and you are in Van Halen territory -- assuming the guitarist can also play the Van Halen style.

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

I’m not a huge huge Van Halen nut but I do enjoy the tone he got. That’s what I like most about the guitar, it’s a Frankie but in disguise. 👌 There is only one Eddie. I’m too Old to start learning that stuff now. Haha

[@steelwarrior105]

Just get a warren dimartini or george lynch since most people don't know those but you can get the 1 pickup thing or the hs thing.

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@steelwarrior105 got this one basically for playing 80’s stuff in a live setting without looking like a Van Halen wannabe. Lol Once set up, these things rock! 👌 ✌️

[@MMAjunkieXX]

I bought the red frankie... think I'm going to put a red noiseless single coil in the neck position!! Because right now it is a one-trick pony!! Sometimes I wish I would have bought the white one...hell, I'm never satisfied!!! 🤪 I just keep buying more gear!!!!!

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@MMAjunkieXX cool! I thought about doing that as well. I’ve already started modding it. Feels like this guitar was meant to be modded though. 👌 Let me know how that pickup works out for you. ✌️

[@AndyK.23]

Cool song selection! Sounds great. But, I would buy one - if it had one pickup, and none of the silly EVH Franky stuff that does nothing.

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@AndyK.23 right on. 👍 one of my favourite guitars I own right now. It’s frowned upon on me for sure. Thing is wild!

[@laz288]

I have always put my own guitars together from Warmoth parts and they have always been awesome. I decided to purchase that guitar for a change of pace and regretted it. For the price I could have built my own with way better pickups, original Floyd, etc. It’s a $1100 max price guitar no more. I did get it setup and floated the bridge and it plays very very well. So it is a pretty nice guitar but not worth 2k.

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

Yeah I agree man. 👍 nice guitar, I’d love to have an original Floyd Rose on it and better hardware and all as well. Love the neck though. It’s the selling feature of the guitar for me. Might try a pariah pickup again down the road. Awesome pickup. ✌️

[@I.am_Groot]

Really to me its under $1000 to make any sense and I think other EVH and Fender MIM options are much more enticing

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@I.am_Groot lol dream on. When’s the last time you can get a great guitar for $1000, haha. Those days are long gone!

[@I.am_Groot]

@@JasonHobbsGuitarist For sure prices are not what they were the last time I bought a great super strat but my San Dimas Pro Mod stacks up to these new EVH models with more tonal options and they can still be found around $1000 and those don't make me want to put on a blindfold so I don't have to look at them while playing lol

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@I.am_Groot I own a san dimas charvel as well. Great guitar. Just like Eddie’s Frankenstein, the Evh Frankenstein relic is crude looking but man that’s the whole cool factor around it, if you’re an Eddie fan. 👌

[@StevieZero]

Nice guitar

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@StevieZero ✌️ thanks

[@MrSmiley1964]

I like the black finish, but I absolutely hate a Floyd Rose system and have since my first one in '84. It's my loss.

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

👍 yeah the Floyd’s are something to get familiar with. Lots of maintenance and upkeep. Finicky I guess. A good one will be less stressful.

[@johngonzales8224]

You do know that Eddie Van Halen had the trem set back because he liked to dive but not to raise. which is why the trem was resting. Seems like you didn't do your research.

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

A Floyd rose will not function properly if you do what you said. Not whatsoever. Sorry. It need to be flush with the body. The blades on the Trem should be perpendicular to the mounting studs and only have Dive only and none whatsoever backwards pull. If you did your research you’d know this stuff. ✌️

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

P.S the the Floyd is not to be higher in the front than the back. It’s suppose to be flush and with no backward pull. Having the mounting studs in the front raised and slamming the back of the Floyd and D-tuna into the body of the guitar so you can’t pull the D-tuna out to activate it is not the right setup. If Eddie Van Halen did this, then I’d like to see it. Every picture of his guitar that I’ve seen the Floyd knife edge is perpendicular to the mounting studs and flush mounted. Zero backwards pull and set up perfectly.

[@thegeetarmann]

🤘😎🤘

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

👍 🤘

[@robertspreitzer8126]

They had one of these in a local store used and the fret sprout was so bad it was almost unplayable and they wanted over 2 grand for it. Fender products are trash.

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

That’s something else I had to do right away. I filed the tangs on every fret top and bottom to get rid of the fret sprout. Easy Job. Probably due to the fact that all these new guitars still think they are trees. lol

[@SEV7V]

so if you had a EVH guitar in the past, then why not just paint that guitar something else?

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

Makes sense, I just sold it, regretting it now. Something we all do I guess. It was a built Frankenstein, not the Evh model. Had all the right hardware too. Original stuff. I’m gonna eventually do this one right as well. The neck and body are 👌. Worth it. ✌️

[@robertappleby4891]

Jacksonville Guitar in arkansas would have it right but we ain't around no more

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@robertappleby4891 👌

[@bthompson1767]

I lived there in 70s80s Steve was the best

[@jeffowens5150]

Setting up the guitar to your liking is all part of guitar life, Bro! Sounds pretty damb good for a "junk" guitar. The EVH guitars are some of the best built guitars for the money today. The made in Mexico guitars are awesome guitars! I have several of them, and they blow away my made in USA Gibsons and Fenders. Great playability and tone monsters. I think you should change your title to: How to set up a new guitar to your liking. The EVH brand is kickass! Rock on 👍 @jeffowens5150

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

It was the worst set up guitar from factory I ever played. It literally played like crap and felt like junk in my hands. I’m use to playing and having great guitars. I do own a MIM Wolfgang special which was awesome from the factory and a MIM charvel that was superb from the factory but this MIM Frankie was a POS setup the way it was from the factory. Literally unplayable, buzzed everywhere, strings action was hilarious and the Floyd rose was literally doing a wheelie. Ridiculous to say the least. I wasnn by pissed, I’ve since read that they are all pretty much like this from the factory. I’m gonna call em out for what they are stock from the factory, junk! There’s no other way to describe it. Unplayable Junk that you pay Canadian. $2200. Now that I spent the day setting it up and tweaking it, it’s now playable. By far from where it’s eventually gonna be. A work in progress. I’m very picky when it comes ones to guitars. It’s an insult how these guitars come setup from the MIM factory. If Eddie was alive he would 100% agree I’m certain.

[@jeffowens5150]

@JasonHobbsGuitarist I'm positive Eddie would agree 👍 Seems like you just received a dud. High cost Gibsons & Fenders can be the same way. EVH has good QC, so I'm surprised you ended up receiving it in that bad of shape. The setup on them is simple. Just because a guitar needs setup doesn't make it junk. I've had high-priced vintage guitars that are far from junk but need setup correctly. If it was that bad, you should have exchanged it for a different one, or bitched to them about it, and they may have refunded some of your money and just perform the setup yourself. A junk guitar is still a junk guitar after setup. If it's not a junk guitar after setup, then it wasn't a junk guitar in the first place. That guitar was probably built late on Friday afternoon, and the setup guy called in sick that day, and the shipping guy stuck it in an EVH box and shipped it. Good luck Bro!

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@jeffowens5150 junk to me is “unplayable” just like a tool you buy that doesn’t perform, junk. A car that doesn’t perform, junk. Lol

[@jeffowens5150]

You should change your title to: How to set up a new guitar to your liking! 👍 EVH guitars are awesome built guitars. Sounds pretty damb good for a "junk" guitar! Setting up a new guitar is all part of guitar life, Bro! I have several EVH MIM guitars, and they are all killer. Tone Monsters. Great feeling necks, play like butter. Just the shit. Definitely not "junk." Your EVH axe sounds great! 👍 (One shouldn't give up that easy.) @jeffowens5150

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

Sounds good now that I’ve filed the frets that were sprouting, set up the horribly set up and unplayable Floyd rose, adjusted the horribly adjusted nut and string retainer, lowered the pickup, adjusted the springs, set the action, set the intonation, set up the D-tuna, tightened the loose tuners, polished the frets, etc. All the things you’d expect to be decently set up from factory. Like I said, this guitar sounded like shit and played like shit from the factory. Without a good setup from someone who knows what they are doing, these will all be horrible straight from the factory. I’ve since heard many many people say they feel the same. I’m use to playing guitars that are near perfect from the factory. Guitars that are 4 times the cost of this EVH. I guess you get what you pay for. If you strapped this thing on right out of the box and went to play a gig with it, you’d be in some deep shit by the end of the first set. lol Seriously garbage guitar from factory IMHO. ✌️ She’s a beast now that it set up right and playable.

[@jeffowens5150]

@JasonHobbsGuitarist Makes me thankful that all my EVH gear has been beyond fantastic. I'm glad you're happy with it. There's always a bad apple in the bunch, no matter the make or model. Enjoy! Rock on 😎 👍

[@JasonHobbsGuitarist]

@@jeffowens5150 yes sir, yeah I’ve owned and own Evh guitars that came out of the box playing very well. Maybe needed some small slight adjustment like a truss rod adjustment and I was off to the races. This one was just a big disappointment at first like many others have had the exact same experience with these. Sad.. yes. ✌️