Two years after reviving the Victory, Gibson is finally succumbing to player demand and releasing a version with a Floyd Rose.

The original guitar was designed in the 1970s, but was quietly discontinued as it did little to earn a place at the Gibson – or the wider electric guitar – high table. All that changed in 2024 when Gibson resurrected the design and revamped it for the modern era.

The Victory Floyd Rose, then, will be welcome news to many, as it further leans into that Superstrat aesthetic, with the Floyd Rose ideal for whammy bar acrobatics and dive bombs galore à la peak Eddie Van Halen.

Coming out of Gibson’s Nashville factory, it pairs a mahogany body and a figured maple top with a shredder-friendly SlimTaper mahogany neck with a 10-14” compound radius and 24-fret ebony fingerboard, crafted to a 25.5” scale length.

Given that the majority of Gibsons are made with slightly more stunted 24.75” scale lengths, this empowers the Victory Floyd Rose for drop tuning, meaning it can handle more modern and heavier styles.

Further specs include a GraphTech nut, Grover Mini Rotomatic tuners for its Explorer-style headstock, and black Top Hat control knobs, with one each for Volume and Tone.

The three finishes, comprising Iguana Burst, Translucent Ebony Burst, and Deep Ocean Burst, all come with zebra-style 80s Tribute humbuckers and a three-way toggle switch.

The twin ‘buckers are wired with push/pull controls for coil splitting and selectable inner/outer coil options when split.

Gibson never truly ingratiated itself in the 1980s shred guitar scene. The Victory was its closest, albeit short-lived, attempt at gatecrashing a party dominated by the likes of Charvel and Kramer. This feels like the Victory is now getting the love it deserves, and Gibson is handling its creation with care.

“In Nashville, these tonewoods are shaped and refined using a blend of traditional techniques and modern precision, ensuring every carve, contour, and curve contributes to the guitar’s voice,” it says.

“The result is an instrument as unique as a fingerprint, built to be played, pushed, and ultimately passed down.”

This version has been a long time coming, too. "It quickly became one of our more popular models, but we have regularly heard players request one change: 'Can you add a Floyd Rose tremolo?'" Gibson notes. "Well, ask, and you shall receive."

The Gibson Victory Floyd Rose is available now for $2,799/£2,399.

See Gibson for more.

Gibson has also teased seven-string guitars and baritones are in the works, so perhaps the Victory will be getting another glow-up very soon.

What is it?

The Fender Player II Modified Stratocaster HSS Floyd Rose looks very much the company reclaiming the superstrat concept thanks to the locking tremolo, HSS pickup configuration, and 12-inch radius fingerboard. It still looks like a classic Strat, keeping the rounded horns of the double-cutaway and that iconic headstock shape, but underneath the hood, it’s a different beast entirely.

It keeps the rosewood fingerboard with rolled edges of the Player II series, but that’s where the similarities end. A new Player II Modified humbucker sits in the bridge position, which can be coil split using the push-pull tone knob. It’s accompanied by two Noiseless Strat single coils for more vintage-inspired tones, while the volume features a treble bleed circuit to keep your highs intact throughout its rotation.

The most obvious addition from your usual Strat is that Floyd Rose Special double locking tremolo. It’s something you’re more likely to see on shred guitars or metal guitars, and to my eye looks a little out of place on a Strat shape that tends to favor more a vintage-inspired tone and aesthetic. This is very much a modern iteration of a Strat though, so the promise of the potential guitar acrobatics it offers will definitely appeal to a certain type of player.

Specs

• Launch price: $1,1299/£999/€1,199
• Made: Mexico
• Type: Six-string electric guitar
• Body: Alder
• Neck: Maple, Modern ‘C’
• Fingerboard: Rosewood
• Scale length: 25.5" (64.77 cm)
• Nut/width: Floyd Rose R3 locking, 1.6875"
• Frets: 22 frets, medium jumbo
• Hardware: Standard cast/sealed tuners, Floyd Rose Special double-locking tremolo
• String spacing at bridge: 53.6mm
• Electrics: 1x Player II Modified humbucker, 2x Player II Noiseless strat single coils, master volume with treble-bleed, tone 1 (neck/middle), tone 2 (bridge, push-pull for coil split on humbucker), 5-position blade switch
• Weight: 8lb 12oz
• Left-handed options: Only for the standard Fender Player II Stratocaster
• Finishes: Olympic Pearl (as reviewed), Dusk, 3-Color Sunburst
• Cases: Soft case included
• Contact: Fender

Guitar World demo

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★½

Pulling the Player II Modified Strat out of its box, I'm pleasantly surprised to find it comes with a soft case – unlike the previous Player II models. It’s a decent quality case, with plenty of useful pockets for your guitar cables and other essentials. It has dual straps so you can wear it like a backpack too.

Getting the guitar out and giving it a thorough visual inspection, I immediately spot quite a few dark spots in the metallic Olympic Pearl finish. Most aren’t visible at a distance, but there are two dark spots on the front and one at the back that are very noticeable even further away from the guitar. It looks like carelessness during the painting process, as though spots of dirt have gotten caught under the gloss polyester finish.

Aesthetics aside, the rest of the guitar is really nicely put together. The neck is snugly fit into the neck pocket, the frets are beautifully finished and the rounded fingerboard edges make the neck feel lovely and smooth. There are no lumps on the fitting of the scratchplate, and all the hardware feels solidly applied to the guitar.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★½

Sitting down to play the guitar you’ll notice that 12-inch radius fretboard straight away, especially if you’re used to something more vintage-orientated. It feels absolutely rapid, and definitely more super-Strat than the classic Strat looks of the guitar imply. I find myself immediately able to start laying into some three-note-per-string legato licks, and the guitar kept urging me to play loud, brash, and fast.

The first time I lean on the Floyd Rose it's immediately obvious that it's not set up correctly. The guitar won’t return to concert pitch any time I use the tremolo, instead going flat or sharp depending on what I'm doing. Examining it in closer detail I see that the bridge is dropping into the body, requiring some additional setup work in taking the backplate off and adjusting the springs beneath.

With some further balancing of the tremolo - one of my pet hates of double locking systems - I'm able to get it working well. Again, like the finish issues I discovered earlier, it's not something that should be getting through Fender QC.

Setup work done, I start divebombing and really abusing the tremolo arm, and it performs admirably when I applied some Dimebag-style histrionics to my playing. The arm itself isn’t quite as stiff as I typically enjoy on a tremolo, so no easy way to flutter it here, but you can still exercise plenty of variation in pitch from subtle to outrageous.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

With it being a superstrat, of course, I start by plugging into the gain channel of my Orange Rocker 32 tube amp, pushed harder with a couple of overdrive pedals into the front. On the bridge setting, you can absolutely get heavy, and although it’s not voiced as a modern metal-type pickup, it’ll get you pretty close to chugging territory. I think it's a little too lightweight in the low end for true modern metal playing, but it can handle lighter styles and vintage metal tones with ease.

It delivers deliciously articulate saturation on high-gain settings though, with barre chords sounding nice and clear even when you pack on the distortion, and an overall clarity to the tone. Switching to some lead licks I found the bridge pickup rang out beautifully, with oodles of sustain that kept those long notes going forever. Paired with that flat fretboard this is absolutely a guitar you can perform shred licks on.

It has a push-pull for getting a pure single coil tone out of the bridge pickup which again keeps that bright overall tonality but dials the output back a little. I did find it difficult to actually pull the knob up though, sometimes having to hook my nails under to get it engaged. Switching to a lower gain setting on my amp I still get plenty of grit, allowing for some expansive lead work of the less shreddy variety. Digging in with some power chords I'm able to coax some nice crunchy sounds out of it, great for angular indie guitar riffs.

Moving to the clean channel and keeping the push-pull engaged, it’s like a totally different guitar. Laying down some of my favorite Jimmy Nolen licks is more than possible with plenty of that Strat-spank from the mid-positions of the pickup selector. If it wasn’t for the Floyd Rose you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s just a classic Strat from the sound of it. The tones are clear and bell-like, exactly what you’d expect from a good old-fashioned three-single-coil Strat.

Adding in some reverb and delay courtesy of my pedalboard and I'm straight into ambient post-rock noodling territory with the neck pickup engaged. It sounds beautifully full without ever getting overpowered in the lows and low mids, opening up some excellent opportunities for those open-string drone licks and plinky picking the genre is known for.

Verdict

The Player II Modified Stratocaster is an incredibly versatile guitar despite its looks and spec implying it to be a super-Strat for shred lovers. It can absolutely nail those classic spanky Strat tones as well as get lairy with high gain, making it a very appealing instrument for those who want a little extra edge from their Strat tones.

I am a little disappointed with some of the quality control on the guitar. It doesn’t affect the playability, I would just expect better when buying an instrument that's over/around a grand. The fact that the Floyd Rose wasn’t set up correctly out of the box is an annoyance, but the blemishes in the finish were particularly disappointing. If I'd bought this guitar myself I would have seriously considered returning it for a model that had been finished better.

Guitar World verdict: Some QC issues on the test model aside, this is a brilliant playing and sounding guitar. It can cover a huge swathe of styles from metal to funk, and you can shred on it just as well as you can fingerpick open chords. If you want an instrument that’s versatile enough to cover the guitar-playing styles of EVH and nail Nile Rodgers’ classic funk tones, then look no further.

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• “Already a versatile instrument, the addition of the series circuit makes it even more of a multi-role guitar”: Fender Player II Modified Telecaster review

Jackson has refreshed its American Series line of Soloist Superstrat guitars for 2025.

Built in Fender’s Corona, CA factory, these high-performance shred machines are back with new finishes and pickup configurations and “designed with the next generation of heavy metal guitarists in mind”, according to the company.

Jackson launches the 2025 American Series with a hard riffing video featuring UK thrashers Pest Control, and absolutely no talking.

The 2025 model lineup sees the return of the SL2 DX and SL2 DXHT. The HT stands for hardtail, while the SL2 DX has a Floyd Rose bridge. Both models see the return of the classic Seymour Duncan ’59 (neck) and JB (bridge) pickup configuration. That combo has graced countless albums and is a devastating combination in this style of guitar.

The most attention-grabbing new finish is Lemon Ice, available on the SL2 DX only, along with Snow White and Satin Black.

The hardtail version comes in the new Satin Porsche Gray finish, a primer-style colorway, and Satin Black.

Beyond these tweaks, the American Series retains the classic Soloist specifications. The bound ebony fingerboards have mother-of-pearl sharkfin inlays, Luminlay side dots, and a compound 12”–16” radius.

The 24 jumbo frets are made of stainless steel, and the three-piece maple neck is reinforced with graphite rods. Necks on all models are painted the same finish as the body.

Although Jackson wasn’t the first to use a neck-through-body design, it really proved its worth for high-fret access and ease of shredding. These Soloists of course have neck-through construction, with the maple neck flanked by an alder body.

The five-way pickup selector now offers these combinations: 1) bridge humbucker, 2) bridge outer coil and neck inner coil, 3) bridge and neck, 4) bridge inner coil and neck outer coil, 5) neck. This arrangement means that every position on the switch is hum-cancelling.

Being serious rock and metal machines, these guitars come with the only acceptable color of hardware: black. The (black) Floyd Rose 1500-series bridge on the SL2 DX is joined by a (black) locking nut, while the SL2 DXHT has a (black) Hipshot fixed bridge.

Both guitars get Gotoh locking MG-T tuning machines and Dunlop Dual-Locking strap buttons (black).

From the factory, the guitars are setup with shred-worthy 9–42 gauge strings.

The Jackson SL2DX retails for $2,449.99. The SL2DXHT retails for $2,399.99.

More information is available from Jackson.

Chris Shiflett is playing a new custom electric guitar on tour with the Foo Fighters, having originally been inspired to test out the rule-breaking six-string by Richie Sambora.

Playing in the Foo Fighters with Dave Grohl is no doubt a dream gig for thousands of musicians, but Shiflett has joked his latest touring guitar may be deemed “illegal” under Grohl’s leadership.

He’s revealed to Premier Guitar that he’s been playing a Charvel-style custom Superstrat on tour with the stadium rockers and has been putting it to good use, abusing its Floyd Rose tremolo and treating his guitar solo on Breakout to some dive bombs – even if that goes against Foo Fighters tradition.

Maybe Mr. Grohl has let the left-field guitar choice slide, as it represents the realization of a longtime dream for Shiflett.

“I always wanted to put together a Superstrat,” he says. “So I did that! I brought it out on tour. I mean, that is so illegal in the Foo Fighters but I’ve slipped it in just a little bit without asking!”

Former Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora – who has twice featured on the guitarist’s Shred With Shifty podcast – and his own employment of a Charvel with a reverse headstock during one of their conversations is partly responsible for Shiflett's shift.

The guitar used by Sambora during his chat with Shiflett was a signature model, but the Foo Fighter was unable to recall whose while speaking to Premier Guitar – evidence suggests it was Henrik Danhage’s Pro-Mod So-Cal Style 1.

The connection between the Evergrey guitarist and the Foo Fighters may seem tenuous, but it inspired a thought in Shiflett's mind.

After sourcing some components for his Eddie Van Halen-inspired creation online, Shiflett tasked Eric Chaz at Ernie’s Guitars in Van Nuys, California, with piecing the parts together.

“I brought it out because there’s a section in the show where Dave introduces everybody, and everybody does a little something, and I sorta worked that in to do a little homage to some of my favorite players,” Shiflett explains of his decision to use the Superstrat on tour.

“I’ll do a little taste of Randy Rhoads, a little bit of Eruption, and a little bit of Thunderstruck, AC/DC, and so I wanted to bring that guitar with me so I could do some tremolo bar dives and stuff.”

The guitar has been given a neat relic’d shell pink finish, and Shiflett's name can be found on the headstock. But all that effort to build a Superstrat just for a small noodle each night seemed too much.

“After getting it out here,” he goes on, “I don’t want to throw it on for just that and then take it off, so I put it on for the song just ahead of that – we usually do Breakout. And then I started doing some divebombs in Breakout just to see if anyone in the band noticed.”

Thus far, his whammy bar acrobatics have gone largely unnoticed, or at least been quietly accepted, by his bandmates.

The most influential guitar gear designers of the last century or so may have all made huge contributions to the evolution of the style and sound of electric guitar builds, but browsing the list below, it’s clear they are by no means treated equally in the eyes of history. 

Whether that is down to merit, marketing or the simple limits of our collective technical knowledge, is open to debate. What’s not up for argument is that there are three clear tiers apparent in the names listed below.

Firstly, there are those whose names have become so universal they eclipse the individual fame of their founders. We’re talking the likes of Leo Fender and Jim Marshall. 

Then there are those whose names, while not as widespread, immediately inspire respect and reverence among players: see Seth Lover or Roger Mayer. 

The third tier consists of those who deserve a little more of the spotlight when it comes to the history of guitar design: for instance, the likes of pickup pioneers Walter Fuller and Ray Butts.

Finally, you might note that this is a list of exclusively white men. The unfortunate nature of the industry – and wider social fabric – of the time of electric guitar design’s most significant developments (mid-20th century) meant the most widespread innovations were limited to a very narrow demographic. 

Many women and people of color were involved in guitar manufacture and performance across that period, not least during WWII, but sadly they were, at worst, prohibited and, at best, under-represented when it came to the firm’s founders and product development teams.

1. Floyd D. Rose

The locking trem pioneer

It’s hard to imagine what Steve Vai and Joe Satriani would have sounded like without the Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo. The unit was engineered in 1976 to provide more tuning stability for guitarists hoping to push instruments to their very limits. 

The hand-made double locking system, which featured clamps around the nut and bridge, was then licensed to Kramer Guitars for large-scale manufacturing, eventually ending up in the hands of Eddie Van Halen. Guitar music was never the same again. 

2. Jim Marshall

The Brit who made it loud

There’s a good reason why English amp innovator Jim Marshall ended up earning himself the nickname ‘The Father of Loud’. 

As well as creating the British amp sound with the revolutionary JTM45 in 1963, he also helped guitarists conquer bigger venues and reach more people with inventions like the 100-watt Super Lead Model 1959 and the 4x12 speaker cabinet – originally requested by The Who’s Pete Townshend. 

Ultimately, his ingenuity gave rock musicians like Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton the volume and power they needed to take over the world.

3. Leo Fender

A key player in the evolution of guitar

If Leo Fender had only masterminded the world’s first mass-produced solid-body electrics in 1948, that would have been enough. But as well as pioneering instruments like the Broadcaster (later renamed the Telecaster) and the Stratocaster – which continue to thrive over seven decades later – the Californian also changed the world by inventing the three ‘woodie’ amps of 1946: the original Princeton, Deluxe (also known as the Model 26) and Professional. 

For those reasons, Leo remains one of the most central characters, if not the most central, in the evolution of guitar. 

4. Les Paul

Father of the solidbody electric

The world’s first solidbody electric was actually designed by Les Paul in 1941, though Gibson showed no interest until Fender had released the Esquire and Broadcaster nearly a decade later. His name still appears on the headstocks of Gibson and Epiphone electrics to this day and rightly so. 

Much like Leo Fender, his contributions to the music industry were multifaceted – as well as being a highly influential guitarist in his own right, Les Paul also helped create sound on sound overdubbing, tape delay and multi-track recording.

5. Paul Bigsby

Vintage trem designer

A motorcycle racer turned guitar luthier, American innovator Paul Bigsby is best known for designing the vintage-style vibrato tailpiece seen on Gibson and Gretsch models. But as a builder of guitars, pickups and lap steels, there was a lot more to him that just that. 

He was responsible for influencing the solidbodies we know today, with Leo Fender himself having been inspired by Bigsby’s creations while designing the early Broadcasters and Stratocasters, and Les Paul using one of Bigsby’s pickups in his Epiphone hollowbody on How High The Moon.

6. Paul Reed Smith

Super-high build quality

Founded in 1985 when Paul Reed Smith started working with former Gibson president Ted McCarty – the man famous for creating the Explorer, ES-335 and Flying V – PRS have become well-established for the high-end guitars seen in the hands of Carlos Santana, John McLaughlin and, in times more recent, John Mayer. 

With premium parts and alluring aesthetics, the instruments are also famous for their eye-watering price tags, which is why the launch of the Eastern-produced SE line in 2000 created a massive buzz around the world.

7. Ray Butts

Early humbucker pioneer #1

Given that he built his first radio at the age of eight, it’s no surprise Ray Butts ended up influencing the evolution of electrified music.

Opening his own music shop led to the development of the Echosonic – a tape echo amp that was used by ’50s legends like Chet Atkins and Scotty Moore.

In 1954, when Gretsch were working on the 6120 model with Chet Atkins, Butts eliminated single-coil hum issues by connecting two pickups serially and out of phase, thus creating one of the first humbuckers, later known as the Filter’Tron.

8. Roger Mayer

FX designer for the greatest of all time

Before Boss, MXR and Electro-Harmonix, there was Roger Mayer – the technician Hendrix, Page and Beck turned to for more overdriven and otherworldly sounds. 

The Englishman’s most famous creation was the Octavia effect heard on Hendrix hits like Purple Haze and Fire – a pedal which reproduced a guitar’s signal one octave higher against the original clean tone and a distorted fuzz sound. All these years later, Mayer is still in business, manufacturing pedals and studio gear from his base in Surrey.

9. Seth Lover

Early humbucker pioneer #2

There simply is no humbucker as storied and celebrated as the original P.A.F. (Patent Applied For), created by Seth Lover in 1955 while he was working for Gibson. 

By wiring two coils electrically out of phase with reversed magnetic polarities, Lover was able to cancel the 60-cycle hum of single-coils and dial in more sonic girth. 

Lover also contributed to the design of the Flying V, then went on to develop the Wide Range pickup for Fender before ending up at Seymour Duncan, whose founder described him as his “humbucker mentor”. 

10. Seymour Duncan

After-market pickup innovator

Having moved over from New Jersey to work at London’s Fender Soundhouse Studio in the early ’70s, Seymour W. Duncan made a name for himself repairing and rewinding pickups for a long list of guitar greats including Eric Clapton, George Harrison, David Gilmour, Jimmy Page and, perhaps most famously of all, Jeff Beck. 

When his visa ran out, he moved to Santa Barbara, California and started his own company pioneering the after-market custom pickup and effectively creating a whole new industry for guitar enthusiasts.

11. Ted McCarty

Gibson’s greatest designer?

Ted McCarty was named Vice President of Gibson in 1949 and then made President the following year – a position which he held during their golden period until 1966. 

He helped Les Paul and a prototype known as ‘The Log’ become a reality, while also going on to develop the Explorer, Flying V, Moderne, SG and Firebird designs – as well as 2022’s Theodore after some 1957 sketches were found in the vaults. 

Becoming a PRS consultant later in life, he was awarded his own tribute model in 1994, which remains in production to this day. 

12. Walter Fuller 

Designer of the big G’s first electric pickup

After joining the company in 1933, Walton Fuller made Gibson history just two years later by designing their first-ever electric pickup, used on the metal-bodied E-150 lap steels. 

The same pickup was then seen on the ES-150 archtop models that arrived the following year, which were popularised by early jazz icon Charlie Christian and are generally regarded as the first commercially successful production electric guitars. 

Prior to this, their electrified instruments were either primitive piezoelectric designs or after-market add-ons for traditional acoustics.

Graph Tech has seemingly ushered in the next evolution in guitar tuning, unveiling an all-new electric guitar nut that it promises “revolutionizes tuning”.

Called the Un-Lock Nut, the new innovation looks to completely remove the need for fiddly traditional locking nuts and Allen keys, and instead offers in its place something far more straightforward, and immensely more intuitive.

In practice, the Un-Lock Nut looks like your average TUSQ XL nut but with a slightly expanded face and intriguingly fanned string slots, and has been optimized to work seamlessly with Floyd Rose-style bridges and locking tuners.

In what will come as pleasant news for tremolo loyalists, no substantial guitar modification is required to fit the Un-Lock Nut (just simply use some white wood glue and file it to size) and tuning is easy as “turning the machine heads” – no unlocking or loosening required.

Some specific specs include an advanced slot design, which works to accommodate string behavior associated with Floyd Rose-style systems “ensuring precision and stability”, as well as “precise radius matching” that is said to be another benefit over conventional locking nuts: here, the nut can be matched specifically to the radius of your guitar.

Graph Tech is also keen to note the fact the Un-Lock Nut has customizable string heights for each string, and an Enhanced String Stress Distribution design that is delivered via the extended string ramps for “friction-free glide without affecting the nut slot integrity”.

“Locking nuts have always been a necessary evil for guitarists with a locking tremolo system. Love them or hate them, they're essential – until now,” says Graph Tech.

 “Embrace the future of guitar tuning and performance with Graph Tech's Un-Lock Nut – a game changer in the realm of tremolo systems.”

All-in-all, it’s a lot of buzz [hopefully not - Ed] and anticipation from a humble piece of TUSQ, but if it’s even half as effective as Graph Tech says it is, then we imagine fans of the Floyd Rose – and those frustrated with locking nuts – will most definitely take interest.

It’s also affordable, weighing in at only $29.95. An innovative answer to all your tremolo troubles that will rid you of any and all issues you may have with your current Floyd Rose setup? For just shy of $30? It might be one of Graph Tech’s most important releases in recent memory.

The Un-Lock nut is currently available in FR Original #2 and FR Original #3/4 sizes, with 12" and 16" options on the way.

Head over to Graph Tech to find out more.

Spending some time with these two guitars invariably took us back to the 80s when it seemed every guitar was little more than a fingerboard with a Floyd Rose vibrato. 

Many of the ‘big hair’ bands and their music has aged, ahem, somewhat awkwardly, and the guitars they played seem equally far from classic. But as those of us of a certain age will remember, it was an explosive time for the electric guitar, and many of the heroes it produced really haven’t been bettered. 

It might not be hip to admit it, but this writer is quite a closet fan of the polarising Floyd Rose vibrato – the essential piece of kit for any serious player back then, even if it was one of the many high-performance vibratos that came and went, some more thankfully than others. 

Many of us don’t need to dump a vibrato so the strings literally fall off the fingerboard; try that in the wrong band and you’ll be shown the door. But with the expansive and great-sounding multi-effects we all have access to, the Floyd can be used in a highly creative fashion.

With less palaver than restringing a Bigsby and then trying to keep the lightest of wobbles in tune, the Floyd is dead easy to set up and string – so long as you have the right Allen key, of course.

Lock those strings at both the saddle and nut and – after some judicious string stretching – these things will stay in tune with all but the slightest tweak of those fine tuners. The cork-sniffing tone gurus will have something to say about that we expect, but far from being a ‘tone drain’, on the right guitar there’s nothing to touch it.

Irrespective of the artists behind these models, what they actually do is almost bookend Eddie’s stylistic journey, from the beat-up Frankenstein starting point style of the Henrik Charvel, to the altogether more considered and really very developed Wolfgang. Aside from being made in Fender’s Mexican factory, they share plenty.

Henrik Danhage Signature Pro-Mod So-Cal Style 1

There’s nothing classy about the relic job of this Charvel: by design, it looks like the proverbial ‘I tied it to the bus and headed off on tour’ level of relicing. It’s a nice weight, and showcases a nicely jointed four-piece spread of tightly striped ash, which is really rather beautiful on the rib-cage contour, for example – and another reminder of a wood that we’re seeing in serious decline as far as the USA is concerned.

There’s a brutal simplicity that was so much a part of Van Halen’s original vision: bolt a neck to a body, chuck on a wide-travel vibrato and a couple of pickups, and the rest is down to you.

One area that’s more refined here is the neck: slim in depth but with dual graphite-rod reinforcement to hopefully keep it straight as you cross the time zones. If you need to tweak it, the truss rod adjustment wheel is at the end of the neck, and the compound radius fingerboard – similarly built for speed – frankly looks as worn out as the body.

But there are some very nice touches, such as the heavy fingerboard edge rounding. Reverse headstock aside, this could once have been a '50s Stratocaster that has been extensively modded!

The zebra Seymour JB at the bridge will be familiar to most of us, but it’s paired with a DiMarzio Area 67, a hum-cancelling ‘single coil’. “Single coils in 1967 were bright and very clean,” says DiMarzio, “and, of course, they hummed. We’ve captured the classic bright and clean sound but totally eliminated the hum with our patented Area technology. We’ve also reduced magnet pull by 40 per cent for improved sustain and clarity.”

This hot-rod modded vibe continues to the controls – or lack of them. There’s just a single volume control, with its Stratocaster ‘Tone’ knob, of course. So how do you select the pickups? Easy. That single control has a push switch: down is bridge; up is neck. Both on? Nope. 

EVH Limited Edition Wolfgang Special Sassafras

If Henrik’s signature has the look of something that was screwed together in the backyard and might need some help from The Repair Shop, the Wolfgang comes across as, well, a proper guitar.

It shares the same Fender scale as the Charvel signature, along with those graphite rods and wheel truss rod adjustor, but the slightly downsized body is going to look Les Paul-size tiny on a tall frame. You can clearly see the wood grain under the very thin and quite textured satin black finish (with its single cream edge binding) and if asked we’d say it was ash, too. It’s actually sassafras, a light and relatively soft wood from Eastern USA.

Fender believes Leo Fender used it to make an undisclosed number of Strats back in the 50s and it recently appeared on the Fender Stories Collection Eric Johnson 1954 ‘Virginia’ Stratocaster. Although it’s about 5mm thinner in depth at the rim compared with the 45mm-thick Charvel, the top’s arching increases the overall depth to 50mm. But it’s lighter than the ash-bodied Charvel on our scales – and feels it.

The small three-a-side headstock adds to the compact style, but it’s not just a size thing that differentiates the two: the EVH just seems more finished, particularly the rounded nose of the tiered heel join, the screws passing through individual domed washers as opposed to the Charvel’s chunky cast metal neckplate and standard squared-off Fender heel.

While both necks are maple, the EVH’s is roasted and quarter-sawn, which adds to the very contemporary specification. The drive is very simple here, too, but we get a proper tone control and a shoulder-placed three-way toggle to select the dual direct-mount EVH humbuckers.

We’re not done yet. Plating aside, we have the same Floyd Rose, but while it’s slightly recessed into the top, here it sits flat with no up-bend – typical EVH style. It also features that D-Tuna to drop the low E down a tone. It’s such a stable guitar, something that’s helped by the neck construction: a quick tune-up using the fine tuners when we started the test and that was it. Feel & Sounds

Both guitars share the same scale length and overall neck construction, and our calipers suggest the same-width jumbo fretwire (the EVH’s wire is very slightly lower) on the same 305mm to 406mm (12- to 16-inch) radius fingerboard. But the different profiles, depths and widths create a markedly different feel. 

The Charvel’s ‘speed’ profile is a relatively thin depth’d D (19.3mm at the 1st fret and 21.2mm by the 12th) with its back feeling flatter than it actually is. 

The EVH isn’t a million miles away, but the additional depth (19.9mm at the 1st fret and 23mm by the 12th) feels a little more classic, and it’s marginally thinner in width, too: 41.5mm at the nut and 51.24mm at the 12th fret compared with the Charvel’s 43.1mm nut width and 52.63mm dimension at the 12th fret. Both have nicely rounded fingerboard edges, especially the Charvel.

With its ‘dirty’ maple face, it certainly creates the look and feel of being heavily played. Getting used to each guitar and playing unplugged also gives us a hint of the sonic differences. There’s a little more snap to the very Fender-y sounding unplugged voice of the Charvel.

The EVH has slightly less zing and is less snappy, but both have a wonderfully fulsome sustain development. These similarities in build belie the rather different sounds they produce. The Charvel’s voice comes across as lighter in the low-end and brighter, too.

The JB at the bridge has power and quite an upper midrange attack that’s completely contrasted by the Area 67 at the neck, which has the sort of spank you’d expect from a brightly voiced Strat’s neck pickup. The EVH seemingly has a fuller voice with more depth – more ‘Gibson’ to the Charvel’s ‘Fender’, if you like. Here, the bridge initially sounds fuller with a little more cocked wah-like tonality and almost a little less hot-sounding than that JB.

But recording both – playing the same parts through the same gained Marshall, and with battering ram drums and bass – the overall tonality at the bridge is actually very similar, even when the tracks are solo’d. We’d swear they sound more different when we listen in front of our amp.

Not for the first time, then, that actually evaluating the ‘front of house’ mix proves quite a leveller. The EVH’s neck voice is obviously very different from the Charvel’s and it keeps the full-fat tonality of the bridge, although it’s softer, nicely vocal and needs some amp sizzle to give it clarity.

The mix, missing from the Charvel, is quite distinct and adds some welcome bounce for a very usable third voice, combining thickness but with some of the funkier clarity you’d expect in this parallel link. Its volume and tone work very well to subtly tame the beast, too.

The treble bleed is certainly useful, allowing you to clean up heavier gains. However, to approach that Area 67 sound of the Charvel you’d need some coil splits, which, to be honest, would probably be very useful here when we have this much wire involved.

Verdict

We like our pigeonholes and the inclusion of a Floyd Rose vibrato instantly suggests a genre-specific instrument. And, yes, both of these allow you to rip it up, warble and waggle in spades.

But just studying a spec sheet doesn’t tell anywhere near the full story. Firstly, both are exceptionally stable in terms of tuning, even with some heavy vibrato use. They’re also great weights and, with a couple of minor exceptions, are 100 per cent performance-ready.

Plus, in the same way someone such as Mike Stern uses seemingly inappropriate hot pickups on his Yamaha signature to produce big fat and rounded cleans, the EVH does exactly that here. In short, to pigeonhole these as simply metal guitars is really missing the point. 

Neither is a particularly cheap date, and neither comes with even a gigbag. But these models possess a huge amount of mojo, both for their intended purposes and a lot more besides. From his early beat-up hot-rod style to the much more refined and considered Wolfgang, we have an awful lot to thank Eddie for.

Charvel Henrik Danhage Pro-Mod So-Cal Style 1

4 out of 5

Pros: A great example of an 80s-style hot-rod ‘SuperStrat’; great weight and neck feel; contrasting pickups.

Cons: Just one relic'd colour; no gigbag supplied.

EVH Limited Edition Wolfgang Special Sassafras

4.5 out of 5

Pros: Simply a great guitar design: lightweight, superb neck construction and feel, excellent tuning stability, and big sounds.

Cons: No gigbag.

Specifications

Charvel Henrik Danhage Pro-Mod So-Cal Style 1

• PRICE: £1,519 / $1,599
• ORIGIN: Mexico
• TYPE: Double-cutaway relic'd solidbody
• BODY: Ash
• NECK: Maple, graphite reinforced, ‘speed’ profile bolt-on
• SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”)
• NUT/WIDTH: Locking/43.1mm
• FINGERBOARD: Maple, black dot inlays, 305-406mm (12-16”) radius
• FRETS: 22, jumbo
• HARDWARE: Floyd Rose 1000 series double-locking vibrato, Charvel logo’d die-cast tuners – chrome-plated
• STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 52mm
• ELECTRICS: Seymour Duncan JB TB-4 humbucker (bridge), DiMarzio Area 67 DP419CR (neck), master volume (with ‘tone’ knob and a push switch to voice pickups: down, bridge; up, neck)
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.51/7.72
• OPTIONS: None
• LEFT-HANDERS: No
• FINISHES: White Relic (as reviewed) – semi-gloss lacquer to body, handrubbed satin urethane to neck
• CONTACT: Charvel

EVH Limited Edition Wolfgang Special Sassafras

• PRICE: $1,399 / £1,089
• ORIGIN: Mexico 
• TYPE: Double-cutaway arched top solidbody
• BODY: Sassafras
• NECK: Baked maple, graphite reinforced, Wolfgang profile, bolt-on
• SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”)
• NUT/WIDTH: Locking/41.5mm
• FINGERBOARD: Baked maple, black dot inlays, 305-406mm (12-16”) radius
• FRETS: 22, jumbo
• HARDWARE: Floyd Rose 1000 series double-locking vibrato (with brass block), EVH-logo’d Gotoh tuners – black
• STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 52mm
• ELECTRICS: Direct mount EVH Wolfgang humbuckers, 3-way toggle pickup selector switch, master volume (Bourns low friction) and master tone (Bourns high friction)
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.01/6.62
• OPTIONS: None
• LEFT-HANDERS: No
• FINISHES: Satin Black (as reviewed) – satin urethane to body, hand-rubbed satin urethane to neck
• CONTACT: EVH Gear

Floyd Rose is celebrating four decades of its double-locking trem for electric guitars with the new 40th Anniversary Floyd Rose Original Tremolo System.

The limited-edition bridge boasts a German-made tremolo base, stainless steel hardware, titanium insert blocks, an upgraded 37mm Fat Brass Sustain Block and ruby red fine tuner screws.

The system contains the bridge, locking nut, springs and claw, mounting studs and all hardware necessary for installation. It comes in a variety of finishes, including Chrome, Black, Gold, Nickel, Black Nickel, Vintage Copper, Satin Pearl, Satin Chrome, Satin Black and Satin Gold.

The 40th Anniversary Floyd Rose Original Tremolo System is available for $274.90 in the US, and prices ranging from £449 - £519 in the UK.

For more information, head to Floyd Rose and JHS.

The locking nut is integral to the high-performance tremolo system - it removes the non-playing part of each string from the equation by locking it down. This Floyd Rose one is the most commonplace but it’s also quite common to see the nut height set wrong - often by the factory. 

We figure it must be too fiddly for the regular assembly line to get it right each time so they err on the high side each time. Mankind has not come this far to put up with that minor annoyance! Being as this will be set for life, let’s take care to do this properly and it will be a small but important victory that you can reap the rewards from!

Set a nut too low and it will buzz on 1st fret; set too high and it’s hard work and intonates out of tune. Adjusting takes a couple of specialized tools and some careful measuring but can get you the comfortable action you so desperately crave. After all, setting the nut height is just as important as setting the bridge height.

What you need

• PH1 Screwdriver
• 2.5mm, 3mm and 4mm allen keys
• Feeler gauge
• Fresh strings
• Stringwinder
• Stringcutters
• Specialised sanding block faced with 120 grit sandpaper
• 2 capos
• Tuner
• Wooden strip for blocking the bridge
• Tin snips for creating shims
• A beer can makes brill shim material
  
  SKILL LEVEL: MEDIUM

Step 1

Let’s get to work - string up your guitar with a fresh set of strings. It’s not a good idea to set up anything around old worn strings, especially if they have bends or kinks in them! You don’t need the locking clamps around at the moment so stash them away safely.

Step 2

As a Floyd Rose veteran I don’t need to tell you about the woes of tuning this system up. Let’s do ourselves a favour and block the bridge off temporarily. This trusty piece of wood allows us to get on with repeat tuning and make some progress on addressing the nut height.

Step 3

We absolutely cannot adjust nut height unless the truss rod is set. Press on the 1st fret then press down on the 15th fret and we’ll use the straight string as a guide to see how bent forward the neck is. The feeler gauge is put over 8th or 9th fret underneath the string; .007" is the magic clearance. Adjust the truss rod accordingly.

Step 4

Stick the capo onto the 3rd fret and check the gap over the 1st fret. There should be a clearance of .002" to .006" measured with a feeler gauge. Be sure to accurately measure each side. We like the high E string to be the lowest and the bass E string to have more clearance to allow for a bit of ferocity.

Step 5

The readings from step 4 will determine if you take route A or route B later, but whichever, get this thing out of the way. We’ll be lifting the strings off so we can attack under the nut; this string retainer just gets in the way. We’ll put it back on later and set the height.

Step 6

There are two ways that a locking nut is attached; some are bolted on from the rear and some are screwed in from the front - the screws hide under the string clamps. With bolts, take note of the mini washers and star washers that will fall out. Make sure you don’t lose anything!

Step 7

Great, now we have access to the pad that the nut unit sits on. Based on your reading in step 4 follow route A if your clearances were too large and follow route B if your clearances were too small. Do not be tempted to file down the bottom of the metal nut unit - it’s rock hard! Skip to step 10 for route B.

Step 8

Route A Part 1 - initial nut clearance was too large. We’ve made a specialized sanding block from a piece of Micarta with 120 grit paper double-side taped on. The width is absolutely key as well as it being 100% flat. The timber bed is hardwood so it will work slowly at best - that suits us for fine-tuning!

Step 9

Route A Part 2 - it’s all about technique. Begin to work the timber with the sanding block being incredibly careful. You do not want the tool to slip and scratch the headstock. The hardest thing to get right is to keep parallel and not accidentally round off the timber. The bottom of the nut is flat, don’t forget.

Step 10

Route B - initial nut clearance was too small. In this case we’ll shim the nut up to its correct clearance. Thin metal shims should be trapped under the nut to fine-tune the height. If you don’t have some you can re-purpose a beer can after enjoyment using some tin snips. Just be careful as these become lethally sharp.

Step 11

Whether the process took you down route A or B, this is the critical part - checking again and knowing when to stop! The strings must be replaced and fully tuned to test your nut clearances. Tightening up the nut fastenings helps too and it squishes down a little. If you need to make a change head back to Route A or B and repeat.

Step 12

The nut is set and it’s set for life. This pain-in-the-ass task will not have to be set again unless you convert to playing slide guitar. Let’s set the string retainer height. It should be tightened so each string touches the back of the locking nut unit. This means that when you clamp the string locks back up it doesn’t raise the pitch.

Floyd Rose has announced its new Rail Tail tremolo, a full-contact, dive-only tremolo designed to retrofit your existing Strat-style six-point tremolo with no modifications to your guitar.

From the company: The Rail Tail is based on a clever design that merges the feel and reliability of a hardtail bridge with the flexibility of a tremolo system.

Computer designed and precision-machined, the Rail Tail achieves maximum performance without compromising comfort or feel while offering a stunning modern look rooted in its vintage predecessors. Its unique features allow for adjustability to fit a variety of guitar bodies and for an easy DIY installation.

Unlike the original tremolo design that rocks on a bevel located under the screw heads, the Rail Tail tremolo plate rotates around a precision rail that is mounted directly to the guitar body. The plate cradles the entire rail with precision, as if they were one unit improving sound quality and tuning stability. This union also creates a greater breakpoint, which allows open strings to maintain pitch when bending another, much like a hardtail.

The tremolo plate consists of slotted string block mounting holes not only for accommodating installation, but also for allowing the string block to be positioned forward for greater rotational range. This means diving up to 15 degrees more than conventional tremolo bridges.

An advanced string block also consists of game-changing features: Mid-positioned tapered string holes assist in true string saddle contact. Working in alliance with the rail and string block are the roller fitted string saddles. This entire assembly provides ultimate vibrational energy transfer from the strings to the guitar body, resulting in better overall sustain and tonal qualities. The Rail Tail Narrow accommodates an E to E string spacing of 2 1/16". The Rail Tail Wide accommodates an E to E string spacing of 2 7/32".

For a demo, check out the video below. For more info, head to floydrose.com.

If your Floyd Rose is driving you mad, here are some simple, reversible mods that will make living with it a lot easier.

In this video, Phillip McKnight demonstrates several ways to block your Floyd Rose, ranging from dirt-cheap DIY methods to an inexpensive fix using the Tremel-No.

Phillip shows the items you’ll need and demonstrates each step of every process. As he notes, all of these mods are completely reversible and will leave no trace of having ever been performed.

Take a look. And when you’re done, visit Phillip’s YouTube channel for more of his great and informative videos.

In this new Guitar World video, Paul Riario demos the new FRX tremolo system from Floyd Rose. It mounts directly onto your guitar with no routing required. Here's some extra from the company:

Floyd Rose Marketing has announced the release of the innovative retrofitting surface-mount tremolo system for Gibson-style guitars.

The FRX will retrofit all tune-o-matic and stopbar tailpiece systems with a locking nut/truss rod cover hybrid that will mount behind your guitar's existing nut, which only requires two small wood screws to be installed. This is the only modification that has to be made. There is no routing required whatsoever.

“We are truly excited to finally make the FRX system a reality and available to guitar enthusiasts worldwide,” said Andy Papiccio, president of AP International. “The beauty of the Floyd Rose FRX tremolo system is that it’s easy to install. No modifications to the body of the guitar are needed; it's a complete retrofit."

This is a historic moment for Floyd Rose, pioneers of the world’s premier double-locking tremolo system, 35 years after the invention of the industry-standard Original Tremolo System.

For more information, visit floydrose.com.

PRS Guitars has announced the release of the Floyd Rose-Equipped 30th Anniversary SE Custom 24 Model.

The newest model of PRS's SE series was created to celebrate the company's 30th anniversary and the company's Floyd Rose 1000 series tremolo.

"The SE line continues to provide players worldwide with an affordable guitar of excellent quality,” said Doug Shive, the SE line's business manager. “The new 30th Anniversary SE 'Floyd' Custom 24 is yet another great value guitar and one that allows players to dig in, rock out and dive away in style.”

The 30th Anniversary SE Custom 24 features the striking 30th Anniversary commemorative bird inlay package, quilt maple veneer, SE HFS and SE Vintage Bass pickups and a push/pull tone control for coil-tapping with three-way blade switch in a gig-ready package.

The guitar also comes equipped with a “1000 Series” Floyd Rose tremolo, which is made to the exact specifications and with the same high-quality materials as the “Original” Floyd. Available finishes include: Black Cherry, Grey Black, Santana Yellow, Trampas Green, and Whale Green.

You can find out more by visiting prsguitars.com.

Floyd Rose Marketing has announced the release of the innovative retrofitting surface-mount tremolo system for Gibson-style guitars.

The FRX will retrofit all tune-o-matic and stopbar tailpiece systems with a locking nut/truss rod cover hybrid that will mount behind your guitar's existing nut, which only requires two small wood screws to be installed. This is the only modification that has to be made. There is no routing required whatsoever.

“We are truly excited to finally make the FRX system a reality and available to guitar enthusiasts worldwide,” said Andy Papiccio, president of AP International. “The beauty of the Floyd Rose FRX tremolo system is that it’s easy to install. No modifications to the body of the guitar are needed; it's a complete retrofit."

This is a historic moment for Floyd Rose, pioneers of the world’s premier double-locking tremolo system, 35 years after the invention of the industry-standard Original Tremolo System.

See Floyd Rose at Winter NAMM 2015 in booth 4860 in Hall C.

For more information, visit floydrose.com.

Floyd Rose Marketing has expanded its line of upgrades to include many new items.

These include the Stone Tone Rock Block, a sustain block made of granite; the Turbo Trem Arm, a superbly agile and durable tremolo arm with two Allen key ends; the Push-In Tremolo Arm; and noiseless springs coated with a revolutionary polymer that eliminates that “spring ping” associated with the tremolo.

All of these new upgrades are now available in addition to the company's collection of upgradable parts to personalize the millions of existing bridges on the market.

See Floyd Rose at Winter NAMM 2015 in booth 4860 in Hall C.

For more information, visit floydrose.com.

Do you tremble at the sight of the Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo?

Do you dig the vintage vibe of the Bigsby Vibrato?

Or, like Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Dick Dale, Hank Marvin and Jeff Beck, are you getting along just fine with your Fender Strat's ages-old Synchronized, "vintage-style" system?

Let your voice be heard -- take the poll below and vote for your preferred whammy bar system. You'll notice we're trying to keep it simple by limiting the number of choices; however, feel free to enter another system into the "Other" field.

Examples of these would include Stetsbar, Wilkinson, Super Vee Blade Runner, Fender Dynamic Tremolo, Fender Floating Tremolo and Fender Two-Point Synchronized Tremolo.

Thanks for voting! Now start doing some dive bombs!