Back in January, EVH formally announced the SA-126 Special – Wolfgang Van Halen’s flagship signature guitar, which was created in collaboration with brand managing director Matt Bruck, Masterbuilder Chip Ellis, and pickup guru Tim Shaw.
After years of waiting, the unveiling of the hugely anticipated electric guitar came on what would have been Eddie Van Halen’s birthday – the instrument’s name is a direct tribute to this date – following various sightings of Wolfgang playing the guitar in the wild.
Now, nearly four months after that announcement, the SA-126 has been officially launched to the masses.
To mark the occasion, a new launch video has been shared by EVH, which sees Wolfgang, Bruck and Ellis chart the development of the forward-thinking semi-hollow, from its second prototype (a relic’d white model inspired by Eddie’s 2015 tour guitar) to the instrument it is today.
As Wolfgang explains, the SA-126 was born from a desire to create a classic semi-hollow model that could accommodate Mammoth WVH’s versatile crushing tones. In other words, a guitar that wasn’t currently on the market.
“The SA was born out of a necessity for finding my own sound for Mammoth,” Wolfgang explains. “I knew that I didn’t want to do what my dad did, and I wanted to try and have my own sound. That’s how I gravitated towards semi-hollow guitars. That became the core sound for my project.”
He continues, “The desire there was to put together an instrument that didn’t exist yet, which merged the beauty and wonderful warm tones of a classic semi-hollow guitar but with the performance style and neck that EVH Gear is known for.
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“It’s everything I could have ever wanted. I wanted a guitar that didn’t exist, and then Matt, Chip and I put our heads together and here it is.”
Specs had already been revealed, but to recap the SA-126 features a mahogany body with a basswood centerblock, a bolt-on mahogany neck – now revealed to be inspired by EVH’s Bumblebee – and a 12”-16” compound radius ebony fretboard.
Other features include 22 jumbo frets, a 24.75” scale length, a Harmonica bridge with a Stopbar tailpiece, and Mammoth-style inlays. Two Shaw-wound humbuckers also make the cut.
Wolfgang’s favorite feature of the lot? “The E-hole,” he says. “I think most semi-hollows are known for having the f-hole, and for Dad, SA-126 – that’s my father’s birthday – and an ‘E’ for Ed.”
As mentioned, Wolfgang devised the SA-126 as an instrument that could elevate the semi-hollow template into heavier territory, and the Mammoth WVH frontman says the project was a roaring success on that front.
“I really think this could change the misconceptions of classic semi-hollows being able to not rock hard enough,” he concludes, “because this one certainly does.”
Another important aspect of the SA-126 design brief was, naturally, a necessity to stay faithful to the EVH DNA and pay respect to its roots, which are firmly tied to Eddie Van Halen and the culture he established when EVH was first created.
Again, EVH Gear hit the mark on that one, with Bruck confidently asserting: “This guitar can take you from the most articulate and beautiful cleans, to the most crushing, chugging, heavy, de-tuned, brutal riffage.
“If Ed were here today, he would not stop talking about this guitar. He would love this guitar.”
The SA-126 is available now in two iterations. A quilted maple top version is listed for $1,899, while the standard plain top model weighs in at $1,799.
Visit EVH to find out more.
