Above is a picture of me having a beer in Amsterdam. The
Beer with less in it is of course my wife's!
I am the guy with too many Wolfgangs
and now too Many HP Specials as well.
RockNRollWeekend.com launched on February 8, 2006. Prior to this it
was WolfgangGuitars.com, which was first published in early 2003. Everyone has to
have a passion and this is one of mine. I have been a Van Halen fan
since college when Van Halen put out their first record, although this is
NOT a fan site, it is about the guitars. Over the
years I have admired and enjoyed the talent and passion for guitar and music that
Ed has demonstrated throughout his career. He is an incredible
innovator. Always tinkering. Always looking for something
better. His ear is legendary. There was an interview with
Hartley Peavey where Hartley said that against all odds Ed was able to tell
that Peavey had changed the type of wood they were using for braces in the
5150 cabinets even though he hadn't been told. They couldn't believe
it, so they tested him and sure enough he could tell and they had to change
it back. He is extremely particular about his guitars and equipment
and he wants everything perfect. This same attitude, ability, passion
and personality is in the Peavey Wolfgang guitar. Ed designed and had built a
guitar that was exactly what he wanted to play with the idea that there
might be others that would want the same thing. I would say that was a
pretty good bet! The Music Man EVH was and is a great guitar but the
Wolfgang Standard was the next step in the evolution and the
Custom Shop Wolfgang is the promise land. And then there was Peavey's Custom Shop HP Special. These guitars deserve to be recognized
beyond what they have been, and thus a big part of the motivation for this site.
I apologize if I sound like a Peavey ad.
Above is a picture of my main Wolfgang Display (This isn't all of them!)
The Wolfgang and HP Special Custom Shop guitars for me are modern art.
They are the ultimate combination of beauty and function. I display
most of my Wolfgangs and HP Specials. They are my "art
collection"!
Many
people might think I must be a great guitar player with all these guitars,
but unfortunately I don't have enough time or enough talent, but I keep
playing when I can! I played when I was in high school and
college (not very well) and then didn't play much at all for nearly 15
years, which coincides with my starting a software company and a family,
both of which consumed ALL of my time during my late 20's and 30's.
About ten years ago my oldest daughter (Erika - now 26) wanted to learn to
play guitar. I thought I might give her a few lessons so I pulled out
my Les Paul Custom from college and started in again. My daughter
needed a guitar to play so I started looking at guitars on the Web. I
got a guitar for her (not a Wolfgang), but I also got one for me (like I
needed it) as I was intrigued by the Wolfgang. I fell in love with it.
My daughter went the way of most beginning guitar players, while I renewed
my interest in rock guitar and developed a deeper interest than I had when I
was younger and a better discipline for practicing properly. It paid off as
at least I have gotten to a level where
I can really enjoy it. So now with
more time to play and the good fortune to afford to have fun with all these
guitars (I sold the software & payments company!), I am playing some guitar and
doing the Peavey dealer thing with the HP Specials. It also got me
totally into music again and maybe that is the best part. I am having
a lot of fun with it and have met some
great people.
I had been buying other brands of guitars
in the first few years in a quest to find anything that I like better
than the Wolfgang and now the HP Special at ANY price. I have found
some really great guitars that are keepers but nothing I would trade my best Wolfgangs
or HP Specials
for. I have sold most of the guitars I bought to try. I have not found a neck that plays better
(HPS's have the same neck) at any price or a guitar
with a better sound for the music I like! The quality is incredible
and rivals any super expensive hand made guitar. As
of today the Wolfgang Custom Shop guitar and now the HP Special Custom Shop
guitar, are still
in my opinion, the best guitars at any price for the music I like to play and
listen to. And in looking back the price was an absolute steal
on the Custom Shop Wolfgangs & HP Specials. The Custom Shop models are a cut above
the production models, which are still really nice. I think some
people just can't believe that a large company like Peavey can produce this
kind of guitar. Others can't shake the image of Peavey as a low cost,
low end brand and refuse to accept that these guitars are nothing like
anything else they have produced. It isn't until someone actually gets and plays one of
them that they become a true convert. It happens every
time! You have to experience this guitar. Forget what you think
you know about Peavey when it comes to guitars. Think of the Custom
Shop as a little 4 person company within Peavey with all the resources and
knowledge of Peavey. It is the best of both worlds (small and large
company).
Pictured above is the guitar corner in my
home office
Through my collecting and purchasing of Wolfgang guitars I have had the
opportunity to meet and communicate with many people at Peavey. It was because of the friendly, helpful
and customer centric nature of the EVH Custom Shop and everyone I have met at
Peavey that I went to the next level with my interest in these guitars.
If I couldn't get all the cool stuff that the Custom Shop was willing to do
I would almost certainly have a lot less interest and I
am sure I wouldn't have created this site. Just check out the Custom
Wolfgang and HP sections of this site and see the diversity of what has been
created. I would really like to
Thank Scott, Brian, Chris, Becky, Tim, Vickie, Faye, Lanee, Bill, Tony and
Mike for all the great customer service and wonderful Wolfgang and HPS guitars. The Custom
Shop produced the ultimate guitar your way!
If you have an original year quilt or
especially a custom shop
model I would love to display it on this site. What I need are some
decent quality photos, the serial number and a basic description of what the
components of the guitar are if it is a Custom Shop model. I also
encourage you to try a Custom Shop HP Special. It is the real deal!
I hope you enjoy the site. Send me an
e-mail if you do at
geoff@rocknrollweekend.com
as it is good motivation to keep it going and to improve it! And if you were
looking for information you couldn't find please let me know so that I might
add it in the future. Any pictures of Ed playing a Wolfgang that
I don't have already (see misc. section) I would also love to have. Or
anyone else playing a Wolfgang or HP Special live!,
Thanks for visiting my site!
Geoff