NAMM 2024: The EVH SA-126 – the result of a three-year collaboration between Wolfgang Van Halen, Eddie Van Halen’s longtime guitar tech Matt Bruck, and EVH master builder Chip Ellis – is finally hitting the market later this year.

“Crash-tested” for over two years by Wolfgang on tour with his band Mammoth WVH, this all-new semi-hollow instrument boasts a classy array of aesthetic options, and promises a “super-wide spectrum of tones from articulate cleans, to burning leads to brutal chugging chordal rhythms”.

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The guitar – named after Eddie Van Halen’s birthday (January 26) and described as the “very definition of innovation incarnate” – comes in two configurations: the SA-126 Special and SA-126 Special, Quilted maple. Both share similar spec sheets, but the latter, obviously, sports a quilted maple top.

Specs on both models include a chambered mahogany body with a basswood centreblock for “added stability and tone”, a bolt-on mahogany neck with a scarf joint and EVH modified “C” neck shape, and a 12”-16” compound radius ebony fingerboard with 22 jumbo frets.

Regarding electronics, each guitar sports a pair of EVH SA-126 bridge and neck pickups, created by Fender’s resident pickup designer Tim Shaw. As EVH explains, these pickups promise everything from “the elegant sound of cascading-glassy cleans to a heavy bath of overdrive that will satisfy the most discerning ‘gainiac’”.

Controls include a three-way toggle at the guitar’s upper horn to switch between bridge, bridge and neck and neck pickup positions, as well as two volume and two tone pots.

Other features present on both models include a spoke wheel truss rod adjustment at the butt end of the neck for easy adjustments, as well as a Harmonica bridge and stop bar tailpiece, oversized strap buttons and keystone tuning pegs.

In terms of availability the SA-126 Special comes in two colour options – Matte Army Drab and Stealth Black – and is priced at $1,799.99/£1,449.00, while the SA-126 Special, Quilted Maple comes in either Transparent Purple or Tobacco Sunburst, and costs $1,899.99/£1,499.00. Both models will be available from May 2024.

For more information, head to EVH.