Van Halen's Frankenstrat

In 1978, guitarist Eddie Van Halen, his brother Alex, Dave Lee Roth and Michael Anthony came to the music scene with a big bang, releasing their self-titled debut album. The album spawned several hits and is highly regarded as one of the most ground-breaking debut albums in terms of innovative guitar pyrotechnics.

EVH reintroduced two-handed guitar tapping to the mainstream. He was well known to have done this although aside from the tapping technique, Eddie also has an awesome arsenal of guitar skills and innovative playing, such as use of natural and artificial harmonics, tremolo picking, aggressive vibratos and ability to create melodic solos.

Amidst all these technical virtuosity lies Van Halen’s main guitar, the Frankenstrat.

The guitar is a combination of various guitar parts from different manufacturers that you would think it won't match at all, specially if you also consider Van Halen's inexperience in assembling the electronic circuitry of the guitar. Here's the parts and their corresponding sources:

1. Ash Body (bought from Wayne Charvel for $50)
2. Maple Neck (bought from Wayne Charvel for $80)
3. Bridge Pickup (Gibson PAF Humbucker from his ES-335)
4. Neck Pickup (a unidentified single coil but not included in wiring)
5. Bridge/Tremolo (taken from his '58 Fender Strat, later replaced with a Floyd Rose)
6. Trademark Black and White stripes, then adding Schwinn Bicycle paint for the final Red touch-up

But a miracle must've happened along the way because apparently this Frankenstrat creation sounded awesome, yet looked like it didn't care about its appearance at all! I can imagine how people, during those times when Van Halen still wasn't famous, would initially look at the guitar with disdain due to it's aesthetically-lacking appearance, unlike the expensive and well-known branded guitars famous bands are known to play.

Then imagine them being blown away by the master himself as he is performing onstage with this beat-up, excuse of a guitar, which is by the way sounding so amazing!

I am a firm believer that the sound of a guitarist is in the tip of his fingers. Without a doubt, Van Halen's Frankenstrat is enough proof for this theory.



Photo source:
www.stevebowden.net