EVH Striped Series Frankenstein Relic – Red/Black/White

Description

There are very few guitars out there that are as famous as Eddie Van Halen’s favorite 6-string sidekick, lovingly known as “Frankenstein.” This guitar was Eddie’s attempt to combine the sound of a classic single-cut solidbody guitar with the physical attributes and tremolo bar functionality of a Fender Stratocaster. Eddie started with a Strat-style body, added a maple neck, crudely mounted bridge PAF humbucker, and eventually a Floyd Rose tremolo system (with a 1971 quarter as a bridge stop). Other unconventional modifications included a non-functioning neck pickup and a dummy selector switch jammed into the middle pickup position, a strip of double-sided masking tape for holding picks, large screw eyes in lieu of strap buttons, and a distinctive black and white (and later red, black, and white) paint job with bicycle reflectors.

The Striped Series Frankie comes loaded with an EVH Wolfgang humbucker. Superhuman chops aside, Eddie forged his unmistakable sound through incessant tinkering with guitar parts and pickups. To achieve his signature tone, Eddie paid particular attention to different pickup windings. Wolfgang humbuckers are the direct product of Eddie’s tone chasing, and they nail his classic lead tone: stinging, singing highs, snarling mids, fat brown sound, and all. Thanks to this killer pickup, Frankie delivers Eddie Van Halen’s classic tone — instantly.

The Striped Series Frankie endeavors to be a spot-on cosmetic duplicate of Eddie’s original, and it shows — DIY aesthetic and all. Routed for an HSS pickup configuration, Frankie includes a dummy single-coil neck pickup and 5-way blade selector switch wedged into the middle position. It also boasts a white skirted Strat-style single volume control knob (labeled TONE, just like the original), a custom black pickguard, and relic’d chrome finish. And to top it off, the Striped Series Frankie features the original’s famed red, white, and black-striped paint job and a worn-in relic’d look.