EDDIE VAN HALEN’S OG FRANKENSTRAT
THE AXE
Eddie Van Halen has added to, taken away from, and otherwise messed around with the core attributes of the Frankenstrat at least a bajillion times since he first built it. As for the original model, we know it started off with a northern ash body and maple neck – a factory reject Eddie bought from Wayne Charvel himself for a neat $130. Initially rocking the stock Fender tremolo from a 1958 Strat, he later switched it out for a pickup taken from a Gibson ES-335, modified to take advantage of the disparate string spacing between the Gibson’s pickup and the Fender-designed bridge. That whole setup would eventually be ditched for a more simplistic Seymour Duncan humbucker. Eddie whipped up its finish on a whim, slicking the whole body in a deep black, then repainting in coats of red and white with strips of gaffer’s tape strewn around to create the striking design we all know and love today.
THE STORY
Hell hath no fury like Eddie Van Halen in search of tonal perfection. This instantly iconic piece of rock history was borne of Eddie’s wish to fuse the sound of a classic Gibson with the functionality of a Fender Strat. A teen of grand ambition but shallow pockets, he sourced parts as cheaply as he could, chiseled and chopped and soldered all the parts on himself, and continued to toy around with new ideas and technological advancements well into Van Halen’s fame. A copy of the Frankenstrat is displayed in the National Museum of American History (via the Smithsonian Institution) in Washington, DC. The OG model lives on at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it was put up for show in April 2019 as part of their Play It Loud exhibit.
THE REPLICA
One of the most cloned guitars in the history of rock ’n’ roll, Eddie’s first-model Frankenstrat has been mimicked and mashed-up by well over
100 brands – some more reputable than others, of course. Official replicas have circulated onand-off since the ‘80s, when Van Halen landed a sponsorship with Kramer Guitars and they churned out a few ace models based on it. Ibanez and Fender have both tried their hand at the axe, too, but it’s undoubtedly with Eddie’s own EVH brand that the (now-renamed) Frankenstein would secure its legacy in the signature model market. 2020 saw EVH drop a new variant, the Striped Series Frankie, marketed to more budget-conscious players. In addition to the essential striped finish, the basswood-bodied axe features many of the Frankenstrat’s best specs, like the EVH-branded Floyd Rose locking tremolo, Floyd Rose locking nut and EVH D-Tuna.