DoctorPaul's Guitar Emporium
2011 Charvel EVH Frankenstein/ Frankenstrat
"Frankie"
#61071
I could write a book about this guitar, so I'm going to have to control myself here. This is my replica (my best effort ...) of Eddie Van Halen's 'Frankenstein' guitar, often called the 'Frankenstrat'. He calls it his 'Baby'. Whatever, Ed. This is as close as I could get it without sending myself crazy. Even the serial number (61071) is the same as Eddie's. This started out as an anonymous eBay strat body (almost certainly ash).
The bits and pieces include a Charvel USA neck (almost certainly a Custom Shop neck ... a long story ... but it was made by a geezer from the Charvel Custom Shop), a nice German Floyd Rose trem with a brass big-block, a Gibson 500T pickup (with an active circuit booster added), a low-resistance EVH volume pot (with a knob marked "TONE", because, according to Eddie, when you turn it up, you get a better tone ... which makes sense), and a paint-job that took me bloody weeks.
Paint was built up in this order ... clear, black, (tape), white, (remove tape), relic, clear, (tape), red, (remove tape), relic, clear. You keeping up? Then I added the muck and crud, most of which was taken from the bottom of my tool bag that I use for work. I studied this guitar for years, and always wanted to make one (a PROPER one, not like my numerous early attempts using crappy guitars), but was convinced to do it properly when Fender released their (ahem) "replicas" made by Chip Ellis. Really, they were NOT replicas. I recon that this is closer. AND theirs cost $25,000. Mine cost less than that.
I like to think that this one is pretty damn close ... closer than any that I've yet to come across. Thankfully, it plays REALLY well, so all the time, money and hastle was worth it. Interestingly, I had to make a call between using the type of reflectors that are used on the Fender Custom Shop "Replicas", or using the ones that were on Ed's original ... if you're not familiar with the guitar, there are several reflectors on the back (bought by Ed from some truck-stop while he was touring). The Fender "replicas" used the wrong reflector prism design, the same shape, but with a slightly different reflector pattern. I finally decided to use the Fender type, as I figured that I could have some fun telling folks that this was the $25,000 Fender one. Shhh ... don't tell anyone. Anyway, one of those got broken (the result of me beign a dumb-ass) so I eventually fitted the same ones as are fitted to the original. It also has a 1971 quarter-dollar screwed under the Floyd (same as Ed's), traces of blue paint on the bottom side of the back (Ed reportedly got blue paint on his when he threw the guitar across a blue-painted stage when he was pissed), the correct three-way selector switch rammed into the cavity from the middle pickup, and a dummy single coil at the neck position (not wired in, the same as Ed's). I flirted with the idea of installing a push-pull volume pot and wiring in a single coil at the neck, but Ed never did that, and this is supposed to be a replica, right?
Now, to be clear, I have never played one of the Fender Custom Shop replicas, but I know two folks who HAVE, and each of them told me that the Fender replicas played like crap. Maybe that is due to the set-up being the same as Ed likes on his guitars ... I certainly doubt very much that Chip Ellis would make a guitar that wasn't excellent. However, THIS plays like soft butter. I was initially a little concerned that the neck joint and fit on this wasn't perfect (the neck pocket wasn't the same shape as the heel, which initially resulted in some instability, until I sorted it out carefully). That would have been a major issue, especially as I threw so much money and time at the build. However, the end result is a truly awesome player, so all's well that ends well. Of course, despite my concerns about the neck fit, it should be remembered that the original Frankenstrat has had about a dozen necks fitted over the years (often with very clear gaps between the pocket and the heel), so that just adds to the authenticity I guess.
All in all, a fantastic guitar ... I'm very proud of it. The pictures below show it next to a short-scale version that I built for my boy. That served as a test-run for the paint process. That guitar has lots of the same features as mine ... including a 1971 quarter, and the obligatory cigarette burns on the headstock, and a volume pot marked "tone". Whatever ... it makes me happy.
