Mighty Mite Brass Tremolo, Keyhole Saddles. All the tape was positioned using my eye which is probably half the issue I used blue electrical tape to mark out the thickest lines, and I also used 3mm and 6mm detailing / pinstripe tape. Because many people didnt notice the blue paint until the 2019 MET display, its incorrectly assumed that the blue paint is very recent, which its not (as seen in 1993 photo). No issue with volume, that I have noticed. A new bridge is also installed at this time; a 1970s Fender cast tremolo. Most notably, the guitar spent its early life (July 1977 to March 1979) with a clean and striking black/white stripe pattern, which caught on rather quickly and solidified Eds image as a flashy guitar-slinger. nope, these photos are in correct order. The Floyd Rose FRT-5 is the final design of the fine tuning Floyd Rose. 1. I like the idea of the guitar, but I don't have an. It appears that, during this time, Ed sanded the black lacquer off the back of the neck, leaving it only on the heel and headstock. Therefore, this trem seen on the Frankenstrat may have been the Bees original trem, albeit with 2 replaced saddles..Below is an example of one of the 70s Fender tremolos in question. Another potential rat hole is trying to reproduce the exact widths of the stripes because they vary. I used plain masking tape for this step, which measured 18mm wide. Your purchases also help protect forests, including trees traditionally used to make instruments. Now, 15 years later, I have decided to strip it back, as it was simply sitting in a cupboard doing nothing, and proceed to convert it into a frankenstrat! Fernandes Japan produced these officially Floyd Rose versions and are very rare to find. My friend and I are making 2 Frankenstrats. Eddie could swivel the quarter into place when needed. Here is one I prepared earlier around 1996 in high school woodwork, to be precise! This website collects data from 60453 different reviews to give you an idea of which frankenstrat tape template is really the best. It's called "Frankenstrat or Frankenstein" design. #1. Template Routing Basics FineWoodworking 243K subscribers Subscribe 759 142K views 9 years ago Learn how to impart smooth curves on your furniture parts with template routing tips from. The PDF links on this page are for the most common configurations and are here primarily for you to check the overall fit of the pick guard buy gauging it's overall shape and mounting hole layout etc. peel the tape off carefully to reveal the final colour scheme! Then begins the slow process of cutting, sticking and swearing! give it about 5 coats of white to ensure a good coverage. Im just getting started .Order all the parts and such.I know Edward used the standard start. Id love to get my hands on one! These are what I used to get the tape sorted. As I will be using a Floyd Rose bridge on this guitar (as Eddie uses!) As we enter February, Ed takes his 1961 Sunburst Strat and sprays white lacquer right over the existing nitrocellulose finish. Evh Frankenstrat Template Neck Wood: Birdseye Maple Finger Board Wood: Birdseye Maple Neck Finish: Satin (his was unfinished but finishing is recommended) Fret Size: Gibson Jumbo Frets 6150 Key Holes: Schaller Inlay: Black Dots String Nut: Fender vintage tremolo Bridge Type: Fender vintage tremolo Pickguard: Stratocaster Inspiration would strike Ed sometime in the summer of 1977. Eddie sported a gold FRT-4 prototype with vertical fine tuners, which was the first Floyd Rose with fine tuners. Templates are available again Required fields are marked *. As for what prompted Ed to make this change, it seems highly likely that he copied the idea for the visuals, essentially EXACTLY, from a local punk musician named Chip Kinman from a band called The Dils. I chose to use grey, however you can use any colour you might have available. And, you can still see the black lines under the red, which is what I was going for. Eddie would take off the Kramer beak neck and put on a Danelectro neck for the Starfleet Sessions with Brian May in April 1983. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Create a website or blog at WordPress.com. Our range of versatile router jigs and templates from INCRA, Woodpeckers and AUKTools speed up the job of shelf pin placement, box joint cutting, forming circles and right-angle moulding and patterned inlays. Eddie had replaced the original Floyd Rose with a newer model that intoned correctly. Here you see the guitar being stripped, with the assistance of an orbital sander. The Rasta guitar today is owned by Dweezil Zappa. Sanding; to remove the gloss paint and make sure all surfaces were suitable for a new coat of black paint. "I took a PAF out of an ES-335 and the vibrato out of a Fifties Strat when I made my Frankenstein guitar". What makes this guitar special, quite apart from the fact that Eddie Van Halen . 1: The original Van Halen wiring. The Frankenstrat was Van Halen's attempt to combine the sound . 2. Ed slowly began to rely on the Floyd Rose trem and incorporate it into his style of playing. The top is when it was new, the bottom is after some work. The sizes I needed were 1, 3/4, 1/2, and 3/8. 1024 352 - 413k - jpg harmonycentral.com How do you do an EVH paint job? PDF Files. The red coat Eddie put on wasnt particularly thick so the black lines showing through is key to getting it right. The guitar builder I chose (Mark at Arnquist Musical Designs) was introduced to me by a buddy of mine. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Red paint added late March 1979.Late March, 1979 to ~February, 1980Photo: Young GuitarSeptember, 1979. April 23rd, 1983. Your email address will not be published. Eddie Van Halen, or EVH to his fans, is renowned for more than just legendary music. It is also evident from interviews at the time, as well as some logical analysis, that Ed used the Bumblebee and the borrowed Chris Holmes Destroyer in late 1979 and early 1980 to track Women and Children First, meaning the Frankenstrat saw very little, if any, use on that album. Ed took notice of this while attending some club gigs in LA while on break after his tour concluded, only to see no-name guitarists sporting his flare. Is there any chance you could make some like that for the frankie? Yes any chance you have templates for the frankiethat would be amazing! Painted black, 1961 Stratocaster mint green pickguard installed. Electric guitar created by Eddie van Halen This article needs further citations for verification. After playing everything under then sun for a number of years I've finally decided to create my own "FrankenStrat" from scratch. Photos of the body on the first one are posted below. Once the black coats are all done and dry (leave for a few days, regardless if you THINK it is dry) the next step is to tape it up ready for the white coat. To better understand the complex history of the guitar, this article features a prelude tobrieflycover at the major changes throughout its life. Anyone have a suggestion on where I can find it? routing curves, grooves, letters, hinges, door locks or carving patterns. Eddie Puts on aFloyd Rose FRT-1, cream bridge pickup, and the Lynn Ellsworth knotty neck that was originally on the Bumblebee (as seen in last photo). Ocean blue Les Paul and a lady drummer (video). During the process of staining and sealing, I got to work aging some of the metal parts. Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll, from April 1st October 1st, 2019 and allowed many people to see the Frankenstrat up close and personal. This began a grudge that may have never been reconciled, and led Ed to toy with the idea of making permanent changes to his guitar to avoid association with the Charvel clones. BUILDING A STRIPED S-STYLE! The above photos are from the 2019 Metropolitan Museum of Art Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll which better display the blue paint. VLANsThe VLAN template disables routing and supports the maximum number of unicast MAC white lacquer right over the existing nitrocellulose finish, first ever Floyd Rose with fine tuners (FRT-4). 2. Read more in this VintageFloydRose.com article on Eddies tremolos, which discusses the history of use of Floyd Rose units on the Frankenstrat (and his other guitars) in great detail. White Charvel pickguard re-installed. Eds Kramer guitars are documented. Then, with the sleeve on the bushing, simply rout the outline of the recess and the remainder of the waste by following the template. There are two known prototype versions Eddie played before he sported the APM FRT-5 whale tail in 1983. Frankenstrat Stripe Template - heavenlysin Frankenstrat Stripe Template 10/28/2019 The original color scheme Legend has it that Eddie Van Halen painted his Frankenstrat guitar (also known as The Frankenstein) with the iconic red/black/white color scheme sometime in early 1979. The only thing left to do was add the reflectors to the back and, finally, the 1971 quarter to the front. I decided enough was enough, and proceeded to assemble all the parts, wiring in a little gimmick that not even Eddie has. With template routing you can make one or 100 parts that are exactly alike. Fig. Feb 25, 2013 #1 My friend and I are making 2 Frankenstrats. There are many videos and templates available on the. Contents Overview [ ] The Frankenstrat was Van Halen's attempt to combine the sound of a classic guitar with the physical attributes of a Fender. This same tremolo on the Rasta with black fine tuners (Frankenstrat version had chrome) would go on the Kramer ad guitar in circa November 1982. Mod Garage: The Original Eddie Van Halen Wiring. All the errors in the black and white come back to haunt you. I skipped this detail. Tom Anderson worked with Kramer during the mid-1980s and made parts for the Kramer Ripley guitars and basses. I think I'm gonna do a lot of posts updating the project today, but here are some pics of the Black & White taped up and ready for the red paint. The DIY guitar that shook the world: Eddie Van Halen's Frankenstein. Wet paint from walls at a venue before a show. There were also 1971 quarters from the Philadelphia mint, but theyre missing the D mint mark to the right of Georges pony tail. This neck would be put back on the Frankenstrat in 1997 and is currently still on the Frankenstrat today! It was installed on the Frankenstrat in April, 1979 and would remain for the rest of the 1979 World Tour. Above you see the vertical fine tuners. Notice how the black shows though a little through the red coat? , I am happy with the final outcome of this guitar! Front Original That is to say, the tremolo block doesnt screw to the plate, like on a normal tremolo, but the two are made from one pieceof metal. It just had a Kramer logo on it with the a portion slightly gone. I used 3/4 for the white and black and 1, 1/2, and 1/4 for the red cause F that S. Here it is all taped up and ready for the white coat. The above configuration would prove to be very short lived, as within weeks of the guitar receiving its red top-coat, Ed would swap out the original Boogie Bodies neck with the black lacquered neck from hisCharvel Bumblebee. 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