Eddie Van Halen's Frankenstrat Guitar
By Mateja Markovic
There is rarely a bigger guitar god and an icon of a certain spectrum than Eddie Van Halen. Having been internationally renowned as an inventor, songwriter, lyricist, and a silent frontman of his own band, it is safe to say that EVH serves as an inspiration to generations of young innovators, guitar masters and even instrument manufacturers. Frankenstrat- the very first guitar he recorded an album on, presents one of the greatest sources of artistic motivation for me- and here's why:When Eddie got really efficient with his playing (in his mid teens), the style of this master was growing exponentially, resulting in his equipment’s inability to keep up with his playing. At that time, there were only really several types of guitars that were made strictly for specific musical purposes. In short, it was very difficult to play another genre on a guitar that wasn’t meant for it. EVH had a style that landed in between every known genre of music, and therefore wanted more out of his equipment. There was only one constraint: He couldn’t afford a new guitar. This is the part that inspires me the most: Eddie Van Halen found a discarded Stratocaster body that had a flaw on it, and got to work. Fender Stratocaster guitars were known for having the fastest playing guitar necks in the industry. My personal assumption was that the guitar he had beforehand couldn’t facilitate his iconic “tapping” technique, so he was in need of something more operable- a guitar with a thinner neck and a lower action. However, there was an issue with Stratocasters- they have single coil magnetic pickups. These are ideal when playing light jazz, blues or funky, but produce a different sound under amp-induced distortion. When the impulses are distorted in order to obtain that classic rock sound, single coil pickups give insane amounts of feedback and a rather shallow sound. On the contrary, HUMBUCKERS- double coil pickups- give off that warm sound under distortion. Think about Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Slash of Guns N Roses or Agnus Young from AC/DC. The entire rock world is on humbuckers. Given the aforementioned, EVH got a cheap humbucker which created an awful noise, because it was made in an unstable plastic housing. In a desperate attempt to improve the quality, Van Halen burned the humbucker pickup in boiling water, and took it out just in time to get that amazing EVH sound that we now know. Next, he wired the guitar completely by himself, and put a little capacitor inside that was meant to defuse the raw impulse. The legendary striped paint job also followed. With that, the (in)famous Frankenstrat was born- A guitar that defined one of the most unique sounds of 20th century. The famous instrument is now displayed as a part of the Smithsonian Museum Collection.
The inspiring part here is the fact that EVH refused to conform to the limitations of his equipment. He didn’t waste time copying anybody. Instead, Eddie followed his own style, adjusting everything he could to his style instead of the other way around. The Frankenstrat is a definitive representation of this innovation- for me, it stands for the very ideals that I think Art should be about.
Sources
Interview with Eddie Van Halen: Is Rock N Roll all about reinvention? YouTube, September 2017.Sarah Rothbard | February 14, 2015. “Necessity Is the Source of Eddie Van Halen's Inventions.” Zócalo Public Square, 7 Oct. 2020.