Frankenstrat

Van Halen modified the Frankenstrat several times. This photo shows the guitar in its final state, with red-over-white-over-black paint job. The top two pickups have been replaced with company electronics: the center one with a selector switch and the upper one with a red single-coil made in 1931, pickup. The bridge slot contains the only working pickup, a slightly misaligned Gibson PAF humbucker with black plastic bobbins. A fragment of the original pickguard remains under the control bank. The volume control was functional, though capped with a knob labeled "TONE". An adhesive strip on the lower bout was used to store spare picks. The original Fender bridge and tremolo system has been replaced with a Floyd Rose tremolo system, which also required a new neck, fitted with a matched Floyd Rose locking nut.

The Frankenstrat, also known as "Frankie", is a guitar created by Eddie Van Halen. Its name is a portmanteau of Frankenstein, the fictional doctor who created a monster by combining body parts of the recently deceased, and the Stratocaster, a model of electric guitar made by Fender.

The Frankenstrat was Van Halen's attempt to combine the sound of a classic Gibson guitar with the physical attributes and tremolo bar functionality of a Fender Stratocaster. An early version of a Superstrat, the guitar was made from a Northern Ash Stratocaster body, with pickup routing which Van Halen modified to fit a Gibson PAF humbucking pickup in the bridge position.[1] The guitar has a maple neck and fretboard, chrome hardware, and was painted with a white over black design. This gave the appearance of a white guitar with black stripes. Later, red was painted over the original black and white. This now gave the appearance of a red guitar but was, in fact, just a third color sprayed over the original design. It has a standard six-string setup and a Floyd Rose tremolo.

In April 2019, the Metropolitan Museum of Art displayed the Frankenstrat guitar as part of the "Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock and Roll" exhibit.[2] A copy of the Frankenstrat is housed in the National Museum of American History, part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.[3]

  1. ^ Obrecht, Jas (November 1978). "Eddie Van Halen – Heavy-Metal Guitarist from California Hits the Charts at Age 21". Guitar Player. Archived from the original on December 24, 2008. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
  2. ^ "Eddie van Halen's Original 'Frankenstein' Guitar & 1978 Rig Exhibit". April 2019.
  3. ^ "National Museum of American History Receives Eddie Van Halen's "Frankenstein Replica" Guitar" (Press release). Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Newsdesk. September 7, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2014.