Lynn went over and above his request by acquiring two pieces of exotic and rare East Indian rosewood and fashioned two guitar bodies from them . A delighted Wayne Charvel finished the guitars beautifully and proudly put them on display .
And here ’ s where the second of Lynn ’ s successions of serendipitous events occurred . The Who ’ s Pete Townshend and Steppenwolf ’ s John Kay spotted these superbly crafted and finished guitars and snapped them up immediately ! Not a bad endorsement to kick off Lynn ’ s entry level into becoming a highly respected world-class luthier .
Consequently the good word began spreading rapidly , and orders for Lynn Ellsworth originals began flooding in , many coming from very famous guitarists worldwide . Lynn recognized that his future destiny would be the creation of world-class handcrafted guitars that would be purchased and played by rock and pop superstars .
Lynn ’ s “ fortunate accident ” number three came about when his long-standing friend Wayne Charvel , who had opened his own guitar store , offered to display some of Lynn ’ s guitars and component parts . A frequent visitor to the store was a young upcoming guitarist named Eddie Van Halen , who spotted one of Lynn ’ s unfinished guitar necks and a guitar body propped up in the corner of the store . He bought them “ as is ” for a bargain price . Eddie took those pieces home , assembled the parts and painted the guitar red with random black and white stripes across the body , and named the creation “ Frankenstein ”!
Yes , that signature Van Halen “ Frankenstein ” guitar , recognized the world over , was created using original Lynn Ellsworth handcrafted parts !
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