Frankenstrat
Eddie Van Halen’s
Frankenstrat is widely
considered to be the
prototype for all superstrat
style guitars that followed,
so naturally we must
discuss it first. As previously
mentioned, Eddie’s goal in
building this guitar was to
combine the best aspects of
a Fender Strat and a Gibson
Les Paul. He preferred the
feel and lighter weight of
the strat, as well as the
vibrato capabilities, but
wanted the hot, burly tones
of a Les Paul. He was able
to buy a thin, fast maple
neck and factory-second
ash Strat replacement body
from Southern California’s
Boogie Bodies, which he
married to an original
Floyd Rose locking vibrato
system. His Gibson PAF
pickup would come from an
ES-335, and he screwed it
directly to the new guitar’s
body at a slight angle to
compensate for the string
spacing difference. He wired
it in a similarly primitive
fashion, with a single
volume potentiometer
completing
the control set, and
the rest is history. It was a
revolutionary act that would
change the guitar business
forever, and before long
manufacturers were copying
Eddie’s hacked together,
homebrewed shred
machine.
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