and so the adventure begins....

[chefcraig]

I thought it was because he had some paint and masking tape left over after drunkenly creating a stop sign on the wall of his den.

[Nitro Express]

I thought it was because he had some paint and masking tape left over after drunkenly creating a stop sign on the wall of his den.

That's probably what really happened but what he told Guitar Player magazine was he was off to brilliantly confuse people more. In reality Ed was just dazed and confused.

[jhale667]

I think the most telling quote was from the publicity video for the Frankenstein replica series "I kinda wish I hadn't done that..."

[hain23x]

I've been spending a lot of time going to the different VH sites and looking at the different builds, trying to grab as many photos as i can and just trying to soak this guitar in. The more I read and see the more of a challenge this thing is going to turn into! The thing that is the most impressive with everyone's builds has to be how well they all manage to capture the exact "beat upness" of the original. Chipped paint, smudges, random scratches, etc etc-just amazing work.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Can someone enlighten this non-gearhead for the quarter significance....

[chefcraig]

Can someone enlighten this non-gearhead for the quarter significance....

Ever use a matchbook or some folded up newspaper to balance a table with a short leg? That's about it. When EVH slapped the guitar together, he did so without using anything close to a protractor or ruler, so the measurements didn't exactly line up perfectly. In this case, the clumsy Floyd Rose thing he jammed into the guitar stuck out about 1/8 of an inch, so he reached into his pocket and stuffed a quarter into the gap. There is no other significance, as it could just as easily been a stick of Trident or a rarely used garage door key. For authenticity's sake, people creating copies of the guitar have sought out 1971 quarters ever since. Hell, there was a enterprising capatalist selling bike reflectors and quarters on Ebay a few years ago (for the low, low price of 100 bucks American) to supposedly "help" folks with their builds. No, I'm not kidding: Frankenstein Kit

[jhale667]

Ever use a matchbook or some folded up newspaper to balance a table with a short leg? That's about it. When EVH slapped the guitar together, he did so without using anything close to a protractor or ruler, so the measurements didn't exactly line up perfectly. In this case, the clumsy Floyd Rose thing he jammed into the guitar stuck out about 1/8 of an inch, so he reached into his pocket and stuffed a quarter into the gap. There is no other significance, as it could just as easily been a stick of Trident or a rarely used garage door key. For authenticity's sake, people creating copies of the guitar have sought out 1971 quarters ever since. Hell, there was a enterprising capatalist selling bike reflectors and quarters on Ebay a few years ago (for the low, low price of 100 bucks American) to supposedly "help" folks with their builds. No, I'm not kidding: Frankenstein Kit

Actually as I heard it, he had disassembled Frankie for some reason before a gig and was in a hurry - it takes a while to re-balance an un-blocked Floyd, and when reassembled it still had so upwards play on the bar, which EVH is not into from what I've heard/read. As the story goes, he wanted to quickly block it for dive-only play, and asked the GW interviewer that was there at the moment doing a piece on him if he had a quarter, which the guy did, and Ed bolted it in under the bridge on the spot - problem solved, show goes on at the specified time. If you notice in later photos he'd re-balanced the trem and moved the quarter off to the side rather than under the bridge.


1971 quarters are NOT that hard to find, I have a few of them still - sent DJ one for his replica (as well as an FU Brass Big-Block). And yeah, those "kits" were/are a rip off...

[hain23x]

Alright... Slight change of plans. I think I'm going to strip down a pink paisley Strat that I have and turn that into Franky. About 20 years ago a girlfriend at the time thought it would be funky for me to buy it with that design on it. I've been tired of that design for a long time but I still like the feel of the guitar. I'm going to strip it, have a friend of mine with some good tools help route the cavities and just spend money on the pickup and eventually Floyd rose. So for awhile it'll stay in "VH 1 mode" with the white and black stripes. its not going to be nerd perfect for the fan boys but it'll serve iys purpose to me and friends I show it to

So the first thing im going to have to do is strip it and I've never done anything like that in my life.
Any suggestions?

[hain23x]

I had some time to kill today and decided to get this guitar project started!

The first step was to pull out Pinky and see just what I was REALLY dealing with


A little history. This was my main(and only) guitar I had when I was "trying to make it" in rock n' roll. I had a funky bluesy improvy crowesy type of band back throughout the 90s. Back then I played all the friggin' time so it got some good wear going (and some hairline fractures-more on that later). So in a way this is the perfect guitar for me to Frank out with. It wasn't the most expensive guitar in the world but we went to war together and it was sort of a gimmick guitar in a way. But I grew tired of the paint job around 1998 and just never got around to doing anything else with it.

The first thing I noticed was that neck is bolted on a little funkier than I thought. But I sanded off the finish a long time ago so there's some good nastiness back there! Also, I discovered that it was made in Japan. I'm thinking it's basswood??? sure as hell ain't ash


closer shot of the holes sans neck

[hain23x]

Here's a closer shot of the front. As you can see there is plenty of scum and nastiness on some of the parts. Who needs vinegar and piss to relic when you've already done half of it yourself!




some grossness on the fretboard!

[hain23x]

Now to some more of the problems-or potential problems.

first when I took the pickguard off I discovered that the pickups where screwed on to that and weren't even screwed into the wood. wondering if the humbucker will be able to screw into the wood and be tall enough in there to matter?(it's 3/4 of an inch deep)



The guitar does have a few nicks and bumps in it already but also a couple of hairline fractures from dropping it a few times.

[hain23x]

i could be wrong but I think the body is basswood and the neck is maple......?
thought i had a good find when i took it all apart!

but when i opened it up it wasn't meant to be.....

[hain23x]

thank god I got my 335 to keep me company while i work on this~!
I've never in my life down much on my guitar as I was always scared I would tear it up and spend a fortune trying to fix or replace it. I sanded the neck and raised the pickups a little bit but that was about it. I took the back plate off the guitar at one point for some reason and actually had it autographed by BB King but someone stole it from me when I had a party one night. Oh well, didn't need it anyway!

I have no idea how to work on guitars or electronics. I just play em'. so I will be learning and probably stopping by friends at various points. I know a guy with an awesome set of tools down the road a ways