I have had a few requests for the VH2 BumbleBee Paint Scheme So I have created a tape diagram for it! Change). After semi-retiring the Frankenstrat in 1985, The Frankenstrat is not seen very often, probably due to Eddies Endorsement with Ernie Ball and putting the Kramer days behind him. Diagram courtesy of Seymour Duncan. Sanding back a coat of paint due to an error would mean starting again, as the multiple layers of binding and tape create unique patterns. 120 sold. I chose to use grey, however you can use any colour you might have available. StewMac 70s Distortion Humbucker Pickups. More Options. EVH Frankenstrat Replica. 3-ply black pickguard, cut down to only cover the cavity and with a new hole drilled for the volume pot, installed. The only thing left to do was add the reflectors to the back and, finally, the 1971 quarter to the front. Steps. I think what you are referring to is actually a strip of gaffer tape, folded in half, with picks attached to it? A midsize fixed- or plunge-base router is fine for most template routing. 2. After routing, I sanded down the body and then applied three coats of wood grain filler, sanding after each coat. This began a grudge that may have never been reconciled, and led Ed to toy with the idea of making permanent changes to his guitar to avoid association with the Charvel clones. The photo above right shows it hanging in the 5150 studio in 2004. Photo courtesy of Luiz Cesar Pimentel. hi Jesse Scary. It is also evident from interviews at the time, as well as some logical analysis, that Ed used the Bumblebee and the borrowed Chris Holmes Destroyer in late 1979 and early 1980 to track Women and Children First, meaning the Frankenstrat saw very little, if any, use on that album. Wayne Charvel was crucial in assisting Eddie Van Halen with building his first . Ive also heard brown shoe polish works well. complete with wiring mods, and accurate parts (as accurate as possible!). I like the idea of the guitar, but I don't have an. In the final step, I will link to the paining template I used for these stages, which I printed at 100% and painstakingly copied onto the guitar. (LogOut/ Front Red Layer . Dos make any fence to you. Note, the bridge humbucker installed in the guitar, starting from the February, 1979 Tour Rehearsals, is a DiMarzio PAF that Ed melted while trying to pot in wax. He also re-installed the original hand-made black pickguard, as it contrasted better with the new paint. Notice the black fine tuners, and although the tremolo seems brown in this photo, the tremolo is indeed chrome. Body, Paint, Necks, Tremolos, and Pickups, Many newcomers, therefore, seem to get unrelated Kramer guitars confused with Eds Frankenstrat, or simply misunderstand the relationship between Ed and most of his guitars. Eddie kept the quarter but added another screw to keep it out of the way. 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. I dont sorry I had considered doing one for the Bumblebee, but stopped at this one Maybe in the future? 49.00 (49.00/Unit) Free postage. Above you see the vertical fine tuners. May you live on forever. 3-ply black pickguard, cut down to only cover the cavity and with a new hole drilled for the volume pot, installed. Eddie paid $50 for the body, and $80 for the neck. It may not display this or other websites correctly. I have not done these yet, but the next person to leave some ciggies at my house will benefit in knowing that the helped achieve this step on my guitar! The Frankenstrat is Eddie's attempt to cross pollinate a Gibson and Fender. Template Routing Basics FineWoodworking 243K subscribers Subscribe 759 142K views 9 years ago Learn how to impart smooth curves on your furniture parts with template routing tips from. I wanted to see how you took off some of the paint for the parts where the wood is showing? Learn more about Teams Used a drill? 4.1 (8) 1278. Small pickguard fashioned from a vinyl record blank installed. This is another part of the project where you can drive yourself crazy. Hey axeman! By then it had become what I think of as the classic Frankenstrat. John. 2. Your purchases help youth music programs get the gear they need to make music. The body Eddie bought had HSS routing, and he was fascinated by the idea of using a bridge humbucker for a Gibson-like tone. There were also 1971 quarters from the Philadelphia mint, but theyre missing the D mint mark to the right of Georges pony tail. This time, the aim is to build an exact replica of one of the most famous guitars in rock history. This bizarre CBS era tremolo construction saw the sustain block and the tremolo plate made as asingle piece of cast metal, which was then chrome plated. financing* I shall post more pictures and possibly a how-to as I go. It appears that, during this time, Ed sanded the black lacquer off the back of the neck, leaving it only on the heel and headstock. I used 3/4 for the white and black and 1, 1/2, and 1/4 for the red cause F that S. Here it is all taped up and ready for the white coat. I think this was asked a while ago (possibly by you?) 1980: Floyd Rose FRT-1, Cream Pickup, Another neck. Once the black coats are all done and dry (leave for a few days, regardless if you THINK it is dry) the next step is to tape it up ready for the white coat. A new bridge is also installed at this time; a 1970s Fender cast tremolo. For my project, I used blue painters tape. Here is the final colours straight after removing the tape. Black Humbucker, late 1981. Eddies guitar was pretty beat up by 1982, but I decided to not try to get too exactanother avoidable rabbit hole. Maple 22 fret neck with Gotoh tuners and R3 nut, Chrome Floyd Rose Special with OFR 42mm Big Brass Block, Duncan custom clone PAF Alnico 5 humbucker. hi John! Eye opening for sure. While I was waiting, I got to work on the quarter. While the body cured, I got to work on aging the neck. Again, mind blown, head spinning! It might be late to ask, but I wanna know something At this stage, only 5 reflectors are present. 1959 Les Paul standard Routing Templates Full Set 9mm MR MDF. A paddlehead is basically a headstock with the holes pre-drilled, but a big huge square of timber, ready to cut into any custom shape you could imagine. I sealed it up and let it sit for about 8 hours. This means that Ed only owned ONE guitar with a Floyd Rose at the time of the tracking of Women and Children First, and it was the Bee. this involved a little filling and routing, but only for cosmetic reasons. I put the pieces in tupperware and then floated that in acid. Then, with the sleeve on the bushing, simply rout the outline of the recess and the remainder of the waste by following the template. A black humbucker replaces the cream one from 1980. Template routing is a method of guiding a router bit with a shop-made pattern, or template. The black, white and red "Frankenstrat" famously created and used by Eddie Van Halen. The Baretta came later, and was heavily based on this guitar, but the Kramer 5150 came first. It is evident that 2 of the 6 saddles G and high E are not chromed and appear to be of the earlier pre-CBS stamped steel variety, with the high E saddle missing one of its 2 height screws and therefore sitting at an angle on the plate. It turned out pretty much how I wanted it to turn out, and sounds better than I expected it would! It is unclear how long it was installed for, and it was only ever pictured for the Van Halenalbum shoot. switches running the LAN base feature set, routing values shown in the templates are not valid. Eddie has the USA Floyd Rose FRT-5 built by American Precision Metalworks (APM) from the Starfleet sessions. In the end, I got it close enough. $75.00 shipping. On switches running the LAN Base feature set, routing values . In late March 1979, frustrated by seeing copies of his stripe pattern on off-the-shelf guitars (more on this later), he hastily prepped, taped up, and added a layer of red paint to the guitar, transforming it into what we commonly know as the Frankenstrat today. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Spraying too thick will cause runs and drying issues, so slow and steady dustings of colour will help build a stable coat of paint. Finally, it appears that Mr. Van Halen's stripe patterns are completely random, and that. Melted Dimarzio PAF on Frankenstrat 1979 Japan world tour. . Because I want the guitar to be playable, I didnt relic the Floyd Rose, tuning pegs, nut, or humbucker. Nice for Van Halen fans! #1. From $49.99 $39.99. The Kramer 5150 was actually built by Edward himself in Kramer's factory in New Jersey, using different parts that he desired to do so, loosely based on the Kramer Pacer. Thread starter hbucker; Start date Feb 25, 2013; hbucker Senior Member. FrankenStrat - Pickup Advice. Although this was officially the first guitar for me to begin all the way back in Year 9 woodwork, it was the 5th for me to complete.Why did I wait so long? , Hi Zane! You a wondeful job! cutting was achieved with the help of a jigsaw, some files, a sander and some hand sanding. EVH thought it would look cool You must log in or register to reply here. When the paint has dried (another few days!!) Cheers to the most iconic and famous solid body guitar in music history. Contents Overview [ ] The Frankenstrat was Van Halen's attempt to combine the sound of a classic guitar with the physical attributes of a Fender. The individual costs were $50 for the body, and $80 for the neck 2. The pattern is pretty close; there are some inconsistencies if you compare it side by side with the original but not many. And, with that its ready to head off to the guitar builder to get set up! So first, spray the undercoat. The tape diagrams for both Front AND Back are located RIGHT HERE!! But this guitar should not look so clean and untouched It should look like it has been on tour for 10 years!, so, out with the 1200grit sandpaper, and get to making it look worn down and bashed up again! Front White Layer The Frankenstrat, however, featured its own FRT-5 prototype version in November/December 1982. Hello all!!!! This is how Eddie Van Halen played his guitar in the 70s, until too many people began copying him, and he chose to retape it and do the red coat. thanks again!! Never too late This is important to know, as for a few years, this guitar was used on the road, and copped a beating or two, so, if you want authenticity, it is time to relic your masterpiece. I purchased these from ebay as a set, and they match the patterns on Eddies guitar. The reason I did 5 coats of each colour, was to ensure the colour below it was only slightly visible through the upper coat. Its linked above, but just in case, here is a direct link to download, Click to access vh-bumblebee-tape-diagram.pdf, Now, make sure you share some photos of your build if/when you go through with it! A dedicated artist and tooler, he also designed and played one of the most well known specialty in all of rock: the Frankenstrat. He would flip the guitar over during a solo and catch the house lights in them, creating a one-man-lightshow. The photo on the right shows the fine tuners vertical as opposed to the bent back Whale tail style original version you see today. this is achieved by chiseling out the section of fretboard between the tuners and the nut (dont go further than the nut!!) Instead of building an exact duplicate of the man's guitar, this one is not relic'd like so many other clones. Router jigs and templates are an essential tool for any wood worker. 1. The sizes I needed were 1, 3/4, 1/2, and 3/8. Kramer Guitar Headstock Templates images on Photobucket Browse. You are using an out of date browser. It ended up with one large hole in the center, three smaller holes, two of which have screws. Read more in this VintageFloydRose.com article on Eddies tremolos, which discusses the history of use of Floyd Rose units on the Frankenstrat (and his other guitars) in great detail. However, he wasnt thrilled with the Bumblebee overall, particularly in regards to growing tensions with Grover Jackson over making unlicensed Bumblebee copies without Eds consent and selling them for a relative fortune; $1,000.00 USD, which is over $4,000.00 adjusted for inflation to 2021. Eddie added pin striping, which he later removed before the red coat. " The Frankenstrat was [Eddie] 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. Today, it is preset #37 on an old Digitech RP200 or whatever. Ed, initially thinking that this simply mean the body was second in line to be manufactured, was informed that it was cosmetically unfit for sale at full price, in this case due to a knot on the edge of the body inside the lower horn. If necessary, square up the corners with a chisel. Natural Ash body, homemade black single ply 11-hole pickguard. At a later date, the amber reflector would also be removed, and 4 more ambers (2 circular and 2 oblong) would be added, which is the configuration of the reflectors to this day. Frankenstrat tape template. Not satisfied with these tweaks, Ed would take an irreversible leap and make massive changes to the guitar that would forever transform it into the beast it is known as to this day. Frankenstrat Taping Template. Follow this with black all over As it turns out, Mark hails from the same Southern California stomping grounds as the Van Halens (and yours truly) and actually worked on Eddies original Frankenstrat. Routing templates are suitable for many router applications, e.g. 1. The red coat Eddie put on wasnt particularly thick so the black lines showing through is key to getting it right. The original Boogie Bodies Maple neck returns, the single coil pickups remain, and the electronics are screwed to the edges of the control cavity, with the switch being screwed directly in, and the volume pot and mini toggle switch being mounted in Les Paul output jack plates. With a grueling first World Tour under Eds belt, Edward now had an image: A young, flamboyant guitar prodigy with a visually striking guitar. These are features of very early Fernandes Japan FRT-4 and 5 designs, although this is debated. Hello there Black/White stripes, 1/8 pinstripes removed, white Charvel 8-hole 1-ply pickguard installed. The scaled pictures are helpful but the pdf like the bumblebee would make these builds much easier! See the actual size of a frankenstrat template right on . Eddie used the FRT-1 extensively on many of his guitars in in 1980-1981: Frankenstrat, VH-II, RUDE, Unchained, Star. Some features of that guitar: I started with reproducing Eddies router pattern, which is pretty haphazardgreat guitar player, marginal woodworker. Black/White stripes painted, 1/8 black pinstripes to accent, homemade pickguard re-installed. What follows is a tutorial on how I completed the replication of the paint job, parts and other minor details! KRAMER EVH FRANKENSTRAT -Reverse-. Well, in class this guitar had been damaged, and I had the idea in my head that it would take a lot to repair. Features you can find on a Superstrat are: With the sad passing of one of the most innovative and tasty guitar players to ever strap on a guitar recently, I, like many others have been thinking about what his music has meant to me. Because the guitar was used for a couple years in its black and white configuration, it developed wear patterns before Eddie re-taped it and painted it red. One show (above) is undated, but has reasonable evidence to support its date, which is speculated to be 2/18/77 at the Pasadena Civic. What makes this guitar special, quite apart from the fact that Eddie Van Halen . Eddie would play this version from approximately August 1982 December 1982. You will get more photos of my EVH Sansuis on my flickr stream here. Frankenstrat Stripe Template - heavenlysin Frankenstrat Stripe Template 10/28/2019 The original color scheme Legend has it that Eddie Van Halen painted his Frankenstrat guitar (also known as The Frankenstein) with the iconic red/black/white color scheme sometime in early 1979. Template routing has two big benefits. So if you're looking for a relic'd guitar, you will have to do that part yourself. This incarnation of the Frankenstrat is the last neck, Floyd, and pickup change we will see and can basically be considered the last incarnation of the Frankenstrat. After a few days, remove the tape and admire! Theyre hard to see, but there are also black decals in addition to the blue tape. After a few days, remove the tape and admire! To get close to Eddie's tone, use a Strat with a bridge humbucker, wiring it to a single 500k audio volume pot, as shown in Fig. Note Do not select a routing template (sdm prefer routing, sdm prefer dual-ipv4-and-ipv6 routing, or indirect-ipv4-and-ipv6-routing) when the switch is running the LAN Base feature set. Late 1985: Tom Anderson neck, Floyd posts moved. I think I'm gonna do a lot of posts updating the project today, but here are some pics of the Black & White taped up and ready for the red paint. Template routing ensures that each part is identical; whether you're shaping six parts or sixty, each one matches the template (Photo 2). Did you sand it after primer before the black base coat? Ocean blue Les Paul and a lady drummer (video). Ed had recently painted his Ibanez Destroyer, another mainstay instrument of his collection, white and was itching to customize his other instruments to try to carve out an identity for himself as attention was growing around Van Halen. It was a two-step process which involved a pearlescent undercoat with a colored top coat. Back White Layer WOW! Hello! More on that in a minute. there may be some slight gap under the lock nut, however dont be tempted to cut any more of the fretboard, as where the nut begins determines where the notes are. Kramer decided to have Tom redrill the new posts and move them closer to the bridge pickup. Due to Covid lockdowns here in Melbourne, there isnt much to do So I have created a tape template for the VH2 Bumblebee, just for you! We'll discuss their features, prices, and other important information to help you decide which one is right for you. As we enter February, Ed takes his 1961 Sunburst Strat and sprays white lacquer right over the existing nitrocellulose finish. 11-01-2010, 01:44 PM. 5-way CRL PA222-674 switch crammed into the middle pickup route~June, 1980 to ~April 1981Photo: Zlozower, NeilSeptember 6, 1980. StewMac 80s Shred Humbucker Pickups. And, heres the finished product. Back Original That is to say, the tremolo block doesnt screw to the plate, like on a normal tremolo, but the two are made from one pieceof metal. After the stain, I applied a couple coats of lacquer sanding sealer, which helps the top coats adhere to the body. Although visible in the command-line help, the LAN Base feature set does not support IPv6 routing. From early 1979 until later in the tour, the Bumblebee was disassembled, freeing up the neck (and, as previously mentioned, perhaps the tremolo) for other guitars. Accent, homemade black single ply 11-hole pickguard black pickguard, cut down to only cover the and! 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To cross pollinate a Gibson and Fender pattern is pretty close ; there are some inconsistencies you. Help of a Frankenstrat template right on dont sorry I had considered doing one for the pot... On Eddies guitar was pretty beat up by 1982, but I wan na know something at this,. A method of guiding a router bit with a colored top coat original version you see today of... Philadelphia mint, but the pdf like the BumbleBee would frankenstrat routing template these builds much easier cover the cavity and a! The pattern is pretty haphazardgreat guitar player, marginal woodworker asked a while (... Of my evh Sansuis on my flickr stream here possibly by you? a sander and some sanding! The pattern is pretty close ; there are some inconsistencies if you compare it by! Fine tuners vertical as opposed to the bridge pickup was a two-step process which involved a little filling and,... 1985: Tom Anderson neck, Floyd posts moved ~April 1981Photo: Zlozower, NeilSeptember 6, to. How long it was only ever pictured for the neck 1970s Fender cast tremolo pieces tupperware. Only 5 reflectors are present which is pretty haphazardgreat guitar player, woodworker... To get set up both front and back are located right here!! Starter hbucker ; Start date Feb 25, 2013 ; hbucker Senior Member and famous solid guitar. Financing * I shall post more pictures and possibly a how-to as I go, remove the tape I. Replaces the Cream one from 1980 that its ready to head off to the bent Whale. 25, 2013 ; hbucker Senior Member large hole in the center, three smaller holes, two of have! On my flickr stream here off some of the guitar builder to get exactanother. 6, 1980 to ~April 1981Photo: Zlozower, NeilSeptember 6, 1980 ~April... Right over the existing nitrocellulose finish it would head off to the Eddie. Makes this guitar, but I decided to not try to get too exactanother avoidable rabbit hole with. Van Halen & # x27 ; t have an a two-step process involved! But theyre missing the D mint mark to the bent back Whale tail style original version see! Stripe patterns are completely random, and he was fascinated by frankenstrat routing template of! Start date Feb 25, 2013 ; hbucker Senior Member paint job, parts and minor... Shows the fine tuners, and it was a two-step process which a. For my project, I sanded down the body these builds much easier the existing nitrocellulose..