EVH Franky Build

The man, the band, and everything else

Moderators: VelvetGeorge, RACKSYSTEMS

Post Reply
User avatar
JacobG1996
New Member
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2021 4:24 pm
Just the numbers in order: 13492
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts

EVH Franky Build

Post by JacobG1996 » Thu Nov 04, 2021 6:57 pm

Hey guys!

I have posted maybe a handful of times on this forum throughout the years; you may or may not have seen my replies, but the Van Halen bug is burning inside me again. I don't want to take up too much time sharing my entire life's story, but my obsession with Eddie and the Frankenstein/Frankenstrat started late into middle school when I began to play guitar. I have never been that great of a guitarist, but soon after, I found myself obsessively collecting vintage equipment, and my fascination over that red, white and black guitar that Eddie van Halen played grew. I would get home after my high school classes let out and study that guitar for hours when I was a member of the FrankenStrat forum and so on. Fast forward here I am about ten years later, having done the amount of research equivalent to a P.H.D. on that guitar, and I am currently in the process of moving to Boston for Medical school. I have been working on a 1959 Bartlett Les Paul replica, but that project is more of an actual woodworking project, and I don't have the space for all that equipment; I will sell my 59 materials and put them into the Franky build when I have downtime. I will post updates as much as I possibly can, but I am in medical school, working a part-time job, and I have about two years left on my contract with the Army reserves, so I may go extended periods of time without posting, but I will keep everyone updated to the best of ability. So with that out of the way! I just purchased a set of correct Gotoh crown heads, and a prototype Floyd rose arm that will be attached to the 80's west German Floyd rose. Like most, I genuinely believe the neck was a Boogie Bodies. Im not sure about the body, but whatever, it was "branded" at the end of the day; Charvel, boogie bodies..etc., were all using the same templates made by Dave Schecter. I have a body that James Duffy made me from the #0022 Azusa body that will be templated and transferred over to a new ash body blank. I have picked out a piece of lumber in the weight range, will have the correct W grain pattern and even has a "knot" that will be glued in the correct location.
Most of these small details don't matter, but all I care about at the moment is accurate and correct. I bought a 1960 Gibson P.A.F. on eBay about eight years ago with a broken coil; it will be sent to Seymour for a rewind. The paints I will be using will be mixed using the correct Schwinn formulas, and to throw the icing on the cake, a genuine Boogie Bodies neck matching all the specs of the neck on the current Franky. I became good friends with Lynn about ten years ago when I was in high school. I found Dave Schecter's contact email and began a conversation with him, and not too long after; he gave me Lynn's Phone number so I could call and order a guitar from him. Lynn made this neck for me about five years ago, and I have cherished it ever since. Again, I will post as much about my build over the next couple of days. I cannot wait to show my progress and if you have any criticisms, certainly let me know because it will be a long, drawn-out project :lol:

Lynn is now older and, unfortunately, very sick; I plan to take a week off work and visit him and his wife, Dianne, soon. I will post pics here on the forum as soon as I plan to visit him. If you guys have any questions for Lynn, he said he wouldn't mind talking about Charvel and boogie bodies and answering any questions in a video.
I look forward to posting my build; I have put blood, sweat tears into it!

I wont be home for some days, I will post some pics of the body and neck when able, attached two pics of the Floyd arm and Crown Head tuners. Every nut, screw and bolt will be as accurate to the time period and patina as I possibly can make it to the original Franky as possible!

User avatar
rdodson
Senior Member
Posts: 561
Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2007 10:15 am

Re: EVH Franky Build

Post by rdodson » Tue Jan 18, 2022 12:26 pm

Lynn is such a nice guy. I'm sorry to hear that he is sick.
Ron Dodson
Dallas
Romans 9:16

Brad911
New Member
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2020 9:31 pm
Just the numbers in order: 13492

Re: EVH Franky Build

Post by Brad911 » Wed Mar 30, 2022 9:49 am

Hi, Jacob.

I’ve finished two Frankies since Ed passed away…a B/W 78 and a R/W/B 83-era. First off, I’m glad you got the body you ordered from Duffy. He ripped off a lot of people several years ago when he was going by Frankenstraat. If I can offer some advice, I’d recommend not scrimping on the neck, as it’s the most important interface in the whole “system”. I’m all for super-accurate replicas, but neither of mine are 100% accurate. It’s worth pointing out that Franky changed a LOT in the 5 years when Ed hit the scene, and the final form right before he started using the Kramer 5150.

For instance, I purposely didn’t fill the grain on my 78. I wanted to be able to feel the grain of the ash body. I’d also played the guitar for several years with just some stain on the body. It was incredibly lively, and I was afraid filling the grain and putting a glossy finish on it would kill the tone a bit. For my 78,I also wanted it set up like Ed had it in the beginning. I went with a Wudtone vintage trem, Schaller tuners, and. Duncan Evenly Voiced Harmonics pickup (now called the ‘78). I would only consider two neck builders, Musikraft and Butala. I went with Butala. My neck is a roasted birdseye maple neck, .81/.91 asymmetric EVH carve, with stainless steel 6150 frets, on a compound radius fretboard. It’s not a 100% accurate neck, but it’s what *I* wanted.

My 83 is pretty close to the version that made me want to start playing guitar…the one featured in the Jump video. I had someone paint the body for me. He did a stellar job, but he’s since flaked out and disappeared. The neck is once again a Butala. Same basic specs as the 78, but with roasted quartersawn maple, not birdseye, and obviously the beak headstock. It has a 1980s German Floyd, Schaller M6 minis (like the beak neck had), and a vintage Seymour Duncan Custom Custom. Ed didn’t use Gotoh Crowns until he put a Strat neck on it.

Both of mine are SPECTACULAR instruments. Yours can be too. Just take your time and decide exactly what you’re going for with the build. And like I said, don’t scrimp on the neck.

p.s. I tried to post pics, but I got an error message. ???

Good luck!

User avatar
rdodson
Senior Member
Posts: 561
Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2007 10:15 am

Re: EVH Franky Build

Post by rdodson » Thu May 19, 2022 10:22 am

Randy Butala did the neck on my Holdsworth replica and it is fantastic. KNE did the body, which is also great.
Ron Dodson
Dallas
Romans 9:16

Post Reply