When did Ed first start usin a Strat ?

[vanhalen5150]

I believe its the lighting.

Ok Roger....what about this one? Choose your answer carefully.....

[rgorke]

Ok Roger....what about this one? Choose your answer carefully.....

No, that one is different.

[vanhalen5150]

Ok Roger....what about this one? Choose your answer carefully.....

No, that one is different.

Ist it?....are you sure? Why do you think it's different?

[vanhalen5150]

What about this one?

[rgorke]

no they are all different. He had 7 black guitars.

[garbeaj]

So can we all agree that the sunburst is NOT the black strat?! That would eliminate some confusion because it makes one hell of a lot more sense that the black guitar could have just been masked and painted white to creat the black and white stripe motif on the actual Frankenstein. I'm still skeptical that the black guitar became the Frankenstein, but I really don't think that the sunburst became the black "Jenny Lens" guitar and then the Frankenstein...

Could it be that the Jenny Lens black strat is the black strat in the "guitar room" photos and this proves that it was never the Frankenstein? I'm not for sure that has been completely refuted yet...but maybe I'm missing some proof that I didn't catch yet?

[garbeaj]

I keep re-reading the old threads and it gives me a headache...I give up. Basically jimi1647 says that the sunburst and the black strat and the black and white Frankenstein are all the same and I trust his judgement.

[Tone Slinger]

strat78 has probably been at this (EVH info's) longer than any of us. He saw VH in '78 and has been very much 'into' Ed-tone ever since. It was him who first posted here, that the Black strat was actually FRANKY. He knows the shape of the Franky is 'off' as compared to Fender, in its PRECISE details. He is also exactly aware of the Ellsworth headstock shape and how it is different from a standard 'cbs' headstock.

He pointed out, about 3 or 4 yrs that the SHAPE of the blsck strat was the SAME as the Franky. He dismissed the Sun Burst as either a Fender or good copy.

Leadguy also has dug up good stuff. The morphing photo is proof of the Black strat as being FRANKY.

A question of mine is what version of Franky was on VH1. The Destroyer was stock (except for the repaint of white) on VH1. Ed says he ruined it with the chainsaw. That implies AFTER the albums recording. I believe the Franky and Destroyer had thier 'make overs' after VH1's recording. 'Nightmare before Halloween' (10/15/77) has the same version Franky & Destroyer as is on the 1st album imo (Black Franky, rosewood neck, zebra mm). That was the last gig Van Halen played, I believe, until Dec. 31st of that year.That New Years Eve Whiskey gig was the first show that Ed used the B & W striped, Ellsworth neck Franky, and the 'Shark' modded Destroyer. Ed must have done or had the work done in that 2 month span (Oct to Dec. '77).

[leadguy]

The overlay is a Burst Strat-Franky comparison overlay.

Burst Strat at http://musikfoto.com/rockpics.php?tsk=v ... an%20Halen" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The theory is that the Burst Strat becomes the Black Strat becomes the B&W Franky.

The Franky's upper horn is different to Fenders and the Burst Strat seems to match the Franky and it's upper horn when the photographic comparison angles are similar as in the overlay image above.

The overlay comparison was done by LAD-1972 at http://halen.com/evh/index.php?name=PNp ... &start=240" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"One more overlay with images that are "closer" in terms of angle although still not 100% exact so everything won't lineup perfect. I used the noted middle pickguard screw as the center point. The Franky image was taken from the GW Eddie's Essential Axes - Bertinelli photograph."


and also this one

[leadguy]

Ed did the Franky makeover first, because there are photos from the Whisky from very late 1977/early 1978, where Ed is playing the B&W Franky and the White Destroyer.

Whether Ed did the Franky makeover before VH1 could be debated, but he definitely did the Destroyer makeover after VH1.

[wjamflan]

A question of mine is what version of Franky was on VH1. The Destroyer was stock (except for the repaint of white) on VH1. Ed says he ruined it with the chainsaw. That implies AFTER the albums recording. I believe the Franky and Destroyer had thier 'make overs' after VH1's recording. 'Nightmare before Halloween' (10/15/77) has the same version Franky & Destroyer as is on the 1st album imo (Black Franky, rosewood neck, zebra mm). That was the last gig Van Halen played, I believe, until Dec. 31st of that year.That New Years Eve Whiskey gig was the first show that Ed used the B & W striped, Ellsworth neck Franky, and the 'Shark' modded Destroyer. Ed must have done or had the work done in that 2 month span (Oct to Dec. '77).

This has been discussed many times, and it usually is tied up in speculation b/c folks want to believe that Ed used certain pickups that are different than what he said he used on VH I.

Below are the poster for 10/15/77 and the pic of Ed from the poster. Does that look like the maple Franky headstock or the black guitar headstock with the Fender label and the rosewood board?

[wjamflan]

Franky Headstock



Black Strat Headstock

[Legacy]

This may help a bit (1 minute in):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKOeJBOo ... 96598095E6" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[wjamflan]

The difference for me is the fat part of the headstock opposite the tuners. Is the 10/15/77 poster pic curved in that area (like Franky) or straighter (like Black strat)?

It looks curved to me, which would mean that it is the maple board on Franky and that the "make over" happened much earlier than TS outlined, b/c the pic had to be taken sometime before 10/15/77.

Here are the dates from the VH website for June - October 1977:

6/10/77 West Hollywood, CA Whisky A GoGo N/A
6/11/77 West Hollywood, CA Whisky A GoGo N/A
7/14/77 West Hollywood, CA Whisky A GoGo Emerald City
7/15/77 West Hollywood, CA Whisky A GoGo Emerald City
7/16/77 West Hollywood, CA Whisky A GoGo Emerald City
8/19/77 West Hollywood, CA Whisky A GoGo N/A
8/20/77 West Hollywood, CA Whisky A GoGo N/A
9/16/77 West Hollywood, CA Whisky A GoGo The Weasels
9/17/77 West Hollywood, CA Whisky A GoGo The Weasels
10/08/77 Buena Park, CA Exhibition Center Eulogy
10/15/77 Pasadena, CA Pasadena Civic Center Smokehouse/Reddi Kilowatt
10/22/77 West Hollywood, CA Whisky A GoGo N/A

They were scheduled to play other dates that aren't listed, such as the Proud Bird gig - see poster below - so the picture on the Civic poster could have been taken anytime.



Regardless of which date it came from, I think we can eliminate the 10/8/77 date b/c it wouldn't be alot of time to get pictures developed - remember those days? That narrows the time frame from June to September. This is the exact time period where we believe that the WB demo was recorded, as well as VH I.

So what does this all mean? I believe Ed told the truth. He "made over" or made Franky before recording the album, using a maple neck and P.A.F..

[vanhalen5150]

So we are saying the alder burst strat was turned into an ash boogie body and the neck pocket suddenly became oversized when he put on the Elsworth neck?
That's some guitar! It's magic!