JUST LIMITLESS EVH ART
EVH 78 FRANK
I finally landed the EVH guitar that started it all. The VH1 Frankenstein.
JUST LIMITLESS (JL)
When I first started checking out JL's work, I remember he sent me a couple of pictures of his VH1 Frank guitar (1 2) that he had. Months later, I asked him about it – basically inquiring if he still had it around and sure enough, he did and was willing to part with it.
Speaking of parts, JL really did it right on this one. He said both the neck and body were from Custom Woods (same as my Kramer 5150), and he sure had some nice appointments on there. First, he had the CBS headstock and a brass nut – just like EVH's, and he even had Sperzel locking tuners. The black pickguard is cut EXACTLY like EVH's from the first tour in 1978, and he added Schaller straplocks. The pickup (Seymour Duncan JB) was screwed directly into the body – not on the pickguard, and the tremolo was a Callaham. But of course, I had to make a few changes, right?
Charvel Art Series - white/black
The first thing I wanted to change was the pickup. I love the JB, don't get me wrong, but I have the JB already (Kramer Baretta) and I like going with different pickups. I had an F-spaced Smit's Boosted Classic BC9-2 laying around (originally for my Floyd Rose Tornado), so I decided to go with that. Even though the bridge pickup in the VH1 is slanted, a regular-spaced humbucker misses the E strings, so I thought an F-spaced would work best. You really have to tilt it to effectively cover the E strings. JL's VH1 also came with tone knob wired up (under the pickguard), so I basically ended up ripping out all the guts and re-wiring everything – from the pickup to the volume pot to the output jack. No big deal.
The next thing was the tremolo. The Callaham model was great and I read a lot of good things about it, but I thought the stock '64 tremolo arm was too short. I tried buying a replacement arm for it, but the screw threads would not line up, so... Basically, I thought the unit was worth more to me as a sale on eBay, so I ended up selling it for $80 (they go for $120 new!). I then took $40 of that and bought a similar Fender model (2 1/16") – with the proper trem arm – and I'm happy. I also added a nice big brass block (GFS) and it fit perfect – and I made a $40 profit.
I even added a 1971 quarter to the neck pickup cavity (drilled a hole in there and screwed it right in). EVH placed a 1971 quarter on his Frankenstein around 1980 when he installed a Floyd Rose prototype. He used the quarter as a stopping point for the non-floating bridge plate when it rests against the body. I practice this on all my Floyds, but I use a 1976 bicentennial quarter.
The last major thing I did was apply a gold Gibson waterslide decal to the headstock – just like EVH did. I clearcoated that a few times and it looks great. The only issue I have with the 21-fret neck is that it's a standard 1 5/8" at the nut, while EVH's VH1 neck was wider – either 1 11/16" or 1 3/4". Oh well. I also clearcoated the body a few times when I had all the hardware stripped off.
Van Halen's Frankenstein (1978 tour)
Van Halen's Frankenstein with added red (1979 tour)
So that's it. It got the authentic JL paint job, and it looks like the original with neck with the Gibson decal. The pickguard and tremolo look great and the Smit's pickup is perfect. And it even has some modern enhancements with the Sperzel locking tuners and Schaller straplocks. And it hangs proudly on my wall and reminds of that killer debut album, Van Halen.
Fender EVH Eruption '78
Another fan building the EVH 78 Frank
November 2008
UPDATE: May 2015
I swapped the Smit's Boosted Classic pickup with the EVH Frankenstein pickup from my Fender EVH 78 Wolfgang F guitar. I should have done this years ago - the Frankenstein HB has normal spacing, while the Smit's has F spacing. Since EVH used a normal-spaced humbucker slanted in his Frankenstein axe, it made more sense to use that pickup there. And the F-spaced Smit's HB lines up better on the Wolfgang F with the Hipshot Baby Grand bridge. And yes, both pickups sound killer!
EVH 81 -Bye Later See Ya-
JL EVH guitar #2.
It started with an eBay find in March 2008 (EVH 81 -Rude-) and after a few emails with JL, I picked up another EVH body he had painted up for sale – the "Bye Later See Ya" guitar played on the 1981 Fair Warning tour (EVH ended up re-painting this guitar and it became the EVH 82 Rasta before the 1982 Diver Down tour - see story below). Also known as the "Circles" guitar or the "Unchained" guitar (because EVH is playing this model in VH’s 1981 live video for "Unchained", this body is famous – and named – for the red farewells on the back (the back of EVH's original" and the back of JL's copy). It’s an alder KnE – just like the EVH 81 -Rude- – but has more of a Kramer-style cut to it than the Charvel-style Rude. Also, the control cavity resembles the standard roomy Warmoth route, as opposed to the smaller Charvel control cavity.
JL doesn’t clearcoat his work before shipping, but I sprayed it clear a quite few times upon arrival. As with the EVH 81 -Rude-, I ordered an R3, 22-fret Warmoth neck (all maple) with a Strat headstock and installed chrome Gotoh tuners. I oiled the neck with both tung and lemon oil, and except for one little issue, it was an easy install. The one issue was that the Floyd nut route wasn’t deep enough, so I took my Dremel and lowered it a bit. Too much, in fact, as I then had to use a couple of shims to raise it up again. Oh well. Also, I placed the Strat input jack upside down, just like the original, and used the standard chrome Schaller straplocks. It also has a numbered, chrome neck plate, just like the EVH 81 -Rude- (46590).
As far as the pickup, I ordered a cream Smit’s Brown Sound and wired it up myself. These Smit’s pickups are very, very cool. I also have a Smit's humbucker in my EVH 78 Frank. To keep pace with original, I used a black pickup ring.
In addition to the body, I also bought the neck JL planned on using with it (21-fret Warmoth maple) and a chrome Floyd Rose. The Floyd was in great condition and I used it on this project, but I saved the neck for my D4 guitar project. JL also threw in a maple classic Kramer neck that I used on my Kramer EVH Blue Frankenstein (formerly Kramer EVH Venti) guitar project.
Except for the small inconvenience of the Floyd nut route, this was a super easy guitar to assemble and wire up. The Smit’s pickup sounds amazing, it plays like a dream, and looks like the EVH axe circa 1981. And it makes me want to play "Unchained" a lot. And that’s always a good thing. Thanks again, JL, for another great project.
August 2008
EVH 81 -Rude-
This EVH Rude model is the guitar that got me started with JL and his amazing painting skills and his attention to details.
I saw this body (KnE Charvel-style alder) on eBay in March 2008 painted up just like a guitar EVH played on the 1981 Fair Warning tour and made sure to win the auction. A couple of emails back and forth with JL clued me into this guy’s talent and dedication to making awesome EVH replicas and I soon purchased from him (not through eBay) EVH’s other black/white guitar from the 1981 tour – the “Circles” EVH 81 -Bye Later See Ya- played on the infamous “Unchained” video filmed in Oakland, CA. But I digress – back to the Rude guitar.
It’s called the Rude because that name is painted in the unseen neck pocket of EVH's original body, along with EVH. The name “Rude” is short for Robin “Rudy” Leiren, EVH’s guitar tech in the late 1970s and early 1980s – he probably even painted the original (the body started out as a thick Boogie Bodies body with a natural finish [pictured lying on the floor, 1979] before the black & white custom design). You can tell from the pics that JL matched it exactly. He even routed out the humbucker slot all the way through the body – just like EVH’s. To make things go quicker and to mimic the original, JL doesn’t clearcoat these pieces of art, but when I got this, I sprayed it clear a few times to… I don’t even know why. Anyway, on to the hardware!
I tracked down a 1980s chrome Floyd Rose and cleaned it up nice for this guitar. I ordered a set of chrome Gotoh tuners and of course, chrome Schaller straplocks. For something different, I picked up a chrome, numbered, Fender-type neck plate (58894). I got a similar one for the EVH 81 -Bye Later See Ya- guitar. I chose a cream DiMarzio PAF as the lone humbucker, as well as a cream pickup ring. (I have the chrome-covered versions of the PAFs on my Epiphone 335 Dot.) I wired it up myself and there were no issues. I even put the Strat output jackplate in upside down just like EVH did.
As far as the neck, I was torn between a maple fretboard and a rosewood fretboard. So I chose a pau ferro fretboard! Here’s the history. During the 1981 Fair Warning tour, EVH used this body with a 21-fret Strat maple neck (6-inline) 1 2 3 and later in the tour with a rosewood neck (3x3 - his '80 modified Danelectro/Star neck) 1 2. So I chose a light-colored pau ferro fretboard with a Strat headstock to kind of resemble (and honor) both necks. And of course, it’s Warmoth. I oiled it with tung and lemon oil and it’s like any other Warmoth neck – perfect. It’s got 22 frets, a 1 11/16” nut width (Floyd R3), and cream dot markers.
More info on EVH's Danelectro neck history
Assembling everything was very easy and my opinion of KnE products is growing with every project. It playing like a hot rod and it looks just like EVH’s original. In terms of appearance, it very well could be my favorite EVH guitar. The stripes and shapes on the body face are absolutely classic. And the black and white paint with the cream humbucker and chrome hardware blend together perfectly as a piece of art. EVH art. And that’s what JL creates.
August 2008
UPDATE: September 2011
In 2011, the "Rude" guitar popped up in a video taken at the Fender factory, and the best guess from everyone online is that EVH let the Fender guys basically re-build it - as it was last pictured in the early 1990s as just a body. Still a great-looking and original design!
EVH 82 RASTA
JL project #3.
The Van Halen Rasta Kramer guitar, used by EVH during the 1982 Diver Down tour, has to be one of the rarest guitars used by the EVH on stage. Only a handful of pictures exist with EVH using it on stage (1 2 3). It's called the "Rasta" because of its green, black, white, yellow, and red pattern, which resembles the Dominican flag.
When I first starting emailing JL, he sent me a pic of some of his recent work and in there was an EVH Rasta guitar. After negotiating for the two 1981 tour guitars (EVH 81 -Bye Later See Ya- and EVH 81 -Rude-). I really had to have a Rasta! I located a chrome 1990s Floyd Rose on eBay (and totally cleaned it up) and also found a Charvel-style body by Musikraft. The body price was great ($100), but it was not exactly routed like the original Rasta, which had a Strat-style output jack on the face (the one I bought had a side jack). But, oh well. And by the way, this alder body is very, very light – especially when compared to my Kramer EVH Blue Frankenstein (formerly Kramer EVH Venti), which I was working on around the same time.
I sent the body to JL in August 2008 with a wood dowel for the side and he graciously plugged the side jack route and then routed the correct Strat route on the body face. He then began painted it all the different colors and before I knew it, the body was shipped back to me. In the meantime, I ordered a Warmoth birdseye maple neck, which arrived in mid-September – about two weeks after the body came back.
For the pickup, I noticed that EVH used a black, double-rail pickup, similar to a DiMarzio X2N, but with chrome rails (the X2N comes with black rails). I considered a couple of options and then went with the Seymour Duncan Dimebucker – named after the late Darrell "Dimebag" Abbott of Pantera fame, and based on the Bill Lawrence L-500XL. I found a custom model on eBay that didn't have the white Duncan logo or the white Dimebag signature. Same pickup – just less advertising. I wired this beast up myself straight to the volume pot and was ready to go.
The assembly of this guitar was super easy. Warmoth necks are amazing and it fit perfectly with the Musikraft body. I oiled the neck with lemon oil and the birdseye pattern just came alive. In addition to the chrome Floyd Rose, I added chrome Schaller tuners and straplocks. I also added an EVH d-tuna to the Floyd. To make the body heavier and help with the tone, I then replaced the Floyd block with a 42mm brass Big Block from FloydUpgrades.com. Not much more to it!
This lightweight hot rod is all about the wild color scheme and the devastating pickup. The hot Dimebucker balances perfectly with the light body and produces a killer tone. And the neck is a typical Warmoth – flawless. Thanks JL for another great project! By the way, EVH's Rasta is now owned by Dweezil Zappa (more info). Lucky guy! And yes, the real 1982 Rasta was originally the 1981 EVH 81 -Bye Later See Ya- guitar (see story above). EVH must have gotten sick of the black & white stripes/circles and re-painted the heck out of it with all the spray cans he could find before the 1982 Diver Down tour.
September 2008
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