‘83 FRANKY / FRANKENSTRAT LCG BEAK NECK TRIBUTE GUITAR - 2 WORKING PARIAH PICKUPS, EVH HS CASE/STRAP

BRAND NEW ‘83 FRANKY / FRANKENSTRAT BEAK NECK TRIBUTE GUITAR WITH 2 WORKING (PARIAH) PICKUPS, (LOCKE) ASH BODY & ACCURATE ‘83 US FESTIVAL / “JUMP” (LOCKE / WARD) BEAK NECK, WITH NEW EVH STRIPED SERIES (STRAT-SHAPED) HARD-SHELL CASE & NEW EVH STRAP:

First off, the price - pretty expensive, right?  It’s certainly not cheap, but I think that it’s definitely worth (at least) that much.

Ask yourself these questions…

• Q: Could you make your own for (FAR) less? = ABSOLUTELY.

• Q: Could you have a LOT of fun doing it? = ABSOLUTELY.

• Q: Would it look as good & play as well? = Possibly / maybe… yours might actually even turn out BETTER, in either, or BOTH, respects.

This particular guitar, though, is for someone who wants to just -- quick-&-easy / no fuss -- buy a ready-made, playable piece of ART… to have their own tribute of an iconic piece of rock-&-roll history - already (& all ready) set to go.

Some of the finest, most meticulous craftsmen in the country (the world, I dare say?) have (unbeknownst to them, of course) contributed their finely honed skills & talents to the creation of this particular tribute guitar…

• BODY - Locke Custom Guitars (Christopher Locke)

• NECK - Locke Custom Guitars (Donny Ward)

• PAINT & RELIC - J. Francis

• PICKUPS (plural - two WORKING pickups) - Pariah Pickups

• BUILD / TECH WORK - I’d put my guitar guy up against anyone’s - he works final assembly at PRS & is also a guitar tech - he’s brilliant / literally borderline Mensa (S. Zeller)

= = = = = = Patterned primarily off of the iteration / version that was played live just ONE TIME, at the 1983 US Festival, & was iconically seen in the “Jump” music video. = = = = = =

This is THE best Franky homage / tribute guitar that I've ever personally owned & it's the one Franky replica that I would consider keeping just to hang on the wall & stare at... I don't actually play guitar, but I love them as pieces of art, especially the Frankenstrat, which is probably THE most iconic guitar - EVER... I bought this painted & relic'ed guitar body (& some parts) from a VERY talented artisan / Franky FANATIC & I had my guitar guy (who is a guitar tech / luthier / guitar player & does final assembly at Paul Reed Smith in Maryland) make several additions / revisions / enhancements / upgrades to it... he added the bridge pickup, the neck pickup, the OFR tremolo bridge, the push / pull pot, the tuners, the locking nut, etc., so it's a VERY professional setup.

This one actually has a working neck pickup, as opposed to the dummy neck pickup on / in the real Franky - I figured that since we were putting in the neck pickup anyway, we might as well hook it up so that it works, so that's a bonus on this particular guitar - it's controlled via a Bourns push / pull pot on / in the partial pickguard.

And this has the accurate reflectors on the back, unlike the 300 $25K Custom Shop limited-edition (“Frankenstein") replica guitars.  If you've always dreamt about owning this iconic guitar (a tribute / replica / homage of it, that is) since the late '70s, the '80s, & up until today, then here's your perfect chance... merely hang it on the wall as a museum piece to honor the king or break it out & play it like your favorite legendary guitar hero.

=============== DESCRIPTION ===============

(1) Very accurate Frankenstrat paint pattern... it does not have a shiny, glossy finish on it

(2) Ash (most likely Northern) body by Locke Custom Guitars, who is generally considered to be THE best in the business at these Franky replica bodies - Northern ash is what the real Franky is made of - the painter told me that it was “ash” & that he didn’t think that he had bought any Swamp ash at the time that he had bought this body from LCG - based on its weight, I presume that it’s the accurate, heavier Northern ash, not the lighter (weight) Swamp ash

(3) Brand new OFR German-made Floyd Rose FRT100 tremolo bridge - 37mm brass tone block... switched out the original fine tuners for brass fine tuners because I love that look & the beak-neck Franky (that was only used at the 1983 US Festival & in the "Jump" music video) had (uncovered / not black) brass fine tuners... used a set of wood screws from an ‘84 Floyd Rose instead of the stock studs / inserts from the OFR… OFR tremolo arm included

(4) Brand new (relic’ed) Pariah Pickups Pasadena “Black“ bridge humbucker pickup - Pariah is considered by many to be THE most accurate, most authentic builder of Franky pickups…

>>> “(M)oderate to high gain settings and cleans up fantastic with a simple roll off of the volume knob” … “tap harmonics leap off the fingerboard and have just the right amount of ‘chime’ “ … “an all-around great rock pickup that isn’t crazy hot and is a bit more than an overwound PAF”

(5) Brand new working / functional Pariah Pickups “ ‘79 Las Lunas” single-coil neck pickup - also widely considered to be the best, “most complete and accurate version” of the Franky single-coil pickup available…

>>> “After extensive research … (s)pecifications for the ‘ ‘79 Las Lunas’ were derived directly from a real vintage single(-)coil made in the same factory as the ones many look for” … “(e)ach detail was painstakingly measured and the result is an incredible likeness(,) (b)oth in appearance and tone” … “this makes a fantastic tone mate to” the “ ‘Pasadena Series’ … ‘Black’ ” humbucker pickup

(6) I doubt that you’ll ever find a more accurate Franky beak neck than this one - the artisan who made this is highly intelligent, highly articulate, & COMPLETELY obsessed (in a great way) with all things Franky, including this particular beak neck…

>>> This neck builder does things that no one else even considers: the exact shape of the headstock transition & the headstock plug, the overhang on the fretboard extension, the shape & surface of the transition from the heel into the carve, the exact unique spacing of the twelfth-fret dots (front & side) - the only place where he knowingly deviated was that he used a dual-action truss rod for stability (which is typically impossible to do on a one-piece neck, but this genius somehow found a way!)

>>> SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF NECK:

• Brand new one-piece bird’s-eye maple 22-fret beak neck -- “100% vintage correct to the original” -- with skunk stripe & Floyd Rose R2 locking nut

>>> DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF NECK:

• One-piece bird’s-eye maple

• 0.8” to 0.9” from first fret to twelfth fret

• 10” radius

• Wide / thin “C” profile

• 1 & 3/4” (1.75”) nut width, but cut for an R2 (1 & 5/8” / 1.625”) Floyd Rose locking nut (this is accurate to the actual original neck)

• Floyd Rose R2 “MADE IN GERMANY” locking nut

• 22 medium jumbo frets

• 2 & 3/16” at the heel

• Hand-rolled fretboard edges

• Intentionally offset / misaligned twelfth-fret dot markers (just like the actual original neck)

• Dual action at the heel, although in order to preserve visual accuracy in terms of the skunk stripe & the adjusting nut, it has been installed upside-down, meaning that it adjusts in reverse (again, the guy is a genius)

• New EVH-branded Gotoh tuners (as an homage)

• Black vinyl “Kramer” logo headstock decal included (I had to remove the previous [waterslide] logo in order to list the guitar here on Reverb)

(7) Heavily relic'ed switch (the only aspect of the guitar that I’m not fully satisfied with) in the middle pickup cavity (it actually looks more relic’ed & dirty than the real one), with a very accurate configuration of the wire(s) tangle - the builder told me that it’s an accurate CRL PA222-674 5-way switch, but since he treated the switch with some kind of chemical(?) (I presume in order to relic the switch), the switch had a reaction(?) after it got to me (in the Northeast), when exposed to the outside air, & I cannot verify that it’s actually the correct CRL PA222-674 switch - I cannot read it & photos that I’ve taken of it have proven futile… I’m considering replacing the switch & wire(s) tangle with another one that I have (a CRL PA222-526 switch), but it won’t look as relic’ed if I do change it (Note: red rhinestone / jewel not included)

(8) Relic'ed black 3-ply partial pickguard with relic'ed white "TONE" (volume) knob - the three knob holes have been relic'ed / scored with round knob scrapes / scores

(9) Brand new Bourns 500K push / pull audio-taper split-shaft pot, which activates the bridge humbucker (OR) the single-coil neck pickup, but not BOTH of them at the same time (they make more sense when used separately anyway)

(10) 1971-D quarter

(11) As previously noted, it has the accurate reflectors on the back, in the state / condition as they were at the time of the ‘83 US Festival & the “Jump” music video

(12) #6 screw eyes for strap hooks, as well as Schaller strap buttons (on the back of the upper horn & on the butt) - also includes a Dunlop strap button near the tip of the upper horn (the screw eye on the tip of the upper horn wasn’t actually there at the same time / while the Dunlop strap button was on there, but you can assemble them however you prefer)… Note: I’ll remove both of the screw eyes when I put the guitar in the new EVH guitar case when shipping so that the guitar fits in there better / more securely

(13) "61071" stamped into the neck plate, using "the same mechanical stamping process" & "the same type (of) machine (that) Fender used 50 years ago" - it isn't laser engraved; it's actually stamped (by Ron Kirn)

(14) White duct tape to hold down the ground wire in the rear cavity

(15) Black tape to hold down the jack cord / cable

(16) Brand new “9” strings (.009 - .042) - either Ernie Ball or D’Addario (I don’t know exactly which he used)

(17) Brand new EVH Striped Series (Strat-shaped) hard-shell guitar case included

(18) Brand new EVH leatherette guitar strap (56”-75”) included

(19) Two gold strap clasps included (although I don’t think that they can be used in combination with the included EVH guitar strap)

(20) All you need is some double-sided tape for the lower horn (which I didn't include - to avoid anything sticking to it) & your favorite guitar picks - Note: I’ve included 8 picks: 4 gray “EVH”-logo picks & 4 white (with black) “Van Halen”-logo picks inside of a small “EVH” picks tin

••• NOTE: I have photos of the serial numbers / “LCG” logos of the body & neck, as well as photos of the backs of both of the Pariah pickups & the FR locking nut - please message me if you want to see them.

Smoke-free home; please see photos for condition & accuracy & please feel free to ask me any questions - I will do my best to try to answer them for you.

Serious offers considered.

$150 SHIPPING - with full insurance (within the 48 contiguous U.S. states only).

Thanks for checking out this item!