Taking his guitar customizing to a new level, Eddie Van Halen sported this odd guitar during the 1980 Invasion tour. Pairing a Charvel Star body with a Danelectro neck was an "interesting" (for lack of a better word) choice. It seems that he didn't play this guitar for very long, and is much more obscure than some of his others. The paint job, however, was much more artistic. This guitar was featured on a rare television performance of "And The Cradle Will Rock", and can be seen on Youtube videos of old performances of "Take Your Whiskey Home".
I bought this guitar on Ebay for $290. A Charvel Star body with a custom neck and the "paint job" on it was pretty lame. The black "squiggles" on the white background were actually permanent marker, not paint!
Click on any image to enlarge view
I sprayed 4 very light coats of black, giving each coat about a minute to dry. Then I used an exacto-knife to start the removal of each piece of mask. Considering how small some of the pieces were, I really thought that I would have a lot of bleed, but it turned out with the least amount of bleed I've had yet! I think the multiple light coats and the extra drying time helped control it.
I bought this guitar on Ebay for $290. A Charvel Star body with a custom neck and the "paint job" on it was pretty lame. The black "squiggles" on the white background were actually permanent marker, not paint!
After sanding, I filled the neck humbucker hole with wood filler, and sanded flush. I taped the back (inside) of the switch hole so I could fill it from the front and sand it flush.
About 4 coats of Kilz sealer, sanding lightly between coats, left a textured surface.
Masking this guitar was the most enjoyable yet. Rather than simple stripes and simple designs, the mask had to be trimmed into many different patterns and "pictures". It took me about 6 hours, and I did it all in one afternoon.
I could find no pictures of the back of the original, so I had to design my own. My intention was to sign the "ribbon" design on the back, and then seal over the signature, but I wound up forgetting to sign it before I sealed!
Click on any image to enlarge view
I sprayed 4 very light coats of black, giving each coat about a minute to dry. Then I used an exacto-knife to start the removal of each piece of mask. Considering how small some of the pieces were, I really thought that I would have a lot of bleed, but it turned out with the least amount of bleed I've had yet! I think the multiple light coats and the extra drying time helped control it.
You may notice in the original pictures that the headstock did not drop below the neck at an angle like this one does. This is a Danelectro "reissue" neck, so I had to build a large shim to place under it. (Special thanks to E.S. for fabricating this aluminum shim for me). The shim is tapered to absorb the headstock angle and leave a level surface for the locking nut to sit on. If I ever run across an original Danelectro neck with the straight headstock, I may swap this out and dump the shim.
From what I could tell in old pictures, the strap that Ed used was similar to the yellow & black striped strap for his BumbleBee; only this one was white & black. I bought an EVH style black leather strap from Axcessories.com. This strap is inexpensive (about $19), but I don't like the plastic clips, so I replaced them with steel. I used white duct tape for the white stripes.
And here is the finished product. Click on either pick to enlarge the view. Charvel Star body, Danelectro neck, non-fine tuning original Floyd Rose tremolo, white Seymour Duncan 78 pickup. The tuning machines are incorrect for this replica, but I just couldn't find the originals, and got tired of waiting to finish this guitar. I am still searching for them; and if I do find them I will update the blog with new pictures.
Note: I have a used white VEH pickup for sale on my website that is perfect for your replica.. Click HERE to check it out!
Note: I have a used white VEH pickup for sale on my website that is perfect for your replica.. Click HERE to check it out!
And here's some demos of my Star:
