My Van Halen tribute guitar build has begun.

[Rick Lee]

I wanted to get a lot deeper into this project before starting this thread, but I need some paint expert advice.

Anyway, this is what I'm working toward:



This what I started with:



It's a cheapo, $175 eBay special, but the neck is awesome and the body is passable. I'll slap in some Seymour Duncan '59 or '78 later and will live with the faux Floyd Rose for a while.

Anyway, I thought about starting off with grain filler, but couldn't find any at Wal-Mart and decided to just go with Krylon primer/paint. Might not have been a good call, but this doesn't have to look perfect and not a lot of the white will be showing when it's done anyway.

I went through a can of the primer/paint and decided to do some sanding to smooth it out before going to gloss white paint.







Headstock looks and feels fine. But after the first paint coat on top of the primer/paint, the body is still showing some woodgrain lines. Will any kind of sanding make this go away? Just need more paint? What to do short of stripping and starting over?

[911boost]

Rick I have an old skool Kramer of that vinatge and I think I even have an extra Floyd Rose with it.

Bill

[McLovin]

How about spray with high build primer and sand?

[craigster59]

I thought when Eddie did his he just used Schwinn bicycle paint and masking tape, so rough might not be a big deal if your going for the "relic" look. When I did my Telecaster I just sanded and painted (probably 6 times) until it was glassy smooth. Finished with polishing compound, but mine was one color (Ford Engine Blue).

[Burnin' oil]

sand and paint

sand and paint

sand and paint

paint, paint, paint

[dhoward]

Originally Posted by McLovin

How about spray with high build primer and sand?

This.

I'd run down to the local auto paint store and buy some quarts of clearance Chroma....

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by craigster59

I thought when Eddie did his he just used Schwinn bicycle paint and masking tape, so rough might not be a big deal if your going for the "relic" look. When I did my Telecaster I just sanded and painted (probably 6 times) until it was glassy smooth. Finished with polishing compound, but mine was one color (Ford Engine Blue).

Eddie's Frankenstrat started out as the white and black one on the cover of VH I. He later taped it up again and sprayed it red. The Kramer he built himself at the Kramer factory in NJ. I doubt he spent a lot of time on it, since it would have taken weeks for the paint to cure, sand it, clear coat, etc.

I later toured the Kramer factory around 1986 and saw a few of the spare 5150's they were building for him, got a good photo somewhere around here. One of the techs took a wrench and slapped a VH guitar body he had on his bench. My buddy and I just stood awestruck and the guy said Eddie likes beaters.

[LSA]

Are you going to bring that point on the headstock down or leave it as is?

[Rick Lee]

What point do you mean? That headstock looks pretty close to the '83-era Kramera, as far as I can tell.

[Eric Coffey]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

What point do you mean? That headstock looks pretty close to the '83-era Kramera, as far as I can tell.

I think he's talking about this:



Maybe should look more like this?


Ala this:

[Eric Coffey]

Oh, and if you are going for a true replica, don't forget the sig burns on the headstock.

[LSA]

Maybe it's just the angle that the replica up top is shown at but it's using a different headstock. I forgot that the Kramer banana/hockey stick headstocks have a million different variations.

was talking about that.


edit: yup Eric beat me too it, that's exactly what I meant

[Rick Lee]

Uh, no. It's not going to be that detailed. The headstock actually looks and feels pretty close to the original Baretta that Kramer made for about a year or so around 1983.





My old guitar teacher bought one of the very first ones when the three guys from Kramer were going around to the music stores in NJ, personally pitching it back then. They weren't selling the promo one, but he begged and they let him have it for $500, which was righteous bucks back then. I put plenty of hours on that guitar as a teenager, but it was stolen in a burglary years later. Anyway, I'm pretty happy with the headstock as is.

[Eric Coffey]

Good deal. As far as painting goes, it might have been a good idea to go over the entire thing with 400>600 before primer. But if it's just going to be a quick n' dirty homage, than I wouldn't worry about it. Just get the color-coats/tape the way you want, and go overkill on the clear-coat, so you can knock down any "ridges" left by the tape lines with the final wet sand.

FYI, Home Depot has some pretty good 3M "no bleed" painter's tape. It's a bit more expensive than the standard blue 3M stuff, but might be worth it to save any potential headaches with multiple color/tape layers. Of course you would have to cut it to width yourself.

A couple links that may come in handy (that you've probably already seen):




Shredaholic.com | EVH Frankenstrat Guitar
Quick-Fix: Re-Spraying Your Guitar | Shredaholic.com

[Rick Lee]

Yes, that Youtube video is my inspiration and you'll see some of my comments on them. He and I have been talking. I did order that real nice 3M painter's tape, but no store have it in the sizes I need, only online. It'll be here tomorrow or Thurs. I'm wet sanding with 600 grit now, will do it again tomorrow and then finish up the white. Once the tape is here, I'll tape and paint red. Then I'm in LA for a week while it cures.

[WolfeMacleod]

If you're looking for an EVH tone and responsiveness, the '59 is a little underpowered and the frequency response might not cut it.
The '78 is more in the range that you should be looking at, but at 9k, the Alnico 2 shifts the midrange spectrum, and the high end is likely to be a little too smooth and creamy, and the low end too mushy.
An Alnico 5 magnet would give more top end bite and sizzle, tighten up the low end, and shift the mids to a slightly upper peak, while reducing the "largeness" of the mids.

Don't forget to hog out the route and tilt the bridge pickup towards the bridge on the high side, as per Frankenstein. That'll be important for getting a similar sound.



And, don't let Eddie get wind of this, cause they'll send you a CnD quick-like. He's got a copyright on the design.

[Rick Lee]

I had a '59 in a previous project guitar and it sounded fine. I'm not going after the original "brown sound" which he didn't really get with this guitar in the first place. Though I'd LOVE to have my Marshall sounding like his old Plexi. If I can find a used '78, I'll grab it, but they're just too expensive new. I might try to find an old pickup from an ES-335, which is what EVH used in the original Frankenstrat before he got all famous and started telling tall tales about his rig to throw people (like myself) off. Also, on the 5150 Kramer he didn't slant the pickup like in his other guitars and the ones Kramer made as production models. And I hope this guitar is covered by the fair use clause, since I'm not selling it. I'm going to see a VH tribute band play this weekend and will ask their guitarist if I can check out his axe. Can't remember if it's a Frankenstrat or 5150 copy.

[Rick Lee]

Ok, made some more progress today. Got the headstock started. I still need the black stripe and am waiting for my Kramer and star decals to arrive.



And I got the body ready to paint. The sand-paint-sand-paint routine made the white look a lot better. Tomorrow and Sat. she gets a can of red.





I'll let it cure for a week while I'm in LA and then I'll get to the black.

[slodave]

Looks good so far, Rick. I don't think you'll have a problem with a CnD. Nothing yet for me or a whole bunch of other people on a LP forum.

You coming out for NAMM? We should meet up, it's been a while.

[Rick Lee]

I'll be at NAMM all Thurs. and Sat. We should get together with all the Pelican attendees - BlueSkyJaunt, Nostatic, Wolfe, Ian, Jared you, me....anyone else? I've met everyone except BlueSky.