Just finished building this …

[MYLILSS]

I decided to build my own frankenstrat rather than buying one of the EVH gear variants. The build consists of a Northern ash body and 3A Birdseye maple neck from Chris Locke who has the most accurate reproductions on the market. Pariah Pickups frankenstrat with phenolic neck pup, and all German hardware including “West German” made schaller tuners. The stripes aren’t perfect but it captures the idea behind the build I think.

 

[stratjacket]

Wow, nice work!!

 

[harddriver]

Very nice! I think you will be happier in the long run with actual Northern Ash for the body wood versus the Basswood EVH is using for the low end Franky's. Who is the guy that built the neck? Did he get the dimensions from the $25,000 Frankie from a few years back?

My Musikraft Black and White Frank is still one of my favorite guitars to play almost ten years on since I built it! I never feel the need to put a Franky together but I have old Kramers that scratch that itch otherwise I probably would have built one for myself. I did assemble a Frankie for my older brother but we used a KNE poplar body instead of Northern Ash and the Poplar body sounded good as well but both of my 1983 Kramers are poplar and there is still that rumor that Ed's 5150 was poplar and I think that the rumor is probably true because Kramer was not know for using Basswood in that era at all.

Enjoy the Frankie it looks great!

 

[MYLILSS]

Wow, nice

Very nice! I think you will be happier in the long run with actual Northern Ash for the body wood versus the Basswood EVH is using for the low end Franky's. Who is the guy that built the neck? Did he get the dimensions from the $25,000 Frankie from a few years back?

My Musikraft Black and White Frank is still one of my favorite guitars to play almost ten years on since I built it! I never feel the need to put a Franky together but I have old Kramers that scratch that itch otherwise I probably would have built one for myself. I did assemble a Frankie for my older brother but we used a KNE poplar body instead of Northern Ash and the Poplar body sounded good as well but both of my 1983 Kramers are poplar and there is still that rumor that Ed's 5150 was poplar and I think that the rumor is probably true because Kramer was not know for using Basswood in that era at all.

Enjoy the Frankie it looks great!

The neck is from Chris locke as well. He did the body and the neck. The neck is basically identical to what’s on the OG frankenstrat at this moment based on what I’ve been told from people “in the know”, so my guess is they got the neck specs from that 25K model. I used an R3 but even though it calls for an R2 to be original spec. This neck measures 1-3/4” at the nut so using the R2 was just too impractical for me. I realize that back in the day they only made an R2 nut, but I couldn’t go that drastic. The R3 has a slightly wider string spacing and still leaves a small gap at the ends for both the proper look and better feel at least to me. By the way, this neck shape is nothing short of amazing ! I’ve been very impressed no doubt

 

[harddriver]

The neck is from Chris locke as well. He did the body and the neck. The neck is basically identical to what’s on the OG frankenstrat at this moment based on what I’ve been told from people “in the know”, so my guess is they got the neck specs from that 25K model. I used an R3 but even though it calls for an R2 to be original spec. This neck measures 1-3/4” at the nut so using the R2 was just too impractical for me. I realize that back in the day they only made an R2 nut, but I couldn’t go that drastic. The R3 has a slightly wider string spacing and still leaves a small gap at the ends for both the proper look and better feel at least to me. By the way, this neck shape is nothing short of amazing ! I’ve been very impressed no doubt

Is the neck profile a heavy C or almost a D shape? What is the fretboard radius? 12"? I'm running a brass nut on my Frank and a Callaham S/S Fender bridge and it stays in tune alright using the trem but I cheated and went with Schaller locking tuners.

 

[MYLILSS]

Is the neck profile a heavy C or almost a D shape? What is the fretboard radius? 12"? I'm running a brass nut on my Frank and a Callaham S/S Fender bridge and it stays in tune alright using the trem but I cheated and went with Schaller locking tuners.

It’s a 10” radius and a C shape but feels a bit thin to me. Hard to explain because the neck width throws it off if that makes sense ? It’s a wide ass neck

 

[harddriver]

10" radius huh, I figured it would be a 12" since he like Les Paul necks, I couldn't remember what the 25K Frankie radius were, did they say what those were? I assume 10" as well... I guess that's why he went with a 10" radius on the EBMM EVH models then... That all makes sense. I just feel a bit cramped at times on a 10" radius, I felt that way with my EBMM axis even though I loved the neck finish.

My 83 Kramer has a really heavy C almost LP 59 round back kind of C and I'm just partial to that. I had read somewhere that said Ed's neck was almost like a D shape due to the width but your description the D shape would also be a valid description of a wide medium to thin C.

 

[hammered]

That is a beauty , nice work

 

[RedPlated]

Nice!!!

 

[controlled_voltage]

Fucking bad ass !!!
Congratulations dude

 

[gbsmusic]

Wow! Outstanding job. You have something to be proud of there, that is just incredible. Congratulations! ! !???

 

[thenine]

Great job man. Looks killer.

1 3/4” nut width?

 

[blackie13]

Just wow...

 

[nigelpkay]

Wow looks great, the guitar will feel more personal to you having put it together yourself. It’s exactly just how Ed did it!

 

[PBGas]

You did a beautiful job! Nicely done!

 

[MYLILSS]

Great job man. Looks killer.

1 3/4” nut width?

Haha yep ! Strange as fuck but that’s apparently what the original was, which I’ve read in multiple places, I just never really paid much attention to. Oddly enough it feels very comfortable