In this early-to-mid-’80s shot, Frankenstein no longer has a pickguard and has been outfitted with two single-coils and a lot of electrical tape in the wiring cavity. The black paint on the headstock and near the treble cutaway seem to indicate that the neck was stripped of some of its original finish.

"Eddie’s fingertapping and vibrato work were innovative. It’s something he developed that made him different than all other guitar players. Extremely different. He mastered it very well. Eddie proves a fellow can create his own thing, something that’s recognizable. It’s very intriguing, and it’s a great road to go down. It’s good to see someone out there that plays his way. That is what makes the man stand out from the boy.

Eddie Van Halen came up with his own thing. Okay, as far as I know, he may have copied it from some hillbilly, I don’t know. But it seems like he had his own thing going. And that alone, by itself, makes it very interesting. And the fact that he does it very well means he’s expressing a lot of things he had inside him that others don’t have. They just don’t play that way." —Les Paul