The Franky - A Pictorial History

[jimi11580]

Could it have been that correcting the intonation marked the end of Franky - as far as being used? Maybe that change of pivot location weakened and compromised the effective use of the tremolo.

Anything is possible, Sergio, but I think that after 1983, Ed more or less retired the Franky for live shows and started to use the 5150 and an assorment of back-up Kramers.

[dg5150]

Superb Jimmi !! Very interesting read .

Doug

[jimi11580]

Are you certain they moved the bridge?... I think maybe its just a different trem or maybe he moved the quarter a bit.

100% certain. Look closely at the photographs...
1983

1993

...if you use the stripes as reference points you'll see that the quarter does not move from it's position.

Thats a lot of precision work to plug holes and accurately redrill. Not exactly EVH's strong suit.

Yeah, I agree. LOL! That's why the task a was given to Tom Anderson who is probably one of the best in the business.

I see at least 3 different Floyds in those pics. The original, a gold one and a later chrome one.

There's actually four different types Floyds that are pictured.
Here's three of them:



Ed owned quite a few of them so who knows how many have been on the Franky!

[we die young]

Great show, Jimi! I, personally, appreciate your efforts in showing what transformations have tormented that poor piece of wood!

The Floyd has clearly changed from 1993 to 1997: the fine tuners are black. Also, Ed, re-installed a new type of eyehooks on the upper horn, visible in the pic with Chip Ellis placing the neck on Franky.

Could it have been that correcting the intonation marked the end of Franky - as far as being used? Maybe that change of pivot location weakened and compromised the effective use of the tremolo.

I read somewhere years ago, I think in one of the international guitar mags, the interviewer asked Ed what made him stop using the Frankie, and favoring the Kramers. (This was before he officially endorsed them)
I don't have the article in front of me, but it was something quoted like:
"There were a number of reasons, but I just really like their guitars. They made a replica of my guitar, I call it phase two, and were working on new things. One of the main reasons was the necks wouldn't stay on properly. I'd broken a couple of them off with all the crazy stuff I do, and I tried a bunch of new necks and things, but they'd always slide around in the pocket" (Note, I think he's referring to the side routs of the neck pocket cracking at the heel, allowing the neck to shift. This was a problem on one of mine that fell off a stand and onto the floor off the stage.)
The second thing is that the wood under the bridge was getting soft from all the sweat and grime over the years, so the bridge isn't sitting right. it's basically falling apart!"
As far as what he says about the bridge, this makes sense because it had numerous open holes under it. He once stated about the Floyd Rose that he thought they sounded too bright, so when he was in the studio he'd put the old Fender bridge back on, and live the Floyd would go on for tuning stability.
So sweat which is pretty acidic gets down in the holes and attacks the wood. This was actually a very common problem on Ibanez guitars which used real soft woods like basswood until they started preventing the problem with different inserts for the studs. The wood would actually get spongey.
Just a little old info FWIW.

[jimi11580]

Any update on the black Strat w/ the rosewood neck, zebra HB, and the modified white pickguard used in the club days and how that *may* have been used on VH1 and/or became Frankenstein?

I believe you had some thoughts on that last year, but weren't sure to the point to make a pronouncement.

Thanks!

Right. Well, the conjecture and debates continue, but the proof still has not been produced. I was going to include a section on the Sunburst Strat...

..and the Black Strat...

..but until I see the absloute proof,we are in the realm of the "second shooter on the grassy knoll"...

[smithtone]

Right. Well, the conjecture and debates continue, but the proof still has not been produced. I was going to include a section on the Sunburst Strat...

..and the Black Strat...

..but until I see the absloute proof,we are in the realm of the "second shooter on the grassy knoll"...

Thanks Jimi - always a great read when you post. And keep us updated re: those two Strats. I really think you're onto something there!

[nhotas]

Yeah, I agree. LOL! That's why the task a was given to Tom Anderson who is probably one of the best in the business.

Quite right!
Here's one of TA's technicians (Benny) testing Franky. Notice that TA had the care of making a net that would fulfill the entire neck pocket!

[Rick S]

Doesnt the B/W Franky have some kind of brass mightymite bridge on the cover of VH1 ?

[jimi11580]

Doesnt the B/W Franky have some kind of brass mightymite bridge on the cover of VH1 ?

Yes.

[ED-A-HOLIC]

Really cool, thamks for sharing.

[At0micPunk]

Cool thread!

Curious about the cream colored pickup that was once in the franky.

Any idea what it is? Think maybe it's a super 70 taken from the shark/Ibanez Destroyer?

Saw a cream colored one on the bumblebee for a time too.

The bumblebee. not sure, seemed to originally come with a black humbucker from Charvel?


and later a cream colored..


but the shark, snake/dragon and a bunch of his guitars had a cream colored pickup for a time as well....lol


You don't need the pictorial examples but tossing them up anyways. Any idea what the cream pickup was in the franky during 1980 ish?

[Brett]

I thought it was the Diamrzio Super Distortion that was in the Bumblebee that Ed said never sounded good.

[nhotas]

Who installed the original one? I was under the impression that Floyd Rose himself installed his first units. That's a huge mistake TA fixed unless he had to adapt for the neck a bit as well.

The bridge cam with the intonation off from the start. Whoever installed the Floyd, just placed it over the original tremolo location. Ed had been making some amazing music, by then, so I guess they went with "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Anothet possibility is that the bridge screw holes came off from Ellsworth, and that may had been the cause for the body to be a second.

Seems like a lot of top shelf people worked on the guitars and amps of the self proclaimed tinkerer

In deed, Ed took his baby to whoever would be capable of making his main tool reach its peak. Here is Peter Baranet, AKA MAX (who built a certain famous Les Paul replica for Slash, arguably/possibly used in Apetite For Destruction) messing with Franky.

[nhotas]

Jimi has provided the date of this picture, with is usual hability to unveil the darkest secrets of Ed's guitars! Please observe the master in action and see how he managed to actually discover the real date of the picture!
I hope you don't mind me sharing this piece of info here, Jimi, with due and deserved merit, since the original location of the post is... well, you know.

It's definately the real Franky, boys... and despite the fact that the website indicates the date to be 1979, it's actually 1981!
How did I reach that conclusion, you ask? Simple, see the two posters with the women hanging on the wall in front of Max?

Well, one of them provides a real clue to what year it actually is!...

..look at the date on the one on the left- "Thurs Feb 12"
I looked it up and Thursday, February 12th was in 1981! :shock:

[jimi11580]

Curious about the cream colored pickup that was once in the franky.
Any idea what it is? Think maybe it's a super 70 taken from the shark/Ibanez Destroyer?

I don't know what kind of humbucker it was...

... but I doubt it was taken from the Shark.

Saw a cream colored one on the bumblebee for a time too.
The bumblebee. not sure, seemed to originally come with a black humbucker from Charvel?
and later a cream colored..

I plan on putting a Charvel VH II (I refuse to call it the "Bumble Bee" LOL!)thread together very shortly. Many of your questions will be answered there!