Reverend Conehead
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Back when Van Halen was first getting going in the mid to late 70s, it was possible to buy a good quality Fender Strat. However, unlike today, you could not get one with a built-in humbucking pickup in bridge. They came with single-coil pickups in all positions, which is fine if those make the sound that you're going for. EVH liked the feel of a Strat and its whammy bar, but its single-coil pickup was not capable of making that fat and mid-rangy sound that you would get from a humbucker in the bridge on a Gibson Les Paul. So he bought Strat parts from companies like Charvel and built himself a Frankenstrat with a humbucker in the bridge like he wanted. Back then I don't think you could buy an after-market humbucking pickup. I think he actually cannibalized one from a Les Paul. The rest is history. He was able to get that tone he wanted from a Strat, which was the type of guitar he felt most comfortable playing.
However, he could have done it much more simply. He could have just gotten himself a Strat made by Fender and then removed its bridge single coil pickup and replaced it with a humbucker. It would have required routing out that bridge position, but that's no big deal. I think EVH had to rout out that position on the Charvel body anyway, as it was designed for the single coil pickup also. Untold numbers of guitar players have done it this way.
Nowadays if you want, you could just buy a Fender Strat with a humbucker in the bridge. You could not do that back then, but the replacing of that one pickup in the bridge would have been considerably simpler than the custom build he did from scratch. Has anyone heard any interview with EVH where he explains why he did a from-scratch build instead of doing a simple pickup replacement?
However, he could have done it much more simply. He could have just gotten himself a Strat made by Fender and then removed its bridge single coil pickup and replaced it with a humbucker. It would have required routing out that bridge position, but that's no big deal. I think EVH had to rout out that position on the Charvel body anyway, as it was designed for the single coil pickup also. Untold numbers of guitar players have done it this way.
Nowadays if you want, you could just buy a Fender Strat with a humbucker in the bridge. You could not do that back then, but the replacing of that one pickup in the bridge would have been considerably simpler than the custom build he did from scratch. Has anyone heard any interview with EVH where he explains why he did a from-scratch build instead of doing a simple pickup replacement?
