Seymour Duncan has given its Custom Shop Eddie Van Halen humbuckers a Frankenstein twist by injecting them with even more EVH flair.
Van Halen began working with the firm in the late 1970s, later developing a meticulous recreation of the humbuckers found in the guitar god’s legendary Frankenstein guitar.
They were followed by two further Custom Shop iterations, both also approved by Van Halen himself, which sought to harness other distinct eras and nuances of Eddie’s guitar tones.
Now, those three humbuckers have returned to the original source material. Not only are they inspired by the sound of Eddie’s Frankenstein, they’re also inspired by the aesthetics of his iconic guitars.
Four finishes have been released across the three pickups. Red, White & Black is probably the one that will have the most tongues wagging: it lifts the striped pattern directly from the final and most recognizable form of Frankenstein.
There’s also a black-and-yellow Bumblebee finish option, inspired by the guitar of the same name that was built by Wayne Charvel in the late 1980s, and which starred during the Van Halen II era.
In keeping with Frankenstein’s evolution, Seymour Duncan has also dropped a Black & White colorway, inspired by the guitar’s earlier form, while a Black & Grey model pays homage to the finish found on Van Halen’s Charvel Art Series models, which were hand-striped by EVH himself.
As for tones, the Frankenstein Custom is a direct replica of the humbucker found in the O.G. guitar, while the Classic draws inspiration from the early P.A.F.-style tones that defined the first Van Halen records. The Frankenstein Plus is a hot-rodded version of the original, with heightened output and increased sustain.
In essence, they’re all Eddie Van Halen humbuckers, made to be even more Eddie Van Halen.
“I was listening to Jeff Beck, I knew Jimi Hendrix. Then all of a sudden I hear this young guitar player doing all of these cool hammer-ons," Seymour Duncan says in a launch video about how he first crossed paths with Eddie.
“When I first heard him, I thought, 'God, who is this guy?' He loved experimenting. He loved that part of it; that is why I wanted to be a part of the pickup side of it.”
All three pickups are available now for $199 apiece.
Head over to Seymour Duncan to find out more.
