Rare footage of Eddie Van Halen playing an early configuration of his iconic Frankenstein guitar has been synced to audio

Eddie Van Halen
(Image credit: Speedy/YouTube)

Earlier this week, rare footage that showed Eddie Van Halen playing an early configuration of his legendary white-and-black-striped Frankenstein guitar emerged online thanks to a YouTube user named Speedy, who caught Van Halen’s gig from September 8, 1978, on camera.

Unfortunately, the original footage was filmed on Super8 reels, meaning that not only was the picture quality rather questionable, there was also no audio whatsoever.

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Matt Owen

Matt is a Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.