Lifestyle

Eddie Van Halen's attempt to combine a Gibson and a Fender certainly did come alive. Joining a Strat's ash body with a Gibson PAF humbucker bridge pickup from his trusty Gibson ES-335 hollow body, Van Halen inadvertently stumbled onto an industry standard in the process.

To reduce microphonic feedback, Van Halen dipped the pickup in paraffin wax before he put in his new guitar's body – an idea that numerous mainstream guitar makers have adopted since.

Van Halen's limited electronics knowledge resulted in a guitar range that was anything but fancy (legend has it he even mixed up the volume and tone controls). The Frankenstrat also dispelled the myths that making guitars was impossible for amateurs. Having said that, it did snap in half in 1980.