EVH Striped Series '78 Eruption White w/Black Stripes Relic

On the cover of Van Halen’s 1978 eponymous debut album, Eddie Van Halen thrusts his black-and-white striped Strat®-style guitar towards the camera as if he’s showing you the future. He played this guitar on his unprecedented and mind-blowing “Eruption” guitar solo, thus its nickname, and almost immediately, this monumental instrument became a timeless icon, symbolic of a paradigm shift in guitar-driven rock and roll.

Back when this trailblazing album first appeared, nobody had ever seen or heard a guitar like that because no such guitar ever existed. What was this? You couldn’t buy one.

That’s because he made it himself. The 22-year-old Eddie Van Halen had the mind of not only a great musician, but also of an innovative inventor—a constant tinkerer who was always messing with his gear. Eddie would say it was out of necessity as no off-the-shelf guitar had the features he needed to really do his job and realize his full potential. So, he took matters into his own capable hands — refretting the neck, installing a humbucking pickup which he potted in paraffin wax, as well a single master volume knob (famously labeled as “Tone”), brass nut and tailpiece from a ’58 Strat, cutting out and mounting his own homemade black and of course, coming up with iconic striped motif.

The all-new EVH® Striped Series ’78 Eruption guitar combines many of those famed mods along with modernized features and a relic treatment.

The Stratocaster®-style body sports Eddie’s famed white-and-black-striped paint job and has been paired to a quartersawn maple neck with a hand-rubbed satin urethane back finish. The 12”-16” compound radius maple fingerboard with 22 jumbo frets was designed for fast and furious playing styles with maximum comfort, while a heel-mount truss rod wheel makes for time-saving neck adjustments.

A single EVH Wolfgang® humbucking bridge pickup provides classic Eddie Van Halen guitar tone – from crystal cleans to fat and rich mids and lows, while the brass nut and six-saddle vintage Fender® Stratocaster synchronized tremolo bridge with a 43mm brass block allow for authentic EVH tone.

Other features include a skirted white Strat-style volume control knob (labeled “tone”) with 500K EVH Bourns® low friction pot and treble bleed circuit, black pickguard, chrome hardware, oversized strap buttons, EVH neck plate and larger, ‘70s-style licensed Fender Strat headstock with gold EVH logo.

Product Specs
General
SERIES: Striped Series
ORIENTATION: Right-Hand
COLOR: White with Black Stripes Relic
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: MX
Neck
HEADSTOCK: Large '70s-Style Licensed Fender® Strat®
NECK MATERIAL: Quartersawn Maple
NECK FINISH: Hand-Rubbed Satin Urethane
NECK SHAPE: EVH® Modified "C" Backshape
NECK CONSTRUCTION: Bolt-On with Graphite Reinforcement
NECK THICKNESS: .790" at 3rd Fret & .810" at 12th Fret
FINGERBOARD RADIUS: 12"-16" Compound Radius (304.8 mm to 406.4 mm)
FINGERBOARD MATERIAL: Maple
POSITION INLAYS: Black Dot
SIDE DOTS: Black
NUMBER OF FRETS: 22
TRUSS ROD NUT: Heel-Mount Truss Rod Adjustment Wheel
STRING NUT: Brass
NUT WIDTH: 1.6875" (42.86 mm)
NUT MATERIAL: Brass
Body
BODY: Basswood
BODY FINISH: Lacquer
BODY SHAPE: Other
BODY MATERIAL: Basswood
Hardware
BRIDGE: 6-Saddle Vintage-Style Fender® Strat® Synchronized Tremolo with 43mm Brass Block
TREMOLO BLOCK: Brass
PICKGUARD: 1-Ply Black
PICKUP COVERS: Black
CONTROL KNOBS: White Stratocaster®-Style Skirt (Labeled "Tone")
HARDWARE FINISH: Reliced Chrome
TUNING MACHINES: EVH®-Branded Gotoh®
STRING TREES: Single Wing with Tall Metal Spacer
STRINGS: EVH® Nickel Plated Steel (.009-.042 Gauges)
TREMOLO ARM: Vintage-Style Tremolo Arm
NECK PLATE: 4-Bolt Standard
STRAP BUTTONS: Oversized
Electronics
BRIDGE PICKUP: EVH® Wolfgang® Humbucking
PICKUP CONFIGURATION: H
CONTROLS: Volume (500K EVH® Bourns® Low Friction Pot) with Treble Bleed Circuit
SWITCHING: None