EVH salutes Van Halen's revolutionary debut album with launch of Striped Series ‘78 Eruption guitar
The lightly-aged model closely follows Eddie Van Halen's iconic original, with a single humbucker, mis-labeled volume knob, vintage-style Strat tremolo, and much more
Back in June, along with the announcement of three new natural-finished models, EVH pulled back the curtains on a new electric guitar, the Striped Series ‘78 Eruption.
Based on the Strat-style guitar wielded by Eddie Van Halen early in Van Halen's career – and on the cover of the band's groundbreaking 1978 self-titled debut album – the '78 Eruption aims to combine some of the many unique mods the late guitar hero made to his six-string with a few 21st century comforts. You can see, and hear, the guitar in action below.
For starters, the model features a lacquer-finished basswood body and a bolt-on, graphite-reinforced quartersawn maple neck sporting a heel-mounted truss rod adjustment wheel, and a 25.5," 12" - 16" compound radius maple fretboard with 22 jumbo frets.
Sounds, of course, come by way of a single humbucker at the bridge – a relic'd EVH Wolfgang unit – controlled by just a single volume knob (labeled "tone," just as it was on Eddie's original guitar) with a treble bleed circuit and 500K EVH Bourns Low Friction pot.
As for hardware, there's a six-saddle, vintage-style Strat synchronized tremolo with a 43mm brass block – also a nod to the original – and EVH-branded Gotoh tuners. All hardware is given a relic'd chrome finish.
There's more to be found in the small details of the '78 Eruption as well, with oversized strap buttons, a Strat-style output jack plate, eye-bolt guitar strap hooks, a brass nut, and a '70s-style licensed Fender Strat headstock with a gold EVH logo all giving the guitar – which is also lightly relic'd throughout – a unique flair.
The EVH Striped Series ‘78 Eruption guitar is available now – with an EVH Striped Series gig bag included – for $1,899.
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For more info on the model, visit EVH Gear.
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Jackson is an Associate Editor at GuitarWorld.com. He’s been writing and editing stories about new gear, technique and guitar-driven music both old and new since 2014, and has also written extensively on the same topics for Guitar Player. Elsewhere, his album reviews and essays have appeared in Louder and Unrecorded. Though open to music of all kinds, his greatest love has always been indie, and everything that falls under its massive umbrella. To that end, you can find him on Twitter crowing about whatever great new guitar band you need to drop everything to hear right now.
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