“I literally made the change that Eddie Van Halen was known for and was thinking about”: Larry DiMarzio says his revolutionary bridge tweak pre-empted Van Halen’s own mods

Eddie Van Halen plays his custom Frankenstrat guitar at Cobo Arena during Van Halen's "Fair Warning Tour" on July 4, 1981, in Detroit, Michigan.

Eddie Van Halen was a revelation when it came to the electric guitar. A shredder of Olympic proportions, he was also a notorious tinkerer of his weapons of choice. His Frankenstein Strat – which marries an ash-bodied Strat with a Gibson PAF humbucker and a Floyd Rose – will forever prove that.

Indeed, his love of modding has just been turned into a full-fledged documentary. But during the decade in which EVH cemented himself as a guitar great, Larry DiMarzio was proving one step ahead of him when it came to rectifying issues with the fabled instrument.