Wolfgang Van Halen has revealed that he used his late father Eddie Van Halen‘s iconic Frankenstein guitar, aka the Frankenstrat, to record parts on his new Mammoth song “The End.”
The intro to Wolfgang’s one-off single sounds eerily reminiscent to Eddie’s guitar tapping — one of his signature techniques — as heard on Van Halen hits like “Hot for Teacher.” Not only does Wolfgang emulate that tapping perfectly, but he even used Eddie’s legendary red-and-white striped axe to evoke his father’s tone and sound.
“Fun fact, I recorded the main tapping of the song, and the slap part with the Frankenstein!” shared Wolfgang on X/Twitter, along with a video of him performing the slap part. “Makes me feel closer to Pop that such an important part of his history can live with mine every time I record.”
Related Video
Wolfgang put his guitar skills to the test on “The End,” our Heavy Song of the Week selection this past Friday. The track was also accompanied by an ambitious Robert Rodriguez-directed video that recreates the filmmaker’s cult classic From Dusk Till Dawn with Wolfgang’s band and cameos from Danny Trejo, Slash, and more.
Meanwhile, it’s good to know that Wolfgang possesses the one-and-only Frankenstrat, as similar guitars from Eddie’s collection have hit the auction block in recent years. The guitar used in the video for the aforementioned “Hot for Teacher” sold for over $3 million at auction in 2023, and a few years before that, two of Eddie’s custom axes sold for a combined $422,000 — much to the chagrin of Wolfgang, who called the timing of the auction “fishy.”
Fans can catch Wolfgang and his band Mammoth on an extensive tour this year, including shows opening for Seether and Creed, and a recently announced fall headlining trek. A Live Nation ticket pre-sale for the headlining tour begins Wednesday (May 7th) at 10 a.m. local time using the code FREESTYLE. General ticket sales start Friday (May 9th) at 10 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster.
Check out the video of Wolfgang playing the Frankenstrat below, as well as the full music video for “The End,” including the tapping intro.
Tracking the slap part of THE END.
Fun fact, I recorded the main tapping of the song, and the slap part with the Frankenstein! Makes me feel closer to Pop that such an important part of his history can live with mine every time I record ❤️ pic.twitter.com/inKDNeAQyi
— Wolf Van Halen (@WolfVanHalen) May 5, 2025
Content shared from consequence.net.