“I was just like, ‘I need to make sure Frankenstein is safe’”: Wolfgang Van Halen stowed his dad’s most legendary guitar in his car as a precaution during the LA wildfires

Wolfgang Van Halen has reflected on the “doomsday energy” of the LA wildfires, during which he kept his dad’s legendary Frankenstein in his car for three weeks as part of precautionary evacuation plans.

The fires caused monumental damage to the city, with thousands of buildings – many of them homes – reduced to ash. Primus guitarist Larry Lalonde and Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith were among those to lose their homes.

Though Wolfgang Van Halen's home and 5150 Studios were spared, the Mammoth leader had a plan to keep his family – and Eddie Van Halen's most famous electric guitar – safe, should the worst happen.

“I thought, I’ll have Frankenstein and my wife, and we’re good,” he tells Premier Guitar (via Guitar.com), revealing the guitar lived in his car in case a quick escape was needed.

“And then we had a U-Haul filled with whatever else we felt was worth saving, which was very tough,” he adds. “Luckily, it didn’t come to that, but it was a traumatising time we’re still working through.”

Wolfgang’s band, Mammoth, kicked off the promo campaign for album three, The End, several months later, and those experiences ultimately inspired its apocalyptic lyrics.

“That’s where most of the anxious, doomsday energy in the lyrics comes from,” he admits of its lead single. “I couldn’t focus on my things.”

Speaking in the upcoming issue of Guitar World, Wolfgang elaborates on those experiences, saying, “The vocals were recorded in January while we had everything in 5150 packed up and ready to go at any moment.

“I was thinking about all of my dad’s instruments and all of his belongings before I could even think about mine. At one point, there were four separate fires within two miles of us. It was the winds that were the scariest, just how they would carry over miles.

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“There were about two weeks where we couldn’t work more than an hour without getting some sort of alert – I didn’t have the brainpower to focus on it, because I was just like, ‘I need to make sure Frankenstein is safe.’”

Fittingly, The End’s harmonic-laden slapping and tapping parts were recorded on Frankenstein.

You can read Wolfgang Van Halen’s full interview in the upcoming issue of Guitar World, which lands on October 7 via Magazines Direct and includes a cover feature with Guns N' Roses.