“Makes me feel closer to Pop every time I record”: Wolfgang Van Halen used Eddie’s legendary Frankenstein to track the slap riff – and the wild two-hand tapping sequence – in his new single

Wolfgang Van Halen has shared a clip of him tracking the slap guitar section of his new song, The End, on his late father's legendary Frankenstein guitar.

After dropping his initials from the band name and releasing a new Mammoth single – which boasts a star-studded, horror-theme music video that’s a must-watch for many reasons – Wolfgang has now offered a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the song's making. As always, his dad’s presence shines on with him.

“Fun fact,” his new Instagram post reads. “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.”

The heavily modded six-string, which boasts that iconic red, white, and black striped design, was one of Eddie Van Halen's most cherished axes. It was his weapon of choice as Van Halen changed the face of guitar music with Eruption in 1978, and it barely left his side thereafter.

Notably, Wolfgang has used the guitar in the studio before, and it can be heard on each Mammoth record so far. On Mammoth I it was used for the solos in Mammoth and Feel, and on Mammoth II it was used for his show-stopping, tapping-lavished Take a Bow guitar solo.

“You feel the history,” he had said after using it on his debut album, a record he finished in the wake of his dad’s passing. “It’s kind of terrifying holding it, just because arguably it is the most famous guitar in musical history. It’s definitely quite the thing to hold it.”

“It's kind of crazy,” Wolfgang later said of the instrument while on the promo trail for Take a Bow. “There are certain notes where it's like, ‘Wow, that sounds like Van Halen I.’”

This time around, Wolfgang is continuing to enjoy the connection that the Frankenstein creates between him and his late father.

Further still, the slapping part itself is indicative of Wolfgang’s musical mentality. He doesn’t want to be known simply as ‘Eddie Van Halen’s son’ and is intent on establishing himself as Wolfgang the artist – but he still wants to honor Eddie’s legacy while doing so.

Here, he's embracing modern techniques beloved by the likes of Tosin Abasi and his personal guitar hero, Intervals’ Aaron Marshall – who have both given him their seal of approval in the comments – as a reflection of his voice on the instrument. The solo, meanwhile, is blazingly Van Halen, and with it, he keeps things firmly in the virtuosic family.

Breaking down the slapping technique in the comments section, Wolfgang explains, “[My] right hand is slapping and then popping two separate strings to get those harmonics and the left hand is filling in the sort of percussive rhythm.”

In related news, filmmaker Simon Alkin released an exhaustive documentary on Eddie’s guitar-modding journey and how the Frankenstein came to be late last year. Told in Eddie’s own words via a score of interviews captured over the years, it gives a unique insight into the legendary instrument.

“The guitar I wanted to play did not exist,” Van Halen had said at the time. Now its future remains in very safe, and very familiar hands.