Wolfgang Van Halen shows the first guitar his father ever gave him

Wolfgang Van Halen's first interview for his new solo project Mammoth WVH with Howard Stern is certainly yielding some interesting and deeply personal revelations. Following on from the news a huge Van Halen reunion was in the works sometime before Eddie Van Halen's passing, Wolfgang showed Stern a key piece of his childhood; the first electric guitar his legendary father gave him.

In the snippet above, Wolfgang reflects on his early lessons with Eddie. "[I would] ask him how to play something and he just proceeds to be Eddie Van Halen and that's a very tough bar to reach as a beginner, so it's like, 'Ok'" he laughed. 

Eddie Van Halen

David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen (with Kramer guitar) onstage in San Diego, California on 21 May, 1984  (Image credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Wolfgang also showed Stern the first guitar his dad ever gave him, for Christmas; the '1984' Kramer that was the backup to Eddie's 5150 Kramer Frankenstrat replica. The latter model is what the guitarist plays in the Panama video. 

Wolfgang recently released his first single under the Mammoth WVH banner with the song Distance – a tribute to his father. 

Rob Laing
Reviews Editor, GuitarWorld.com and MusicRadar guitars

Rob is the Reviews Editor for GuitarWorld.com and MusicRadar guitars, so spends most of his waking hours (and beyond) thinking about and trying the latest gear while making sure our reviews team is giving you thorough and honest tests of it. He's worked for guitar mags and sites as a writer and editor for nearly 20 years but still winces at the thought of restringing anything with a Floyd Rose.