Back when Wolf Van Halen was touring with his dad and uncle, he had some cool basses that were homages to his dad’s famous Frankenstein guitar. I’ve always wanted to do one and I have a Sterling Music Man bass with the single humbucker pickup that’s not doing anything, so maybe that’ll work. I was thinking like Wolf’s blue, black and white one but the MM neck on mine has the tuners spaced with a 3+1 configuration, offset something like the EVH Wolfgang guitars.
There’s virtually no info on these basses except for a few threads or Facebook posts but I can’t find Wolf talking about these anywhere except this from a Bass Player Magazine article. Most everything else isn’t reliable info, not that it matters.
“In 2012 we made some custom Wolfgang basses, and those have ended up in every outfit I’ve played in. Chip Ellis made them in partnership with Fender, because that’s where the VH brand is. They’re killer.“ -Wolfgang Van Halen in Bass Player Magazine
Here’s an image I found on a thread listing the hardware that was used on these basses. I’m not very concerned about authenticity, I just want it to look the part and spend as little as possible on this.
Here’s a fabulous guide to painting an EVH guitar from StewMac! I just need to remember the last paint layer is blue, not red.
October 2025