Interview: Wolfgang Van Halen Dives Into New Signature Guitar

Sixty-nine years after his dad was born, Wolfgang Van Halen unveiled a new signature guitar in his honor.

The EVH Gear SA-126 is a nod to Eddie Van Halen in its name — the guitar legend was born on Jan. 26, 1955 — but the sound that the guitar creates belongs distinctly to Wolfgang.

“I knew I wanted to do my own sound and not just immediately emulate everything my dad did,” Van Halen told Chuck Armstrong on Friday night’s edition of Loudwire Nights (Jan. 26).

“I wanted to look for a different tone and that’s where I found semi-hollows. I thought merging what EVH Gear is known for — sort of shreddy necks and shreddy guitars in general — but marrying that with the sort of classic semi-hollow. And that’s what the 126 is. It’s this crazy sort of hybrid instrument that can kind of do anything.”

Van Halen told Chuck that if fans want to know what the SA-126 is capable of, just listen to Mammoth WVH’s latest album, Mammoth II.

“I literally played that for almost the entirety of the record. Like 95 percent of the album is that guitar.”

Chuck asked Van Halen if he ever considered naming this guitar something different, keeping that bond between him and his Pop to himself.

Van Halen quickly answered.

“Yeah, but at the same time, I think this opens up a whole new area of the EVH brand,” he explained. “I know a lot of younger players, they’re not really into the Floyd [Rose tremolo]…I think there’s so many guitar players out there who just look at a Floyd and go, ‘Eww.’ That’s usually what the brand offers. It’s really fun to be able to mix that up and to offer something completely different that I think also represents everything that we stand for in making incredible instruments that allow you to be yourself.”

Van Halen and the EVH Gear team have been working on the SA-126 guitar for three years, but he told the Loudwire Nights audience that he’s had a pretty good time with the process.

READ MORE: Wolfgang Van Halen Reflects on ’23, Prepares For Busy Year Ahead

“It’s been really fun putting all the work in and crash testing it, as my dad would always put it back in the day,” he admitted.

“Playing it for the last two years on the road and really just banging these guitars up and using them in the studio, it’s been really, really, really fun to finally get the guitar to the point where it’s ready for the public. I’m stoked.”

Listen to the Full Interview in the Podcast Player Below

Wolfgang Van Halen joined Loudwire Nights on Friday, Jan. 26; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand. Stream Mammoth II at this location, check out Mammoth WVH’s full tour schedule and grab details on the new SA-126 guitar from EVH Gear.