Discover the story behind the Les Paul guitar used by Slash on Guns N' Roses' debut album.
In 1987, when the world was beginning to tire of so-called hair bands , the Hard Rock universe was shaken by the release of Appetite For Destruction , the debut album by Axl, Slash, Izzy, Duff and Adler.
Visually, the band wasn't that different from other hard rock bands from LA, but musically Guns N' Roses brought back some of that more visceral rock from the 70s, when bands like Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, and AC/DC reigned supreme.
While much of this is attributed to Axl Rose's unique and incredibly raspy voice, reminiscent of Robert Plan at his peak, much is also due to Slash and his old '59 Gibson Les Paul.
Slash was a different kind of guitar hero , with a style that was much more reminiscent of Jimmy Page and Joe Perry than the Yngwie Malmsteen imitations that seemed to spring up everywhere and that nobody could stand to listen to anymore.
In an era dominated by guitars with pointed ends and exotic colors that seemed to glow in the dark, played by guitarists preoccupied with performing acrobatics and hitting a thousand notes per second, Slash and his '59 Les Paul changed everything, reviving a playing style that everyone had been missing.
It's not exactly fair to say he brought anything new or unprecedented, but after the resounding success of Appetite For Destruction , everyone wanted to own a Gibson Les Paul Standard '59, like Slash's.
Therefore, in addition to being considered responsible for reviving a playing style that was much more musical than full of pyrotechnics, Slash is also considered responsible for reviving the use of Gibson Les Pauls, which a decade earlier were so successful in the hands of Page and Perry.
Not that nobody else used them anymore, but the popularity achieved by Guns N' Roses undoubtedly caused many people to abandon their colorful, spiked guitars with Floyd Rose tremolos, in favor of a more classic look and that sound that brought joy to so many and went down in rock history.
However, what few people know is that the guitar Slash used to change the course of the guitar market in the following years, and even the world of music, is not a Gibson Les Paul Standard '59, but a copy made by a luthier named Kris Derrig, usually made for guitarists who didn't have enough money to buy a genuine Gibson.
“I didn’t rescue the fucking Les Paul,” says Slash. “They were already out there, and I just think that nobody really popular who was touring the world was using a Les Paul at the time Guns N’ Roses came along .
“It became my main guitar for a long time ,” Slash continues. “And because I couldn’t afford that kind of thing, I took it on the early Guns N’ Roses tours. Actually, I almost lost it during an early tour. It was stolen from me once in the crowd. I was being an idiot, leaning over the audience and getting pulled in, and a guy ended up grabbing it. I freaked out when I realized it wasn’t attached to me anymore, that I had completely lost control of it. But our security guards came out and caught the guy before we left the show. That happened to me a few times.”
The instrument came with Seymour Duncan Alnico II (zebra-look) pickups, which Slash now uses in all his humbucker-loaded guitars, and remained virtually unchanged, except for the countless pickup rings sprayed on by the guitarist during his stage performances.
“I don’t take that guitar on the road anymore ,” says Slash. “It’s all beat up, but it still sounds great!”
The world turns, and today Slash is sponsored by both Seymour Duncan, which produces the Alnico II Pro Slash APH-2 pickup, and Gibson itself, which launched the "Slash Appetite Les Paul," still one of the brand's most popular and best-selling models.
Check out the new guitar released by Gibson in partnership with Slash.
Who would have thought? Today the Les Paul is considered the most powerful guitar in rock, and that's thanks to a "cheap copy" made for those who couldn't afford a Gibson.
Currently, Gibson is experiencing serious financial problems, bordering on bankruptcy . Many "pirated" copies can be found on AliExpress , manufactured in China, with very satisfactory quality and prices that are up to 5% of a genuine Gibson.
Perhaps it's because of that, or because of the growing disinterest of younger generations in the guitar, but nothing will change the importance that Gibson Les Pauls had in music, even if they were "cheap copies".
Source: Slash World
References: Gibson and Seymour Duncan