Gibson Publishing - The Collection: Slash

Slash 1963 ES-335 collector’s edition

Few artists have had as profound an impact on modern music as Slash. From Guns N’ Roses to Slash’s Snakepit, Velvet Revolver, and four acclaimed albums with Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, Slash has brought his inimitable style and swagger to each project.

In the process, he has influenced countless guitarists and musicians across generations and genres — and has amassed a staggering collection of about 400 guitars, from holy-grail vintage pieces to prototype Gibson signature models, to guitars made by B.C. Rich®, Guild®, boutique acoustic luthiers, and plenty more besides.

These 364 pages are lavishly illustrated with photos of Slash and his impressive guitar collection, shot by the Gibson team and legendary rock photographer Ross Halfin, whose relationship with Slash extends back to 1986.

Written and edited by Gibson editor-in-chief Chris Vinnicombe, this gorgeous volume offers insights drawn from brand new, exclusive interviews with Slash himself.

Look inside

Does anyone own more doubleneck guitars than Slash? Certainly no guitarist since Jimmy Page in his pomp has done more to popularize the format than the man whose guitar collection is the subject of this book. You’ve already seen the doublenecks in Slash’s live rig. Now it’s time to take a close look at his 1966 Gibson alongside factory prototypes, instruments he developed with Guild®, and impossibly rare BC Rich® models.

An original Gibson Explorer is almost impossible to find. Once upon a time, Slash owned two of them. “When I went into the studio to record Use Your Illusion, I picked up two ’58 Explorers,” Slash recalls. “I gave one of them to my guitar tech at the time, only to find out later that he’d sold it. That’s one of my very, very few regrets in life!” The Explorer that Slash kept came with paperwork, some old parts, and a photograph of the guitar’s original owner.

Gibson’s ledgers show that the first two Les Paul Standards with Burst specifications — most importantly, the combination of PAF humbuckers and a Cherry Sunburst finish — left the factory on May 28, 1958 bound for the company’s then owners, CMI in Chicago.

Thanks to an only slightly off-center join, the two-piece top on Slash’s guitar proved better suited to the new finish. Aesthetically, it’s every inch a classic. “For a Les Paul guy like me, it was a must-have,” says Slash.

“This guitar has been with me since 1988,” says Slash when asked about the Les Paul Standard that’s been his number-one live guitar for more than three decades. “It’s faded, I dropped a cigarette on it... I named it when I was drunk but I don’t remember what the catalyst for that was!”

Mostly used live for Appetite For Destruction songs and a handful from the Use Your Illusion era, Slash says Jessica “still has a very specific sound compared to all the other Les Pauls I have.”

Here’s another gorgeous original 1959 Les Paul Standard that’s very close in serial number to Slash’s go-to Burst. It’s also similar in appearance, with perhaps just a little more fading on some areas of the top. “The attack is totally different,” says Slash when we ask what plugging in an original Burst is like when compared to one of his Gibson signature models. “You don’t play it as hard. And it has certain nuances that you really want to stick out, so maybe you play it a little cleaner.”

From his Snakepit model in the mid-1990s (pictured) to the modern-day Gibson and Epiphone Slash Collections, every Slash signature instrument is a work of art that has been developed under the watchful eye of the man himself. And, as you can see from the wear and tear on Slash’s guitars, they get put through their paces and played hard.