2021.01.21 - Sweetwater - Interview with Slash

Excerpts by Ultimate Guitar:
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During a conversation with Sweetwater, Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash discussed his fondness of the Gibson Les Paul guitars, his string and pick preferences, and more.

Asked why he chose a Les Paul guitar over other instruments on the market, the musician replied (transcribed by UG):

"When I first started, it takes me back to when I was a little kid living with my parents, and I started recognizing certain sounds as being cool. The premiere one was 'Led Zeppelin II,' way before I ever aspired to become a musician, but just always being a fan of music.

"And I remember that record as being something that was just really cool - 'Whole Lotta Love,' and 'Heartbreaker,' and all that stuff, and that sound. So as I got to be a little bit older, I started seeing from an aesthetic point of view - Les Paul was just a cool, sexy-looking guitar.

"So when I actually started playing, I was naturally drawn to Les Paul, and it turned out that 'Whole Lotta Love' was played on that guitar.

"So there were different things all pointing in the same direction. And I just felt really comfortable on Les Paul sonically and aesthetically, and all that."

Yeah, the cool thing is if I go to the Sweetwater website right now, and I type in 'Slash,' I get this…

"A guy standing against a wall with his pants down."

Yeah, I see that, and then I see a bunch of products with your name on it. And the cool thing about you is right now, there are six Les Pauls that we offer, one of which is a lefty - thank you very much - an 'Appetite,' which is great, two K45s which is the signature double-neck, of course, your Dunlop wire, two flavors thereof, the octave fuzz, and your Seymour Duncan pickups as well, in black or zebra…

"I gotta come down there and check that out."

You should, man. There's a lot of stuff. But the cool thing is - you walk your talk, you play what you have your name on. It's not like you're putting your name on something you don't play.

"I'm just fortunate enough to be able to work with these really great companies to get them to build stuff for me. I guess what happens is, with Gibson and with Seymour Duncan, and Dunlop, and all - they're all products that I bought from them, and finally got to a point where they decided they wanted to give me signature versions of what it is that I do with their stuff that I bought.

"It's really cool but it's totally self-serving - it's not because I want to get products out there to make a bunch of money, and it's not really a money-maker anyway for me personally.

"So to me, it's just flattering to have something that I use that they'll put my name on and put it out there, and somebody might take a chance on it and buy it."

You're the Gibson Brand Ambassador global - how does it feel to have that title? Is that intimidating?

"I never would think about it except for the fact that you just said it, and it sounds intimidating, and when you say it, I'm really flattered that they bestowed me with that moniker, but it's not something that I’m really conscious of through my regular travails in life."

The thing is, it doesn't surprise me at all. I think you've earned it because not only have you been always with the company, but you're probably one of the most synonymous people on this planet with Les Paul.

"Well, I definitely have been with the company pretty much my entire professional career, and even prior to that I had Les Paul.

"And then all things considered, when Guns N' Roses did start to become recognized on a global scale, I was playing Les Paul which a lot of people weren't doing at the time, so I guess I am synonymous with Les Paul, yeah."

Yeah, I must say one of the things that some people watching this might not know but I know because I’ve been there, watched it happen, seeing the money change hands, is that even though you're arguably one of the biggest names on the Gibson roster, you've bought several Les Pauls from Sweetwater over the last few years just because you like them. So I guess you're hooked, my friend.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah - I'm a little bit of a junkie. I might seek help on that."

But as addictions go, that's a pretty healthy one. It could be worse... Now talking of strings and stuff, a lot of people will talk a lot about the guitar, quite a lot about pickups, not so much about the amp - but more so nowadays than ever - but strings and picks rarely get the attention they deserve, and they're both pretty critical because they're right at the source of the sound. How much time have you put? You've obviously put a lot of time in regards to getting the right flavor from your friend Ernie Ball. How particular are you with regards to picks as well because that's literally where your brain contacts the strings?

"I experimented with picks, but I've always looked for the heaviest picks. And I remember even back when I worked in a guitar store, the heaviest picks that we carried is what I went for.

"There was a choice in the store that I could pick from to really get sort of experiment with heavy picks. And I ended up arriving at the Tortex picks just because someone I met somewhere had one, and it was the 1.04, whatever that purple gauge is.

"And that turned out to be the heaviest pick and also just a regular-shape guitar pick. And it was the heaviest one, and I've stuck with those ever since I haven't really even looked at anything else."

Yeah, because they've gotten really, really thick now. Have you ever experimented with those ridiculously brick-sized ones? Or you just stick with the one you own?

"People have given me some crazy pics that are made out of different kinds of materials, or metals, or this and that, and they're interesting.

"But really when it comes down to every-day playing, or if I was to walk out on stage, I would feel really vulnerable with any one of these pics trying to execute anything properly with it. So I just feel comfortable with the pics that I’ve been using that I get from Dunlop."

And the same applies to the lighter gauges? So lighter you feel vulnerable as well?

"They just don't hold up. Compared to most people, I'm a really hard-hitting player, and I can't use anything lighter really than what I’m using. They flex too much or they just fall to pieces."

I heard it down the grapevine that maybe there will be some more Epiphones coming down the path that might be released at NAMM.

"Well, I did a handful of Gibson Les Paul signature models, I think there's five of them - six with the Goldtop. What we did was, we did six identical Epiphone models of the same colors and same basic ideas and all that.

"So the specifics on the Les Pauls are basically emulated on the Epiphones but they're a little bit less expensive. So those are coming out, and those are really, really cool, I gotta say.

"It makes me really happy when we do an Epiphone that the quality is as close to a Gibson as you're gonna get, and they're affordable. So it really makes me happy to see those, and they play and sound really great."

https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/slash_talks_why_he_chose_gibson_les_paul_over_other_guitars_explains_problem_he_has_with_light_strings__picks.html