Few guitarists have a more instantly recognizable sound than Slash. From his legendary solos in Guns N’ Roses to the iconic riffs of Velvet Revolver and, of course, the modern classic anthems with the Conspirators, his tone has become one of the most imitated in rock history. Now, the good news is that getting close to it is more achievable than you might think.

At the heart of his sound is a simple but powerful formula: a Les Paul, a cranked tube amp, and a set of hot humbuckers. Slash has always kept his rig relatively straightforward, letting the guitar and amp do the heavy lifting rather than relying on a pedalboard full of effects. That’s actually great news for anyone trying to chase his tone regardless of budget.

In this collection, and with the help of Guitar Center's Slash gear round-up, we’ve curated this shopping list of everything from his signature Gibson and Epiphone Les Pauls to his go-to Seymour Duncan pickups, Ernie Ball strings, and Dunlop picks. We’ve also covered his current amp setup, including his go-to pedals. So, whether you’re after that raw Appetite-era crunch or his smoother, bluesier modern tone, there’s something here for every budget.

Guitars

To nail Slash's tone, you'll need a Les Paul. Below, I've picked out a few of his signature Gibson models, from the AFD to Jessica, plus some budget-friendly Epiphone options that'll get you surprisingly close to his sound.

That said, Slash's relationship with the Les Paul isn't the whole story. Over the years, he's reached for a scarlet B.C. Rich, a Korina Flying V, and a J-45 acoustic, so I've included those at various price points too.

Amps & Effects

Slash’s approach to amps and effects is refreshingly simple: minimal pedals, a cranked tube stack, and let the guitar do the talking.

For most of his career, Slash was synonymous with Marshall, spending over 30 years with the brand and releasing multiple signature heads. That changed in 2023 when he partnered with Magnatone, a move that surprised the guitar world. The switch came after he grew disillusioned with the consistency of his Marshall tone and stumbled across a Magnatone M-80 50-watt combo, reportedly passed on to him by GNR bandmate Richard Fortus.

He ended up using it for his entire blues record, Orgy of the Damned, and later took the 50-watt combos on a full GNR world tour in place of his Marshalls. This, in turn, resulted in his own signature models with the company.

Accessories

It could be argued that tone starts before you ever plug in. That’s why I've included his Ernie Ball signature strings and his go-to Dunlop picks to get you closer to the Slash sound without breaking the bank.

On the string front, Slash has used Ernie Ball his entire career, and his signature set is a .011-.048 gauge Slinky. These are heavier than most players use on an LP scale length, which certainly contributes to that thick, meaty tone. The sets use Paradigm core wire wound with nickel-plated steel and reinforced ball ends for better tuning stability and durability on the road.

Rounding this section out are Seymour Duncan’s Slash signature pickups. Slash has relied on Seymour Duncan for decades, and there are now three generations to choose from. The original APH-2 uses an Alnico 2 magnet to nail that Appetite for Destruction crunch. The 2.0 is a hotter wind of the same formula, for more output and attack. The newest 3.0, developed for Slash’s SG at Ozzy Osbourne’s Back to the Beginning show, steps up to Alnico 5 magnets for tighter lows and more immediate attack. They are raunchier, but still clear and punchy. All three are hand-built in Santa Barbara and are the exact same pickups Slash’s tech installs in his guitars.

Dunlop has introduced its new Dual-Inductor Custom Badass Cry Baby wah pedal.

The limited-edition pedal features both a Fasel Inductor and a Halo Inductor, with the former serving up modern, high-gain "bright clarity and lush harmonics," and the latter bringing more vintage, mids-rich wah sounds – as heard on classic British blues albums – to the table.

The pedal's right-side kickswitch lets users flick between voices, while the fine-tune knobs control the wah. A pair of LED lights – allowing users to see which voice is selected – reside underneath the frequency controls, while another pair sits at the user-end, letting them know the pedal's bypass state and which Inductor is selected.

The Dunlop Cry Baby Custom Badass Dual-Inductor Edition Wah pedal is available now for $199.

For more info on the pedal, stop by jimdunlop.com.

Dunlop and Pedaltrain have teamed up to create the Cry Baby Junior, a variation of Dunlop's iconic wah that's designed to fit perfectly onto Pedaltrain's pedalboards.

The Cry Baby Junior is larger than Dunlop's Cry Baby Mini but smaller than the full-sized Cry Baby. At eight inches, it's designed to slot perfectly with the routing spaces on Pedaltrain’s Novo, Metro, Classic and Terra pedalboards.

The Cry Baby Junior is outfitted with an LED indicator, switchable true-bypass switching, front-mounted jacks and a flat base for straightforward pedalboard mounting.

Unlike the Cry Baby Mini, the Junior also features a three-way voice switch, which moves between modern Cry Baby (H), vintage midrange (M) and throatier (L) sweeps.

The Dunlop Cry Baby Junior for Pedaltrain wah pedal is available now for $99.

For more info on the pedal, stop by jimdunlop.com.

Dunlop has teamed up with Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello for a new, limited-edition signature Cry Baby wah pedal. 

This particular wah features a red enclosure with a red star on the foot pad, and two of Morello's favorite quotes on the side: “Sometimes history needs a push” and “You don’t need a weapon when you were born one.”

Otherwise, the pedal is spec'd just like Morello's early-‘80s-era Cry Baby GCB95, a pedal that - according to Dunlop - Morello has used on “every album and every tour through his career.”

The Dunlop Tom Morello Cry Baby wah pedal will be available soon for $185.70, though it's available for preorder now at Sweetwater for $129.99.

For more info on the pedal, head on over to jimdunlop.com.

MXR has unveiled its new FOD Drive pedal.

This compact new overdrive pedal features a circuit that allows for blending two hot-rodded amp stacks. Each of the pedal's drive circuits emulates a heavily-modded amp - one is optimized for potent midrange punch, the other for heavily-scooped high-gain sounds.

Each "amp" features independent volume and gain controls, which can be set individually and balanced via the pedal's blend knob.

The FOD Drive's scoop switch allows for choosing between flat, scooped or boosted midrange, while the global tone knob lets users tweak the EQ of the signal.

The MXR FOD Drive pedal will be offered at an MSRP of $242.84, but is available now for preorder at Sweetwater for $169.99.

For more info on the pedal, stop by jimdunlop.com.

Dunlop has added Auto Return to its hugely popular Cry Baby Mini 535Q wah pedal.

This new Cry Baby mini, the CBM535AR, is outfitted with four controls, first among them a Range Selector that lets you choose from four sweep ranges, which will take you from "warm and vintage-inspired to modern and aggressive."

A Q control allows users to shape the response of the wah effect from a narrow bandpass that emphasizes higher end harmonics, to a wide bandpass that emphasizes lower end harmonics.

The pedal's Volume knob and Boost switch allow users to bump their Cry Baby signal straight to the front of the mix, while an LED lets you know whether or not the boost is engaged.

The pedal's marquee feature, Auto Return, lets you “add some of that magical Cry Baby expression wherever you need it.” To do this, push down on the toe of the pedal to engage the effect and back off to disengage it.

There are also controls for fine-tuning the wah voicing and filter.

The Dunlop Cry Baby Mini 535Q wah pedal with Auto Return is available now for $149.99.

For more info on the pedal, stop on by jimdunlop.com.