Zakk Wylde says an audition to replace Gilby Clarke in Guns N’ Roses in the mid ’90s cost him his place in Ozzy’s band. That in turn led to the birth of Black Label Society, Wylde's southern rock–tinged heavy-metal group.

Few had heard of Wylde before he was announced as Ozzy Osbourne’s third lead guitarist in 1987, succeeding the late Randy Rhoads and Jake E. Lee. Since then, he’s built a prolific career, both with Osbourne and on his own.

In recent years, he’s been filling Dimebag’s shoes in a revitalized Pantera, but he nearly joined another American heavyweight act when Slash suggested him as GN’R’s next guitar player when Gilby Clarke departed.

“I guess Slash just threw around and my name came in the mix,” Wylde ponders on Billy Corgan’s podcast, The Magnificent Others, which has previously welcomed Gene Simmons, Richie Sambora, and Wolfgang Van Halen into its veritable hot seat.

“I'd never spoken to Axl before, but he called me up, and he was like, 'Zakk, you wanna get together and jam?'” Wylde recalls. “I was like, 'Well, yeah...let's see what happens.'”

Though he had no previous interactions with Rose, he’d crossed paths with the rest of the group plenty of times.

“I knew Slash when I first joined Ozzy, that's when Guns were blowing up. I knew Steven [Adler], and then I obviously knew Matt [Sorum] from when he was with the Cult,” he says. “So everybody kind of knows each other.

“They had a rehearsal joint all set up. I remember it was me, Matt, Dizzy [Reed] throwing down on the keys, and then you had Slash, Duff [McKagan] and Axl. We were jamming, noodling, recording a couple of riffs.”

Despite the promise of those jams, he says “nothing was materializing with it.” Time passed and he remained in the dark about GN'R's plans.

Ozzy, who was working on what would become the Ozzmosis album collaborated with the likes of Steve Vai, Geezer Butler and Lemmy, then approached Wylde to get a definitive answer.

“Oz was like, 'Are you going to do this thing with the fellas, or are we doing this thing?'” he recounts. To which he replied, “'I can't tell you yes or no, because I don't know what's going on with the guys.'

“It was going on and on, nothing was happening. Oz was getting ready to release Ozzmosis and getting ready to tour, and Oz said, 'Zakk, sit down. I'm gonna get Joe Holmes to play for a little while, and we'll see what happens.”

Next thing he knew, Ozzy was touring with the fomer Lizzy Borden guitarist, and GN'R had hired Paul Tobias, a childhood friend of Rose.

Wylde feared “the dream was over” but he refused to lie down and accept his fate. He got to work on his own music at a studio in New York CIty, dividing his time between the studio and a nearby bar, where drew both refreshment and inspiration.

“There was this place called Bruise on 34th in Lexington," Zakk recalls. "The pub had been there since 1908. So I would go after we got done tracking and I'd be drinking till six in the morning every night, hanging out at the jukebox.

“They had the Stones on there, Bob Seger, Neil Young, the Eagles, all this amazing mellow acoustic stuff. I remember just going back into my room with my acoustic guitar and writing.”

From those (presumably very early morning) writing sessions, Book of Shadows, Wylde's first solo album, was born. It found him, he told Guitar Player last year, “drawn to melancholy ideas and themes,” perhaps as a result of feeling so lost after such a dramatic reversal of fortunes.

A short tour followed, but Wylde wasn’t satisfied. He wanted to write “heavy stuff” again, and so he forged the Black Label Society in his image. Moreover, he lifted a riff from his GN'R jam to write “Rose Petalled Garden” for their debut album, Sonic Brew, creating a second life from the jam that, temporarily at least, put the kibosh on his career with Ozzy.

Asked for clarity on his second exit from Ozzy’s band, when he was replaced by Gus G for 2010’s Scream, Zakk dismissed the idea that the Black Label Society sound was bleeding into his writing for Ozzy; he said Ozzy recognized that “he had flown the nest.”

But that also meant starting over from scratch.

“I went from playing with Ozzy in arenas, stadiums and festivals to playing in clubs with, like, five people,” he reflects. “There were no other eggs in my basket.”

Today, his basket is practically overflowing. He persevered, and survived.

Meanwhile, Guns N' Roses have just played a show so hot it melted Richard Fortus' pickups., and his namesake gear firm, Wylde Audio, has been subject to the most bizarre of fake websites. Buyer beware.

Guns N’ Rose’s recent show in Saudi Arabia was so hot, it melted the wax potting in Richard Fortus’s pickups.

The former Psychedelic Furs guitarist joined the American rock heavyweights in 2002 and has since played for hundreds of thousands of screaming fans across numerous world tours.

But few shows will have stood out quite like this one.

“Well, this is a first,” Fortus says in a new Instagram post adorned with a gruesome-looking photo of his signature Gretsch Falcon. In it, melted wax oozes out from underneath its humbuckers like ghostly blood.

Reacting to the post, Ben Eller, who stepped in for the outgoing Brent Hinds in Mastodon earlier this year, said, “Holy moly, dude!”

Alex Skolnick, meanwhile, who has recently spoken about his blink-and-you'll-miss-it stint as Ozzy's lead guitarist, simply reacted with a shocked face emoji.

Both comments are completely understandable.

Their show at the country’s Mohammed Abdu Arena was the last date in their latest Asian jaunt, which included stops in South Korea, Japan, and India. They were massive outdoor concerts.

The band had come on stage after 10 p.m. in the wake of 113 degree Fahrenheit highs throughout the day. The evening air was meant to be far cooler for a three-hour rock show — which kickstarted with “Welcome to the Jungle” and “Bad Obsession” — but Fortus’s pickups attest otherwise.

For the uninitiated, wax — typically a blend of paraffin and beeswax — is used within pickups to limit mechanical vibrations, which can result in nasty squeals and microphonics. It has a melting point of approximately 115 to 154 degrees Fahrenheit.

That means the heat generated around Fortus’s custom-wound Filter’Tron humbuckers most likely exceeded the daytime temperatures as a result of the stage lights and the sheer heat of his performance.

Speaking to Guitar World, Fortus says his signature Gretsch models were designed specifically for his guitar tandem with Slash and that the guitar was voiced to offer what his Les Pauls didn’t. The eureka moment came after experimenting with a ton of different guitars, including some flirtations with P-90 pickups.

“When I landed on Gretsch, it really seemed to come together,” he says. “There’s something about that classic higher-output humbucker on Slash’s side and then what I’m playing. It really fits together, in the same kind of way Malcolm and Angus [Young] did. There’s a magic to that sound. With less gain, my sound fits around what Slash is doing.”

Aside from his love of Gretsch guitars, Fortus has also championed an independent and boutique U.K.-based guitar builder, Ivison Guitars. Chief builder Neil Ivison crafted Fortus a custom guitar, which paired a Korina Dakota Les Paul body shape with a Firebird pickup. Fortus even used it on stage with GNR.

Meanwhile, Dave Navarro, who has categorically ruled out a future with Jane’s Addiction after Perry Farrell attacked him onstage, says he turned down an offer to join Guns N’ Roses during his first instance away from the ‘90s icons. The guitarist would go on to join Red Hot Chili Peppers instead, replacing John Frusciante. He described that as “a very difficult role to step into.”

And in related news, Guns N' Roses founding guitarist Tracii Guns has told Guitar Player he has no regrets over leaving the group and thinks Slash was the right man to take his place.

Guns N’ Roses will now travel to Europe for a string of shows with Public Enemy, Rival Sons, and the Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter in tow.

It’s a Saturday afternoon, and guitarist Tracii Guns is seated in the back of a tour bus. This is where he’s spent most of his time since March, when he and his band, L.A. Guns, hit the road in the U.S. After a short break in June, he and the group will be back at it until October, and chances are they’ll be booked through the end of the year.

“All the real work gets done between touring,” he says. “You write songs, you record, you sign the contracts, you do the merch — you do all that stuff. Then, all of a sudden, you're thrown out into the total chaos of the road. That’s when it all goes crazy and it’s impossible to schedule anything, because things keep changing. That’s just the way it is.”

Change has been a near-constant for the band during its 42-year-career. L.A. Guns have been through something like 30 members, and that’s not even counting the period in the early ‘80s when they merged with Axl Rose’s Hollywood Rose to become Guns N’ Roses, which the guitarist famously quit in 1985. There were multiple breakups and reunions, and between 2006 and 2012 there were two versions of L.A. Guns: one led by Guns and the other run by lead singer Phil Lewis.

Guns and Lewis got back together in 2017, and from all accounts, their relationship appears to be solid. In 2023, they recorded a ripping set, Black Diamonds, with guitarist Ace Von Johnson, bass guitar player Johnny Martin and studio drummer Adam Hamilton, and the same lineup checks in on the band’s latest release, Leopard Skin.

It’s a frisky and feisty, good-natured album, one that throws elements of AC/DC, Zeppelin, the Stones and ’70s glam into a vacuum-sealed bag. Nearing the age of 60, Guns still has a seemingly inexhaustible supply of inventive and energetic electric guitar riffs up his sleeve. Indeed, on the opening one-two punch of “Taste It” and “Lucky Motherfucker,” he conducts a veritable masterclass of uproarious licks.

“I actually get scared when I realize I have to come up with new material,” he says. “If you have to fulfill a contract, you’ll get that email with the deadline. That’s when I start to panic, like, Oh, shit, what am I gonna do?”

Despite the terror, however, the prospect of looming deadlines seem to focus his creativity. Even so, Guns says, “We won’t send anything out till three or four of us are satisfied and the music isn’t boring anywhere.” He smiles. “Rule of thumb: Don’t be boring.”

Let’s go back to the early ’80s. Was the Sunset Strip a minefield of rock bands looking to be the next Mötley Crüe or Van Halen?

That's fairly accurate. It was definitely like that when we put the original L.A. Guns together, which was before Guns N’ Roses and before Axl was in the band. We wanted to be Ozzy meets the Scorpions. I saw Mötley Crüe at the Troubadour, and I was like, “Whoa, that is so loud!” They were scary looking, too.

Suddenly, everybody was loud and scary looking. They really broke through the ice. They were kind of the end of the hardcore punk rock L.A. scene. Suddenly, all these long-haired punk rockers were playing extreme-sounding metal.

Guitar-wise, where did you fit in? You weren't exactly trying to be the next Eddie, so what was your lane?

It was weird because I really was into Pat Smear from the Germs, but I was also into Jimmy Page and Randy Rhoads and Joe Perry and Ritchie Blackmore. I was really into Blackmore.

Nobody puts Ritchie Blackmore and Pat Smear together.

Or Johnny Thunders and Michael Schenker. I loved Johnny Thunders’ attitude, like, “I might suck, but I’m awesome.” Snotty muso players laughed at him because he didn’t sound like Eddie Van Halen, but he didn’t care. I didn’t care either. Maybe because I was an older teenager and kind of stupid, but I thought, Nobody does what I do.

When you hired Axl Rose and L.A. Guns became Guns N’ Roses, did you and Axl share a common musical vision?

We definitely did. We were the best of friends. And then things got weird, but our vision was identical. Then we brought Izzy [Stradlin] back into the mix. He was just my roommate, and we never played together per se, but we never stopped talking about what was cool.

It was all about being cool. I found that Axl was a very empathetic person when it comes to the vocal style he admires — like Dan McCafferty from Nazareth, and obviously Bon Scott and Brian Johnson. He loved Blackie Lawless. I was always forcing Robert Plant down Axl’s throat. He didn't grow up a big Zeppelin fan, but he knew I was a big Zep head. When Axl was in L.A. Guns, we were a metal band. We were straight-up metal.

What was the vibe on the band around town? Were labels scouting you guys?

It was so weird. Toward the end of L.A. Guns and becoming Guns N’ Roses, we had built our audience. We weren’t savvy about the business. We never thought we'd get signed. We never even talked about it. But suddenly we had all these guys hanging around – “I’m from this label, that label, blah, blah, blah.” When I left, Guns N’ Roses got signed pretty quick.

Your parting with Axl wasn’t entirely amicable. Can we say that?

People can Google that shit. I turned that question down 117 times in the last three months. People know. I'm trying to promote L.A. Guns, not some argument over Ecstasy.

Did you have a sense that Slash was going to replace you? How did you feel about that?

Oh yeah. When I left, I knew Slash was going to be the guy because he was in Hollywood Rose. It was the right thing to do. He was my guitar buddy growing up, since we were 11 years old. Him coming in was just going to happen.

So I left and reformed L.A. Guns, and it was the greatest thing because everything that we did leading up to the signing of Guns N’ Roses led to the signing of L.A. Guns six months later.

Nothing about what went down changed your relationship with Slash?

No, no, no. The only two people that argued for the next three months were Axl and me, and then we were fine.

Before you released the first L.A. Guns album, Guns N’ Roses started to take off. You still had no regrets about leaving?

I don’t regret leaving Guns N’ Roses. They were awesome with Slash. How could I have regret when half the band’s name is my name? I’m arguably their biggest fan of all time.

I remember we were mixing our first record, and I got a cassette of Appetite from Geffen. I went and listened to it by myself in Studio A, and I was like, “Fuck, this is so good.”

I got the other guys and told them, “You guys gotta listen to this.” I loved “It’s So Easy.” I never heard that song before, and I was like, “Goddamn, that's fucking cool.”

I'm listening to it with the guys, and they pretended they didn't get it, but I told them, “No, no, no. This is fucking awesome.” They didn't believe in it, but I did.

Based on that success, I knew it was a clear channel for L.A. Guns, because to me, Guns N’ Roses is what broke us all away from Mötley Crüe and Ratt and a lot of the other stuff that we didn't want to be lumped with in. The only way to have success is to not be like somebody else.

The first two L.A. Guns albums went Gold. A lot of people consider that period as being the classic lineup of the band. Do you agree?

Of course I agree. Every band and situation is different. It's like with Iron Maiden: Paul Di'Anno on the first two records, which is what I love — I think that's the greatest Maiden period. They went with different guitar player, different singers, and obviously with Bruce they're huge. Sammy Hagar joins Van Halen — huge.

As you said, you were a fan of punk back in the ’80s. How did you feel when grunge came in?

I felt the same way. I was like, “This is killer!”

Grunge made life difficult for a lot of bands associated with the Sunset Strip.

I think it opened the door. If the ‘80s were the party, then Nirvana and Soundgarden and Alice in Chains were the hangover. Everything got sad and meaningful, while the previous rock scene wasn't very meaningful. I mean, sure, there was “Every Rose Has its Thorn” and “The Ballad of Jayne” and “Sweet Child O’ Mine," but other than that, it was about getting laid and whatever.

We were never big enough for grunge to affect our numbers. We just kept making records and touring. Things pretty much stayed the same.

Do you think you’re a better guitar player than you were 30 years ago?

I'm a more educated player. Does that make you better? I don't know… It makes me be able to sit with a guitar when I'm recording and have an alternative point of view, whether it's rhythmically or melodically. I have more options now because I'm better educated.

On the other hand, is there something to be said for naivete? When you're young, you do it because it feels good. When you’re older, you tend to get more cerebral.

I would agree with that. To me, that was the beauty of making those first couple of records. I was just flying — hit the button and go. I think there's something to be said for the energy of youthful guitar playing.

I talked about this with Eddie Van Halen. I was, like, 26 or 27, so he must have been 36 or 37. We were talking about he said, “You’re still young. You're only on your third record, so you can do whatever you want.” I said, “Yeah, but so can you.” He said, “Yeah, but I got my own studio now. I know what a compressor does now. I know what a delay does now. I know all these things… ”

You mentioned how you were flying on the first couple of L.A. Guns records. A lot of people feel the same about the first three Van Halen records.

Yeah, it was an explosion. That's the greatest thing about a band that has something new to say, especially that combination of David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen. Out of the gate, it was like, “Whoa, I like this!”

You talked about how you get scared when you have to write a new record. Do new ideas come to you as easily as when you were younger?

I think that's the beauty of me embracing and researching different styles. I continue to go down the rock and roll rabbit hole. I feel like I've kind of maxed out on metal in a lot of ways. But I really love the guitar, and I really love loud amplification. Am I scared? No. I'm scared that I'm going to be 60 next year, but as far as music, the only thing I think I'd be scared of other than getting old is being homeless.

Jeff Beck was an atypical guitar hero — a guitar hero’s guitar hero, even. He didn't align himself with the showmanship of many of his peers, and even turned down a spot in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, a band well-known for launching the careers of players like Eric Clapton and Mick Taylor.

While that may have earned him the respect of his peers, it nearly cost him his career on two occasions. The first was when Jimi Hendrix arrived on British soil and Eric Clapton simultaneously began his meteoric rise, leaving Beck in the dirt.

“Next thing you know, Eric was moving ahead with Cream, and it was kicking off in big chunks. But me, I was left with nothing,” he told Guitar World in 2010.

Beck survived and found his groove with 1975’s Blow by Blow, and a whole new generation of guitar players began to admire him.

That includes Slash, a true heavyweight of the next generation of shredders. And it was with the Guns N' Roses guitarist that Beck once again saw his career nearly come to a crashing halt.

Guns N’ Roses were at the height of their powers in the early ‘90s and were supporting the release of 1991's Use Your Illusion by journeying across South America with Aerosmith and Beck in tow. Naturally, such a star-studded guitar lineup provided scope for some off-the-cuff jams, but they nearly came at a huge cost for Beck, as Slash revealed to Guitar World later that year.

“I finally got to jam with Jeff Beck,” he told the magazine, "and we blew his ears out — literally.

“That night, he woke up with this insane screaming in his ears. He had to go to the hospital and everything. Later, he called me up to say he was pissed and that he might not be able to play live anymore because my amp gave him tinnitus.”

Beck was used to his own measured onstage setup. Slash and his “dangerous” cohorts played far louder and proved too hot for Beck to handle.

“I don't think it was really my fault,” Slash explained, “but my rig was the straw that broke the camel's back.

“I wanted to pack it up that day, send the amps home, and find a nice little job selling life insurance or something,” he added with a laugh.

Slash also recalled how Beck's virtuosity allowed the guitarist to perform elaborate riffs, licks and techniques almost subconsciously. "I was in a jam session with him, Joe Perry, Lenny Kravitz, and Gilby [Clarke]," Slash recalled, "and Jeff was playing all this amazing shit while simultaneously talking to me.”

In related news, Beck's Yardbirds legacy was celebrated earlier this year with a replica of his 1959 Les Paul Standard. Meanwhile, Joe Perry, who featured on that near-fated tour, ended up owning one of Beck's ultra-rare early Klon Centaurs.

Through iconic gigs with Aerosmith, as a solo artist and with the Hollywood Vampires, Joe Perry has been known for playing his red 10-string B.C. Rich Bich, his oft-favored and ever-changing Frankensteined Burned Strat and his Gibson "Billie" semi-hollowbody guitars, to name a few.

However, one electric guitar from Perry's 600-plus-strong collection stands out: a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard 'Burst. While the guitar has meaning, if you've seen Perry perform live, you'll know he's not one to stagnate on one guitar for more than a song or two. "I always buy stuff that I know I'm going to use or that looks interesting," he says.

That checks out, as dozens of oddballs reside within his collection. "Some of those guitars might not be the hippest guitars in the world, or whatever, but it's always inspiring to pick up something that's got a different sound to it," he says. "You tend to play differently. That's where the ideas come from."

Returning to the 'Burst in question, Perry first came upon the guitar in the early ’70s after trading a '60s Guild Starfire, for it. The guitar stuck with him throughout the decade, during which time he wrote He was thick as thieves with the ’Burst until the early ‘80s, when he sold the beloved axe to a music shop in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

That's not surprising, as Perry admits to clearing proverbial decks when he left Aerosmith in '79 and after divorced his first wife in the early ’80s. The ’59 'Burst was just another casualty. What's more, Perry was searching for new sounds and wanted to avoid being chained to a guitar so closely related to his image onstage and in the studio with Aerosmith.

But it didn't take long for regret to set in. "There's a fair amount of guitars I don't have anymore that I wish I did," Perry says.

When looking back at the story of Joe Perry's '59 Les Paul, one has to understand that when Perry sold it, it wasn't an uncommon occurrence. Ace Frehley admits to doing the same thing around the same time, although the former Kiss six-stringer was funding a gambling trip, not rebuilding his life.

So there are stark differences. And who could blame Perry for wanting a change and some extra cash in his pocket as he embarked on a solo career?

Another point to consider is that while 'Bursts were going for decent dollars in the early ’80s, they sure weren't going for the six-figure numbers that late-1950s Les Paul Standards command these days, let alone one played by the guitarist of a legendary band.

As a result, Joe’s guitar was long gone by the time regret set in. When Aerosmith regrouped and rolled into the '90s on a wave of success via Permanent Vacation, Pump and Get a Grip, he had no idea where his favored 'Burst was.

Little could did he imagine that his guitar had made an appearance on MTV in a music video for Guns N' Roses' "November Rain.”

By then, Perry was deep into his search for the guitar. "We were starting to make some money after the band got rolling again," Perry says. "I thought It would be great to track down a couple of guitars that I'm missing. I started making phone calls around Boston and looking around.”

Remarkably, it was his bandmate Brad Whitford who hipped Perry to the news that his ’Burst had landed with another famous owner.

"I remember being in the studio, telling my guitar tech, 'I'm trying to track down my Les Paul,’ when Brad walked over,” Perry explains. “Brad said, ’Your Les Paul? I know where it is.’ He pulled out a guitar magazine with Slash's collection.

“And there it was. That's when I found out Slash had it."

Ironically, Aerosmith had shared the stage with Guns N' Roses in '92. In fact, Perry and Slash were pals. As a result, the guitarist felt emboldened to ask his friend for his guitar back. "I called him," Perry says. "I told him, 'Hey, I'll pay whatever you paid for it.'"

Slash wasn't having it. "He begged me not to ask. He said, 'Please don't ask me that.' But I'd call him every once in a while, just to see how he was, and I'd ask him, just as a joke.” Perry says, "I understood. If I had one of Jeff [Beck]'s guitars, I wouldn't wanna give it up. I definitely understood how he felt about it."

While most of Perry's pleas were joking in nature, the pressure of owning the iconic ’Burst was too much for Slash and had caused an unspoken rift between the two guitarists. "He wasn't around," Perry says. "I tried getting in touch with him, and I realized he didn't want to be asked anymore. It was getting in the way of our friendship."

So Perry mended things with Slash. "I said, 'I'm not going to ask you anymore — not even in kidding,’” he explains.

The 'Burst remained with Slash into 2000. By then, the guitarist was four years out of Guns N’ Roses and deep into his solo career, with his ’59 ’Burst in hand.

But while Perry had stopped asking Slash about the guitar, little did he know his wife, Billie, had taken up the cause. Slash and Perry shared the same lawyer, and she’d been communicating through him to Slash, trying to get the ’59 ’Burst back in Joe’s hands.

By then, after years of owning the guitar and building a collection, Slash was ready to part with the guitar. Joe’s 50th birthday bash was coming up and it seemed the perfect time to reunite him with his instrument.

And Slash had a plan.

Perry had hired Cheap Trick to perform at the bash. “They asked me what I wanted for my birthday, and I said, 'I want to play a set with you guys. I want to play your songs,’” Joe recalls. “I love those guys.

“So I got up to play a short set with Cheap Trick. And that's when they handed me the guitar."

Just like that, for the first time in nearly two decades, Perry was reunited with his long-lost '59 Les Paul ‘Burst. "I played the set with that guitar," he says. "It was an amazing night, I'll tell you. But I mean… I got my guitar back. I couldn't thank Slash enough. And I got to play with Cheap Trick!"

In the years since, Perry hasn't let the infamous ‘Burst go. The odds are that the guitar will be with him until the end, which is fair. Even though it's not his main guitar, the ‘Burst’s legend will be forever tied to Perry's towering legacy, and vice versa.

At 74, Perry remains a guitar junkie. His collection continues to grow, ebb and flow, and it is always functional. But no matter the space between plug and plays, the iconic ’59 Aerosmith 'Burst remains. Over the years, its legend has grown, with Gibson's Custom Shop even producing faithful recreations of Perry's prized Les Paul.

Though nothing compares to the original, which reminds Perry that there are other guitars he let get away. "I wish I had a few of the pieces I lost at the end of the '70s," he admits. "But I still have some stuff, like custom Aerosmith amps and a lot of old foot pedals.

"There's a fair amount of guitars that were sold or stolen. I don't have the guitar, the [early-70s Fender] Strat, that I played 'Walk This Way' on; I wish I did. But I've got my Les Paul back, thanks to my wife, Billie, and thanks to Slash."

A woman looking to sell an electric guitar to raise money for the construction of a children’s hospital has helped reunite a former Guns’ N’ Roses member with a rare prototype guitar that he thought was lost forever.

Featured in a recent episode of the TV show Pawn Stars, the seller, Gabby, was looking to raise $5,000 for the black, striped Gibson Les Paul, only to find out its one-of-a-kind backstory made it worth four times that amount.

Back in 2014, then-current Guns N' Roses (and former Sixx:A.M) guitarist DJ Ashba was working with Gibson on a signature model Les Paul, and its first prototype saw a lot of action onstage with the hard-rock giants. It then went missing, only to show up at America's most famous second-hand store a decade later.

The guitar had been donated to Gabby and her boyfriend without any paperwork or backstory to help with their fundraiser for building a brand-new children’s hospital. As such, she had no idea of its heightened value.

“I'm so excited to see which guitar it's gonna be,” Ashba told the show’s cameras before going into the store. “I'm praying to God it's the one I'm hoping, because I lost one years ago that meant the world to me.”

It didn’t take long to confirm that the guitar was indeed his long-lost love.

“I can recognize this guitar a mile away,” he said after greeting Gabby and show host Rick Harrison. “This right here is the Holy Grail. There's only one of these made in the world.

“This was the prototype of my signature Gibson,” he explains to starstruck GN'R fan. “Once we locked in on this design, Gibson only made 100 of them. I actually played it on some of records with Sixx:A.M., and a lot with Guns N' Roses. I abused it. There's even still probably beer stains and stuff on it.”

On its surface, Ashba’s signature model sticks tightly to the traditional Les Paul template. However, a deep dive into its electronics shows how it’s deviated from the norm.

“The weird thing when I joined Guns N' Roses is that playing a Les Paul, obviously it's the right guitar for the sound of the band, but I could never get used to the two volume knobs,” Ashba explains. He'd primarily played an Ernie Ball Music Man Axis guitar in his pre-GNR days. “So I had them take one off. So there’s only one volume, two tones.”

A kill switch was cleverly disguised as the original three-way pickup switch to maintain the guitar’s original look. The pickup switch itself was relocated to be beside the guitar’s two control knobs.

There’s also another clear sign that this guitar is a prototype and not a production model: DJ Ashba's name is inscribed on the truss-rod cover.

“It's a really special guitar, I would love to have it back,” Ashba says.

Harrison offered Gabby the princely sum of $20,000 for the guitar, and subsequently struck a deal with Ashba offscreen for its return.

It certainly makes for one of the more interesting guitar reappearance stories. However, it doesn’t quite match up to the remergence of John Lennon’s Framus 12-string acoustic, which sold at auction in April for $2,857,000 having been discovered in the attic of a house in the rural British countryside.

The acoustic guitar hadn't been played for 50 years, having played a key role in The Beatles' Help! album and its partner film.

The thorny subject of the greatest guitar solo of all time has long been a fiercely contested debate, probably because every solo is different. How do you compare, say, “Comfortably Numb” with “Crazy Train,” or “Stairway to Heaven” with “Sultans of Swing”? It’s impossible. Still, public opinion ebbs and flows, and we wanted to find out which solos currently rank among our readers as the greatest of them all.

So we ran a poll on GuitarPlayer.com to find out and here we present the results. We’ll take a look at the stories behind the songs and find out just what made those lead guitar breaks so great through conversations with Brian May, Kirk Hammett, Michael Schenker and others.

20. Gary Moore | “Still Got the Blues”

GUITARIST: GARY MOORE (1990)

The definitive blues guitar ballad.

Presented as the title track from his 1990 album, this wistful tune in A minor became Gary Moore’s calling card fairly late in his career, when he reinvented himself as a blues artist. There’s a point in the solo where you can hear the Belfast great switch from the neck humbucker to the bridge on the 1959 Les Paul Standard he nicknamed Stripe and start deviating from its main theme, mainly sticking within the A minor pentatonic scale, with a few notes from the Aeolian and harmonic minor scales.

Moore was plugged into his prototype Marshall JTM-45 reissue head with one of the company’s newly designed Guv’nor distortion pedals out in front. More than 30 years later, this remains one of the most raw and expressive blues tracks, with Moore almost fighting his guitar at points, yet never failing to deliver the goods

19. Metallica | “Fade To Black”

GUITARIST: Kirk Hammett (1984)

Metallica’s first ballad features some of Kirk’s most epic playing.

Recorded at Flemming Rasmussen’s Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen in February and March 1984, Ride the Lightning, Metallica’s sophomore album, was more progressive and stylistically greater in scope than the all-out thrash assault of their debut, Kill ’Em All. That change is evident on “Fade to Black,” which features acoustic guitars and a nonstandard structure more akin to the “Stairway to Heaven” school of songcraft. But it is the song’s timeless melodic solo that most vividly signals a stylistic shift in guitarist Kirk Hammett’s playing. And the signature element he employs for the last solo is arpeggios.

“I have been playing that song for so long now,” Kirk tells our sister publication Total Guitar. “For the very last solo, I know how I want to start it, but then I am in an area where I can improvise for 16, 18 or 24 bars, and then [drummer] Lars [Ulrich] will hit a certain fill, which means that it’s up and it’s time for the arpeggio part. And then I just slide right into those arpeggios.” And they are arpeggios played on two strings, Hammett specifies. “When guitar players first started incorporating arpeggios into their playing, before the whole Yngwie sweep-picking thing, arpeggios were played on two strings – not three or four strings,” he explains. “And that was what the vogue was at the time in the 1980s, so I have been playing those for a long time. I use my middle finger just to anchor my position on the neck.”

That’s a great tip from the man who plays the solos. But how should you tackle them yourself? First, there are two essential scales you’ll need to know: the B natural minor scale and the B Phrygian mode, both shown below. These cover you for the entire opening 30 bars, which, let’s face it, is a lot of music, so this is a good reason to learn a couple of shapes if ever there was one.

To make it simpler, most of your time is spent in the natural minor scale. Not until around bar 20 will you find yourself briefly landing on the C note, which appears in the Phrygian mode. The bottom line is that Hammett improvises this part of the solo live – and these are the shapes he uses.

Up next are those two-string arpeggio shapes, and they’re 16th notes – all of them! At 142 bpm, it’s pretty fast, but Hammett doesn’t pick every note, opting to use pull-offs to make those rapid licks easier. It’s definitely something to experiment with and if you’re still struggling, you could try adding in an occasional hammer‑on, too.

18. Steely Dan | “Kid Charlemagne”

GUITARIST: Larry Carlton (1976)

Messin’ with the “Kid.”

Steely Dan’s catalog is filled with remarkable guitar solos, but Larry Carlton’s brilliant work on The Royal Scam’s “Kid Charlemagne” remains the most celebrated. Carlton strings together a series of tasty phrases that follow the underlying chord changes with a blend of inside and outside playing that is technically mind bending and emotionally satisfying.

“I was pretty familiar with the tune, so I just improvised,” he tells Guitar Player. “People think I’m kidding when I say that, like I had worked the solo out beforehand, but I didn’t. It was straight improv, and it worked.” Very well, in fact. Perhaps more has been written about his solo than of the song itself.

Despite the acclaim, Carlton was, and remains, nonplussed. “When the record came out, there was a wonderful review of the tune in Billboard and they raved about the solo,” he says. “I put the record on and listened to it with my wife, and at the end of it I said, ‘I don’t know. It just sounds like me.’”

17. Cream | “Crossroads”

GUITARIST: Eric Clapton (1968)

The finest rock and roll cover of an acoustic blues song.

It started as a blues tune called “Cross Road Blues” by Robert Johnson and became one of the finest examples of natural ability, soulfulness and showmanship from a virtuosic 22-year-old guitarist named Eric Clapton. His reimagining of the song as “Crossroads” further cemented a legacy that by then had earned him the nickname God.

Famously recorded at San Francisco’s Fillmore West venue for supergroup Cream’s Wheels of Fire album, Clapton’s arrangement retains the soul and spirit of Johnson’s original but updates it for a contemporary audience raring to cut loose and be entertained by dazzlingly quick, passionate musicianship.

Remarkably, Clapton is no fan of the performance: He complains that the band lost the “one” in the first verse of his second solo break, thereby throwing off his phrasing. That’s perfectionism for you. For everyone else, this four-minute track remains a source of fascination more than 50 years on.

16. Eric Johnson | “Cliffs Of Dover”

GUITARIST: Eric Johnson (1990)

Heavenly tones from the Texan great.

This instrumental won Eric Johnson a Grammy for its exquisitely tasteful guitar playing and jaw-dropping tones. For the recordings, the Texan musician mainly stuck with his early ’60s ES-335, though he chose to use his 1964 “Virginia” Strat for the opening lead and parts of the main solo. The guitars were fed into a 100-watt Marshall Super Lead, with an Echoplex and BK Butler Tube Driver to help achieve those smooth, violin-like tones and warm sustain.

“I first heard him in 1986 on Live at Austin City Limits,” Joe Bonamassa told us in 2015. “It was ‘Cliffs of Dover,’ and it was just terrifyingly good guitar playing. I wasn’t even sure if it was real! Then I saw him live, and his tones were the best I’d ever heard. I wondered how this guy was getting all of these sounds out of his Strat. I’d never seen anybody have such a forward-thinking rig like that.”

15. Prince | “Purple Rain”

GUITARIST: Prince (1984)

The Purple One’s defining guitar moment.

The epic outro to “Purple Rain” – which takes up nearly two thirds of the song itself – stands out as some of Prince’s finest work on the six-string, wailing away in G minor pentatonic and occasionally including some more modal notes, like the minor 6th. There’s also that repeating motif that dances around the 2nd and minor 3rd intervals.

It’s simple and effective, setting things up for the vocal melody that comes in toward the end. It’s not a busy solo by any means. Rather, the Purple One chose to leave a lot of space in between the lines he played and focus on big hooks instead of monster licks.

Prince would extend the solo for up to 15 minutes in live performance. While there are many great live renditions of this track, his half-time performance for 2007’s Super Bowl in Miami is the stuff of legend. Shredding alone onstage in the middle of a storm, Prince seemed to be living the moment for which this song was written.

14. Deep Purple | “Highway Star”

GUITARIST: Ritchie Blackmore (1972)

Race with devil on English highway.

“I wrote that out note for note about a week before we recorded it,” Ritchie Blackmore said of his remarkable and most definitely memorable solo to “Highway Star.” “And that is one of the only times I have ever done that. I wanted it to sound like someone driving in a fast car, for it to be one of those songs you would listen to while speeding. And I wanted a very definite Bach sound, which is why I wrote it out – and why I played those very rigid arpeggios across that very familiar Bach progression – D minor, G minor, C major, A major. I believe that I was the first person to do that so obviously on the guitar, and I believe that that’s why it stood out and why people have enjoyed it so much.

“Over the years, I’ve always played that solo note for note, but it just got faster and faster onstage because we would drink more and more whisky. [Keyboardist] Jon [Lord] would have to play his already difficult part faster and faster, and he would get very annoyed about it.”

13. Guns N’ Roses | “Sweet Child O’ Mine”

GUITARIST: Slash (1988)

A game of two halves.

Slash’s solo on this Guns N’ Roses breakthrough single is rock guitar at its finest. The first half is laid-back and modal, built around the Eb minor scale with a few major 7ths thrown in for a harmonic-minor flavor. The second half is much more aggressive and bluesy, and sticks mainly to position one of the pentatonic scale an octave up the neck in the same key. The bends feel that much wider and the vibrato more pronounced.

Slash plays the first section on the neck pickup for thickness and warmth before switching over to the bridge for more bite, with his Cry Baby engaged. Perhaps most impressive is his off-the-cuff sense of feel and how he strings it all together, which is the mark of any great guitar solo. Remarkably, although Slash’s riff was responsible for the song’s creation, he wasn’t fond of the song originally. “We were a pretty hard driving band, and that was sort of an uptempo ballady type of a thing,” he said. “So it’s grown on me over the years.”

12. Ozzy Osbourne | “Crazy Train”

GUITARIST: Randy Rhoads (1980)

Fretboard fireworks galore on Ozzy’s Blizzard of Ozz comeback.

The Double-O has often cited Randy Rhoads as the man who saved his career – and when you hear the solo on “Crazy Train,” you understand why. Although Rhoads’ classical- and modal-based approach was far from Tony Iommi’s blues leanings, he was, like Ozzy’s old bandmate, a true inventor.

There’s a section toward the end of this solo that actually sounds like a train squealing off the tracks, thanks to the use of a chromatically ascending trill that then descends in key. Rhoads concludes the solo with a fast-picked F# minor pentatonic phrase before a rapid Aeolian legato run ending with a big bend on the 19th fret.

The shredder performed the solo with his customized Jackson guitar through a Marshall and a couple of 4x12s while sitting in the control room. “We’d plug the guitar directly into the console,” recalls Blizzard of Ozz engineer Max Norman. “We’d preamp it in the console and send it down to the amp from there. That way we could control the amount of gain that hit the amp.”

11. Michael Jackson | “Beat It”

GUITARIST: Eddie Van Halen (1982)

Breathtaking results from an unlikely pairing.

Asked to contribute guitar to Michael Jackson’s Thriller album, Pete Townshend declined but offered a suggestion: How about Eddie Van Halen? Jackson and producer Quincy Jones thought that was a great idea, and got Ed onboard to play the solo to “Beat It.” But after hearing the part where he was asked to solo, the guitarist was unhappy with the chord changes and had the engineer edit the tape to create a new pattern that better suited what he had in mind.

Ed knew Jackson might be surprised and possibly unhappy with his executive decision. “So I warned him before he listened,” he told CNN in 2012. “I said, ‘Look, I changed the middle section of your song.’ Now in my mind, he’s either going to have his bodyguards kick me out for butchering his song, or he’s going to like it. And so he gave it a listen, and he turned to me and went, ‘Wow, thank you so much for having the passion to not just come in and blaze a solo but to actually care about the song and make it better.’” And he did it for free.

10. The Beatles | “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”

GUITARIST: Eric Clapton (1968)

An uncredited Slowhand makes a rare guest appearance with the Fab Four.

By 1968, George Harrison was penning compositions that rivaled those of his bandmates John Lennon and Paul McCartney. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” was every bit as good as anything his musical partners wrote, but no one could get up the enthusiasm for it, so Harrison invited his pal Eric Clapton to play on the session, knowing it would put the Beatles on good behavior.

Using Harrison’s 1957 “Lucy” Gibson Les Paul through a Fender Deluxe amp, Clapton doesn’t so much mimic the haunting, aching main melody as he creates a harrowing song within a song. His descending bends and release notes, and that inimitable vibrato, are on full display and are appropriately tear-jerking, weaving a dramatic narrative that builds to a shattering climax.

9. Chicago | “25 OR 6 TO 4”

GUITARIST: Terry Kath (1969)

Wah-drenched ecstasy.

This magazine once described Terry Kath’s “25 or 6 to 4” solo as “Wes Montgomery meets Jimi Hendrix,” and it’s a fair point, as Kath was influenced first by jazz and, later, hard rock. As a founding member of the jazz-rock band Chicago, he held down guitar duties for the group until his tragic death from an accidentally self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1978.

Though his superb playing graced many tracks – notably “Introduction” and “Free Form Guitar,” both from the group’s 1969 debut, The Chicago Transit Authority – there’s no denying the power of his soloing on the group’s early hit “25 or 6 to 4.” Kath uses his wah generously to add emotion to his lines, giving them at times a frenetic despair.

Kath most likely played his Gibson SG Standard, as pictured on Chicago Transit Authority’s inner sleeve, using his favored string set, as revealed to GP: the high E string from a tenor set and a standard set for the rest, moved down one string (i.e. high E for the B string, B for the G string, and so on).

8. Lynyrd Skynyrd | “Free Bird”

GUITARIST: Allen Collins (1974)

The Bird is the word.

As it happens, the four-minute-and-24- second guitar solo that closes “Free Bird” was originally added to give singer Ronnie Van Zant a chance to rest his vocal cords during Lynyrd Skynyrd’s relentless performance schedule. At 143 bars long, the solo is far and away the most epic offering here (in fact, it’s 286 bars of recorded music because the whole thing is doubled).

The tune appeared on the group’s eponymous debut album in 1973, and guitarist Allen Collins delivered the lot on his 1964 Gibson Explorer. As Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Gary Rossington once told Guitar World, “The whole long jam was Allen Collins himself. He was bad. He was super bad! He was bad-to-the-bone bad. When we put the solo together, we liked the sound of the two guitars, and I could’ve gone out and played it with him. But the way he was doin’ it, he was just so hot! He just did it once and did it again, and it was done.”

7. Dire Straits | “Sultans Of Swing”

GUITARIST: Mark Knopfler

An understated guitar hero fingerpicks his way to glory.

Right when the world was crowning Eddie Van Halen the new King of Guitar, along came the rather unassuming Mark Knopfler – schooled in rockabilly, blues and jazz – who demonstrated that you didn’t need walls of distortion to turn heads.

Knopfler composed this pub-rock classic on a National steel guitar but thought it sounded “dull” – that is, until he picked up a Stratocaster, at which point the song “came alive.” Using nary a hint of grit on a Fender Twin, he fingerpicks not one but two standout solos.

The first features a lyrical section of elegant, Chet Atkins-style single-note and chordal bends that sigh and swoon with dreamy romanticism. In itself, that would be enough, but the outro solo is the real attention-grabber, on which Knopfler builds to a dazzling set of spitfire 16th-note arpeggios – cleanly played, precise and rousing every time you hear it.

6. The Jimi Hendrix Experience | “All Along The Watchtower”

GUITARIST: Jimi Hendrix (1968)

The greatest solo in a cover version.

This song tops any list of covers that are better than the original. Guitarists invariably refer to it as a Hendrix cover rather than a Bob Dylan original, proof of how much Hendrix made it his own. Jimi’s rhythm playing is astounding, both in the intro and in the deft chord/ melody work of the verses, and of course, there’s the small matter of four guitar solos to consider. The man many refer to as the best of all time makes the most of his Strat and Marshall rig here, but it’s his offering at the 2:20 mark that we’re interested in. Following an opening run of octaves, he gets into his stride with a typically blues-based minor pentatonic approach in C#.

At 2:32, the main solo explodes into a trademark combination of rhythm and lead, plus funky scratching on muted strings. It’s worth playing along with the scratches, trying to keep a loose wrist and consistent down-up strumming. Those few beats alone will teach you a lot about Jimi’s groove and feel.

To get the sound, select a bridge-position single-coil pickup, dial in delay at around 350ms, add compression for sustain and opt for a Vox wah pedal or something similar. You’ll hear the wind begin to howl.

5. Eagles | “Hotel California”

GUITARISTS: Don Felder & Joe Walsh (1977)

Those iconic twin-guitar harmony lines took the Eagles to new heights.

The title track from the Eagles’ fifth album, and without doubt the song the band will be most remembered for, “Hotel California” frequently tops greatest guitar solo polls. The solo begins at 4:20, forming an extended coda, over which guitarists Don Felder and Joe Walsh trade licks before joining together to play those iconic harmonized licks at 5:39.

As it turns out, those harmony lines work in a relatively simple fashion. Felder and Walsh play an arpeggio of every chord, and the harmony is created by one of the guitars always playing one note lower down in the chord. For example, the notes of the Bm chord are B, D and F#, so, if the higher guitar plays an F#, the lower guitar will play a D, and so on.

This nugget of information can take you a long way to mastering those descending arpeggios. We won’t go as far as to say you could easily work it out by ear, but if you know the chords to the song, it’s possible to jam along. And you can’t say that about many of the solos on this list!

4. Queen | “Bohemian Rhapsody”

GUITARIST: Brian May (1975)

It might just be the biggest rock song of all time.

Following Freddie Mercury’s 1991 death and a cameo moment in 1992’s Wayne’s World, “Bohemian Rhapsody” became a trigger point for a worldwide outpouring of affection and respect for Queen. Their renewed popularity would continue into the new millennium as Ben Elton’s We Will Rock You musical and the band’s discovery of a different way to exist behind frontman Adam Lambert brought their music to a new generation.

And “Bohemian Rhapsody”? Unsurprisingly, it’s Queen’s best-known song, and its brief nine-bar solo is a short and sweet musical interlude, bridging the verses to lead into what’s become known as the song’s “operatic section.” Those two words alone should warn you that this song shouldn’t work. There’s no chorus and, aside from two verses, no repetition. But of course it does work, and Brian May’s solo is the perfect melodic break.

His phrasing is loose and natural, moving across the backbeat rather than sticking to a rigidly timed grid. The fastest licks are expressive bursts, rather than repetitive noodling, and his articulate pre-bend and vibrato technique demonstrates his beautiful touch. Somehow, within the confines of the complex structure of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” this solo is made to order.

3. Led Zeppelin | “Stairway To Heaven”

GUITARIST: Jimmy Page (1971)

Heaven-sent soloing.

From the moment Jimmy Page plays the opening run on his ’59 Fender Telecaster, right through to the flurry of notes and the wailing bend that completes it, this is guitar-solo perfection – a masterpiece of composition. Rather than wander aimlessly, Page creates a song within a song.

The opening phrases set the scene, as he adds notes to the pentatonic scale to follow the song’s final chord progression. A rapid mid-solo repeating lick raises the bar before a game of question-and-answer with a haunting overdubbed guitar leads into that last flurry and bend. As we say, it’s all about the composition: licks that track the chord changes, the contour of the melody and the pacing of the widdly bits all take the listener on a journey.

Three takes were recorded (the other two allegedly still survive, presumably locked in a Led Zeppelin vault somewhere), all of them improvised, although Page has reportedly said that he had worked out the opening line. But while we’re all certainly curious to hear those solos, let’s face it: They’re not going to be any better than the one we’ve come to know and love all these years.

2. Van Halen | “Eruption”

GUITARIST: Eddie Van Halen (1978)

Eddie’s iconic solo that shook the world.

With its mix of fast legato hammer‑ons and pull-offs, pinched harmonics, whammy-bar dives and two-hand tapping, Eddie Van Halen’s mind-blowing instrumental guitar solo inspired a generation of guitar heroes. While the tapping gets the attention, his tone, blistering legato and creative note choices are all equally important. Amid all that virtuosity, Eddie still played with joyous rock and roll abandon.

Remarkably, Ed was never completely happy with the released recording. “I didn’t even play it right,” he told Guitar World. “There’s a mistake at the top end of it. Whenever I hear it, I always think, Man, I could’ve played it better.”

His admission aside, the track is a technical opus. The first eight bars are a bluesy affair, whose virtuoso legato licks perhaps recall the mojo of Jimmy Page’s breakdown solo in Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love.” It’s a theme Eddie develops over the following eight bars, taking notes from the major and minor pentatonic scales to add chromatics.

His tapping finale is probably one of the least understood solo sections in rock history. Eddie’s taps are not always on the beat, which makes for tricky timing changes as he switches from tapping the first and fourth sextuplet notes to the third and sixth notes. From start to end, “Eruption” is a masterpiece that would take most guitarists a lifetime to perfect.

1. Pink Floyd | “Comfortably Numb”

GUITARIST: David Gilmour (1979)

Gilmour’s greatness comes through in waves.

In a 1992 interview with MTV’s Ray Cokes, Gilmour was asked what he thinks of Keith Richards’ theory that songs, lyrics and guitar solos are “just out there in the air and you sort of grab them.” Gilmour agreed. “I think he’s right. They sort of appear as if they are out there in the air. But I don’t know how they get there.” But the best ones he said, just happen. “The best ones do, but often you work very hard and struggle over them.”

Gilmour's two "Comfortably Numb" solos are certainly among his best, and it’s easy to understand why our readers voted his efforts to be the number-one pick in our poll. But the real question is, which of those two solos qualifies for inclusion? Whichever way you go — and granted, most fans prefer the first solo to the second — there's certainly plenty to justify the song's position at the top.

The tone is legendary. Gilmour’s signal chain consisted of his iconic black Strat, then featuring a DiMarzio FS-1 bridge pickup, into a HiWatt DR103, with the essential EHX Ram’s Head Big Muff pedal. The FS-1’s fatness and the Big Muff’s smoothness leave no hint of the harsh treble that can plague Strats. With some extra help from an MXR Dyna Comp, Gilmour had so much sustain that he could hold notes as long as he wanted. As in his live rig, he combined a WEM 4x12 cab with a Yamaha rotary speaker lower in the mix, to add subtle modulation. The epic delay was added in the mix.

The first solo, in D major, uses the Strat’s neck and bridge pickups together, permitted by a custom switching arrangement. His phrasing here is the more unconventional of the two, with arpeggios and sliding passages. Gilmour’s use of the bar for vibrato – aided by its shortened tremolo arm – again distinguishes him from typical bluesers, inspiring many a fusion player in the process. He rakes into the beginning of many of the phrases, similar to Brian May, extracting all the excitement he can from every note.

By comparison, the outro solo’s licks are more standard, with phrases similar to Hendrix’s. The passages at 4:57 and 5:12 could be from “All Along the Watchtower” or “Foxey Lady,” but in this epic track few listeners would make the connection. It sounds both masterful and improvised at the same time. Gilmour has explained he created this impression by recording five or six takes and compiling the finished solo from the best bits of each. The result is stunningly well written, with a combination of repetition and development that keeps the excitement building for two minutes. The Hendrix-style blues lick returns at 5:27, longer and more intricate than before. The aggressive double-stops first appear at 5:15, and by 5:35 he has turned that idea into a motif.

For the climax, Gilmour shoots up an octave just when it seems he’s wrung every inch of expression from his maple neck. He descends back down the neck, incorporating one of his spectacular three-fret bends on the way, and finishes with another take on that double stop motif. It has all the excitement of an improvised performance, and all the structure of a careful composition.

Both solos share brilliant rhythmic awareness. Gilmour uses triplets, sextuplets, 16th and 32nd notes freely, within the same phrase. And check out the effect at 5:10 when he plays a lick in 16th notes and then immediately repeats and expands in sextuplets. A good solo can have great tone, rhythms, melody or expression, but only a work of rare brilliance features them all to this degree.

Late-night talk shows have long been a great source for classic live performances from music's biggest names, particularly in the 1980s and ‘90s, when the likes of Leno and Letterman would battle it out nightly for supremacy. One music legend making an appearance was reason enough to tune in — but when two show up, well, that's must-see TV!

That's what happened when Brian May invited Slash to stop by The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on April 5, 1993, to trade solos on the Queen classic track “Tie Your Mother Down.”

May was on The Tonight Show to promote his debut full-length album, Back to the Light, which (although officially released in September of the previous year) had only just dropped in the U.S. market to align with the now solo artist's supporting tour.

Performing two songs on the night — with a short chat in between — May kicked off his appearance with a solid rendition of the album's title track. Jump to around the one-minute mark if you'd rather skip Leno's questionable Cockney accent in the intro.

Backed by Cozy Powell on drums and Neil Murray on bass, as well as Jamie Moses and Spike Edney providing guitar work and keyboards, respectively, May delivered his trademark treble-boosted tone through several Vox AC30s. However, things really get interesting during the second song of the night: the May-penned cut “Tie Your Mother Down,” from Queen's 1976 album A Day at the Races:

With the song powering toward the solo section, May encourages the audience to "Please welcome Mr. Slash!" The Guns N' Roses guitarist enters, with a Les Paul slung low and a cigarette hanging from his lip, and delivers some slippery and sleazy pentatonic phrases throughout the performance. The pair even treat the audience to a good old-fashioned guitar duel to bring matters to a close.

At the time, Slash was performing on the Skin N' Bones leg of GNR's Use Your Illusion tour, one that had seen Brian May open for the band on some of the dates.

In the interview section of the clip, May sheds some light on the creation of the Red Special, the guitar he famously built in his teens with help from his father. "It came out of pieces of the old fireplace," May explains to Leno, confirming the story that apparently had some doubters. "People think it's a wind-up, but yeah, it was made from pieces of fireplace, tables and motorbike valve springs. It's a piece of junk, really, but it works."

Following the performance, May supported Guns N' Roses on 14 dates of their European tour, revealing at the time how the support slots took the pressure off him while he was finding his footing in the new role of frontman. Although the tour was riddled with injuries, dramas and controversy for GNR, May praised the band, telling MTV, "You hear all these stories about Guns N' Roses, but these people are professionals." The tour would be Slash's last with the band until he rejoined in January 2016.

May and Slash were no strangers, of course, with Guns N' Roses playing their part in the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium in April '92, as well as May later joining the L.A. rock band onstage for a couple of tracks during their own show at the London venue.

Earlier in 2024, the Queen guitarist dropped a couple of hints regarding a new partnership with Gibson that seems likely to result in a signature run of the Red Special. "We have spoken about such things, and it would be lovely to have an edition of the Brian May guitar based in the States," May told Guitar World, before mentioning that he has a "great relationship" with Gibson.

No more information on the release has been revealed as of yet; however, we may not have to wait too long for an update.

When Jane’s Addiction split in 1991, Dave Navarro very quickly found himself with a new job opportunity laid at his feet. But while many players wouldn’t second-guess a chance to join Guns N’ Roses, Navarro turned the offer down.

“I don’t think that would have been the right call at the time,” the guitarist reflects in the latest issue of Guitar Player, believing too he wouldn’t have been the perfect fit others suggested he was. “I’ve played with Slash a million times since then. I love playing with Slash. But I think I’m a little more left-of-center than they were.

“Guns was pretty much a straight-up, in-your-face rock band, which I fucking love,” he goes on. “But as a guitar player, I like to get down on my knees, turn delay knobs and make a bunch of noise like Kraftwerk or some shit. [laughs] That does not work for Guns N’ Roses.”

A life in GNR, then, wasn’t to be, but Navarro was still searching for his next project. Soon after, he found everything he was looking for in Red Hot Chili Peppers, replacing the outgoing John Frusciante.

“That was a very difficult role to step into,” he admits. “They were so set on what they were. It really was another trial by fire. All of a sudden, I had to work within another context that had completely different influences, and these were musicians that I’d never worked with in my life.”

Navarro would stick around for just one album – 1995’s One Hot Minute – before Frusciante returned. Looking back, he says he struggled to get into the swing of things.

“Weirdly, it was kind of like the beginning of Jane’s Addiction, where I’ve got these guys who don’t play the same stuff that I do,” he says. “With the Chili Peppers, I was in this band that doesn’t play the same way I do – except now, we’re doing it in Madison Square Garden. [laughs] I mean, my first show was at Woodstock! Talk about the pressure being insane.”

Pressure aside, his short-lived tenure in the band can be deemed a success, with Navarro helping shape a heavier, more riff-heavy sound. Ultimately, he’s thankful for the experience.

“There’s no question that I became a better guitar player as a result of having done that,” Navarro asserts. “Playing with Flea and Chad Smith was a crash-course master class in musicianship. I’m really grateful for the time spent with them, but it was a bizarre concept to join the group, and a very bizarre time.”

Bizarre is certainly one word. By the time he left the band in ‘98, the band was fractious, with Flea inviting Frusciante, who had just left rehab, to rejoin the band as a Hail Mary attempt to keep them together.

In recent years, Navarro has been kept from playing live as he’s battled with a severe bout of Long Covid. With that now, thankfully, behind him, he has rejoined Jane’s Addiction and is making up for lost time.

“I’m living in the moment right now, we’re having a good time,” he recently told Guitar World. “It feels the best it felt in maybe ever.”

His new, in-depth chat with Guitar Player details his triumphant comeback. Asked about the guitar-playing legacy he is leaving behind him, he quips: “When I think about my legacy, I don’t think about what I’ve done; I think about who I’ve done it with.”

To read the new issue, which includes the full Navarro interview, plus conversations with Mark Tremonti, Neal Schon, and recent Total Guitar cover star Marcin, head to Magazines Direct to pick up a copy.

By the late-80s, Kramer, Charvel, and Jackson had established something of a stranglehold on the electric guitar market, but Guns N’ Roses producer Mike Clink believes that Slash – via the band's 1987 debut album, Appetite For Destruction – helped tilt the balance back in Gibson’s favor. 

Guitarists like Eddie Van Halen, Mick Mars, and Randy Rhoads, very much the poster boys of '80s guitar, had budding guitar players all over the world drooling over their preferred models. As such, the Les Paul, strongly associated with the ‘60s blues rock movement, fell out of fashion with younger musicians. 

In a new interview with Guitar World, Clink explains how Appetite For Destruction created a whole new appetite for Les Pauls.   

“It’s a special guitar that clearly means a lot to him. That’s his baby,” he said of Slash's original Les Paul.

“When we did Appetite, it was that Les Paul into a Marshall. With the popularity of that record, all the aspiring guitar players wanted a Les Paul. I feel like he did a lot to bring the Gibson Les Paul back – not that it necessarily ever went away, but there was a big rise in popularity after [the band's] debut.”

Appetite for Destruction was released in July 1987 and catapulted the band to stratospheric success. It still holds huge sway today – Sweet Child o’ Mine, since Spotify’s relatively recent launch in 2006, has accumulated well over a billion hours of playtime. 

Tone-wise however, its success went against the current. 

“At the time there were all these hair bands playing other brands in competition with Gibson,” Clink continues. “When Guns N’ Roses broke, guitar players started saying ‘I need that tone: a Les Paul into a Marshall!’ The success of that record brought those guitars back into mainstream popularity.”

Ironically, the Les Paul that was used extensively on the album wasn’t even a Gibson at all – it was a Kris Derrig-built replica.

The luthier was based out of MusicWorks, a guitar store located in Redondo Beach, California. He’d constructed the ‘59 Les Paul replica with highly figured book-matched maple, notably without the cherry-tinted edges of the originals.   

Its inherent tonal magic came from a pair of Seymour Duncan Alnico II humbuckers with black-and-white “zebra” coils and some vintage electronics that Derrig sourced from the shop. 

But the minor detail of the guitar not actually being a Gibson didn’t bother the firm, which duly reaped the rewards of the album’s popularity. 

Slash officially joined the Gibson family in 2010, working with the multi-faceted gear brand to recreate the Derrig Les Paul and, this time, stamp the Gibson name on its headstock. 

“Getting the Derrig was an interesting sort of perfect storm,” Slash recalls. “I went from having no identifiable sound during the basic tracks for Appetite to getting this guitar, with these particular pickups, played through a particular rented Marshall amp. All those contributing factors made for a really great guitar sound that has served me ever since.”

Those Seymour Duncan humbuckers would later become the template for Slash's signature pickups, with the Marshall head, as Clink details, a Frank Levi mod. 

“He was not doing well, but had continued doing mods for friends of mine. The amps he worked on are still around and still exist. He was only doing those mods for friends and special people.”

Neil Ivison knows what makes a great guitar. As a vintage guitar collector he has owned over a dozen 1950s Gibson Les Pauls and has studied the specs of his beloved instruments in fine detail. It's an interest that has not only enhanced his knowledge and skills as a guitar tech but has also complimented his professional career as a guitarist. Having performed in various touring bands over the years he currently plays with Ginger Wildheart & the Sinners.

“I worked as a guitar tech for Towers of London, which was wild,” Neil tells Guitar Player. “On a good night they were a really incendiary band, like Guns N’ Roses. I hold the record as the only person in the crew, management or band who didn’t get punched. They would fight the audience, themselves, anyone they could fight with!

“Towers of London went out on tour with Guns N' Roses a couple of times, but I didn’t meet Richard Fortus back then because we were kept well out of the way. Towers of London were notorious for trouble, so we were told to keep our distance. [laughs] But they were great gigs!”

It would be years later – the day before Guns N’ Roses’ Glastonbury 2023 headline show – when Neil finally met fellow guitar aficionado Richard Fortus. In recent times, Ivison Guitars has steadily gained a reputation as one of the best boutique builders in the U.K., And, as it turns out, Ivison had been on the Guns N’ Roses guitarist’s radar for a while.

Although Neil started out creating replicas of Les Paul Juniors and Specials, Gibson’s Play Authentic campaign inspired him to pursue some more unique designs, beginning with the Hurricane. While Neil describes the Hurricane as “my interpretation of a Junior, Special and ‘Burst rolled into one,” you can add “Firebird” to the mix when it comes to Ivison’s Dakota models.

Carving by hand, Neil bases Ivison neck profiles on the 1956 Gibsons he’s played and measured. “They all had a very handmade thing about them, whereas nowadays they’re very consistent because of CNC technology,” he explains. “I wanted to make a modern guitar that felt like the old Juniors I loved and owned. That’s always been the ethos: to make them feel like my old Gibsons.”

How did the idea of building a guitar for Richard Fortus come about?

He got in touch with me on Instagram. He commented on my builds and was very complimentary, so we just started chatting. It was immediately obvious he was very knowledgeable about guitars. We were soon into guitar geek territory (and I was in my element!) Richard knows what he’s talking about. We chatted for a while, and he suggested doing a Korina Dakota with a single Firebird pickup in the bridge position. I said, “leave it with me.”

I finished the Fortus-spec build a couple of weeks ago and sent Richard a picture of it. He really wanted to try it out so, of course, I told him he was more than welcome. As Guns N’ Roses were due to headline Glastonbury and Hyde Park, they flew into Bristol airport and were staying in Bath, which isn’t too far from where I’m based in Worcestershire. [pronounced WUH-stuh-shuh]

On my way down to Bath to meet Richard at Vintage ‘n’ Rare Guitars, he told me Guitar Player would also be there, plus the lads from V ‘n’ R, so the pressure was on! I was thinking, I hope I soldered it properly. [laughs] All I needed then was for Slash to walk in! [Slash did, in fact, visit Vintage ‘n’ Rare Guitars the following day where he bought a ‘Burst recommended to him by Richard Fortus]

Where did the concept of the Ivison Guitars Dakota originate?

The story goes back to ATB Guitars [vintage guitar dealer in Cheltenham, U.K.] I’ve done their repairs for years. They were the first to stock Ivison guitars. They once had a beautiful Cardinal Red Firebird III in there and I thought it sounded great. As we were talking, it slipped off my lap but, thankfully, I grabbed it before the headstock hit the floor. When I looked at the price tag, I saw it was 30 grand! That was my best save ever. So I thought, There must be a way to get this sound but in a more ergonomic package.

Coincidentally, Stuart Robson from Sunbear Pickups then asked me what I thought about Firebird pickups as he’d just done his version and wanted to send me a pair. Using the Hurricane shape as a platform, I tweaked the design and brought up the center section as a nod to the Firebird and installed the Sunbear Firebird-style pickups in the style of a Les Paul Special. I sent it to a few people, and they really loved it.

Richard Fortus’s Dakota has one Firebird pickup; what makes single-pickup guitars so appealing?

I love single-pickup guitars. That design brings so much life to a guitar. It’s because there’s only one magnet interacting with the strings. A neck pickup is often positioned around the middle of the strings, so there’s an additional magnetic pull around there. Hence guitars with a single [bridge] pickup can be a lot livelier as there’s less pull. Personally, I favor a single P-90 but a lot of my guitars are twin pickups. It’s down to personal preference.

The Dakota One is a Junior/Firebird I-style design. I’ve done those in mahogany with Firebird-, P-90- and PAF-style pickups. The Korina Dakota normally comes with dual PAFs and I wanted that to be more like the Flying V and Explorer in terms of sound. I always thought the ’58 Vs were some of the best-sounding Gibsons I’ve ever heard. I also do a model with three pickups called the Dakota VII.

How does korina wood influence the sound of a guitar?

It imparts more top end. The clean, white korina is harder to get than the black limba which has more streaks. It varies greatly in terms of weight. Korina isn’t necessarily light. I’ve had light stuff and I’ve also come across really heavy stuff which is unusable. But it is very resonant, and I find there’s a greater top-end response than mahogany. There’s a bit more sizzle in it. I really like it.

The guitar I made for Richard Fortus has a two-piece center-joint korina body and a one-piece korina neck. The neck profile is taken from a ’56 Junior, as are all my necks (unless somebody requests another style).

The fretboard is Indian rosewood with Jescar 45100 frets. The pickup is a Sunbear SunBird wound to 8K. I did get one wound to 11K, but Richard recoiled in horror. I thought he was bound to want something hot, but he really wanted it more in line with the vintage spec.

Richard and I also chatted about a six-a-side [reverse] headstock because he loves that design. He says the extra length on the low E gives the guitar a different resonance. That’s something I’m keen to explore.

What was your reaction when you saw Richard Fortus performing with your guitar on the BBC Glastonbury broadcast?

Before I left Bath on the Friday evening, Richard said, “I want to use it tomorrow,” but I didn’t just presume that he would. It seemed a little bit surreal. I mean, global rockstars don’t usually message me out of the blue, take me to dinner, then use my guitars on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury the next day! [laughs] But he messaged me saying he’d given the guitar to his tech, Jim Survis.

I was sat at home watching the show live the following evening and during the second song of the set [“Bad Obsession”], the camera pans across and Richard's holding the Dakota! I was stood up in the living room with my head in my hands throughout the whole song. They filmed it perfectly too; the cameraman panned back from the crowd, across the Pyramid Stage, then straight onto the guitar. It was unbelievable!

Within 20 seconds, my phone started going. People were messaging me on text and on Instagram to tell me. It was so nice that people instantly recognized it as an Ivison guitar. Plus the fact it’s being played by Richard Fortus, it’s the greatest accolade you could hope for.

It’s virtually impossible to pare decades of rock and roll down to a top-ten list. There are, however, some guitar solos every player needs to know about.

Here are some of the greatest ever committed to record...

10. "Statesboro Blues" by The Allman Brothers Band from 'At Fillmore East' (1971)

Guitarist: Duane Allman

Although the end of "Layla" may be more memorable to most folks, Allman’s Statesboro slide show verifies his title as the undisputed king of bottleneck guitar. 

Slick as oil but with the ability to stop on a dime, Allman not only redefined how slide guitar was played but also created a recycling market for empty Coricidin bottles.

9. "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses from 'Appetite for Destruction' (1987)

Guitarist: Slash

While Axl swayed and sashayed like Steve Wonder around his mic stand, Slash laid back with his Les Paul, patiently waiting for his turn in the spotlight. 

Then, with his blistering ascent up the E harmonic minor scale – which kicks the second solo of this tune into high gear – the top-hatted genius single-handedly breathed new life into wah-pedal sales.

8. "Crossroads" by Cream from 'Wheels of Fire' (1968)

Guitarist: Eric Clapton

Slowhand? Not on this track. Clapton pulls out every blues-rock move in his lick-tionary for this roadhouse romper. 

The true voodoo of this solo lies at the crossroads where major and minor pentatonic tonalities meet, mingle and blast off from E.C.’s fretboard. 

Ol’ Scratch surely smiled when he heard this one.

7. "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne from 'Blizzard of Ozz' (1980)

Guitarist: Randy Rhoads

You almost wonder if Ozzy named this tune after hearing Rhoads’ white-knuckled rock and roll ride up and down the F# minor scale. 

What more could you want in a metal guitar solo? Tapping, rakes, bends, trills ascending legato runs... 

Rhoads set Eighties guitarists on the rails of neoclassical rock with this one. All aboard!

6. "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin from 'Led Zeppelin IV' (1971)

Guitarist: Jimmy Page

Jimmy Page's "Stairway” solo is nothing short of divine. 

His resolution to the natural F note in the opening minor pentatonic lick of the solo couldn’t have been more perfect if the Almighty himself had chosen the note.

5. "Sultans of Swing" by Dire Straits from 'Dire Straits' (1978)

Guitarist: Mark Knopfler

Sultan says, “Spend less time making your harem moan and more time making your guitar cry and sing!” 

For those of you who’ve learned the outro solo the lazy way – playing eighth-note triplets for the daunting Dm, Bb and C arpeggios – get your fingers back to the wood shed. 

Those are 16th notes that the “Sultan of Strat” rips off.

4. "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd from 'Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd' (1973) 

Guitarist: Gary Rossington and Allen Collins

To paraphrase Adrian Belew in King Crimson’s "Indiscipline," "I repeat my licks, I repeat my licks, I repeat my licks…” 

This could go on forever – kinda like the outro solo to "Free Bird," in which guitarists Rossington and Collins double each other for most of this pull-off parade. 

It’s impressive not because of the degree of difficulty of the licks but because of the sheer volume they need to recall – 27, including variations!

3. "Eruption" by Van Halen from 'Van Halen' (1978) 

The Holy Grail for all aspiring rock guitarists. Learn Eddie Van Halen's "Eruption" and you’ve earned some serious bragging rights. 

But if you really want props, you’ve got to tame the whole volcano, not just the tremolo picking and tapping sections.

2. "All Along the Watchtower" by the Jimi Hendrix Experience from 'Electric Ladyland' (1968)

Jimi Hendrix offers plenty of reason to get excited in his "Watchtower" solo. 

Besides his masterful manipulation of the C# minor pentatonic scale, Hendrix’s wah-drenched octave climb and the double-stops in the latter half bear out his gift for melodic embellishment. 

It’s enough to make any cat growl.

1. "Little Wing" by Stevie Ray Vaughan from 'The Sky Is Crying' (1991)

With little bits of Jimi, Wes and Mayfield, and a whole lotta soul, SRV exhibits exceptional dynamic prowess throughout, making this reverent Hendrix cover his own. 

A seemingly lost art among modern-day guitarists, Vaughan’s R&B-style chord melody is like priceless art. It should be both admired and studied.

“Hi, my name’s Slash. Can you sell me some Les Pauls?”

Back in 1988, that was how the man born Saul Hudson first came in contact with the Gibson guitar brand. Guns N’ Roses had only recently released their debut effort, Appetite for Destruction, an album on which Slash, in what is now rock-guitar lore, recorded most of his parts using a 1959 Les Paul copy built by luthier Kris Derrig. As the band hit the road in support of the record, he took the Derrig with him. Not surprisingly, the axe, one of his only guitars at the time, quickly took a beating from intense onstage use. So Slash retired the Les Paul copy from live work and went looking for the real thing.

Which is what led him to Gibson. “At that point, Guns N’ Roses hadn’t quite crested that wave. We were sort of still a fledgling L.A. club band that had a record deal, just like all the rest of ’em,” Slash recalls. “But I called Gibson and they said, ‘Yeah, we’ll work something out.’ They sold me two Les Pauls at dealer cost. And that’s how our relationship started.”

That relationship has grown into, arguably, the most visible and fruitful collaboration between an artist and guitar brand of the past 30-plus years. Slash has not only been instrumental in returning the Les Paul to unrivaled prominence in the guitar universe, he has also helped design some of the best-selling and most highly regarded artist models in the marketplace.

And the partnership has only gotten stronger and deeper with each year. In 2017, Gibson named Slash its first-ever Global Brand Ambassador, and today the Slash line of Gibson guitars continues to expand (see, for one, the signature J-45 acoustic offerings). What’s more, the brand recently launched a record label, Gibson Records, which issued the 2022 Slash (featuring Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators) album, 4, as its debut release.

Now, Slash has aligned with Gibson on another new venture – a massive, deluxe hardcover book, The Collection: Slash, which is the first offering from the newly created Gibson Publishing. Across its oversized 364 pages, Slash tells the stories behind the guitars he has used throughout his legendary career, all of them accompanied by gorgeously detailed photos of the instruments themselves. The premium coffee-table tome is a must-have for any guitar fan, and is available in Standard, Deluxe and a truly stunning, limited-to-500-copies Custom Edition that is hand-signed by Slash and nestled inside a clamshell protective box with premium case candy.

In any iteration, The Collection: Slash is a package unlike any seen before. As for why the man himself wanted to do it? “I mean, what’s better than a book full of guitars?” Slash asks with a laugh. “And the way Gibson proposed putting it together, I just thought it was so cool. It was an exciting prospect, and it just started from there.”

In addition to chronicling dozens upon dozens of instruments from Slash’s substantial stash (including, in a very cool move by Gibson, many quintessential non-Gibson models) compiling The Collection: Slash afforded the musician the opportunity to become reacquainted with some of the lesser-used six-strings in his life.

“I have to admit that I buy a lot of guitars,” Slash says. “And I’m a little bit of a pack rat, because I’ve never gotten rid of anything. And while you’re constantly aware of additional things that you keep adding to the stockpile, doing an exposé like this I realized that, while I play a lot of these guitars pretty regularly, some of them, they don’t get enough use. It made me feel like, God, I want to put ’em all in a room where everybody can just walk in and look at them! Now, in a way, they can.”

Here, Slash takes us on a tour of some of the standout guitars in The Collection: Slash, recalling when each instrument came into his life and how it continues to be a part of his musical experience today.

KRIS DERRIG REPLICA

One of the most famous Les Pauls is not a Les Paul at all. Featured on almost all of Appetite for Destruction (“I played an SG on ‘My Michelle,’” Slash reports), the Kris Derrig replica is the source of that album’s coveted guitar tones, and arguably reignited the Les Paul flame single-handedly in the ’80s. It also originally boasted Seymour Duncan Alnico II humbuckers, which were the template for Slash’s signature pickups.

“Getting the Derrig was an interesting sort of perfect storm,” Slash recalls. “Because I went from having no identifiable sound during the basic tracks for Appetite to getting this guitar, with these particular pickups, played through a particular rented Marshall amp. All those contributing factors made for a really great guitar sound that has served me ever since.”

Amazingly, the heavy wear across the top and back is almost entirely the result of Slash using the guitar, then in pristine condition, onstage for less than a year. “I’m hard on my guitars,” he admits. “And with the Derrig, I realized what an effect my live attack had on it. That’s when I finally broke down and called Gibson and said, ‘I need a Les Paul.’ I just didn’t want anything to happen to it. So I put it away.”

GIBSON LES PAUL “JESSICA”

When we think of Slash’s Les Pauls, designs like the Derrig and his signature models come to mind. But it’s likely another Les Paul, one he calls Jessica, that we’ve seen him wield most often. Slash acquired the guitar from Gibson – one of the two factory seconds with three-piece tops the company sent him after he retired the Derrig copy from road work. “It became my main stage guitar with Guns and through Velvet Revolver,” he says. “It still is.”

Onstage, he continues, “Jessica is the main Appetite guitar. I open the set with her for ‘It’s So Easy’ and ‘Brownstone,’ I play ‘Paradise City’ with her, and I play ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ with her.”

As for what makes the now heavily worn instrument stand apart from his many other Les Pauls? “The guitars that you take out on tour and play the most are the ones you feel most comfortable with, the ones that give you what you want from them, the ones that are consistent,” he says. “Back then it was one of two guitars that I had for the road, so I made it work. And now it’s a central part of what I do.”

GIBSON LES PAUL “THE FIRST ‘BURST” – 8 3096

While Slash has always been adamant about the fact that he acquires guitars for their playability rather than pedigree, this Les Paul is one that offers both in equal measure. Dubbed “The First ’Burst,” this Standard was one of two that left Gibson’s factory on May 28, 1958 with ’Burst specifications, including PAF humbuckers and a Cherry Red finish. One of those instruments featured a three-piece top, while Slash’s ’Burst is a two-piece with a slightly off-center join.

“It was definitely an acquisition because of what it is,” Slash says of the First ’Burst. “But it’s also a really great-sounding guitar. And that was the bigger selling point for me – it has amazing tone.”

So much so that Slash has used the historic guitar in the studio, specifically, on the Conspirators’ 2014 album, World on Fire, which was recorded not long after he acquired the instrument. That said, he adds, “I wouldn’t take it on the road.” For that, he continues, “Gibson made me a replica, which sounds really great as well.”

1959 LES PAUL STANDARD – 9 0844

These days, Slash owns several authentic ’59 ’Bursts. But this one, acquired in the early 1990s, was his first, and it remains his favorite. “It has a particular sound that I’m drawn to, a certain kind of attack and personality that I recognize,” he says. “It’s the go-to ’59 for me because I know what it does.”

In addition to sporting a gorgeous finish, the guitar is easily identifiable via a telltale “snakebite” – small holes in its top that evidence the one-time addition of a Bigsby vibrato. And while Slash keeps it away from the stage, he says he has used it in the studio with the Conspirators on several occasions, in particular the ballad “The Great Pretender,” from 2016’s Living the Dream, and the band’s cover of Elton John’s “Rocket Man.”

“The PAF pickups just sound so sincere,” Slash says. “The guitar is much different from, say, the Derrig, which is a much more modern-sounding Les Paul – it’s louder, it’s got more attack. If you do like a slow blues thing or anything like that, the tonality on this particular ‘59 is really great for that kind of stuff.”

2002 SLASH LES PAUL PROTOTYPE

This limited-run Custom Shop guitar is “what I would call the first ‘official’ Slash model,” Slash reveals. “This is when I think of us as going into business together for real, and when Gibson started to actually have this idea of me sitting down and designing a guitar with them and then putting it into production.”

The 2002 Slash Les Paul boasts a rich Tobacco Burst finish and Seymour Duncan Alnico II humbuckers, as well as a custom “Slash” truss-rod cover. But the most unique aspect is undoubtedly the inclusion of a piezo pickup system that offers a selection of acoustic and hybrid acoustic/electric sounds, controlled via a three-position mini-toggle switch between the guitar’s volume knobs.

“I did use the piezo for a second, and it actually sounded really good,” Slash says. “But my physical approach to an acoustic sound didn’t work on electric guitar – I hit it too hard when I’m playing acoustic stuff, so doing it on electric was not really conducive to that sort of attack. So eventually I phased it out. But it was a cool idea at the time.”

EARLY 1970S EPIPHONE 6830

This Japanese-made steel-string acoustic isn’t the oldest guitar in Slash’s collection, but it is the one he’s had the longest. “I think I was probably in high school when I got it,” he says. “And I cherish the fact that I’ve managed to keep it and nothing’s happened to it.”

Slash calls the Epiphone the first “good acoustic” he ever took ownership of, and he received it in a moment of goodwill. “When I was 15, I would do some babysitting, and this one kid I babysat for, his parents had it hanging on the wall next to a mandolin,” he recalls. “I asked them, ‘Can I play it while the kid’s sleeping?’ I was still playing it when they got home, and they actually ended up giving it to me.”

These days, the Epiphone is far removed from all-night strum sessions. “I haven’t pulled it out and played it in a long time, because the tailpiece is threatening to come off and I had to bolt it down,” Slash says. “So I just sort of leave it alone. It’s more of a keepsake than anything.” He laughs. “Besides, I have plenty of acoustic guitars to beat on. I don’t need to beat on that one.”

1959 GIBSON FLYING V – 9 1705

“When I was doing the Use Your Illusion records I was looking for different guitars for different songs, and it was the first time I ever had any money to do that,” Slash recalls. “I became aware of the korina ’58s and ’59s, and so I went to my friend who is a guitar broker. He came up with two Explorers and this V, and I bought all three. It was one of those purchases where I was like, ‘Well, let’s see how these sound.’ And it was, ‘Oh, this is fucking awesome!’”

For fans looking to hear that sound, tune your ears to Guns N’ Roses’ cover of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” “I went to the studio, that guitar was there, and I laid all the tracks down in a couple of hours,” Slash says. “The tone on it was so great that it was literally a one-take solo – just a throw-and-go. That guitar, because of the way it sounded, is what led that to be such an easy thing to do.”

As for what he thinks is so special about those original Vs? “They just have a certain tonal quality, this smooth, sweet tone that you cannot find in any other guitar,” Slash says.

1980 BC RICH MOCKINGBIRD

As a teenager, Slash chose a B.C. Rich to be the first “good, brand-name instrument” he ever owned. He has a variety of examples, the most recognizable of which is this red 1980 Mockingbird, which he famously employed in the studio and the music video for the Use Your Illusion track “You Could Be Mine,” as well as on Velvet Revolver songs like “Sucker Train Blues.”

“This is the one guitar that I have a photographic memory of acquiring,” Slash says. “I bought it from a guy in front of [defunct L.A. nightclub] the Cathouse. I hardly knew him, but I saw him regularly every Tuesday night when I would go down there. He told me he had a Mockingbird that he was looking to sell, and he goes, ‘I’ll bring it down.’ And the following Tuesday at, like, 11:30 at night, he comes walking down Highland Avenue with a guitar case. I bought it from him on the sidewalk.”

While the guitar is one that Slash will often reach for when he’s in need of a whammy bar, some of the Mockingbird’s unique appointments – an onboard preamp, Varitone switching, coil splits – are roundly ignored. “The knobs are a cool novelty-type of thing, but I’ve never found much use for them,” he says. “I was never one of those ‘coil-tappers.’”

The Collection: Slash, Custom Edition

Limited to 500 copies worldwide, and hand-signed by Slash, the Custom Edition ($999) measures 297 x 420 mm (11.69 x 16.54”) and comes inside a premium clamshell protective box with case candy, including an Axe Heaven Appetite Les Paul miniature guitar, an exclusive Slash bandana, a guitar pick tin with Dunlop guitar picks, a cover poster, four guitar art prints, and a certificate of authenticity. 

The Collection: Slash, Deluxe Edition

The Collection: Slash Deluxe Edition ($249) is presented in a Les Paul slipcase and measures 240 x 340 mm (9.45 x 13.39”). It includes a cover poster, four guitar art prints, and a certificate of authenticity. The initial print run of the Deluxe Edition is hand-signed by Slash and limited to 1,000 copies. 

The Collection: Slash, Standard Edition

The Standard Edition ($149) offers a widely accessible version of the coffee-table book featuring 364 pages in hardcover, in a slightly more compact size of 240 x 340 mm (9.45 x 13.39”). 

To order any edition, visit Gibson.com. 

British blues-rock legend Paul Kossoff (1950-1976) would have turned 72 this week.

Although the Free guitarist’s untimely death at the age of 25 was a great loss to the guitar world he remains one of the most influential ‘Burst slingers in music history.

Synonymous with the Les Paul Standard, Kossoff’s tone is a touchstone for many – including Guns N’ Roses guitarist Richard Fortus who cites him as one of his biggest influences.

Yesterday, on Kossoff’s birthday, Fortus shared an audio clip of an inspired guitar solo he recorded for a tribute album in aid of Melia Clapton’s Turn Up For Recovery.

To record this outstanding guitar solo, Fortus ran his recently acquired 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard into a pair of rare vintage tube amps – a mid-’60s Park and a ’59 Fender Bassman.

A dream guitar for decades, the purchase of this Holy Grail of tone was funded by the guitarist’s gargantuan gear sale at Chicago Music Exchange that comprised over 200 items including amps, acoustic guitars and electric guitars.

“My initial goal was to buy a ‘Burst, but I figured I’d get a refin or a headstock repair – something more affordable,” Fortus told Guitar Player.

“I went through everything and sold anything that I didn’t use. It was an interesting process. I’d amassed this collection over the years because I never sold anything; I only bought stuff.”

A discerning musician with an ear for great tone, the GnR guitar twin carefully set about finding the perfect ‘Burst. It was, however, as if the guitar found him instead.

“As soon as I played it, I knew it was the one,” he recalls. “I played eight different ‘Bursts that were up for sale and when I plugged this one in, I was like, ‘Fuck. This is definitely the one.’ 

"They vary. Wildly. But I knew straight away. It's absolutely perfect."

At that point, Fortus was certain he had found exactly what he was looking for and became the second custodian of a 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard.

“It’s had one previous owner who owned it from new,” he tells us. “It's in great shape. It’s definitely been played but it’s been really well taken care of. It's completely faded but there's no scratches or anything.”

Right now, Fortus is out on the road with Gun N’ Roses, although his beloved ‘Burst won’t be making an appearance on stage any time soon. Like Slash, he intends on keeping it safely locked up at home in the vault.

“I use it all the time in the studio to record with,” he enthuses, “and I've played live with it once. But I'm not going to be taking it on out with Guns.

“Slash takes his Derrig on tour, but he doesn’t take his old ones out either.”

Browse the Guns N' Roses catalog here.

Nowadays, Slash is known the world over as the lead guitarist in Guns N’ Roses – the L.A. hard rock band with whom he made a name for himself as one of the most influential players in guitar history.

As a fan of the Gibson Les Paul design, he had a great deal to do with re-popularizing the iconic electric guitar when GnR hit the bigtime in the late ‘80s.

This eventually led to his current signature collaborations with both Gibson and Epiphone.

But like so many guitar players before and after, Slash came from humble beginnings. It was through sheer determination and hard work that he made it happen.

In this interview extract from the December 1991 issue of Guitar Player, the guitarist recounts how he first got his world-famous chops together (and explains why he once tried to demolish a wall with a Les Paul copy.)

How did you get started?

My first guitar was a one-string Spanish acoustic that was lying around the house. I taught myself a UFO song and “Smoke on the Water.”

My grandmother was really sweet; she bought me an Explorer copy that I flipped out on. Unfortunately, it was a piece of shit.

Then I got a Memphis Les Paul copy. At rehearsal one day, I ended up sticking it through a wall neck first because I could not keep the fucking thing in tune.

Did you practice a lot?

I was a workaholic. I'd play 12 hours a day. I picked it up really quick because I was naive in a way. I wasn't starstruck and I wasn't so flipped out by other guitar players that they intimidated me.

I didn't feel like I was trying to reach some goal. I was just learning. A lot of people go, “It's gonna take me 10 years to reach this place,” and it freaks them out.

I’m real single-minded, so once I got into guitar that's all I did. It basically replaced school.

At some point you got a good instrument.

That was a B.C. Rich Mockingbird. I wish I had it now. I hocked it during one of my so-called bad periods. But I played that while I was going through different bands.

Later, I got a handmade Les Paul copy, built by a guy who makes awesome guitars, better than anything the company produces now – nothing against Gibson.

I think that’s when I turned into a Gibson freak – Gibson and Marshall. That’s been my standard until this album [Use Your Illusion I & II.]

When you were coming up, did you see many hot players in L.A.?

I couldn't afford good enough concert seats to pick up anything from watching guys perform. But for some reason, when I listened, I understood how to go about it.

Eddie Van Halen was the only one who might have thrown me for a loop, but I never tried to emulate him, because I always thought that style was his.

It really bummed me out when everybody ripped off his whole trip.

Did you have any formal instruction?

One teacher, Robert Wollan – a great guy who had a lot to do with me getting into guitar – pointed me in the right direction.

As all music teachers are supposed to do, he started me reading music and playing “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” It was so boring!

But Robert played the shit out of the guitar – he’s still one of the most amazing players I’ve ever met. I’d bring in records and he’d play “Stairway to Heaven” note for note.

It really pissed me off, because I’d sit there with this bullshit Mel Bay. Finally, I quit and spent a lot of time teaching myself. I worked full-time to support my guitar habit and stayed up until god-knows-when practicing and learning.

My main thing was Jeff Beck at that time. I remember learning “’Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers” note for note, getting every subtlety.

There was Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Cheap Trick and Zeppelin.

I sold my soul to the guitar. If I quit playing now, I’d have no future.

Browse the Guns N' Roses catalog here.

Get tour info here.

Gibson has launched an exciting new Custom Shop venture in style with the release of ten Flying V guitars designed in collaboration with boutique luthier Leo Scala.

Kicking off their Master Artisan Collection, Gibson has employed the artful skills of world-class craftsman Scala who has provided some patent-worthy tweaks to the iconic ‘modernistic’ design released in 1958.

With further collaborations in the pipeline, we spoke to Gibson brand president Cesar Gueikian to find out more about this innovative approach to electric guitar building.

Is this the first time Gibson has worked with an independent luthier?

Yes. This has been many years in the making. It’s a collaboration we’ve been working with Leo Scala on for over two years.

Leo Scala is also well-known for making custom guitars for Guns N’ Roses' Richard Fortus…

Yes. That’s how I connected with Leo. Richard was the one who said, “Hey, I think you should meet with Leo Scala. I think out of all the creative boutique luthiers, Leo is the best one I’ve worked with.”

He’s not only a passionate musician and guitar maker, but he’s also very passionate about Gibson and Gibson history. He’s highly respectful of the history and what Gibson has inspired him to do. So that’s why Leo and I met.

How did you meet Leo Scala?

I met Leo in person at his workshop and he started showing me some of the things that he has been coming up with over many, many years and some of the things he was making. 

We connected immediately. He has such great respect for the instrument, quality, history and craftsmanship. Taking all that into consideration was an inspiration to do something new.

Leo is somebody that has broken the mold and has been innovating on his own while being inspired by the things [Gibson] has done in the past.

What new concepts has Leo Scala introduced?

We have two new innovations patented by Gibson with Leo Scala as the inventor: the hybrid chevron tailpiece and the dogear humbucker. Those are his ideas and creations. We paid tribute to him as the guy who invented them. And we’re putting them to work in this collaboration.

With the hybrid chevron tailpiece, you can string through the body, or use it as a stop-bar. That was a great idea by Leo. As was the dogears on a humbucker.

It’s a simple idea, but very effective…

Yeah, I think that’s right. But within that simplicity is an incredible amount of custom work on each guitar. I’m very much into that.

The guitars look immediately familiar. But the more you look, the more you notice how different they are…

And each of the ten has a different finish shade – a different degree of natural. All these subtle things [Leo Scala] thinks about and applies are why it takes so long to make these guitars.

Do you have a favorite?

Yes. The Seraph. It’s absolutely unbelievable. But every one of the Leo Scala Master Artisan guitars are incredible.

How long did they take to make?

It’s a lot of work before starting, and then the process is about one-year. It’s a highly involved process. 

One of the great aspects of this series is that it was started by our artisans in the Custom Shop and then passed to the master artisan Leo Scala. So it was started by Gibson and finished by Leo.

What did they look like when they left the Custom Shop?

They left the Custom Shop as korina guitars with Brazilian rosewood fingerboards. Leo then makes the instrument what it is. That’s really powerful, I think.

All the metal parts – including the chevron tailpieces and stop-bars – and the pickups are all done by [Leo Scala.] It’s all handmade. He wound every pickup. There is a lot of work that goes into it. I mean that’s why it took one year to make ten guitars. But each guitar is unique.

So it’s fair to say they’re works of art in themselves?

They absolutely are.

Are you reserving one for Gibson?

We have one that’s going to stay in the Gibson Vault.

And will it get played?

Without a doubt. Our guitars are going to be making music. Our original ’58 Flying V that we’ve had in the Vault for a very long time was on stage two weeks ago with Richie Faulkner and Judas Priest here in Nashville.

Gemini, my ’59 ‘Burst that has a sequential serial number to Greeny, is going to be on stage soon with John Notto of Dirty Honey. So these guitars were made to be played. Guitars that come into our collection are very much going to be used on stage and in the studio.

Considering so much work has gone into making these guitars look a certain way, what would you say to those people concerned about playing them?

We wanted to make sure these instruments create the opposite reaction to picking up a mint condition guitar. That’s why they’re so heavily aged. We wanted people to not worry about just picking them up and playing them.

What concept did you have in mind specifically when it came to esthetics?

They’re not Gloss or VOS like you would normally get out of the Custom Shop. We offer that, but these particular guitars were all about: what would they look like today if they have been heavily used over the decades since 1958? That was the concept of the design for Leo Scala.

1,000 dings looks better than one, right?

Right. And it’s all in the right places. Leo Scala paid a lot of attention to that. You know, what would be the result of decades of play wear: the arm, picking, fretboard wear… It’s all done in a really nice way.

It’s refreshing to see Gibson working with an independent luthier. Things seem to have changed a lot in recent years…

Yes. We were very selective, obviously, but on the other hand we’re really excited about it. What we just did with Leo Scala and what’s going to be coming out in future gets me motivated.

When I go to the Custom Shop, I can see the passion of our builders – some of whom have been with us for decades.  

Gibson seems an altogether happier place these days…

I certainly think so. I think it’s been a complete 180 as a result of the actions we’ve taken. Not what we’re saying, but the actions. I like the fact we’re doing things that are paying tribute to our very iconic past while looking towards the future.

That comes with a lot of communication and collaboration, and respect for our craftsmen and craftswomen. 

It’s about celebrating people’s skills, experience and depth of knowledge. Everyone is so excited about what they’re building.

Visit Gibson for more information.

Rock fans may have first heard the name Andrew Watt when he was announced as the guitarist, songwriter and producer behind Ozzy Osbourne’s most recent studio album, 2020’s Ordinary Man. But the 31-year-old phenom has been a major player in the music world for years before he connected with Ozz.

Although he cut his teeth as a rock guitarist, both as a solo artist and playing alongside Glenn Hughes and Jason Bonham in the short-lived supergroup California Breed, Watt has also been responsible for some of pop’s biggest smashes from the likes of Post Malone, Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello, Justin Bieber, 5 Seconds of Summer and others.

For Ordinary Man, he assembled a supergroup that included Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.

But no matter what artist he’s working alongside, Watt says the creative process always begins the same way for him.

“I write every song sitting on a couch with a guitar or jamming with other musicians,” he explains.

“From there you can add all the current-sounding drums and synths you want, or you can play with Duff and Chad and make it an absolute rock-metal heater. It’s all in the production. I haven’t changed my process in how my art and my music comes to me. I do it the same way I did it when I was 11 years old.”

What has changed, he continues, are his collaborators.

“I’m constantly finding new people to work with who take how I play guitar and other instruments and put it all together in a new way and add a different kind of flair,” Watt says. “For me, collaboration is key to evolution. And if you don’t evolve, you’re stuck.”

Here, Watt takes us through five of his greatest collaborations…

1) Post Malone | “Stay” from ‘Beerbongs & Bentleys’ (2018)

“Post and I had just started our friendship and we wanted to make music together. This was 2015 or 2016. I was working at Henson Studios [in L.A.] at the time, so I told him, ‘Come through whenever you want to come through.’

“He came through one night, and I remember he got really uncomfortable. I went outside with him. We were smoking cigarettes and he says, ‘Man, this studio is too nice for me.’ So we brought in couches, got a cooler with a hundred Bud Lights, lit up some cigarettes and gave it a vibe. This is the room where they recorded ‘We Are the World.’ But I figured I’d worry about the bill later.

“We started getting on a roll, and one of the songs we made was ‘Stay.’ One day we’re sitting on the couch in that room. Post had an old Gibson Country Western and I had an old Martin 0-18. We were talking about how much we love George Harrison and started playing these Beatles-type chords – major sevens and things.

“Then Post went and laid down a bunch of scratch melodies in the vocal booth, we got a basic melody structure down, and he left. I was so inspired that I stayed overnight – as I was doing back then, because studio time was limited for me – and I tracked everything on the song.

“I put a bunch of electric guitars on, and for the bass, I was listening to [David Bowie’s] ‘Space Oddity’ and trying to do something sparse and melodic and cool. And since we had been talking so much about George Harrison, I played a slide solo on a 1957 Gibson Ultratone lap steel through a Supro amp.

“Then Post came in the next day and he said, ‘I got the lyrics.’ And they were perfect. He laid it down, we collaborated on the background vocals, and that was the song. It’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever done because it’s one of the first records where an artist was just like, ‘Go paint the canvas,’ and let me do that. It’s really special to me.”

2) Ozzy Osbourne | “All My Life” from ‘Ordinary Man’ (2020)

“Chad, Duff and I did the main sessions for the Ozzy album in four days. This one probably came on day two. By that time we were pumping. We knew how to speak together, and we were working stuff out. And we were referencing the things we love about Ozzy.

“I was going through songs of his that I love and that the fans love, and ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home’ is one of those. I love the beautiful 12-string acoustic guitar and the way his voice sounds over that. And I love ‘No More Tears,’ how it’s a heavy riff and a really simple one-liner. So I was thinking of those two songs as we were making this music.

“I start playing the opening melody, and Duff, being the beast that he is, comes in with this melodic bass line that’s so Guns N’ Roses. Then we get to the chorus and we needed a riff, so we collaborated on this riff until it felt really great.

“For the vocal, me and Ozzy and Ali Tamposi, who I write pretty much all my songs with, got together and came up with some melodies that felt really cool. Ali and Ozzy are both sober and they really bonded over that, and you can hear it in the lyrics. And recording Ozzy’s vocal is the most fun thing in the world. He doubles his voice and nails it – puts all the emotion in.

“After we did all of that, I was listening to the song and thinking about how to approach the solo. I knew I wanted it to be melodic, like how the ‘No More Tears’ solo is so melodic. And I came up with the melody that you hear in the song. That was my theme.

“I was playing my Ronson Les Paul [Watt owns an early 1970s Les Paul Standard that once belonged to guitarist Mick Ronson], and the first time you hear the melody it kind of moves slow. Then it comes back for the second time and all hell breaks loose. Duff and Chad are ripping through the end of the song, and it was just so much fun to play over that.”

3) Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello | "Señorita" (2019)

“This was a song I started with Ali Tamposi and Charlie XCX. I made the guitar riff first. I love covers of songs – I find inspiration in them all the time, because you can discover really cool things in those interpretations. And one of my favorite covers ever is José Feliciano’s version of ‘Light My Fire.’ I just love the bossa nova feel and the way the guitar works in that version.

“I had recently made the song ‘Havana’ by Camila Cabello, and it was something a lot of people had really enjoyed, so I wanted to stay in that lane. I put some chords together and laid down a bass line on a Hofner. The song really lived with my Martin 0-18, a Hofner and a finger snap for a long time.

“We started writing the hook, and I played it for Shawn Mendes. He really loved it and became attached to it. We wrote more of the song together, and once Camila got involved, I got together with her and we wrote her verse.

“There are some songs where you capture lightning in a bottle, and then there are songs that are more of an evolution and a step process. This one was more of a step process. It was recorded all over the place – in London with Shawn, in L.A. with Camila. I worked on it in New York, in Miami. It was what had to happen to get it done.

“But it really stayed simple. Besides the addition of some drums and some 808s that are following that Hofner, it stayed in its original form, production-wise, which is great. What took it to the stratosphere was Shawn and Camila. It was a good song before that, but with the two of them together it became like a West Side Story kind of thing. They really made it their love story.”

4) Shelley FKA DRAM | “The Lay Down with H.E.R. & WATT" from 'Shelley FKA DRAM' (2021)

“DRAM is an artist who sits in this unlabeled space. He’s a full-blown tripper, an amazing character with an incredible voice. His biggest song is a hip-hop record called ‘Broccoli,’ but after meeting him it was so clear that’s not all he is.

“He can do anything. He wanted to make music with me, so I said, ‘Okay, let’s do some experimental shit where it’s like P-Funk and you’re George Clinton and the world hasn’t had music like that in a really long time. And your lyrical content and the way you deliver is going to be what’s modern and fresh.’

“And then I said, ‘Let’s make it live.’

“I pulled together Chad Smith on drums and Pino Palladino, who needs no introduction, on bass. And we got Ivan Neville to play keys, and we started making music. I grabbed my Ronson Les Paul and this three-minute solo came out of me.

“The band followed me, and you feel it building, and what you hear on the record is all live and in one take. I overdubbed some slide guitars and other things, but aside from that it’s all what we did right then and there.

“Then I played the track for DRAM, and he wrote one of the most beautiful songs ever over it. And then H.E.R. jumped on it and she sang along with my guitar solo at the end, which sounds so Pink Floyd to me.

“The whole thing is psychedelic and funky and cool. It sounds like you’re at a concert when you listen to it. It’s live, and it’s pumping and breathing.”

5) 5 Seconds of Summer | “Youngblood” from ‘Youngblood’ (2018)

“I’m really into shuffles. One of my favorite artists is Stevie Wonder, and if you listen to ‘Higher Ground’ [from Innvervisions], that shuffle he’s doing with his foot – because he’s playing the drums – is coming from the kick drum. I just love that stuff and that feel.

“I had started working with 5 Seconds of Summer, and a lot of people looked at them as a boy band, but they’re not. They’re all incredible musicians. They can all play every instrument. They love rock music. They can harmonize like skyrockets in flight. They just were making the wrong kind of music.

“So I started talking to them about different eras and different sounds of rock music. I told them, ‘I want to make something with a shuffle.’ We were messing around with these chords and the idea of this atmosphere building over electric guitar that eventually just explodes. That sounds like stadium rock to me. Ali and I got together with the boys, and I put down some chords with the kick drum doing that kind of shuffle pattern, and that became ‘Youngblood.’

“I tried different guitar parts to link everything together, and I ended up with this kind of muted part that has an Andy Summers or a Tears for Fears vibe. It really clicked. Then I got together with [producer] Louis Bell, who helped me tighten everything up and bring it to a whole other level.

“It became the band’s first number-one song. And then it was the most played song on the NFL that season! It’s like the song ‘Rock and Roll (Part 2).’ Something about going boom ba-boom ba-boom ba-boom makes you want to throw a football, you know?”

Happy birthday to Guns N’ Roses guitarist Richard Fortus!

A member of the hard rock titans for the best part of two decades Fortus’s long and varied career has seen him perform with a diverse range of artists including Thin Lizzy, Psychedelic Furs, and The Dead Daisies.

As one of the industry’s most prolific session guitarists Fortus has lent his superlative talents to countless projects over the years. From some of the world’s biggest names in music such as Enrique Iglesias and Rihanna to film scores, commercials and video games – he’s done it all!

While being immersed in such a broad variety of gigs over the years, Fortus has constantly strived to refine his electric guitar tone, and his new Gretsch signature Falcons – the white, Bigsby-equipped G6636T-RF and black, V-stoptail G6636-RF – are the culmination of a lifetime's experience in music.

These Falcons are not just any Gretsch semi-hollowbody electric.

“Gretsch is, in many ways, the tone of rock ‘n’ roll for me,” says Fortus. “From classic Duane Eddy [and] Cliff Gallup to Malcolm Young – it really encapsulates rock ‘n’ roll.”

With a solid bottom end and sparkling, chime-y top end Fortus’s classic Gretsch Filter’Tron sound sits around Slash’s more midrange-prominent vocal guitar tone, allowing each to occupying their own space within Guns N’ Roses’ unique sonic picture.

Far from being off-the-shelf parts the pickups in the new Gretsch Richard Fortus Signature Falcons are the result of painstaking experimentation.

“Gretsch were in rehearsals with us, and they were winding pickups on the spot while I’m trying them out,” Fortus told Guitarist magazine. “We had a cycle of four different guitars, as well as my normal live guitars to compare them to. Plus, when you’re on in-ears, you’re listening under a microscope. You can hear every detail.

“Our front-of-house engineer was in the other room in a control room environment, so he was listening too and giving us feedback. We’d go back and forth zeroing in on the perfect tone. Gretsch were amazing. They were as tenacious as I was in trying to find the perfect blend.”

The team eventually settled on a unique design incorporating elements of vintage-style PAF and Filter’Tron pickups. Consequently, this versatile humbucker is able to produce both iconic tones. 

“When you roll the volume down to around seven, you’re very much in classic Filter’Tron territory," says Fortus. "And as you bring the volume up you get more of that round PAF thing.”

Here’s a quick rundown of specs for each of the two models…

G6636T-RF Richard Fortus Signature Falcon

BODY

• Arched laminated maple top and back
• 1.75" (44.45 mm) depth
• Center block construction
• Vintage White gloss finish

NECK

• Maple set-neck construction with U-profile
• 25.5" (648 mm) scale length
• 22-fret ebony fingerboard with 12" (305 mm) radius
• Pearloid Neo-Classic Thumbnail inlays

ELECTRONICS

• Dual custom wound Filter'Tron pickups with nickel covers
• Master volume with treble bleed
• Master tone with no-load pot

HARDWARE

• Bigsby B6CP
• TonePros TP6R bridge with roller saddles
• Grover Rotomatic die-cast tuners
• Nickel finish

G6636-RF Richard Fortus Signature Falcon

BODY

• Arched laminated maple top and back
• 1.75" (44.45 mm) depth
• Center block construction
• Black gloss finish

NECK

• Maple set-neck construction with U-profile
• 24.6" (625 mm) scale length
• 22-fret ebony fingerboard with 12" (305 mm) radius
• Pearloid Neo-Classic Thumbnail inlays

ELECTRONICS

• Dual custom wound Filter'Tron pickups with nickel covers
• Master volume with treble bleed
• Master tone with no-load pot

HARDWARE

• V-stoptail
• TonePros TP6R Tune-O-Matic bridge
• Grover Rotomatic die-cast tuners
• Nickel finish

Visit the Gretsch website for more information.

On 17 September 1991, Guns N' Roses released their much-anticipated Use Your Illusion albums. This double dose of hard rock hit the shelves in tandem, immediately peaking at the top of the charts. Supported by the lead single "You Could Be Mine," Use Your Illusion II reached the number one spot while Use Your Illusion I followed closely behind at number two. Bolstered by a massive world tour, both albums would eventually go on to reach multi-platinum status.

Later that year, Guitar Player caught up with Slash to talk about the "blood, sweat, and tears" recordings. Here's what he had to say...

Rumor has it you’ve got a pretty righteous guitar collection.

About 50 guitars. I’m really a guitar freak. I spend money on what – snakes, guitars, and cars? I try not to spend too much on women. I keep everything in storage; I don’t take the really good shit out on the road because things get too banged up. There was a point when I had to take the guitar that I used for Appetite on the road, ‘cause it was the only guitar I had. Now, it’s beat to shit.

The ’59 repro?

Yeah, the hand-made yellow flame-top with zebra [Seymour Duncan] Alnico II pickups. For the first record, I must have gone through 10 guitars trying to find one I liked. And I couldn’t afford to buy some ridiculously expensive Les Paul. When our former manager showed up with this one, it became my main studio guitar.

Did you use it on “Sweet Child O’ Mine”?

Yeah. For almost everything on Appetite and then for most of the heavier songs on Use Your Illusion.

You used other guitars on this album?

Some fucking great guitars – a ’58 V and a ’58 Explorer. There’s a certain nasal sound you can hear on “Heaven’s Door,” “Locomotive,” and a couple of other songs – it’s almost [Michael] Schenker-sounding. That’s just the tone control on the V, no wah pedal. There were a couple of other guitars that people aren’t used to hearing me play. 

I used one of those small-scale Music Mans like Keith Richards has. There’s a Travis Bean that I use for slide on “Bad Obsession” [Illusion I]. When I first got into slide, I went to a Joe Perry Project show; he had a Travis Bean, and it sounded killer. So when I saw one in the paper, I bought it. It has a gorgeous mahogany body with this real subtle rainbow in the finish – it’s almost airbrushed. 

I played maybe 20 different guitars on Use You Illusion: a Strat, a Dobro, a 6-string bass, a banjo, some acoustics. But the sound that I’m recognized for is my Les Paul through a Marshall half-stack.

Will there ever be a Gibson Slash model?

At one point they had an idea for a Slash Les Paul. I gave them my best live guitar; they had it for six months, trying to get the weight and density and everything right. God bless the guys who worked on it, ‘cause they’re really cool, but they sent me four instruments and none of them sounded anywhere close to it. 

I’m sort of pissed off at Gibson, because in the six-odd years that I’ve been with them, I’ve only gotten three gold-tops that I can use live. And I’ve spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on old Gibsons. We just cannot seem to get a sound that I’m happy with from the new ones.

How do you set up to record?

For the basic tracks, I play with the band, using headphones; we’re all in one room. The main goal is to get the bass and drums down. It’s a great vibe and I wish I could record my final tracks that way, but I can’t. I need to be in my own studio – away from where the basic tracks are done – in the control booth. I don’t let anybody in from the band, if I can help it. 

On “Shotgun Blues” [Illusion II] Axl and some friends popped in, and I did the solo in one take. Sometimes you just want to fuckin’ jam in front of somebody. Usually no one was in the studio except for Mike [Clink, Producer] and Jim Mitchell, our engineer. That’s really my element. I love it.

What happens after the basic tracks?

I redo all my parts. There are a lot of guitars on the album. Izzy has only one guitar throughout the whole record; he comes out of the left speaker. He recorded most of his stuff during basic tracks. I did all the overdubs and harmonies, plus my regular rhythm track. There are a couple of songs, especially ones I wrote, where I beefed up the tracks over on Izzy’s side, ‘cause he’s got a particular sound that doesn’t necessarily…

…weigh as much.

Yeah, exactly. It falls out of balance. I did all that, the acoustics, and my other instruments in five weeks. For 27 songs, it was pretty quick.

Did you cut all your rhythm tracks and then do all the solos, or did you complete one song at a time?

Because there was so much material, I debated both approaches. But I ended up going in and doing the entire song. If there were four different parts on that song, I just get into it and do ‘em. Otherwise, even if you switch rhythm sounds for each song, you’d end up playing all your rhythms the same. You need to get into one song at a time, so when you go to the next one, it’s a whole different entity.

How do you set up for overdubs?

When I was doing my guitars, I stood out in front of the main monitors with Mike and the engineer. Just blasting as loud as possible.

Playing through the monitors, how did you get you trademark feedback?

That’s a major problem that I’ve been battling for a long time. Normally, you go out into the studio and stand in front of your Marshall. With headphones on you can’t even hear the tracks – I don’t know how people deal with it. 

Anyway, my techs came up with a trick. I bet them that it wouldn’t work. They set it up so that I was coming through the monitors and a MESA/Boogie [Mark III combo]. I had the monitor so loud that even though the Boogie was right in front of me, I could still hear the band and sit in the control room. I got a lot of feedback that way.

Did you have to stand in certain places?

I’d find a cool spot and put a piece of tape on the ground. Then girls would come down to the studio and hang out. I’d get in the next day and find these shapes on the floor where they’d had a ball with the tape. I was completely confused: “Where’s my spot?” Or somebody would come in and tidy up. I’m like, “Fuck, do not touch anything, leave everything alone!” I love things to be a complete disaster. 

For every beer we drank, we’d stick the label on the [control room] glass – we almost covered the whole thing. One day we got to the studio and the manager had cleaned up. The whole environment was shot – all the porn pictures were taken down.

For your Dobro and slide parts, did you play in standard or open tuning?

The Dobro in “You Ain’t The First” [Illusion I] is in standard tuning. I used something I picked up from Keith Richards for “Bad Obsession.” You take the low-E string off and just have five strings. That’s how I play it live, too, in open G [GDGBD, low to high]. I think those are the only slide tunings I used.

And the banjo in “Breakdown” [Illusion II]?

It was a 6-string banjo tuned like a guitar and played with a flatpick. I don’t know shit about real banjo.

Your classical guitar solo at the end of “Double Talkin’ Jive” [Illusion I] is poignant.

Thank you; I enjoyed doing it. That Ramirez was one of my better finds – expensive, but beautiful. It’s really satisfying to heat that the solo has some emotion. It was done pretty quick. Actually, I didn’t spend too much time on anything. It was always one or two takes, more or less. If the intonation was really off, Clink would tell me, and I’d go back and maybe punch in. 

But we never spent entire days on guitar solos. We’d take an entire day and do a whole song. Of course, for the really long songs, it would take two days to get all that shit right. But I’d like to think that it was more rock and roll than what most bands are doing these days.

What steel-string acoustics do you play on the album?

I have several Guilds – a nice 12-string and a couple of great big dreadnoughts. I used a Gibson J-100 too.

Do you use the same picks for electric guitar and acoustic guitar?

Yeah. I’m real simpleminded about that. I use the heaviest picks I can find for everything. I don’t believe in switching picks like people switch guitars. It would probably be worthwhile, especially for strumming an acoustic – a thin pick is definitely easier to use. 

Mine are purple [Dunlop] Tortex, really rigid. I have to work harder for certain subtle things: Sometimes when I get up the neck to play soft, I really have to pay attention to the pressure I’m putting on the strings to get the right sound, whereas with a light pick you can strum away. But I can’t be bothered to change. And I can’t be bothered with string gauges, either – I stick to Ernie Ball .010s and that’s that. I’m really simple when it comes to equipment. I don’t like to switch around too much.

Browse Guns N' Roses albums here.

If you are able, cast your mind back to 1991 and you may remember a slew of albums appearing within weeks of each other that would forever change the course of music.

There was, of course, Nirvana’s Nevermind and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Blood Sugar Sex Magik (September 24); Guns N’ Roses' Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II (both released on September 17); and Metallica’s eponymous ‘Black Album’ (August 12). Not to mention the debut albums Leisure by Blur and Pretty on the Inside by Hole (August 26 and September 17, respectively).

And on this day, in the middle of 1991’s soundtrack peak, arrived Pearl Jam’s debut album, Ten. Five years later, the band would release their fourth studio album, No Code, also on August 27.

In celebration of these classic albums, Pearl Jam have today released newly remixed state-of-the-art digital-only editions of Ten and No Code. Both the 30th anniversary digital edition of Ten and 25th anniversary digital edition of No Code have been mixed by producer/sound engineer Josh Evans in state-of-the-art Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio for an an immersive sonic experience.

"These two albums sound amazing in the immersive format," said Evans. "For Ten, the goal was to create the best version of the record, bigger, wider and higher fidelity; now, it actually sounds as great coming out of your speakers as it does in your memory of hearing it the first time.

“25 years ahead of its time, No Code almost sounds like it was intended to be an immersive album; experimental layers, nuance and raw aggression are all amplified and expanded in a simultaneously bigger and more intimate experience."

Later today (5pm PT) a free streaming event kicks off on Pearl Jam’s YouTube, Facebook, and nugs.net. Presented by Pearl Jam’s fan community Ten Club this free stream showcases Pearl Jam performing No Code live in its entirety.

One million is an awesome number of plays by any standard, but one billion plays? That can be hard to get your head around. To put it into perspective: one million seconds equates to about eleven and a half days, whereas one billion seconds adds up to more than 31 years. Big difference. By the same logic, the amount of time people have spent listening to Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child o’ Mine” on Spotify so far totals well over 11,000 years!

Appearing on Guns N’ Roses’ record-breaking 1987 debut album Appetite for Destruction, the “Sweet Child o’ Mine” single was originally released in June 1988. Bolstered by heavy rotation on MTV, it became a number one hit and helped introduce the band to a far wider audience than the underground hard rock scene of the late '80s.

Although the genesis of “Sweet Child o’ Mine" is attributed to Slash’s unforgettable opening riff, it was far from his favorite track and its inclusion on Appetite was chiefly at Axl Rose’s suggestion.

Speaking on the origins of “Sweet Child o’ Mine,” Slash told attendees at a private masterclass hosted by Guitar Center in 2010: “Where the riff came from, I don’t really remember, but I started playing this pattern. I mean it was one of those things I was in the process of discovering as I came up with each note and sort of turned it into something that kept rotating.

“Along the way, Izzy [Stradlin] started playing the chords that went along with it – behind it. And I guess Axl had overheard us playing it (he was upstairs) and unbeknownst to us he had started writing lyrics. A couple of days later we were at rehearsal doing sort of preproduction or whatever and Axl goes, “Play that song you guys were playing the other day.”

 “I always complain about [“Sweet Child o’ Mine"] because it was so up-tempo, ballad-y kind of thing – really rubbed me the wrong way. Even though I made up the riff, I didn’t know it was going to turn into… And so, I came in with the chord changes for the actual solo part which, for me, was the only redeeming part of the song.”

While the original full-length 5:55 version of “Sweet Child o’ Mine" is being streamed on Spotify, the track was significantly edited down for MTV, much to the chagrin of Axl Rose who told Rolling Stone in a 1989 interview, “I hate the edit of “Sweet Child O' Mine” … My favorite part of the song is Slash's slow solo; it's the heaviest part for me.”

On the subject of GN'R singles... Last Friday, the band put out their first release since 2008's Chinese Democracy album in the form of the "ABSUЯD" single. Making its live debut last week, "ABSUЯD" sees Guns N' Roses returning to form as they hit the road once again on a worldwide tour.

Get Appetite for Destruction here.

As well as owning one of the first ‘Bursts ever made, Slash has enjoyed a long and fruitful history with Gibson. Having done the sales of Les Paul Standards no harm in the late ‘80s when he exploded onto the world stage with Guns N’ Roses, several Slash signature Les Paul models have emerged from the Gibson factory.

• Our pick of the best Epiphone Les Pauls available today

Following the release of the Gibson Slash Collection in 2020 (currently comprising of the Slash Les Paul Standard; Slash "Victoria" Les Paul Standard Goldtop; and Slash J-45) a more affordable alternative has just been unveiled as part of Epiphone's Inspired by Gibson Collection.

As well as inheriting the model names of their Gibson siblings the Epiphone Slash guitars are available in the same finishes. In addition to the Slash "Victoria" Les Paul Standard Goldtop these include Appetite Burst, Anaconda Burst, Vermillion Burst, and November Burst for the Slash Les Paul Standard, while the Slash J-45 acoustic is also available in the latter two finishes.

Featuring high-quality appointments throughout, the Epiphone Slash Les Paul Standards feature a mahogany body with AAA flame maple veneer and pro electronics including Epiphone Custom ProBucker pickups, CTS pots, and Orange Drop caps. 

Of similar merit, the Epiphone Slash Collection J-45 ‘dreadnought’ is constructed using solid mahogany for the back and sides along with a solid Sitka spruce top. An LR Baggs VTC preamp and under-saddle pickup allows flexible amplification when required.

Watch Slash talk about his new Epiphone range of signature models...

For more details visit Epiphone's website here.

On this day in 1987, Guns N’ Roses released Appetite for Destruction – the era-defining album that would go on to sell over 30 million copies. To put that into perspective: a line of 30 million 12-inch LPs would easily stretch from LA to London. Thankfully, Guns N’ Roses were able to make that journey themselves when they played their first gigs outside of the US at London’s Marquee club during June 1987.

Soon after, Guns N’ Roses established a worldwide reputation for their super-charged live shows – during which time Appetite for Destruction unexpectedly blew up the entire rock ‘n’ roll scene. Meanwhile, the band’s enigmatic lead guitarist quietly gained a devoted following of his own as legions of budding electric guitar players gleaned their musical education from a solid diet of GN’R licks.

Decades later, and with Guns N’ Roses never far from the eyes and ears of the music world, generations of guitarists have been schooled – knowingly or otherwise – by Saul Hudson aka Slash. Aside from helping to repopularize the Gibson Les Paul Standard in the late ‘80s, references to Slash’s technique and sound can be seen and heard everywhere from acoustic guitars to Marshall stacks.

In this candid clip from Slash’s official YouTube Channel, he reveals some home truths about his own musical upbringing. “I didn’t realize music was my calling ironically enough, cuz I was raised on tons of music and loved music all through my childhood,” he says. “But it wasn’t until I actually picked up the guitar when I was about 14 years old that, all of a sudden, that was going to be my thing.”

Buy Appetite for Destruction here.

White Falcons were at the top of Gretsch’s pecking order when they were released in 1955. With their hot-rodded design these rare birds represented the pinnacle of the Brooklyn firm’s craftsmanship in the golden era. They were made to stand out from the crowd.

Originally intended as a one-off display centerpiece for the 1954 NAMM trade show, the White Falcon ended up turning so many heads that by the following year Gretsch had put it into regular production designated as the model 6136.

Since then, the Gretsch Falcon has picked up its fair share of admirers and is famously associated with several name guitarists, including Neil Young and John Frusciante. A White Falcon devotee for many years now, Guns N’ Roses’ longest-serving guitarist Richard Fortus has been honoured with his own signature models.

But these are no ordinary Falcons. Far from sticking to a formula Gretsch and Fortus dove deep in their quest for perfect tone and surfaced with two unique signature Falcon designs: the Vintage White, Bigsby-equipped G6636T-RF, and the Black, non-vibrato G6636-RF. Both models feature a three-way toggle switch, master volume and master tone controls, “U”-shaped maple neck and 12”-radius ebony fingerboard with 22 medium jumbo frets.

Gretsch Falcons are, traditionally, a hollowbody electric guitar. And while Fortus has famously used the fully hollow Gretsch Players Edition Falcon on stage with Guns N’ Roses for some time, his new signature models have advanced the design to include a feedback-busting center block. 

Additionally, Fortus’ new signature models feature a '60s-style double-cutaway body, enabling easier navigation of the upper frets. “I’m really excited about what we came up with,” says Fortus. “I’m so excited about these pickups – they really sound incredible.”

The pickups in Fortus’ new Falcons are the result of some painstaking research, much of which was carried out during Guns N’ Roses’ rehearsals. “Earlier this year, Gretsch were in rehearsals with us, and they were winding pickups on the spot while I’m trying them out,” Fortus tells us. 

“We had a cycle of four different guitars, as well as my normal live guitars to compare them to. Plus, when you’re on in-ears, you’re listening under a microscope. You can hear every detail. Our front-of-house engineer was in the other room in a control room environment, so he was listening too and giving us feedback. We’d go back and forth zeroing in on the perfect tone. Gretsch were amazing. They were as tenacious as I was in trying to find the perfect blend.

“We came up with a construction which is a hybrid of a vintage-style PAF and a Filter’Tron. It’s a very unique-sounding pickup, but it gives me all of the detail from a Filter’Tron I want. When you roll the volume down to around seven, you’re very much in classic Filter’Tron territory, and as you bring the volume up you get more of that round PAF thing. It’s about the same output as a vintage PAF. 

"The more windings you put on a pickup, the hotter it becomes, and also the more mid-focused it becomes. And that’s sort of the opposite of what I’m going for. But the thing about lower output pickups is that when you goose them going into the amp by boosting the signal, they can sound huge. 

“Slash and I are always riding the volume controls. We rely on that a lot. So, another thing I did with Gretsch that was really important was to get the signal to clean up correctly. 

"We had been experimenting and experimenting with different treble bleed caps and eventually found the perfect one. But the linear taper pots don’t clean up in the same way. I use audio taper in my own guitars, so that’s what Gretsch agreed to put in my signature Falcons. And it makes all the difference.” 

Read more about Richard Fortus' history with Gretsch here

Like all bands, Guns N' Roses were forced to cancel their 2020 summer U.S. tour dates due to COVID-19. Now though, the band has rescheduled those shows, and added 14 more for good measure. 

Notably, the American tour – which will kick off late next month and run through October – will feature Wolfgang Van Halen's Mammoth WVH making their touring debut in the supporting slot.

Currently preparing for the release of their self-titled debut album on June 11, Mammoth WVH have to date only made a couple of TV appearances. The group's live lineup features Van Halen on vocals and guitar, Frank Sidoris and Jon Jourdan on guitar, Ronnie Ficarro on bass, and Garrett Whitlock on drums.

Tickets for the rescheduled tour go on sale this Friday, June 4. You can check out the band's full itinerary below.

For tickets and more info, head on over to gunsnroses.com.

• Sat Jul 31 – Hershey, PA – Hersheypark Stadium* 
• Tue Aug 03 – Boston, MA – Fenway Park 
• Thu Aug 05 – East Rutherford, NJ – MetLife Stadium 
• Sun Aug 08 – Detroit, MI – Comerica Park 
• Wed Aug 11 – Fargo, ND – FargoDome 
• Fri Aug 13 – Missoula, MT – Washington-Grizzly Stadium 
• Mon Aug 16 – Commerce City, CO – Dick's Sporting Goods Park
• Thu Aug 19 – Los Angeles, CA – Banc of California Stadium
• Sun Aug 22 – Portland, OR – Moda Center*
• Wed Aug 25 – San Jose, CA – SAP Center at San Jose*
• Fri Aug 27 – Las Vegas, NV – Venue to be announced*
• Mon Aug 30 – Phoenix, AZ – Phoenix Suns Arena*
• Wed Sep 01 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center*
• Sat Sep 04 – Napa, CA – BottleRock Napa Valley^
• Wed Sep 08 – Indianapolis, IN – Lucas Oil Stadium
• Sat Sep 11 – Atlantic City, NJ – Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena*
• Sun Sep 12 – Atlantic City, NJ – Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena*
• Thu Sep 16 – Chicago, IL – Wrigley Field
• Sat Sep 18 – Milwaukee, WI – American Family Insurance Amphitheater | Summerfest
• Tue Sep 21 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center*
• Thu Sep 23 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center*
• Sun Sep 26 – Baltimore, MD – Royal Farms Arena*
• Wed Sep 29 – Raleigh, NC – PNC Arena*
• Sat Oct 02 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live Arena*
• Sun Oct 03 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live Arena*

* = New tour dates
^ = Festival date/Mammoth WVH not performing

Late last year, IK Multimedia released AmpliTube 5, the latest incarnation of its popular effects and guitar amp modeling software. Headlined by 129 new gear models, for a total of over 400, the software has already won itself quite a few fans, among them Guns N' Roses' top-hatted guitar-slinger, Slash.

In a new interview with IK Multimedia – posted yesterday, May 27, to the company's YouTube channel – Slash revealed why he has increasingly turned to AmpliTube as the perfect demo tool, especially for fleshing out new Guns N' Roses songs.

“I did a lot of demos with AmpliTube, just because it was so convenient that you don’t have to leave the house,” he said.

“We’ll be on the bus or in my hotel room, I’ll take an idea, record it on AmpliTube, and then download it and send it over to the guys. And I do that all the time.

“It makes it a lot easier for me to write, and it also makes it a lot easier for me to get an idea down spontaneously.”

Slash also had kind words for the new models and features in AmpliTube 5, saying “All things considered, it [AmpliTube] was great to begin with – no lie, it was pretty impressive just to start – but it’s gotten even better.”

You can check out the full interview above.

With the release of Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction in 1987, the band’s guitarist, Slash, emerged as one of the most influential guitarists of the 1980s and ’90s, with a style – and a guitar – that harkened back to the classic blues-based rockers of the 1960s.

Ironically, this vintage-looking Les Paul – the one Slash used on Appetite for Destruction – is not a Gibson. 

It is a replica made by Kris Derrig of MusicWorks, a guitar store located in Redondo Beach, California. The top, like those of the most sought-after original Les Pauls, features highly figured book-matched maple, but with no cherry tint around the edges of the top. 

The serial number is ink-stamped in the style of a 1959 Gibson, but the neck profile is actually that of a ’58. The special sound of this guitar comes from a pair of Seymour Duncan Alnico II humbuckers with black-and-white “zebra” coils and some vintage electronics that the maker had in his shop.

Despite the fact that Slash’s favorite Les Paul was a replica, his influence on sales of real Gibson Les Pauls was so great that Gibson welcomed him as an endorser and in 2010 intro­duced a replica of this replica as the Slash Appetite for Destruction Les Paul.

A Gibson ES-175D electric guitar reportedly once belonging to Guns N' Roses guitarist Izzy Stradlin is set to hit the auction block later this month. Made in 1987 and used on GNR's pivotal album of the same year Appetite for Destruction, the hollow-bodied six-string is set to begin bidding at $50,000.

According to Backstage Auctions, Stradlin received the Arctic White-finished guitar from Gibson artist rep Roger Bell in 1987, and played it during various concerts, most notably Guns N’ Roses' show at The Ritz in New York on February 2, 1988.

Following GNR's West Coast run in mid-February of 1988, Stradlin owed money to Howie Hubberman – the band's first manager and owner of Hollywood guitar store Guitars R Us – and so sold him the guitar shortly after.

The ES-175D was later acquired by a local Sunset Strip rock band who continued to own it until 2020, at which point a “veteran music industry executive” bought it from them. It's this mysterious person who has made the guitar available for auction.

The winner of the lot will also receive a hardcase, a professional summary document by the current owner, and a signed and notarized statement from Howie Hubberman.

The auction is set to begin March 20. Backstage Auctions says it has contacted former Guns N’ Roses managers Alan Niven and Doug Goldstein – as well as Izzy Stradlin's attorney – in order to verify the guitar's authenticity.

For more information, head to Backstage Auctions.

Nailing all of the nuances of Slash's solos on Guns N' Roses' cover of Bob Dylan's "Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door" is difficult enough with two hands. YouTuber Gondorian_tomatoes_, however, pulled it off with just one.

With a prosthetic attached to his left elbow, the guitarist not only hits all the notes, but Slash's tone, dead-on in his own version of the two solos, which you can check out in the video above.

"I was born missing my left arm below the elbow," Gondorian says in the video's caption, "and play my guitar with a prosthetic arm using an attachment that holds a guitar pick."

In response to a commenter, he added that “The prosthesis is model[ed] around a forearm shape (as I have my elbow but not much below it) and where the 'wrist' is there's a screw thread attachment.

“So the attachment onto the prosthesis is a ball and socket joint with a piece of metal on. In that piece of metal there's a slit cut out that can fit a guitar pick inside that is then secured with screws. I hope that makes sense haha it's difficult to describe it without showing in person.”

Gondorian_tomatoes_ has also filmed excellent takes on the "Bohemian Rhapsody" solo, James Hetfield's solo from Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters," and Tom Scholz’s towering lead on Boston’s "More Than a Feeling."

You can check them out on his YouTube channel.

When Slash first saw Joe Perry’s 1959 Les Paul in the gatefold of Aerosmith’s 1978 Live! Bootleg album, it was lust at first sight.

“That was the coolest guitar I had ever seen,” Slash says.

Years later, after finding success with Guns N’ Roses, Slash was able to fulfill his boyhood dreams by purchasing the guitar. As Perry himself relates in his 2014 autobiography, Rocks, he had parted ways with the Les Paul in 1980 when money became tight. 

Over the following years, it ended up with Eric Johnson, who recognized it as Perry’s guitar and offered to sell it back to him for a mere $8,000. Unfortunately, that was more than Perry could afford. Johnson eventually sold the guitar, and its whereabouts were unknown.

One day, Perry’s bandmate Brad Whitford saw Slash posing with the guitar in Guitar Player magazine and brought the photo to Perry’s attention. Thus began Perry’s all-out effort to get the guitar back.

Slash (with Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains riding shotgun) tells the tale behind the guitar in the guitar documentary, Turn It Up!, and we’ve provided the relevant clip above. Take a look.

(As some of you may know, Joe related this story on Conan O’Brien’s show a few years back. We’ve included that clip below as well.)

As the company's Global Brand Ambassador, Slash has become synonymous with Gibson, particularly the Les Paul.

Indeed, seeing the Guns N' Roses guitarist without a Les Paul in hand is almost as strange as seeing him onstage without his trademark top hat. 

In the video above however, you can see Slash jamming with a couple of his Guns N' Roses bandmates playing a... gasp! Stratocaster. 

Clearly, the video - filmed during the shoot for the legendary Guns N' Roses "November Rain" music video - is a fairly humorous one, given the setting, Slash's choice of guitar, and the fact that bassist Duff McKagan is playing drums and guitarist Gilby Clarke is on bass.

Though this is one of the (very) rare visual documents of Slash playing a Strat, that doesn't mean he doesn't enjoy playing them. When asked in 2018 by former Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, on an episode of his Jonesy’s Jukebox radio show, if he ever buys “any Fenders or anything,” Slash replied:

“I have a bunch of cool Teles and some cool Strats. All things considered, I’m a Les Paul guy but I love good-sounding guitars. And as far as I’m concerned, you know, and Gibson probably wouldn’t want me to say it, but the Strat is hands-down probably one of the best, most versatile guitars there is.”

But, he added, “I’ve always gravitated to a Les Paul. There’s Strat guys and there’s Les Paul guys.”