Slash's "Appetite" Les Paul

In the 1980's the guitar scene was dominate by Jacksons and Kramer style guitars. Sharp angles, day-glo paint jobs, and Floyd-Rose tremolo systems. It seemed like the classic Gibson and Fender had gone the way of the dinosaur. Then out of the shadows a band emerged that took the world by storm, shattering records and selling millions in the process. The lead guitarist of this group was a fellow by the name of Slash, and his chosen guitar was the much maligned Les Paul.

Despite his protestations to the contrary, "I didn't fucking reintroduce the Les Paul," he would exclaim. The "Cat in the Hat", Saul Hudson, better known to millions around the world as Slash, did just that. Prior to Guns and Roses releasing their seminal album Appetite for Destruction in 1987, the guitar world was dominated by Japanese-made models in the hands of Metal style players clad in spandex, and reeking of hairspray. Slash and his band changed all of that. They re-introduced the world to the sonic capabilities of the original rock instruments and sparked a revolution not only in the chosen instrument for individual guitar players, but also in the vintage market. Suddenly the passe Les Paul or Stratocaster was cool again, and prices for original older models skyrocketed.

In his autobiography, Slash relates the tale of how he acquired the now iconic guitar:

"On our very last day at Rumbo [while recording Appetite for Destruction], Alan came into the control room and laid a guitar case on the small couch behind the soundboard. The little cubby where the couch fit was lit by one overhead light, which perfectly spotlighted the guitar as Alan [Niven, Guns and Roses Manager] opened the case. 'I picked this up from a local guy in Redondo Beach,' he said. 'He makes them by hand. Try it out.' It looked good: it was an amazing flame-top 1959 Les Paul replica with no pick guard, and two Seymour Duncan pickups. I felt it out and I liked it, but I didn’t get to plug it in until I arrived for my first session at Take 1....The moment I plugged in my new guitar I thought it sounded pretty good."

 The guitar was originally built by luthier Kris Derrig in 1986 and was meant to be a replica of the so called "holy grail of electric guitars" the 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard. Alan Niven saw the instrument in the window of an L.A. area guitar shop called MusicWorks. Niven explained to proprietor Jim Foot that he was looking for a new guitar for his young protege, and Foot suggested the custom built model hanging in front. Niven took the guitar and never looked back; he later mailed Foot a check for the instrument.

The guitarist would speak of what made the guitar such a unique instrument in an interview with Gibson prior to the release of his signature series run of replicas the company put out of the guitar, "The little details that make the Appetite for Destruction guitar unique is, at the time it was very unique that it had Alnico II Pro Seymour Duncan Pickups in it. I never paid any attention to the capacitors or the hardware that came with the guitar, but it just had a really unique sound and sort of became my signature sound...It turns out in duplicating this guitar that the nut was important, the pickups were obviously important, the capacitors were important, the wood was important. All things considered, with the original one, it just had a unique tone to itself." 

In terms of electronics the guitar was equipped with Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro pickups in zebra bobbin pattern (the sticker on bottom of bridge pickup reads "APH1BJ" and the sticker on bottom of neck pickup reads "APH1NJ", indicating that both pickups were wound by Maricela Juaraz), and Sprague Orange Drop capacitors (.022 +- 5% 600 DC), 500k Dimarzio potentiometers (pot codes date to 1984).

In a harrowing experience on the road, the guitar was actually almost ripped right from Slash's hands while Guns and Roses were playing a gig, "I almost lost it during an early tour." Slash remembers, "It was stolen from me once in the crowd. I was being an idiot, leaning over the audience and getting pulled in, and some guy just grabbed it. I freaked once I realized it was off my person - that I'd completely lost control over it. But our security guys went out and caught the guy before he left the building. That's happened a couple of times."

Reflecting on the guitar in his autobiography, Slash would say, "That guitar has been with me ever since. It became my only guitar for a while, and has become my mainstay in the studio ever since. It has sounded different on every record I’ve done, but it is the same exact guitar."

Ultimately, Slash would hang up his famed "Appetite" Les Paul around 1989 as he was to remember, "If memory serves, it was around this time that I finally retired to storage the guitar that I’d used on Appetite and the “Welcome to the Jungle” video, my Les Paul replica (and the backup for it that I’d bought). I abuse my guitars when I play live, and by this point it was severely banged up after all of that touring."

 When one looks back on the whole affair, there is almost a touch of irony in the idea that a knockoff version of the maligned at the time Gibson Les Paul would go on to have such a deep impact in re-igniting interest in the brand. Of all the artists that have ever played a Gibson instrument, perhaps none are more associated with the company than Slash. It all started when he worked up an appetite for something old and something new.