Want to know what makes the SLASH sound unique? Check out the man himself
and the equipment he uses. SLASH's playing has its roots in the blues-based,
hard rock and heavy metal styles of the mid-70's. He says he has countless
influences but will name Led Zep's Jimmy Page and the Rolling Stones' Mick
Taylor with Eddie Van Halen and Jeff Beck running close seconds.
When he was getting into guitar, SLASH had a lot of favorite bands! Among them are Aerosmith, Cheap Trick,
Black Sabbath, The Who, Ted Nugent. SLASH's favorite albums were Aerosmith's
Rocks, Cheap Trick's Live at Budokan, and UFO's Strangers in the Night.
SLASH is entirely self taught! He learned to play guitar by listening to
records and trying to mimic what he heard. He would play as much as 12 hours
a day, and one of the first songs he learned was Deep Purple's "Smoke on the
Water". He spent a lot of time playing along with Jeff Beck's records, too.
For a very short time he took lessons from guitarist Robert Wollan; but he
didn't want to learn the traditional way of playing scales and simple tunes,
SLASH wanted to play the intro to "Smoke on the Water"! As his playing improved,
he became interested in speed-metal and punk.
Groups like Metallica, Fear and
the Sex Pistols were his listening/playing bands. You can really hear that
punk influence in Guns N'Roses' The Spaghetti Incident?, a project largely
directed and produced by SLASH. Each band member selected songs for the
group to cover on TSI?. SLASH's choices were Fear's "I Don't Care About You",
T.Rex's "Buick MacKane" (SLASH on vocals), and Nazareth's "Hair of the Dog".
SLASH is a musician who likes all kinds of music. He enjoys Cat Stevens and
Joni Mitchell, and these influences are reflected in some of Guns N'Roses'
more melodic, sensitive songs like "Sweet Child O'Mine" which was primarily
written by SLASH. As most musicians do, SLASH likes classical music, particularly
that of composer Erik Satie.
SLASH's playing style is based around the blues and harmonic minor scales.
He plays with strong, melodic sensibilities. He relies on pentatonic minor
scales played in "blues box" positions for solos and and sometimes uses the
Aeolian and Dorian modes, the Mixolydian scale and pentatonic major scale.
SLASH often plays pedal-steel bends and uses the pentatonic major scale to
create leads that have a country sound. You can hear this in "Paradise City"
and "Coma". When playing rhythm, SLASH relies on power chords (a 2-note chord
played at an interval of a fifth), riffs played on the lower strings, or
arpeggiated figures.
SLASH's playing techniques are like those of the late '70's. He uses a wide, fast vibrato technique.
Using mainly his left hand for speed, SLASH uses pull-offs and hammer-ons
to sound notes. His right hand does muting, and you will see him rest his
hand on the bridge to make notes sound more percussive. This technique is
used for rhythm and lead playing. A good example of this is the very distinctive
"Welcome to the Jungle" intro.
SLASH's pick is held between his index finger and thumb, and he sometimes
plucks strings with his free fingers. Tonal variations are created by
changing pickup selections while he plays.
One of SLASH's favorite settings
for lead is the neck pickup with tone control rolled back. This is also
known as "woman tone" and is a favorite of Eric Clapton, too. SLASH also
likes to use feedback to sustain notes on solos and intros.
Most everyone seems interested in the hardware SLASH uses - what guitars
does he have, what strings does he use, and what about picks and amps
and effects? Just to show you that you don't have to have a $3,000 guitar
to get started, SLASH started out with a one string acoustic. His first electric
was a copy of a Gibson Explorer. Later guitars included a Memphis
Les Paul copy, a B.C. Rich Mockingbird, a B.C. Rich Warlock, a Fender
Stratocaster, a Jackson Firebird copy and a Charvel. Sadly, almost all of
these early SLASH guitars were sold to support his former drug habit.
SLASH!
Everyone knows SLASH favors the Gibson Les Paul guitar,
so you might be surprised to see the assortment in his
collection of 80+ guitars. There are Guild Acoustics,
B.C.Rich electrics, and more Gibsons than you can count!
SLASH owns several late-50's Les Paul Standards (one
treasured Standard belonged to Aerosmith's Joe Perry),
a '59 Les Paul copy, a '56 Les Paul gold top, a '69 Les
Paul custom, and several new Les Pauls that he plays on
stage. There are also a '58 Gibson Flying V, a '58
Gibson Explorer, two Ernie Ball/Music Man Silhouettes,
a '52 Fendor Telecastor, a '65 Fender Stratocaster, both a
'63 and a '65 Gibson Melody Maker, a 60's Gibson SG, and
a Fender 6 string bass all of which are used for
recording. Slash plays slide on a Travis Bean electric.
His acoustics include a Guild 12 string, A Gibson J-100,
a Ramirez classical and a Dobro. There is also the
wonderful Gibson Slash model with the Snakepit insignia.
Most of SLASH's guitars are kept entirely stock.
His main performance guitar is the '87 Gibson Les Paul
standard. He often uses a Stratocaster copy and
a B.C. Rich Warlock on stage, too. SLASH now tunes all his
guitars to standard A-440.
As for strings, SLASH uses standard Ernie Ball Slinky R.P.S. strings
of gauge .011, .014, .018, .028, .038, .048. He likes to play with the
heaviest picks he can find and prefers purple Dunlop Tortex 1.14 mm picks.
Most all of his live guitars are equipped with Seymour Duncan Alnico II
pro humbuckers. His guitar straps are custom made.
SLASH is known for Gibson guitars and Marshall amps. Just as there is a
Gibson signature guitar for SLASH, there is also a SLASH signature amp.
For live appearances, the JCM SLASH Marshalls are used for a dirty sound.
The JCM SLASH Marshalls are used for a clean sound, too, when modified with
KT88 output tubes. The 2555 Silver Jubilee at 50 watts is used for the talk
box. All tubes are groove tubes.
The studio amps are: Marshall 2555 with EL34 output tubes and the Marshall
JCM 800 (modified) with 6550 output tubes. The signal is split with Bob Bradshaw
custom splitter system.
SLASH uses some effects when playing live.
On stage he uses a Boss GE-7 E.Q. for lead boost and feedback enhancement.
When you see SLASH using the Wah-Wah pedal, he is using a Dunlop Rackmount
Wah Wah system. He also uses a Heil talk box, and Boss DD-S Digital Delay.
He favors the Nady 950-GT Wireless System. All signals go through the
Bob Bradshaw Custom Splitter System.
"I just think of a particular type of guitar that will work for the song and
grab whatever happens to be in the front of storage. I try to make any
guitar do what I want it to do."
"Guitar Play", 1/94
"My basic roots come from a certain hard rock background."
"Guitar Play", 1/94
Eddie Kramer, working with SLASH on "Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix":
"SLASH is completely the opposite of what I thought he'd be. He's very
focused and together."
"Guitar Player", 12/93
Paul Rodgers, working with SLASH on "Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy
Waters":
"He was suggested to me and I asked 'Does SLASH play the blues?' I listened
to some of his things and realized he's a good player."
"Guitar Player", 5/93
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