2024.07.10 - Premier Guitar - Rig Rundown: Slash's Blues Ball Band with Tash Neal

The segment with the Slash interview:

Excerpts from Ultimate Guitar:
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Ace Bergman, the man taking care of Slash's guitars and gear, revealed two of the most important things that the Guns N' Roses legend looks for in guitars for his tours.

Apart from Guns N' Roses, Slash has a few other great things going on. As we all know by now, there's his blues album and Slash's Blues Ball band. Although his setup for these shows is different and likely way more modest compared to what he does with Guns N' Roses, there's still some awesome stuff in his arsenal.

One of the guitars that tech Ace Bergman showcased in the recent Premier Guitar's "Rig Rundown" segment is Slash's black 1986 Gibson Les Paul Standard. After discussing this instrument, Ace was asked about what the Guns N' Roses guitarist focuses on when choosing instruments for tours, to which he replied (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar):

"One of the main things he looks for in a guitar is the neck. If he likes the neck, that's a big plus. Then he goes to the pickups. A lot of times, when he gets a new guitar, he'll listen to it and decide if he likes the stock pickups, which, in this case, obviously did."

"And then, if he wants to change it up, then we'll put in the Seymour Duncan, his signature set, and we know what to expect out of those. We know we get the Slash sound."

"Those are the two main things," Bergman continued. "First is the feel, and then get the sound as close as you can."

Of course, being one of the most influential guitar players of all time, Slash also has some of the traits you'd expect from a guitar player. One of the obvious is his passion for trying out new stuff.

"Like anybody, he also likes playing with his new toys," the tech added. "So if he gets a new guitar, he'll try and work it into the rotation, keep something fresh. He loves shopping and getting new guitars and stuff."

During the same interview, Ace also reflected on Slash's new signature ES-335. This instrument model, which the guitarist also uses for his live shows, came as somewhat of a surprise earlier this year, and reportedly, only 50 of these are in circulation. Made by Gibson's Custom Shop, it's an identical replica of Slash's own 1963 ES-335.

"It's got some aging to it," Ace said while showcasing the new Custom Shop model that Slash uses live. "And then, anything he touches ages five years a day."

"This 335 is based on one of his 1963 ES-335s that's original. This is a clone, or a copy, the Custom Shop's making. They got a lot of the cool same features, like that 'Custom Made' badge, which is awesome. It's got nylon saddles, it's got a Bigsby, vintage style tuners, rosewood fretboard — great guitar."

In fact, they're so alike that, according to Ace, everyone had to be extremely careful while doing a photo shoot for Gibson's promotional campaign. He added:

"This one looks so much like the original that, when they were doing a photo shoot, they had to keep them separate, just so they wouldn't end up in the wrong case, and get mixed up and sell somebody a really valuable guitar."

"This thing's awesome," Ace said. "Great guitar, sounds great. He plays it a lot in this blues project. This is definitely a workhorse now."

https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/gear/these_are_the_most_important_things_slash_looks_for_in_guitars_his_tech_reveals.html