Les Paul Slash Signature



les paul slash signature body



Les Paul Slash Signature (with Fishman powerbridge)

Again I spotted an electric guitar with an acoustic pickup. This time it's a Les Paul Slash Signature, on which I least expected a piezo pickup. It seems there are more of these guitars than I thought there would be.

As probably everybody knows, Slash, former lead guitarist of Guns N' Roses is addicted to the Gibson Les Paul. Slash is one of the "billbords" for the Gibson Les Paul, so it's no wonder Slash, Gibson, and doughter Epiphone, worked together, to all benefit from the Les Paul Slash Signature models.




Les Paul Slash Signature by Gibson and Epiphone

According to the very informative website slashparadise.com, Slash gave his signature to a total of twelve Les Paul Slash Signature models; three from Gibson USA, five from the Gibson Custom Shop, and four from Gibson's doughter Epiphone.

Their cooperation started in 1990 and is still going on. The (Gibson and Epiphone) Les Paul models are one of the most sold guitars, and I'm sure the Slash Signature gave the Les Paul sales an extra boost.



les paul slash signature full body



Les Paul Slash Signature, Seymour Duncan Alnico Pro II(Slash) and Fishman Powerbridge

As far as I know, all Gibson Les Paul Slash Signature's are equiped with Seymour Duncan Alnico Pro II humbuckers. Since 2010 the Les Paul Slash Signature comes with the Alnico Pro II Slash APH-2 humbuckers, which reproduces the tone of Slash's studio guitar.

What for me makes this guitar particularly insteresting is the fact that the newer built Slash Signatures are also equiped with the Fishman Powerbridge for acoustic Piezo sound.
From the outside the Gibson Les Paul Slash Signature with Fishman Powerbridge can be recognized by the extra switch between the volume and tone knobs, for blending the acoustic and electric sounds.

The combination of a Slash Les Paul with Alnico Pro II humbuckers and an acoustic pickup system like the Fishman Powerbridge seems a bit strange. Hardrock and metal combined with acoustic tones in a Slash Les Paul?

I wonder if potential buyers of the Gibson Les Paul Signature need the acoustic tones of the Fishman Powerbridge, for Slash's hardrock and metal sound, and appreciate this piece of technique in this specific guitar, where it's all about producing the tone and sound of Slash's Les Paul as close as possible. Isn't that the power of a signature model?




les paul slash signature headstock

  


les paul slash signature back



Epiphone Slash Les Paul, with Alnico Pro, without Fishman powerbridge

If, with a smaller wallet, a Slash is wanted, and a piezo is not needed, there is an alternative.

Epiphone also offers a Slash Les Paul "Signature" Standard Plus Top with Alnico Pro humbuckers, but without the Fishman Powerbridge for a fraction of the price of the Gibson Les Paul Slash Signature!



epiphone les paul slash body and neck



Electric guitars with acoustic pickups



fishman powerbridge on fender deluxe power

Electric guitars with acoustic pickups, an overview.

It's obvious that I'm interested in electric guitars with acoustic pickups like the Epiphone ES-339 Ultra, (the good and the bad), and the Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster.

In this post I present some other electric-acoustic guitars I like, and the acoustic pickup systems which give these electric guitars the possibility to blend electric and acoustic sounds.

Acoustic pickups for electric guitars

lr baggs t-bridge on electric guitar

The most common acoustic (piezo) pickup systems for electric guitars I found, come from LR Baggs, Fishman (both from the USA), Shadow (Germany), and GraphTech (Canada).

shadow nanomag on epiphone les paul ultra

LR Baggs, and Fishman concentrate their activities on acoustic pickups, mostly for acoustic guitars, Shadow also produces humbuckers, and GraphTech focuses on acoustic pickup systems for electric guitars.

graphtech ghost piezo acoustic pickup

Shadow offers the innovative Nanomag, Fishman scores with the Powerbridge, GraphTech invented the Ghost Piezo saddles and LR Baggs hits the scene with the X-Bridge and the T-Bridge. It's a niche market; only a small percentage of the electric guitars have the "extra", acoustic pickup. The Fishman powerbridge and the LR Baggs bridge are probably the most popular ones. Lot's of technical information about these acoustic pickups for electric guitars can be found on the producers websites.

Electric guitars with acoustic pickups

Obviously there are a lot more electric guitars with acoustic pickups than the ones below. These ones give a good view on what's available on the market, within the different price ranges.
Almost all electric guitars with acoustic pickups are also equiped with 5-way switches, pre-amps and dual output jackets; one for connecting the amplifier and one for connecting an acoustic amp or PA, for blending the electric and acoustic sound.

crafter sa(t) with lr baggs acoustic pickup

Crafter SA and SAT

The Crafter SA and SAT are Les Paul styled, semi hollow body archtop guitars. Sides and back from solid wood, and the tops come in different woods and colors. Both the Crafter SA and SAT are equiped with LR Baggs acoustic pickups. The SA also has a Kent Armstrong Lipstick pickup, and the SAT has a Kent Armstrong P90 humbucker. The Crafter SA(T) is fairly priced, around 550 - 600 Euro.

epi ultra III (3) with shadow nanomag

Epiphone Les Paul Ultra III (3)

The Epiphone Les Paul Ultra III (3) is Epiphones's answer to the demand in electric acoustic guitars. The Les Paul Ultra III (3) has 2 Epiphone Probuckers, and for acoustic sounds a Shadow Nanomag is mounted at the end of the fingerboard. The Ultra III (3) has a chromatic tuner onboard, and even a USB connection is available. After registration of the Ultra, Guitarrig software can be downloaded for free. The Epiphone ES-339 Ultra uses the same technology, my review can be found here and here. Pricing of the Epiphone Les Paul Ultra III (3) is around 560 - 630 Euro.



fender telecaster / stratocaster with fishman powerbridge

Fender (Nashville) Deluxe Power Stratocaster and Telecaster

For an acoustic plus, Fender added the Fishman Powerbridge to the Deluxe Power Strat and Tele. The Deluxe Power Telecaster comes with a middle strat pickup, and tele pickups for neck and bridge, the Stratocaster uses strat pickups for the neck, middle and bridge positions. These electric guitars with the Fishman Powerbridge have a five-way switch for blending the electric and acoustic sounds. Available for around 1100 Euro.

Another Fender electric guitar with a Fishman Powerbridge acoustic piezo pickup is the Acoustasonic Telecaster I wrote about, one of my favourites.



godin montreal with lr baggs t-bridge

Godin Montreal

The Godin Montreal is part of the Signature series from guitar builder Godin, located in Montreal, Canada, and they are well know for their new guitar concepts. The Montreal has a carved solid Mahogany body with two f-holes, Jazz Style. Godin was inspired by the Montreal Jazz festival when creating this electric-acoustic guitar. The Montreal blends electric and acoustic sounds by using two Godin Humbuckers and a LR Baggs acoustic bridge and a custom PreAmp. Pricing of the Godin Montreal is around 1600 Euro.

parker fly with graphtech ghost piezo

Parker Guitars (Fly Series)

Guitars build by Parker are something special, as Parker combines woods with modern composites and fibers. Apart from that, most electric Parker guitars are stufed with acoustic technology.

The Parker Fly DeLuxe, MaxxFly, Fly Select and others come in different, modern shapes and colors, and are powered with different humbuckers. What they all have in common is the acoustic technology from the GraphTech Ghost Piezo saddles. Parker guitars don't come cheap.



prs p22 with lr baggs acoustic bridge

PRS   P22 and (singlecut) Hollowbody II

For more than ten years, PRS is using LR Baggs acoustick pickup systems for the PRS Hollowbody II and singlecut Hollowbody II.

In 2012 PRS added the P22 in the program range, their first piezo acoustic pickup equiped solidbody guitar.
The LR Baggs system used in the P22 is the same acoustic pickup system that is used for the longer existing and popular hollowbodies. Only the design of this bridge is smaller than the original LR Baggs used in the hollowbodies, so it fits perfectly in the solidbody. The electric-acoustic guitars from PRS are expensive, starting with prices around 3600 Euro for the P22, and 4300 Euro for the PRS Hollowbody.



gibson les paul with lr baggs piezo pickup

Gibson Les Paul Piezo.

Unfortunately not in production anymore, the Gibson Les Paul Piezo, a Goldtop with EMG (rocking) humbuckers, and a golden LR Baggs piezo bridge. The Les Paul Piezo can still be found in (web)shops.





Gibson Custom Alex Lifeson LP Axcess

Still in production is the Gibson Custom Les Paul Alex Lifeson Axcess with Graphtech Ghost Bridge for authentic acoustic sound, and Floyd Rose vibrato. Humbuckers: Gibson's 496R and 498T. The first 50 guitars were signed by Alex Lifeson.

Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster (vs Epi ES-339 Ultra)

Fender Acoustasonic Tele (vs Epi-ES-339 Ultra)

As I am the proud owner of a Epiphone ES-339 Ultra, I'm also very interested in other electric guitars with an acoustic pick-up system. One of these rare guitars is the Fender Acoustasonic telecaster.

fender acoustasonic fishman aura

Like the Epiphone ES-339 Ultra, the Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster is some kind of a hybrid. Apart from the "normal" electronics, both guitars have a little extra, something that perhaps doesn't attract the players who are into the the authentic sound of a Telecaster or a ES-339, but for those looking for an extra (acoustic) sound  in a typical Fender Telecaster or ES-339 body, they deserve a closer look. What makes these guitars different from the rest is the built-in acoustic pick-up system. I reviewed my Epiphone ES-339 Ultra with the Shadow Nanomag acoustic pick-up here (the good) and here (the bad). The Acoustasonic on the other hand uses the Fishman Auro system for acoustic sounds.

Fender Acoustasonic with Fishman Aura-technology

Fender came out with the Acoustasonic Telecaster in 2010, and later that year it won the "best of the show" award at the NAMM. Understandable as the guitar stands out in the crowd due to the innovations packed in it.
The Acoustasonic Telecaster is available in white and sunburst and at first look it seems to be a regular Telecaster as we all know them.
At closer look you can see that the iconic Telecaster bridgeplate is replaced by a rosewood bridge in the same style. Under the rosewood bridge Fender mounted the Fishman acoustic pick-up, and this one is the big surprise! Here the Telecaster get's the unexpected acoustic sound. At the top - side of the Acoustasonic the Fishman pre-amp is located. It has all the functionality and controls for the acoustic part of the guitar. Further more the neck pick-up is a Fender single-coil Telecaster, and the normal Telecaster controls for tone, and volume are set on the Acoustasonic Telecaster body. Nothing weird going on there.

Two outputs are available for the, seperate or mixed, acoustic and electric, pick-up systems. Both systems can be played and combined by using 1 amp or an electric and an acoustic amp, making it possible to play all styles of music you can imagine, and more. The body is hollowed which should help to generate a deep warm acoustic sound, and lower the weight a little bit as all the electronics bring in a little extra. Old Telecaster looks, new sounds!

fender acoustasonic telecaster fishman controls

Fender Acoustasonic vs ES-339 Ultra

The Epiphone ES-339 Ultra and the Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster have lots in common. They each have, in their own way, a classic well loved body type. Both instruments use innovative electronics to bring, next to the 339 and Telecaster sound, a (modulated) acoustic sound to live. Hollowed bodies, seperate controls for magnetic and acoustic pick-ups, double output to split and mix the sounds. The Acoustasonic with Fishman and the ES-339 Ultra with Shadow's Nanomag; both systems are discretely mounted in the bodies.

The controls for the acoustic pick-ups are located at the back of the guitar(Epiphone ES-339 Ultra), and at the side-top of the guitar (Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster). I would prefer the controls located at the side-top. My ES-339 Ultra has them on the back, and you have to move the guitar away to use them. I think Fender did a better job with the Acoustasonic telecaster, speaking in terms of ergonomy. When it comes to making a choice between the Fender and the Epiphone I think it all depends on the looks and charactaristics of each guitar. You either love the Fender or the ES-339. The body types and electric sounds of the Acoustasonic and the 339 Ultra have their own color, and as both acoustic systems are well developed, and offer balanced acoustic tones, there's the choice.

fender acoustasonic telecaster sunburst