Les Paul Slash Appetite

 


slash appetite les paul body and humbuckers

 

Les Paul Slash Appetite

In addition to my post about the Gibson and Epiphone Slash Signature Les Paul, here's another Les Paul, which has been dedicated to former Guns N'Roses lead guitarist "Slash".

This Les Paul is named after the "Appetite for Destruction" album from Guns N'Roses.

Les Paul Slash Appetite, by Gibson, Custom Shop and Epiphone

Both Gibson and doughter Epiphone have the Slash Appetite Les Paul in their collection.  Gibson is the premier brand, but as the price of the Gibson Slash Appetite, as all Gibsons, is fairly high, for the avarage Slash fan and guitar player, the Epiphone Les Paul Slash Appetite is an affordable (but not cheap) alternative.



slash appetite les paul body and neck



slash appetite les paul humbuckers and tailpiece



Next to the Gibson factory built Slash Appetite Les Paul, the Gibson Custom Shop also built 2 series of the Les Paul Slash Appetite, one VOS (Vintage Original Spec.), and one aged serie. The Gibson Slash Appetite, and the Slash Appetite Custom Shop are currently out of production, but can still be found on Ebay and music stores, if you do a good search, for incredible (Custom Shop) prices; Slash is popular, and so are the Slash Les Pauls.

The Epiphone Les Paul Slash Appetite is according to the Gibson / Epiphone website still in production. Due to the limited numbers of Gibson and Epiphone Slash Appetite guitars produced, they are hard to find. 



slash appetite les paul knobs



slash appetite les paul knobs and finish





 Slash Appetite Les Paul, limited numbers produced, no bargains!

Gibson offers exclusivity with the Slash Appetite Les Paul. Like the signature models, Gibson produced the factory and the Custom Shop Slash Appetite LP's in limited numbers.

At first, Gibson set the numbers for the factory Slash Appetite Les Paul at a maximum of 600, but later another run of 600 guitars was done, bringing it to a total of 1200 Slash's Appetite LP's out of the Gibson factory.

The Gibson Custom Shop Slash Les Pauls are more exclusive; the Vos (Vintage Original Spec.) serie Slash Appetite Les Paul is limited to 300 guitars, and the Custom Shop hand aged Slash Appetite Les Pauls are limited to 100 pieces.

To my surprise, Gibson's "budget" doughter Epiphone also limited the amount of Les Paul Slash Appetite's.
Their maximum is set to 3000 guitars. That explains why not only the Gibson Slash Appetite LP's are very hard to find, but also the Epiphone Slash Appetite Les Paul is not available on every corner.



slash appetite les paul headstock

 


slash appetite les paul humbucker

 

Seymour Duncan Slash Alnico II Pro humbucker

Since 2010, Gibson and Epiphone Slash Signature Les Paul's are equiped with the Seymour Duncan Slash Alnico II Pro humbuckers so it's no wonder the Slash Appetite Les Pauls also come with these Seymour Duncan Slash humbuckers, as they produce Slash's lead guitar sound.

The Alnico II Pro humbuckers on the Slash Appetite LP's are "Zebra", black and white styled, without covers. I think they look great on this guitar in combination with the "Appetite Amber" finish of the body.

I'm not a real big fan of a "sunburst" finish, so I prefer the looks of the Slash Appetite above the looks of the Slash Signature guitars.

Somebody wrote on a Les Paul forum that instead of buying a Slash Les Paul, you could as well buy a Standard Les Paul and upgrade the guitar with the Seymour Duncan Slash Alnico Pro II humbuckers to get the same sound, for a fraction of the price. When it's just about the sound, I think he's right. If you not only want the sound, but also the exclusivity, Slash's name need to be on the guitar.



slash appetite les paul finish





slash appetite les paul switch



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