Gibson Les Paul Slash Standard

review
GIBSON SLASH LES PAUL STANDARD
100
GUITARIST APRIL 2020
PROS Great build and fi nishing;
super playability; raunchy rock
tones; fair pricing. Includes four free
Slash picks, too!
CONS Not everyone will enjoy
the fact it’s on the heavier side
GIBSON SLASH LES
PAUL STANDARD
PRICE: £2,599 (inc case)
ORIGIN: USA
TYPE: Single-cutaway, solidbody
electric
BODY: Mahogany (non weight-
relieved) with bound AAA fl ame
maple top
NECK: Mahogany, 50s Vintage profi le,
glued-in
SCALE LENGTH: 624mm (24.6”)
NUT/WIDTH: Graph Tech/43.1mm
FINGERBOARD: Bound rosewood,
acrylic crown markers, 305mm
(12”) radius
FRETS: 22, medium/jumbo
HARDWARE: ABR-1 tune-o-matic
bridge, aluminium stopbar tailpiece,
vintage deluxe tuners w/ keystone
buttons – nickel plated
STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 52mm
ELECTRICS: Two Gibson Custom
Burstbucker Alnico II pickups, two
volumes, two tones, three-way pickup
selector
WEIGHT (KG/LB): 4.3/9.46
OPTIONS: Also non-limited is the
Appetite Burst with open-top zebra
pickups in cream rings
RANGE OPTIONS: Two Limited
Edition models: in Vermillion Burst
and Anaconda Burst both with
double-black pickups in black rings
also cost £2,599
LEFT-HANDERS: No
FINISH: November Burst (as
reviewed), Appetite Burst – gloss
nitro-cellulose
9
so received wisdom tells us to perhaps
expect a bit more thrust and less dynamics
anyway. It would be an interesting
experiment to swap pickups and see what
happens. Another day, perhaps?
Verdict
There can be few guitarists who don’t look
to Gibson with a sense of awe. Just think of
the artists that have used them to make the
music of the past 100 years: Robert Johnson,
Charlie Christian, Wes Montgomery, Joe
Pass, T-Bone Walker, Albert, Freddie and
BB King, Chuck Berry, Clapton, Page, Beck,
Townshend, Green, Bloomfield, Hendrix,
The Stones, Beatles, Mick Ronson, Gary
Moore… Slash. And so many more.
And so it pains us when Gibson gets it
wrong, as it often has in recent years, and
fills us with joy when it hits bullseye, as
we feel it has here. An artist’s involvement,
especially one of such significance to
the company as Slash, puts pressure on a
manufacturer to take extra care, but from
what we’ve seen so far the new team at
Gibson is doing this anyway.
Okay, our particular Les Paul Standard
weighs more than some will like, but it
seems ‘non-weight-relieved’ was part of the
brief. And perhaps it does provide more of
the sledgehammer-like attack for which
Slash’s music has become so revered.
We love the quality of work
that’s so apparent here,
and the more-than-century
of expertise you can see
We approve of the colours, are impressed
by the attention to detail, enjoy the fact
that you can replace the monogrammed
truss-rod cover with a plain one, and fit the
supplied pickguard should you prefer it. But
mostly we love the quality of work that’s so
apparent here, and the more-than-century
of expertise that you can once again see in
mainline Gibson models, not just top-end
Custom Shop ones.
And that price. Compare the £2,599 of
all these models (including the Limited
Editions) with anything out there of similar
quality, and they come off rather well. And
don’t forget they have the names of three
guitar legends on the headstock – Gibson,
Les Paul and Slash.
We really can’t fault them on any level
except the weight. But hey, it’s a chance for
a bit of GAS, so just go out and buy yourself
a padded three-inch strap from one of the
many brilliant artisan makers currently out
there. Then plug in and exercise your own
Appetite For Destruction!
Open-top cream
surround pickups and
ABR-1 bridge on AAA maple
GIT457.rev_slash.indd 100 20/02/2020 13:47