Androo's Gear: #2

Hey guys, I'm back today with a very special feature: reviewing my Gibson Slash Signature Les Paul Standard. I'm going to split my review in various sections for the sake of clarity.

History:
The 2008 Gibson Slash Signature Les Paul Standard is Slash's third signature guitar from Gibson. The first, launched in 1995, had a reddish finish along with the Slash's Snakepit logo on the body. On the neck it had the cool snake inlays. Only 400 of these were made internationally. Buying one today would cost you about £8000.

The second signature model, launched in 2004, is still available through Gibson's Custom Shop. I personally do not like the finish on this one; it features a plain-top and finished in tobacco burst. Not exactly my cup of tea. It also has (this is what I really like about this guitar) a Fishman Pro bridge with a mini toggle switch between the knobs. It gives the guitar that authentic acoustic sound when turned on.

Along with the 2008 Standard Gibson decided to release another two - one from Custom Shop and one from Epiphone. The Custom Shop model features Slash's original 1988 Les Paul Standard's finish and body type while the Epiphone is basically a cheap version of Gibson's Standard. The Custom Shop version is limited to 400 units, the Gibson Les Paul Standard 1600 units and Epiphone's Standard to 2400 units worldwide.

Features:
* AA Figured Maple top Antique Vintage Sunburst Nitro-cellulose lacquer finish (Burst color formula personally chosen by Slash);
* Un-chambered Mahogany body finished in Slash's preferred dark walnut colour;
* Custom one-piece Mahogany neck designed by Slash. Never offered before and available only in this model;
* Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro Humbucking pickups. Made in the USACustom Slash-designed artwork and logo on the headstock;
* 22-fret Bound Rosewood fingerboard;
* Chrome hardware;
* Tone Pros Locking Nashville Tune-o-matic bridge;
* Tone Pros light stopbar tailpiece;
* Custom smooth black case with white interior and Slash artwork and logo;
* Certificate of Authenticity.



I have to add that I did not receive a CoA. I bought my guitar from Ishibashi, a large Japanese retail chain of stores and they informed me that they do not have any certificates. I truly am disappointed about this omission. The rest, as stated in the list of features is all there in all it's glory.

Looks:

This lovely instrument is finished in Antique Vintage Sunburst on a figured maple top, features vintage binding around the body and neck as well as amber/cream and gold plastics coupled with nickel hardware. It is really a B-E-A-utiful guitar. I couldn't, and still cannot, stop staring at it whenever I open the case. The guys at Gibson have truly made a wonderful job on this guitar. Kudos to all of them.

A nice little touch on the LP Standard is Slash's artwork which is custom painted on the headstock and on the case as well by Gibson's Custom Shop artists. I'll let you judge from the slew of pictures in this article!

Electronics:
Like all of Slash's guitar this one features a set of Seymour Duncan's Alnico Pro II humbuckers. All I can say is that I am truly impressed. I had read all over the internet that these humbuckers are very mellow, very soft and bluesy and I wasn't expecting much to be honest. I couldn't have been more wrong. They are, in one word, perfect. I was able to get as much gain as I wanted without any static noise whatsoever - a drastic difference from my Ibanez!

Of course, the Les Paul's electronics are the base of these humbuckers. Like all LP Standards this one features two volume and two tone knobs, two for each humbucker respectively. With these magical knobs one could sound his/her guitar pretty much exactly as he/she likes. As I said in my review of my Ibanez I didn't like the lack of customization options on it. The LP's, on the other hand, are unlimited! I could create the most mellow of blues to the heaviest of metal. With the right equipment one can basically sound exactly like they want!

The LP really shines is when it's on its clean channel. This is where most guitars fail miserably, including my Ibanez (but not to the miserable level... maybe 'unsatisfactory'. Yeah that's it...), but not the Les Paul. It is not bassy, not trebly, not too bright, not too deep. Epic. You have to hear it to believe. Incredible.

Playability (Feel, ease of play and finally it's tone):
The guitar is wholly made of mahogany except the figured maple top on the body. This is, along with it's shape (IMHO), the Les Paul's secret weapon. This is where that sound comes from. The same humbuckers on a different guitar would sound so much different you wouldn't believe that they are the very same. Other features that helps the guitar's sound is the fit-through neck.

Unlike other guitars, which feature a bolt-on neck the LP's neck is glued into the body to eliminate any air bubbles and gives the guitar a much tighter neck. As listed in the features above this model features a Slash-Profile neck which is basically somewhere between the 50s chunky profile and the 60s slim neck. Coupled with the smooth Rosewood fret-board this is one comfortably neck! From the very first time that you hold it in your hands you can tell that this is a quality instrument. It feels tight, hard and virtually has no fret-buzz on the neck whatsoever. It is very easy to play except the when on higher frets one would have to adjust to the shape since the Les Paul body starts from approximately the 15th fret.

Because of the wood used to build this guitar, the shape and of course the electronics the Les Paul has that distinctive tone which is definitely not sparse here. I could sear that this guitar has a soul. Honest! It just feels so alive when you're playing! I really thought that people exagerated when they mentioned the Les Paul. I believe them now that I own one. It is truly, magic.

Roo