NGD: It’s not a signature Slash!

chrishill901 · October 2018

So I’ve been looking for the right signature Slash for quite some time and decided it had to be the Goldtop as it was my favourite finish and the guitar that inspired me to learn to play. But as there aren’t exactly a lot of them around I was going to be waiting for quite some time so I started looking at R7s or the other signature Slash’s. Something @abw1989 said must have resonated with me as he showed me pictures of two Les Pauls that he modded as ‘replicas’ of the Slash - Guitar’s with the same finish but modded to have the same specs. There was something cool about his guitars that had the nod to Slash as inspiration but didn’t have his logo emblazoned on it so I thought I’ll pick up a Goldtop of some sort and then upgrade it to Slash spec.

Now I’ve played various Tributes, Traditionals and Standards and non of those have ever cut the mustard for me, they pale in comparison to my Tokai so I figured I’d be waiting for the right R7 to come along. That was until I played this:

https://i.imgur.com/qEv2LCC.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Fs8vuBK.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/AOiFnqL.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/2AS158V.jpg

Its nothing special, it’s a 2016 Les Paul Classic but boy does it sound good and play well! A lot of Les Pauls I have tried lately (2017 standard, 2018 traditional, 2018 tribute) have been dull and dark sounding (the tribute was a little brighter but very flat sounding) but this one couldn’t be further from that. Acoustically it has a brighter, snappier tone with a lot of depth. Plugged in this comes across in the tone, it has such a wonderful tone that I haven’t heard at this price point before. I’m not saying this is ‘special’ or anything other than this one being a good example and the others I have tried being not so good. I have no doubt that there are probably traditionals and standards out there better than this but this was exactly what I was looking for!

Condition wise it is immaculate except for one small ding on the front which you can only see in certain lights. I like the classic 57 pickups but I’ve ordered some Slash pickups in black to complete the ‘tribute’ to Slash aspect. The finish is the same bullion gold that is on the signature Slash and I can’t stop looking at it. The neck was my biggest concern before I went to play it but I love it. I’ve got small hands so the slim taper suits me but I was surprised that it wasn’t as thin as I was expecting. The neck feels identical to my Vintage AFD100 which is based off the Slash taper profile and that makes sense as spec wise the taper on the 2016 classic is the same measurement as the neck on the Rosso Corsa/Vermillion. It is very comfortable but still enough to hold on to for bends. Perhaps bigger handed people may not like it as much but I’ve got girl hands so I’m happy (even though I normally love a thick neck)

All in all its an exceptional instrument, probably the best USA Gibson I have played. The rosewood board is lovely and dark, the finish is superb and it just has an indescribable quality to the tone that seems to be a common theme among goldtop owners! One happy bunny right here. And it came with the lovely tan brown Gibson case! I wasn’t expecting to fall for this guitar like this, I thought only an R7 would do but this one just has ‘something’ that has totally killed my Les Paul GAS (and I’ve got plenty of money left over which is a bonus!!)

TINMAN82 · October 2018

Cool, looks great!

I’d have considered one of these new but they’ve been very weighty in the last couple of production years, often 10lbs plus. Pretty frustrating as no other Goldtop in production with double humbuckers (and binding) below R7.

joeyowen · October 2018

SWEEEEEETTTTT

nice

chrishill901 · October 2018

TINMAN82 said:

Cool, looks great!

I’d have considered one of these new but they’ve been very weighty in the last couple of production years, often 10lbs plus. Pretty frustrating as no other Goldtop in production with double humbuckers (and binding) below R7.

Thanks!

I haven’t weighed it yet but it is pretty heavy! That’s a plus for me though

abw1989 · October 2018

@chrishill901 I'm happy to have helped in some way! I reckon you've started my Goldtop GAS off again though...

The more I think about it, the better it is to do it this way. When these guys were playing the guitars that became their 'signatures' all these years on, they did exactly what we have done; take a guitar they like and modify it to suit them more.

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NGD: It’s not a signature Slash!

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