GIBSON LES PAUL “JESSICA”
WHEN WE THINK of Slash’s Les Pauls, designs like the Derrig and his signature models come to mind. But it’s likely another Les Paul, one he calls Jessica, that we’ve seen him wield most often. Slash acquired the guitar from Gibson — one of the two factory seconds with three-piece tops the company sent him after he retired the Derrig copy from road work. “It became my main stage guitar with Guns and through Velvet Revolver,” he says. “It still is.”
Onstage, he continues, “Jessica is the main Appetite guitar. I open the set with her for ‘It’s So Easy’ and ‘Brownstone,’ I play ‘Paradise City’ with her, and I play ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ with her.”
As for what makes the now heavily worn instrument stand apart from his many other Les Pauls? “The guitars that you take out on tour and play the most are the ones you feel most comfortable with, the ones that give you what you want from them, the ones that are consistent,” he says. “Back then it was one of two guitars that I had for the road, so I made it work. And now it’s a central part of what I do.”
“IT WAS ONE OF TWO GUITARS I HAD FOR THE ROAD. NOW IT’S A CENTRAL PART OF WHAT I DO”