Epiphone, the leading accessible guitar brand For Every Stage, has announced the new Epiphone Slash Collection will officially debut worldwide July 20, 2021 on www.epiphone.com. Crossing three decades of collaborative partnership between Gibson and Epiphone luthiers and the iconic guitarist Slash, the all-new Epiphone Slash Collection features multiple acoustic and electric guitars and follows his history-making Gibson Slash Collection released last year. In a first for the brand, every guitar in the new Epiphone Slash Collection, as well as the Gibson Slash Collection is an evergreen artist collection with fourteen guitars in production.
"I'm really proud to present this great line up of excellent quality, signature Epiphone guitars," says Slash. "They sound & look fantastic. It's all I could ask for." A part of the Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Collection, the all-new Epiphone Slash Collection celebrates the influential guitars Slash has used throughout his storied music career which continues to inspire multiple generations of players around the world. Perfect for every stage, players of all levels, and accessible, the full collection includes the Epiphone Slash Les Paul™ Standard finished in Appetite Burst, November Burst, Anaconda Burst and Vermillion Burst, the Slash "Victoria" Les Paul Standard Goldtop in Gold, and on the acoustic front, the Epiphone Slash J-45 in Vermillion Burst and November Burst. Exclusive to every guitar in the entire Epiphone Slash Collection are Slash's "Skully" signature drawing on the back of the headstock, Slash's signature on the truss rod cover, and a custom hardshell case with Slash's "Skully" logo included.
Slash Epiphone Collection
Each Epiphone Slash Collection Les Paul Standard features a mahogany body, maple cap with AAA flame maple veneer, a Graph Tech nut, Epiphone LockTone Tune-O-Matic bridge and Stop Bar tailpiece, and Slash's personal touches including a C-shape neck profile, Epiphone Custom ProBucker pickups, color coordinated hardware appointments, CTS potentiometers with Orange Drop capacitors and Epiphone Strap Locks. The Slash Epiphone Les Paul Standard is finished in in Appetite Burst, November Burst, Anaconda Burst and Vermillion Burst.
Each Epiphone Slash Collection J-45 acoustic guitar features all solid wood construction with solid mahogany back and sides, a solid Sitka spruce top with vintage-style (or 50's style) pickguard, Grover Rotomatic tuners, Graph Tech TUSQ nut and saddle, and Slash's personal touches including a C-shape neck profile, a flatter, more modern 16" fretboard radius, and an LR Baggs VTC preamp and under-saddle pickup for a natural acoustic sound when plugged in. the Epiphone Slash J-45 is finished in Vermillion Burst and November Burst.
Each Slash Victoria Les Paul Standard Goldtop guitar features a mahogany body with a maple cap, a Graph Tech nut, Epiphone LockTone Tune-O-Matic bridge and Stop Bar tailpiece, and Slash's personal touches including a C-shape neck profile, Epiphone Custom ProBucker pickups, color-coordinated hardware appointments, CTS potentiometers with Orange Drop capacitors and Epiphone Strap Locks.
"We are in a very exciting journey with Slash and today we are announcing the amplification of our collaboration with the launch of the Epiphone Slash Collection," says Cesar Gueikian, Brand President, Gibson Brands. "Our new Epiphone Slash Collection brings our collaboration with Slash to the next level, expanding the offering of the iconic Slash models to Epiphone with an accessible price point. Slash was intimately involved in every aspect of the development of his new Epiphone Collection, and we are all excited to see his fans around the world rock out with them!"
For more information:
Epiphone
- Epiphone Releases Limited-Edition Slash Signature Models ... ›
- Limited Slash Signature Series from Gibson and Epiphone - Premier ... ›
- New Slash Signature Epiphone Les Paul - Premier Guitar ›
Drawing courtesy of SINGLECOIL
In general, it’s possible to use the Varitone/Tone Expressor system in any electric guitar as long as you have enough space to squeeze all the stuff into it. You can mimic a lot of different pickups with this system, but because it’s designed for guitars with humbuckers, that’s how it works best. It’s also possible to use it the other way around and thicken up single-coil pickups instead of slenderizing humbucker tones, and in a future column I’ll talk about what I like to call the “reverse Varitone” system.
For a good and simple overview about all the details from last month, I decided to use a technical drawing to show the isolated Varitone system, so it’s easy for you to identify the individual parts:
Diagram courtesy of SINGLECOIL
This is the basic structure of the Gibson Varitone system with the original values Gibson used. The inductor is a 1.5 H choke. The Epiphone Tone Expressor system is identical but uses a 15 H choke as an inductor. There is a second version of the Tone Expressor system found on the Al Caiola model using the same structure but with different values for the parts. I think this was because different pickups were used, so here are the values for the version of the system in the Al Caiola guitar:
• 15 H choke as an inductor instead of 1.5 H
• Replace the single 100k resistor with a 33k resistor
• .0033 µF cap is used instead of the .001
• .01 µF cap is used instead of the .0033
• .022 µF cap is used instead of the .01
• .047 µF cap is used instead of the .03
• .1 cap µF is used instead of the .22
For best results, use the original Gibson Varitone values along with PAF-style humbuckers—the second version will work best with mini-humbuckers or similar pickups. Depending on the pickups you use, you can experiment and make your own custom version out of it.
“You can mimic a lot of different pickups with this system, but because it’s designed for guitars with humbuckers, that’s how it works best.”
The differences are:
• Using a 15 H instead of the 1.5 H inductor will shift the notches of the filters created by the Tone Expressor system down approximately a fifth for a fuller and fatter tone. Because it is possible to combine several caps with this wiring, choosing a 15 H inductor was also a clever move to keep the tone clearer and more present. You can experiment with this, too. A choke with something between 7 and 10 H will be in the middle of both versions.
• Using a 33k instead of the 100k coupling resistor fits pickups with a lower output like the mini-humbucker perfectly, while the 100k is great for pickups with more output like a PAF.
• The different cap values also correspond to the combination of different pickups and chokes, e.g., for a twangy, Telecaster-type tone, you need a 0.22 µF cap along with a PAF humbucker, while a 0.1 µF cap will do the same along with a mini-humbucker.
So, here we go with the Al Caiola wiring, starting with how it looks in the original guitars from the ’60s. You can clearly see the big, silver-cased choke on top of the electronics as well as the caps, resistors, and the individual switches.
Photo courtesy of Bonfires Vintage
And here is the drawing of the Tone Expressor system I made for you:
Drawing courtesy of SINGLECOIL
All switches are DPDT switches, the tone and volume pots are both 500k audio, and the tone cap is 0.022 µF. A is the coupling resistor (33k or 100k), B is the five 10M ohm pulldown-resistors (one on each switch), which prevent popping noises when engaging a switch, and C is an additional 33k decoupling resistor on each switch that is necessary to decouple the switches from each other when you want to combine their settings. You don’t need that on the Varitone because you can’t combine several caps with the rotary switch.
Besides experimenting with the parameters of the choke, the caps, and the coupling resistor, you can enhance your tonal palette quick and easy by using a pickup selector switch that can engage both pickups together.
In closing, here is a scaled-down version of this wiring, in case you don’t want to use a choke or can’t find one.
Drawing courtesy of SINGLECOIL
As you can see, the coupling resistor (A) and the decoupling resistors (C) are removed. That’s because in the system with the choke (second order filter system), these are necessary, but without a choke, they’re not.
That’s it. Since we are still in the year of the Strat, next month we will have a look into the Fender Cory Wong Stratocaster, so stay tuned!
Until then, keep on modding!