The rock ’n’ roll icon brings his blues-rockin’ Orgy of The Damned to the people headlining the S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Blues Festival tour.
Slash’s blues-rock romp Orgy of The Damned debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Blues Albums Chart this spring. Now, the legendary guitar slinger is taking it to the people with his 29-date S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Blues Festival tour. When Slash’s Blues Ball Band played an intimate pre-tour gig at the Gibson Garage in Nashville, they invited John Bohlinger and the PG team.
Before shooting our Rundown with singer/guitarist Tash Neal and Slash’s tech, Ace Bergman, Slash sat down with PG for a chat. The maestro tells Bohlinger about how he found his blues sound on a 1963 Gibson ES-335 he picked up at Norman’s Rare Guitars in Los Angeles. That guitar was copied by the Gibson Custom Shop for the Slash 1963 ES-335 Collector’s Edition model, which he now brings on the road.
On Orgy of the Damned, Slash and company are digging into a different repertoire than his usual hard-rock-’n’-rollin’ fare. In this case, he’s re-exploring influences and old bands. “All these songs had … a very specific influence on me,” he explains. Back in the ’90s, Slash formed his Blues Ball Band, and he was inspired to pick that project back up, record, and hit the road to play “music that I really loved when I was a kid.Brought to you by D’Addario
Bettin' on 'Birds
Slash tours with a pair of Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird Vs. He doubles up almost all of the guitars he carries. This red one is his go-to, while a green one serves as backup. “They just sound great,” he explains. Bergman says both are “pretty straightforward” models, and like most of his guitars, they’re tuned a half-step down and strung with Ernie Ball .011–.048s.
The Prototype
This prototype of the limited Collector’s Edition reproduction of Slash’s 1963 ES-335 sports a vintage sunburst finish with Murphy Lab light aging to match his original. It also includes a Bigsby B7 vibrato tailpiece, unpotted Custombucker pickups, and period-correct nylon saddles.
“This one looks so much like the original,” explains Bergman, “that when they were doing the photoshoot, they had to keep them separate, just so they wouldn’t end up in the wrong case and get mixed up.”
Scala Special
This heavily relic’d Gibson Custom Shop Master Artisan Collection Leo Scala Explorer was built to ’58 specs by luthier Leo Scala. (Tech Ace Bergman notes that it was influenced by the famous Big Ed 1958 Gibson Explorer.) “It’s a real special guitar; he loves it a lot,” says Bergman.
Winner by a Neck
Slash’s black 1986 Gibson Les Paul Standard rocks a set of his signature Duncan pickups. Other than that, it’s what you’d expect. “It’s a Standard, so you can find the specs anywhere,” says Bergman. “One of the main things he looks for in a guitar is the neck. If he likes the neck, that’s a big plus.”
Metal Warrior
The only non-Gibson in the arsenal is Slash’s Travis Bean, used primarily for slide. “They’re really cool guitars,” Slash says of the vintage aluminum-neck model. Look closely, and you’ll see where his preferred settings are marked with red tape on each knob.
Amped Up on Magnatones
Slash has long been known to let it rip in front of an army of Marshalls. These days, though, he reaches for a Magnatone. “That changed a lot of things,” he says of the switch, calling them growly and old-school. “You could really get into the tones of the guitars.”
For gigs with the Blues Ball Band, he’s using M-80 combos loaded with Celestion Vintage 30s. Bergman assures that “they’re super loud.” Out of sight, Slash’s Talkbox is driven with a Magnatone Super Fifty-Nine M-80 head.
With His Own Two Feet
“I haven’t had a pedalboard in front of my feet since the ’80s,” Slash tells us. With the Blues Ball, though, he’s keeping it simple and stomping his own boxes. His chain includes a Peterson Strobostomp, Dunlop Cry Baby, MXR CAE Boost/Line Driver, Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer, MXR EVH90, BBE Soul Vibe Rotary Simulator, Boss DD-3 Digital Delay, MXR Uni-Vibe, and everything is powered with a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus.
All pedals are taped down with their settings dialed-in. When his signal leaves the board, it hits a Whirlwind Selector A/B box, where it splits off between his amps and his Talkbox rig.
Goin' for Gold
“I’ll play anything with six strings,” explains Neal, “but not everything is going to inspire stuff.” Tash tours with just two guitars. Both are completely stock, and both feature P-90 pickups. His go-to is this Gibson 1956 Les Paul Goldtop Reissue.
Mahogany Marvel
Neal’s backup is a beloved Gibson SG, which he bought a while ago after a back surgery, when he says he “needed a light guitar.” He’s used to breaking a lot of strings, so he started using heavier gauge D’Addario .011s on each axe to help keep them intact through the set!
New-Old Rock
“Pedals are cool, but it’s paramount that the amp itself is doing it,” Neal explains. The singer/guitarist’s Fender ’59 Bassman reissue, which he says sounds warm and emotive, does the trick.
Spare Stompin'
Neal keeps a modest pedalboard at his feet, which is loaded up with a D’Addario Chromatic Pedal Tuner, Dunlop Cry Baby, XTS Custom Pedals Precision Multi-Drive, EHX Green Russian Big Muff, and a Fender Waylon Jennings Phaser, all powered by a T-Rex Fuel Tank.
Shop Slash's Rig
Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V
Gibson Slash Les Paul Standard Electric Guitar - Appetite Burst
Seymour Duncan APH-2s Alnico II Pro Slash Humbuckers (Set)
Seymour Duncan Slash 2.0 Humbucker (Set)
Magnatone Super Fifty-Nine M-80 2 x 12-Inch 45-Watt Combo
Magnatone Super Fifty-Nine M-80 - 45-Watt Tube Head
Boss DD-3 Digital Delay
MXR M68 Uni-Vibe Chorus / Vibrato Pedal
MXR EVH Phase 90 Eddie Van Halen Phase Pedal
Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer
MXR MC401 CAE Boost/Line Driver Pedal
Dunlop 535Q Cry Baby Wah
Peterson StroboStomp HD Tuner
Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2Plus
Radial Shotgun 4-Channel Amp Driver
Ernie Ball 2220 Power Slinky Nickel Wound Electric Guitar Strings - .011-.048
Dunlop Tortex 1.14 mm Picks
Gibson Les Paul Standard '50s Goldtop
Gibson SG Special Electric Guitar - Ebony
Fender '59 Bassman LTD 4 x 10-inch 45-Watt Tube Combo Amp
Fender Waylon Jennings Phaser
Electro-Harmonix Green Russian Big Muff Pi Fuzz
T-Rex Fuel Tank Classic Power Supply
D'Addario CT-20 Chromatic Tuner Pedal
- Rig Rundown: Guns N' Roses ›
- The Legend of Slash’s Appetite for Destruction Les Paul ›
- Slash and Gibson Introduce Signature 1963 ES-335 ›
- Exclusive Slash Interview: S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Blues Festival - Premier Guitar ›
- Blues Ball Band Tour: Slash's 2024 Pedalboard Unveiled - Premier Guitar ›
Ernie Ball VPJR Tuner / Volume Pedal - White
The VPJR Tuner pedal combines Ernie Ball’s world-renowned volume pedal with an enhanced definition digital guitar tuner. In the heel-down position, the pedal’s vibrant touchscreen automatically enters tuner mode, allowing for silent tuning. As the foot sweeps forward, the screen switches to volume mode, providing a graphic display of your volume level. Alternatively, the screen can remain in volume mode or tuner mode, regardless of the pedal’s position in the sweep. Simply double tap on the touchscreen to toggle between modes. The VPJR Tuner provides the same rugged construction and time-tested performance as Ernie Ball’s traditional volume pedal, resulting in the most useful guitar tuner pedal on the market.
Meet Siccardi Number 28: a 5-ply, double-cut solidbody tribute to Paul Bigsby’s “Hezzy Hall” guitar.
Reader: Mark Huss
Hometown: Coatesville, PA
Guitar: Siccardi Number 28
I have too many guitars (like at least some of you I’m sure), but my current No. 1 is a custom guitar made for me by my friend Ed Siccardi. Ed is an interesting and talented fellow, a retired mechanical engineer who has amazing wood and metal shops in his basement. He also has an impressive collection of tonewoods, including rarities like African mahogany and some beautiful book-matched sets. He likes to build acoustic guitars (and has built 26 of them so far), but decided he wanted to make me an electric. The fruit of this collaboration was his Number 27, a Paul Bigsby tribute with a single-cut body—looking very much like what Bigsby made for Merle Travis. Note that Bigsby created this single-cut body and “Fender-style” headstock way before Gibson or Fender had adopted these shapes. This was a really nice guitar, but had some minor playing issues, so he made me another: Number 28.
Number 28 is another Paul Bigsby tribute, but is a double cutaway a la the Bigsby “Hezzy Hall” guitar. This guitar has a 5-ply solid body made of two layers of figured maple, cherry, swamp ash, and another layer of cherry. The wood is too pretty to cover up with a pickguard. The tailpiece is African ebony with abalone inlays and the rock-maple neck has a 2-way truss rod and extends into the body up to the bridge. It has a 14" radius and a zero fret. Therefore, there is no nut per se, just a brass string spacer. I really like zero frets since they seem to help with the lower-position intonation on the 3rd string. The fretboard is African ebony with abalone inlays and StewMac #148 frets. The peghead is overlaid front and back with African ebony and has Graph Tech RATIO tuners. The guitar has a 25" scale length and 1.47" nut spacing. There are two genuine ivory detail inlays: One each on the back of the peghead and at the base of the neck. The ivory was reclaimed from old piano keys.
This is Number 27, 28’s older sibling and a single-cut Bigsby homage. It’s playing issues led to the creation of its predecessor.
I installed the electronics using my old favorite Seymour Duncan pairing of a JB and Jazz humbuckers. The pickup selector is a standard 3-way, and all three 500k rotary controls have push-pull switches. There are two volume controls, and their switches select series or parallel wiring for their respective pickup coils. The switch on the shared tone control connects the bridge pickup directly to the output jack with no controls attached. This configuration allows for a surprisingly wide variety of sounds. As an experiment, I originally put the bridge volume control nearest the bridge for “pinky” adjustment, but in practice I don’t use it much, so I may just switch it back to a more traditional arrangement to match my other guitars.
You might not know Greg Koch, but we’ll bet your favorite guitarist does. In 2012, Fender called the Wisconsin blues-guitar phenom one of the top 10 best unsung guitarists, and in 2020, Guitar World listed Koch among the 15 best guitar teachers. He’s been inducted into the Wisconsin Area Music Industry Hall of Fame. Koch is a bonafide midwest guitar god.
He joins Cory Wong on this round of Wong Notes for this meeting of the Middle-America minds, where the duo open with analysis of music culture in Wisconsin and Minnesota—Koch taught at Saint Paul’s now-shuttered McNally Smith College of Music, which Wong attended. Koch and Wong zero in on the blues roots of most modern music and talk through soloing theories: It can be as easy or as hard as you want it to be, but Koch shares that he likes to “paint himself into a corner,” then get out of it.
Koch and Wong swap notes on the pressures of studio performance versus the live realm, and how to move on from mistakes made onstage in front of audiences. Plus, Koch has created scores of guitar education materials, including for Hal Leonard. Tune in to find out what makes a good guitar course, how to write a guitar book, Koch’s audio tips for crystalline live-stream sessions, and why he still prefers tube amps: “I like to crank that sh*t up!”
