A heartfelt tribute to Slash and one of his most beloved guitars. With Slash offering his valuable input
Gibson USA has been able to build one of its legendary Goldtops
With all the individual features and unique characteristics that arouse Slash’s creative and musical instincts.
The new Slash Signature Goldtop from Gibson USA starts with a standard, un-chambered mahogany body with Gibson’s traditional weight relief system
Consisting of a series of “Swiss cheese” holes that give it a comfortable yet heavy feel, exactly as Slash likes his Les Pauls. The body is topped by one of the Les Paul’s trademark features — a hand-carved maple top. The body is then painted with the same finish as the first Les Paul model in 1952 – Bullion Gold with an aged Cherry back.
A pair of Seymour Duncan Alnico II pickups – exactly the same pickups Slash uses on many of his guitars – provides all the power, punch and performance expected of a Slash Les Paul. The Slash-designed neck is a solid piece of mahogany with a hybrid profile that takes the roundness of the Les Paul necks of the late 1950s, matching it with the slimness of the necks from the early 1960s. Slash’s personal skull/crossbones and top hat logo with signature adorn the headstock.
At Slash’s urging, the electronics of the new Goldtop were enhanced to include proprietary wiring, caps, resistors and tone pots that give the new Slash Goldtop its own unique tone. It is also set up using the revolutionary Plek system — a computer controlled set-up that carefully measures and dresses each fret, accurately measuring the heightt between the fingerboard and the string, virtually eliminating string buzz and providing unbeatable playability.
Including a TonePro Tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar tailpiece, all chrome hardware, Kluson-style Gibson tuners, and a hand-numbered certificate of authenticity in a metal fold-over frame.
The finish on the new Slash Les Paul Goldtop is the same Goldtop finish introduced on the original Les Paul model in 1952.
Applying it is one of the most labor-intensive processes of building guitars, but it’s worth it. There are three different coats of paint in all ― a base coat of black primer, followed by two coats of metallic gold paint, which must be agitated continuously to achieve a consistent and even coverage. Those three coats are then sealed by four thin coats of polyurethane, each one buffed to an illustrious shine before adding the next. The entire process of painting a Slash Les Paul Goldtop ― from primer to the last coat of polyurethane ― takes nine days!
In total, it takes approximately 21 days to finish a Slash Les Paul Goldtop
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The new Slash Signature Goldtop from Gibson USA is a fitting tribute to a true rock music legend, and one of the best guitarists to ever pick up a Les Paul Standard.
