Slash and Les Paul - what a combo!
Ex Guns ‘n Roses guitar monster Slash is a Les Paul lover. He has a massive collection of these famous guitars - but does he treat them with respect? Hell no!
He breaks ‘em on a regular basis - but always apologises!
Adam Day has served as Slash’s high profile backline tech and all around secret weapon since the guitarist’s halcyon days with Guns and Roses. Recently, Monster Cable caught up with Adam (a Famous Monster in his own right) to discuss all things Slash and the importance of using high performance wire. Here’s what went down.
Monster: You first worked with Slash when he was in Guns and Roses. That must’ve been an incredible time for you.
Adam Day: Yeah. I finished the last Monsters of Rock gig working for George Lynch (Dokken) in Denver. The next day I flew to Cincinnati and met Guns and Roses for the first time August of ‘88. Ironically the first week I started was the first week “Appetite for Destruction” went no. 1. I took a pay cut to come and do that Guns tour. I got along with Slash great. He was one of those guys who had the reputation of being a partier or whatever. But, he always came to sound check, whether he was hung over and be rational and be very polite, nice. Then after the tour ended, they got me a tour jacket and offered me a retainer to stay on with the band. I haven’t missed a paycheck since.
Monster: What’s changed and what’s remained the same about Slash’s live rig?
Adam Day: Well, the last Guns and Roses tour he had fourteen guitars out with him. He played like eight or so and it was a big and long set. And now he has three guitars, like he did on Guns’ first tour. Other than that, not much has changed. Basically, it’s out of the wireless system into a Dunlop Cry Baby system. Then, out of that into a Bradshaw custom amp splitter/switcher. It basically takes one in and takes four out on A side and four out on the a B side.
Monster: You’ve got to watch Slash’s every move on stage, so you can fix anything in a second, so the show goes on. Any special signals he gives you when something needs attention during a show?
Adam Day: Well, when he puts two fingers to his lips, he needs a cigarette (laughs)!!! Actually, I have to watch him so carefully because he plays so hard, he’ll pop out a D string sooner than he’ll pop out a higher E string. A lot of times, the string has popped but the string will still be hanging on the fretboard and you can’t tell. So, he will give me a nod and I’ll look and I’ll see if the string isn’t on there and we make a quick change. It’s funny, even to this day he apologizes for breaking a string. He’ll come right over to me and say “Sorry�”
Monster: Slash’s “dirty” tone is deceptively less distorted than people might initially realize. How do you achieve a good, distorted rock guitar tone?
Adam Day: Well, the key is that the sound comes a lot more from the output of the amp as opposed to the pre amp gain. The amp’s master output has to be turned up to a certain point to really get the warmth and reaction. On the Marshall Jubilee Series amps that Slash uses, those heads have a lead master and another gain stage. So, we have the gain all the way up and the master volume at like 6 or 7. And, then the input gain is like about 6, so technically we’re possibly running more output gain than input gain.
Monster: What kind of speaker wattage workd best in Slash’s rig?
Adam Day: Well, I’ve found that 30 watt speakers are brighter and punchier and they cut more in the live situation. The 25s are warmer and they break naturally which is part of what makes the classic Marshall sound.
Monster: What Monster Cable does Slash use in the live rig?
Adam Day: In the live rig, Monster Cable, specifically Studio Pro 1000, is in front of all the amps.
Monster: What do you say to people who don’t think it’s important to use high performance wire, specifically Monster Cable?
Adam Day: I know it matters. Monster is definitely the standard of cable to live up to. A lot of times, a high gain amp can be a big antenna for noise. With Monster, that’s never been a problem because the shielding is so good.
Monster: Can you tell us a little about Slash’s famous ‘59 Les Paul replica that he’s used on all the Guns albums and tours?
Adam Day: It was really done to the specs of a ‘59 Les Paul. With this one, though, it has a fatter neck and the neck-to-body angle is less than what Gibson does now, so it’s more traditional.I think the wood that he got was probably drier and it has the distinctive sound that’s unmatched with any of his other Les Pauls.
Monster: What can you tell us about Slash’s favorite live guitar?
Adam Day: It’s a cherry sunburst Les Paul which he uses quite a bit. It’s an old road dog thats been broken several times. Its got a great mid range sound that works for him. He was playing with Nile Rogers and Steve Winwood awhile ago and snapped it in half.The head stock came up and smacked him in the face. He had blood all over his face and his lip and everybody’s jaws dropped and stopped playing. He can be pretty rough on all of his guitars, even his favorites.
Monster: Slash has always been known for being the Les Paul kind of player. Any kind of interesting other kinds of guitars or instruments get used in the studio?
Adam Day: Well, one of the staples is this 1959 Gibson Flying V. There’s certain things Slash does that we know this guitar will work for, basically the slow melodic leads. One of the first things we use it for is was the studio version of “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.” The first melodic lead he did on the song was done with that Flying V, with the tone turned all the way down the neck pickup which gives a real midrange, kind of hawking, warm tone.
We’ve also used a 1964 Fender 6 string bass, put running through Marshall amps which sounds great, like ton of bricks. We did that to double the riff on the new single Ain’t Been There Lately” and we also used it to double the riff on the Guns version of “Live and Let Die”.
Monster: Slash’s guitar sound is so gigantic, yet warm. Is that achieved by recording all analog in the studio?
Adam Day: Actually, most of the guitar overdubs are done at his house on a hard drive Otari digital system. Its one of those thing with Slash, if you ask him he’ll tell you what he likes just from his experience. There’s nothing digital about those experiences or his influences, but we present it in a way that shows him that what he does will be preserved. When we first started this Snakepit record, we pretty much just did all the guitars on analog tape, then we’d dump it over to the hard drive. We got to a point, though, where we were comfortable enough actually recording his guitars directly to the hard drive.
Monster: Does Slash and his Snakepit band jam at soundchecks when you’re on the road?
Adam Day: Oh, yeah, definitely. Some of the covers stuff these guys do, just the dynamics on songs like “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” would blow you away.
Monster: Any parting advice for techs trying to crack a major gig?
Adam Day: I do my job and always keep it on a professional level. That’s the philosophy I still live by in this business. You let you guard down with the band or anybody and they’ll question you professionally. For example, if you’re out with the band all night and you come in the next day and there are problems, they’ll question your professionalism. Learn to separate yourself and you’ll be fine.
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Tags: guns and roses, les paul guitar, monster cable, slash
May 16th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Adam has a pretty awesome job! I wonder how good his hearing is after all those concerts.
May 30th, 2008 at 1:42 am
Guns ‘n Roses is one of the famous bands during that year, and they have great songs. They have great performance during their concerts.
Great advice for musicians who are aspiring to become successful in their career.