Gibson Les Paul Snakepit signed by Slash
Gibson Les Paul Snakepit signed by Slash
89000,00 €
In the succession of extraordinary projects undertaken by the Gibson Custom Shop, the famous Snakepit holds a very special place. Hated by some, adored by others, this bright red Les Paul is an artistic project in its own right and certainly the most beautiful guitar created around Slash. Discover this exceptional piece signed by the master with the hat!
Released in the late 1990s, the Gibson Les Paul Snakepit celebrates a chapter in Slash’s career. At the height of his solo expansion with the first effort of Slash’s Snakepit, Slash had just embraced his ambitions as a star guitarist. The album It’s Five O’ Clock Somewhere (1995) embodies much of his desires at the time. It is both representative of Slash’s talent just after Guns N’ Roses and of his raw, rock’n’roll energy. For this first effort with some of his former Guns N’ Roses comrades, Slash called on his brother Ash Hudson to design the album cover. The resulting visual has become iconic, the celebrated Snakepit.
The Snakepit has gradually become Slash’s symbol. This snake with a mischievous look, an S-shaped curved body, and wearing a top hat, has established itself as one of Slash’s visual signatures. Behind this drawing lies an old family reference. The character Kaa from the Jungle Book is indeed dear to the Hudson siblings. It was the book their mother Ola read to them during their childhood. Ash drew inspiration from it to personify his brother, complete with a cigarette and a hat.
This visual inspired the Les Paul Snakepit. Slash asked Gibson to build it for him in 1996 or 1997. By his own admission, it is a “magnificent” guitar and “a very rare model,” as well as “one of the best guitars (he’s ever) used.” This impressive guitar has a rock and aggressive sound right from the first notes. It directly draws from the Snakepit cover, from which it takes its name: a superb snake is inlaid and painted on the bright red top, paired with an impressive mother-of-pearl cobra on the fretboard. Visually, this Les Paul is one of the most striking executions from the Gibson Custom Shop. Besides being one of the best-preserved examples, this Snakepit has been signed on the top by Slash with a gold marker. An extraordinary collector’s piece!
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Slash
(1965)
Band: Guns N’ Roses
Main guitar: Gibson Les Paul Standard 1959 Kris Derrig
Must-listen track: Welcome To The Jungle
Without Slash, it’s very likely that the Les Paul would be nothing more than a relic of the past, interesting only to extreme Clapton fans. Yet, by the sheer power of his legendary riffs and his wet, seductive tone, this ultimate guitar hero revived the sunburst finish and made it a trademark, alongside his top hat and long curly hair.
Saul Hudson (his real name) was a pure product of the ’80s, to the point that he even auditioned for glam kings Poison, but he managed a remarkable transformation by joining Hollywood Rose, the band that would become Guns N’ Roses. He and singer Axl Rose reinvented themselves as bad boys, junkie dandies, and post-glam rockers, breathing new life into the classic dangerous duo model of a singer and lead guitarist, following the example of Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. Alongside rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, Slash created a wall of guitars that became the soundtrack of the late ’80s with the massive album Appetite For Destruction (1987), featuring as many unforgettable riffs as tracks, including Welcome To The Jungle, Nightrain, Mr Brownstone, and many others. The next album, Use Your Illusion (1991), cemented the band’s global colossus status as they embarked on a nonstop two-year tour. Slash was at the height of his glory, and every teenager at the time wanted a Les Paul to learn the intro to Sweet Child O’ Mine.
Weary of internal tensions, Slash finally left the band in 1996 to focus on his solo project, the very bluesy Slash’s Snakepit. He was also invited to contribute to numerous other artists’ albums, from Michael Jackson to Bob Dylan and Lenny Kravitz. In 2002, he founded Velvet Revolver with former Guns members Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum. However, the singer’s curse followed Slash in this band as well, forcing him to fire Scott Weiland in 2008 due to his overwhelming drug problems. In 2010, the long-haired guitarist finally did what was expected of him and released a solo album, fully embracing the solo career, with many of his singer friends lending their voices. Among them, Myles Kennedy became the vocalist for his subsequent solo albums.
Finally, in 2016, Slash returned to Guns N’ Roses for a memorable sold-out tour. The band played as if their lives depended on it, the concerts were long and thrilling, and Slash has definitively reached the status of a living god. His signature Les Paul models have never sold better.
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