On the Roam

Yeah, I mean...

So?

Phew.

Bro.

I feel the

Bro! That energy.

I feel it, in a good way.

This'll be next, so that way it's next to that one.

I think this is probably the better way to go.

Oh, my God.

Not gonna lie to you guys, I'm pretty fucking nervous.

You know, I'm not known for my...

uh...

...even enunciating.

Bit of a mumbler.

I don't even like doing interviews.

Now, I'm fucking interviewing one of my heroes.

I'm like this--

I'm, like, "Acting? Sure.

I don't have to look at that fucking thing."

Appetite. Appetite.

Firebird.

Phew. '58.

There's not one type of music I just don't like.

To me it's the most powerful art form

that humans can create.

It sings to our souls, it talks to us,

it instantly puts us into a time and a place

and a feeling and a memory.

When you hear a legendary guitar sing,

you can hear the stories bound into the wood,

the memories that remain from years on the road.

These guitars become time capsules,

and they'll bring you back like nothing else can.

For me, nobody embodies this more than Slash

and the Gibson Les Paul.

That's my childhood.

That shape, that look,

Slash, just shirt off, leather pants,

hair everywhere,

top hat and just leaning back.

And the cigarette and just being like...

That guy's cool as hell.

What's up, bro?

I have one of the most embarrassing stories,

but-- I was-- you know--

I wasn't supposed to watch MTV and all that stuff,

but I'd go to the babysitters

and be watching, like, Paradise City

and Motley Crue and all these things

that my mom didn't want me watching.

I'm just doing circles,

and it's the part where, like,

Slash is about ready to kick off,

and it's, like, hitting the high note,

and then he's just going around,

just the whole stadium, just killing it.

And I'm jamming, I'm jamming, and all of a sudden,

my pants fall down.

My sweatpants fall down, and I trip over them.

My ass is out,

and these girls are staring at me,

and I'm was, like, hitting the high note like Slash,

like, "Yeah!"

And I fucking still love this video.

This is the part that, uh...

-Okay, so... -...I've really been waiting for. Here we go.

- You good on light? You good on light? -Mm-hmm.

Getting us all?

Let's do that one first.

Okay.

Yeah, bro.

So that's the original number 250F.

-So this guitar was the second-- -Oh, my God!

...second Sunburst Gibson ever made.

I mean, you know how the Sunburst is

such a popular finish

-Bro! Hold up. Hold up. -...so it's just incredible.

One of you guys,

get in here and look at this thing.

It is so beautiful.

That was a sticker. I have no-- It's still--

Don't pick it.

I was like...

You're just picking it like it's another...

So-- oh, my gosh, dude.

It is unbelievable.

Each guitar, they all have their own magic.

They all have their own mojo.

There's, like, little odd things or hums

or different feelings to them,

and they all have their different sounds.

Like, you can play a hundred guitars,

and not one of them are alike.

So, I think when you have something

that's been on the road,

that's lived through it, that's taken the smoke

and the feeling and the energy from these rooms

and going to these shows,

they have their own soul.

It takes form with these musicians,

who puts that magic in there,

and so I want to just highlight

and celebrate the artist...

and his tool.

This is...

my main live guitar with-- Yeah.

- Bro! - So, I've had this since--

I got it for-- It's a 1987 Les Paul Standard.

- This is the one with the cigarette burn. - Yeah.

Her name's Jessica.

This is one of the few guitars

that actually has a name, but...

I can't believe this is an '87.

Yeah. Well, it's just seen a lot of travel.

-This-- -I don't even know the story

about the cigarette burn.

My guitar tech could tell you. He knows exactly.

I asked him. I said, "How did that happen?"

I was playing with Alice Cooper, apparently,

when that happened.

And I guess the cherry just--

or the cigarette fell.

And I guess I was so toxic at that point,

it just stuck to the fucking... guitar.

It just burned.

That's amazing.

Yeah.

When I get to see these guitars,

it's so very special.

And I didn't think they were going to be

that impactful on me.

But it is.

All right.

These are literally the guitars

that created the sound of my childhood.

I cannot believe that I get to see them,

much less hold them.

So, this is the actual original AFD.

It's still got a pick in it 'cause I was just in the studio.

So, funny story about this guitar.

When Guns first started out,

I went through a lot of different guitars.

But there--

from 1985 through '86,

I had a really cool Steve Hunter--

pre-owned Steve Hunter Les Paul.

- Yeah. - And then during a sort of...

bad period of mine, I sold it.

And I didn't really have any guitars.

So when we were doing the Appetite for Destruction record,

um, I was using a couple of guitars

that I had that didn't sound very good.

So I was sort of freaking out

'cause we were doing basic tracks

and I was like, "These guitars sound like shit."

And our manager at the time

came up when I was going in to do the guitar overdubs

and showed up at the studio with this particular guitar.

So this was, you know, my main recording guitar, obviously,

and then I took it on the road for a while

and I thought I should retire this from touring.

So, it's still pretty beat up

just from that, and--

But you keep it in the studio. That's what you--

So I still use this in the studio.

It sounds great. It's got a really raw--

Proud, look at you. That thing is...

-...unique sound to this. -Jeez!

I mean, I had it in the studio a couple of days ago

and I've got a bunch of guitars in there,

they're all Les Pauls,

but this one just has this unique thing to it.

Wow.

So you've just been in the studio,

-and so, this is definitely-- -Yeah. That's why it's in tune.

-That's why-- You definitely-- -The other ones have been sitting around.

And it's funny 'cause you said

you retired this one too, right?

Well, I mean, I just don't take it on the road anymore.

Yeah. I mean, that's just from 1987 to 1988.

That's just a year on the road.

-So-- -That's just a year.

I mean, it was brand new when I got it.

So that's why I just said, "You know what?

I'm going to put this one away

and just get something." And I still do that.

I like to work with new guitars on the road.

I don't like to take vintage guitars out

'cause they just kept banged--

I'm really rough on them.

So...

So you've seen the gigs, you know.

Yeah, bro.

I mean, just to think about going to your childhood hero--

Like, I mean, I love Slash.

Like his music, like, it blew my mind.

It just changed everything for me. So to be able to...

...first off, meet him,

and then I was just like, "I have this idea."