A trove of stage-played and road-worn guitars and guitar amplifiers played by Slash, Gilby Clarke and Richard Fortus is being sold by Denmark Street Guitars as part of its Guns N' Roses Private Collection.
There are a number of incredible instruments to sate anyone's appetite for destruction, such as a BC Rich Mockingbird Supreme spec'd up to match Slash's model and played by Richard Fortus on tour, and Gilby Clarke's singlecut Zemaitis models.
But Perhaps the most eye-catching items up for sale is Slash's Sanchez Custom S-style electric guitar.
Something of rarity for the top-hatted rock icon, who was the standard bearer for the Les Paul throughout the 80s and 90s, the Sanchez has a bolt-on construction, featuring two Seymour Duncan Alnico II humbuckers, a double-locking Floyd Rose vibrato, maple neck, alder body and an all-black finish.
The guitar was built by Slash's then tech Sammy Sanchez, who is widely regarded as one of the finest in the business, having worked with Ted Nugent and Toto, and built guitars for the likes of KISS and Terence Trent Derby.
By all reports, Sanchez made two Strat-style guitars for Slash, which were used during the Use Your Illusion tour to perform Dust N' Bones. The Sanchez guitars feature a shorter 24.75" scale to match the feel of Slash's Les Pauls, as opposed to the 25.5" as found on almost every other S-style.
Other six-string highlights in the collection include a Bigsby- and mini-humbucker-equipped 1970s Gibson ES-325, a 1968 reissue Gibson Les Paul Custom with a relocated pickup switch, a heavily modded Les Paul Standard with a kill-switch, and a black Gibson Les Paul Special – all played and signed by Fortus.
Besides a pair of Clarke's Zemaitis guitars, the collection includes a Hamer Explorer-style electric that was played live and in rehearsal and a Schecter E Series offset with a single Seymour Duncan bridge humbucker.
But perhaps for those chasing that classic Guns N' Roses crunch sound, the most exciting listing is for a pair of modded Marshall heads. There is a late-80s JCM800 100-watt head that is missing its badge, but features aftermarket modifications such as linked channels and "added tonal network to the preamp section" – i.e. the mod you need for nailing Slash's raunchier than thou tone.
Helpfully, the settings are still legible in white chalk on the amplifier's control panel. Also on sale is a 1968 JMP 50 Plexi. This 50-watt fire breather has also been modded, clocked up some road miles with the band.
See Denmark Street Guitars Facebook page for more details or visit the site.
