By the late-80s, Kramer, Charvel, and Jackson had established something of a stranglehold on the market, but Guns N’ Roses producer Mike Clink believes that Slash – via the band's 1987 debut album, helped tilt the balance back in Gibson’s favor. Guitarists like Eddie Van Halen, Mick Mars, and Randy Rhoads, very much the poster boys of '80s guitar, had budding guitar players all over the world drooling over their preferred models. As such, the Les Paul, strongly associated with the ‘60s blues rock movement, fell out of fashion with younger musicians.
In a new interview with , Clink explains how created a whole new appetite for Les Pauls. “It’s a special guitar that clearly means a lot to him. That’s his baby,” he said of Slash's original Les Paul.
“When we did , it was that Les Paul into a Marshall. With the popularity of that record, all the aspiring guitar players wanted a Les Paul. I feel like he did a lot to bring the Gibson Les Paul back – not that it necessarily ever went away, but there was a big rise in popularity after [the band's] debut.
” was released in July 1987 and catapulted the band to stratospheric success. It still holds huge sway today – , since Spotify’s relatively recent launch in 2006, has accumulated well over a . Tone-wise however, its success went against the current.
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox! “At the time there were all these hair bands playing other brand.