Following is an excerpt from a recent Consequence Of Sound interview with Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash, who once again praised Eddie Van Halen for his influence on the music world. 

Slash: "The thing about Eddie is that he was such a gifted musician. Any instrument he had chosen to play would have been phenomenal, because he just had that pure musical talent. And he chose guitar, because that’s what turned him on. And for somebody with that kind of musical talent to get turned on to rock ‘n’ roll guitar was sort of unique unto itself, because most of us guitar players are a ragged bunch of rock ‘n’ rollers who don’t have too much technical ability or schooling. We just sort of go for this raw thing. And he had that, but he also had this musical, sort of classical gift.

Then, on top of that, just being somebody sort of like Les Paul, who hears something in his head or has an idea and creates it. So it made him a triple threat. He was a great guitar player, but he was also this amazing musician, so it just made his guitar playing that much greater. And then he was an innovator on top of it, creating new things with whatever his imagination came up with. So he was just an amazing artist, period."

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The Gibson Slash Collection of guitars crosses three decades of partnership between Gibson and Slash, and in a history-making move for the brand, is the first evergreen artist collection made by Gibson. Slash and Gibson worked in close collaboration and the collection features multiple acoustic and electric guitars. The Slash Collection represents the influential Gibson guitars Slash has used throughout his career, inspiring multiple generations of players around the world. December 1st marked the release of the new Gibson Slash “Victoria” Les Paul Standard Goldtop; available worldwide.

In a previously published portion of his Consequence Of Sound interview, Slash revealed where the Victoria model got is name.

Slash: "I’ve been using a Gibson since the first (Guns N’ Roses) record, but I established a relationship with them starting in 1988. It’s been developing all these years. Recently, I did this line of different Les Paul Standards that are all different colors. And at the end of that, I said, 'You know, I’d love to do a Goldtop, as well.'

Back in the late ’90s, I had a bunch of guitars stolen out of my studio in my house. I’ve actually managed to get (just about) all the guitars back, but I never knew exactly who was behind the theft. And one of the guitars I didn’t get back was a Goldtop that was stolen. So, I’ve been trying to find another Goldtop to replace it over the years. Then at some point I found out who was responsible for the theft, not long ago, and her name was Victoria, so I decided to name the guitar after her!"

The Gibson Slash Collection Gibson “Victoria” Les Paul Standard in Goldtop finish features a maple top, a solid mahogany body, a dark back finish and Slash’s personal touches including a C-shaped neck profile, uncovered Gibson Custom BurstBucker Alnico 2 pickups, color coordinated hardware appointments, hand-wired electronics with Orange Drop capacitors and a vintage style brown hardshell case. Exclusive to the Slash Collection are Slash’s “Skully” signature drawing on the back of the headstock, Slash’s signature on the truss rod cover, a blank truss rod cover in the case, Slash’s new Ernie Ball strings, and four Slash Jim Dunlop Tortex picks. The new Goldtop joins the previously announced four Les Paul Standard electric guitars and two J-45 Standard acoustic guitars.

"Developing my new Collection with the new team at Gibson has been really exciting,” says Slash. “The quality and attention to detail is next level, and these guitars truly reflect what I play live and in the studio. I think guitarists will be inspired by what we've put together.”

“Developing Slash’s Collection with him has been an amazing experience” says Cesar Gueikian of Gibson. “The fact that Slash is intimately involved in this journey makes it special and a true representation of him and his sound. I am excited to formally announce the addition of the Victoria Goldtop to the Collection and I am looking forward to reading fan and media theories about why we chose to call it Victoria. Plus, stay tuned for more to come in the future with Slash.”

(Eddie Van Halen photo by Mark Gromen. Slash photos courtesy of Gibson)