THE GUITARISTS OF THE YEAR

GUITAR WORLD'S EDITORS AND WRITERS SELECT 2024'S GAME-CHANGERS AND TASTEMAKERS

- JONATHAN HORSLEY

SLASH

THIS YEAR, SLASH’S Rolodex was every bit as important to him as a Gibson Les Paul or Magnatone amp, with the Guns N’ Roses guitarist leveraging all his convening powers for the all-star blues album Orgy of the Damned — before repeating the trick and launching the touring S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival to make money for good causes and take the art form nationwide. Orgy was an opportunity to show the world a side to his playing that we hadn’t seen since the Nineties (via his Blues Ball live project), and yet you don’t need to dig that deep into Slash’s back catalog to find examples of blues phraseology — the influence has always been there.

He had been wanting to do some of the Orgy tracks since forever — “Killing Floor” (transcribed on page 86) being one of them. “It’s always been one of my favorite guitar riffs of all time,” he told GW. His high-energy shakedown of the Howlin’ Wolf standard — with AC/DC’s Brian Johnson barking lava into the mic — showcased an ease with this material.

The GN’R guitarist freshened up the rotation for Orgy, predominantly playing through a Magnatone M-80 combo and breaking out his 1963 ES-355. The Gibson brand ambassador even switched codes to use a Fender Telecaster on a bravura take on Stevie Wonder’s “Living for the City” and a Strat on Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac standard “Oh Well.”

Green and fellow Bluesbreaker alumni Eric Clapton are primary inspirations, but as Slash argues, the O.G. trailblazers remain unsurpassed.