Slash Les Paul Standard Antique Vintage Sunburst "counterfeit" from China (MIC)

In three previous articles I have discussed Chinese counterfeits. First a general discussion, a review of a 160 dollars "Fender Telecaster" and then a 270 dollars "Fender Stratocaster Relic YJM". The last one, # 3, is a Gibson Slash Les Paul Antique Vintage Sunburst "Slash Tribute" for $280. The price tag should easily tell anyone on the planet that the whole thing is a "fake". The original, as you may know, was just manufactured in 1600 ex worldwide and goes for over $3000...Worth every penny. 

I once again must point out that I do not intend to promote Chinese "fakes", I just want to inform you about the phenomenon of "Chinese copies". It´s not illegal to purchase counterfeits, but it is to manufacture and sell them, and especially as "originals".

Even if you don't have moral doubts about buying them, you should know that you support illegal activity and infect the business of high quality instruments.

"Enough" about that ...

# 3 arrived one day after the #2. The walk from the Post Office was much more exciting as #2 turned out to be better than #1, I felt at least not fooled. I was excited all the way home.

The package, also a yellow cellophane package, was heavier than the last two. Once home, I opened the package and found a guitar, the same guitar strap as before, one-piece plastic cable and two shitty picks.

After unpacking the box I met a guitar with an excellent finish. I remember thinking:"how on earth can they make this awesome finish for just $280?". I found virtually no errors at all, maybe a bit more colourful in the burst compared to the original.

I comparison to my original "Slash Signature" I noticed that the "Slash logo" is placed slightly crooked, but it's not something you notice if you do not have an original side to side. The Gibson logo is placed where it should be though.

The neck is straight and under the truss rod plate you actually find a "trussrod". It is the third guitar with a truss rod and it´s not made of silicone, which is important to notice. The counterfeits has become better. The truss rod works fine but it doesn't look like the original at all.

The fretboard appears to be made of Rosewood and it feels great. The inlays looks quite authentic to. The frets are also fine, maybe a bit jagged so they get a little trimming.

The guitar is surprisingly perfect intonated right out of the box, a signal that the factory not just throw stuff together, but the strings are horrible. Not quite as bad as the # 1 (Telecaster), but definitely not classy at all. The three way switch works flawless.

The tuners are "vintage style" and works smoothly. The guitar definitely keeps i tune, even at quite rough playing. They are definitely not Kluson Deluxe, it says Gibson Deluxe on them, but they look almost the same. Another detail to remember if you wanna spot a counterfeit.

Electronics inside are no masterwork, the whole thing looks actually rather "cheap" with sloppy soldering, but it works without "humming".

The pickups are not at all Alnico 2 Pro as it should be in the original. They do not sound bad but they are a bit flat sounding. If you change the pupps to Alnico 2 Pro, you will probably get a much better sounding instrument.

The acoustic sound is surprisingly strong as the guitar is made of less wood.

The bridge is stable with a "Tune-o-matic bridge" and lightweight Stopbar tail piece. It looks ok and works like any other "low cost hardtail" on the market.

This Chinese counterfeit may well cause problems for the ignorant, it is a well-functioning instruments with great looks. Compared to an original Gibson Standard you will notice a difference, of course. But as an instrument it works really well as delivered. If you change hardware it will become a great guitar, there is no doubt about that.

Again, I am pleasantly surprised by the quality versus price. My Chinese # 1, # 2 and # 3 will remain in my possession and will remind me of the globalized world and how it affects us and how it will continue to fool us.

Rating:
4 zombies (5)

Marshall SL5 Slash Combo, a surprisingly well built Marshall

A while ago a Marshall SL5 Slash combo landed at the Zombie Crib. It is a practice amp that i said to deliver the sound that has become the hallmark of Slash. At the same time SL5 is not to be seen as just a signature amp, it is one of the better Marshalls in a very long time. 

The SL5 is the younger brother of the Slash signature AFD100 head. In 2010 Marshall came out with AFD100, a 100 watt head. The amp got fantastic reviews virtually everywhere, mainly because it ´s stunning basic sound and a really tight bottom. A rock-amplifier with two dirty channels. One that will remind you of the Frank Levi modded JCM800 (# 34-mode) and one based on the modded amp that Slash used on Appetite for Destruction called #36 (AFD mode), also modded by Frank Levi.

And that is what AFD100 is about, to replicate the two hilarious sounds of #36 and Slash´s sound from Use Your Illusion (# 34). Inside the shell of AFD100 you will find 5 piece ECC83 tubes in the pre-amp and 4 x 6550 output amp and a power scale that allows you to reduce power from 100 watts down to 1 watt. If it nails the Slash sound? Well, not in every sense but still very close. The lack of gain, at least to my ears, made me modify it.

This new one, a combo, changeable from 5 watts down to 1 watt, by a switch on the backside of the amp. It will do great for rehearsals with your band actually as well  for bedroom volume.

Inside you´ll find 3 ECC84 in the pre-amp and 1 EL35 output tube.

It has a 12" Celestion V30 speaker, and thats a good decision because of it´s warm sound, especially when it comes to clean tones. This amp is doing really well for cleans, better than you may think, at least compared to the AFD100 which is not a clean amp at all.

When it comes to dirty sounds SL5 is awesome, warm and "bity" and a very good choice. Not because it nails the Slash tone, because it does not. This is a real deal Marshall sounding thing. The 5 watts may sound weak but the truth is that it serves you very loud. If you drive the amp it will break up stunningly och answer your playing as an expert amp. It takes the path down from busy crunch to high gain vintage and firmly rips the Blackstar HT-5 apart avery day in the week. With that said, the HT-5 is a remarkable amp in its own way. One of my favorite small amps.

If you have a guitar with low output you can choose the input jack nr 1, that will give you +6db. If your output on your guitar is normal och very high you can choose input jack nr 2.

The EQ is a well functioning "treble, "mid" and "bass", which gives you a wide range of dialing. The EQ works very well in combinantion with the "presence".

AFD100 does not have reverb, but the SL5 has one. Dialed at 10 a´clock its suits in perfect with clean tones and dirty ones too, depending of your taste. The reverb is not a cheap one kicked in, its a very good and balanced one.

The lack of effects-loop is a bit of a problem for me, and that´s the reason for not landing on top result.

But this is a good amp, one of the best in many years from Marshall.

Grade:
4,9 Zombies (5)