The “eureka moment” Slash first plugged into an amp
In terms of guitar heroes, there aren’t many as distinctive as Guns N’ Roses powerhouse Slash. Fusing hard rock, punk and metal with the natural virtuosity that only the true greats have, Slash has provided many scintillating moments over the years, from ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ to ‘Mr. Brownstone’.
Although he was exposed to the arts from a young age, given his mother and father’s jobs as a fashion designer and cartoonist, respectively – not to mention his raw talent – Slash didn’t start playing until the relatively late age of 14. What’s even more mind-blowing is that he was 16 when he first plugged an electric guitar into an amplifier. Yet, in a testament to his talent, Slash would refine his craft quickly after this experience.
Slash made the revelation when speaking to Kerrang in 2021 and reflected on the “eureka moment” when he first plugged his guitar into an amp. Playing a Ted Nugent classic, the feeling it conjured confirmed that he wanted to pursue the guitar further. Slash said: “I remember that moment. It wasn’t just plugging into an amp because I had a little Fender, but when I first got that mustard yellow distortion box and put that line into an amp and played ‘Cat Scratch Fever’, it was like a eureka moment.”
He continued: “That’s when I went, ‘Wow, OK, cool.’ This was in Los Angeles. I roughly started playing when I was 14, but I was maybe 16 when I had that amp, guitar, distortion box combo.”
Slash then revealed that whilst he had loved music from a very early age, he only picked up a guitar because childhood friend and future Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler owned one. The guitarist recalled: “I was a big fan of music from as far back as I can remember. I used to love going to gigs and seeing bands, and I was totally mesmerised by it all, but it never clicked with me to go and do that myself until I picked up a guitar because Steven Adler had one.”
This consequential moment set him on his path to becoming a guitar hero. Slash concluded: “And I thought, ‘Well, he knows how to play guitar, so I should play bass to start a band.’ Then I found out from a local music school that it wasn’t the bass I wanted to do at all, it was lead-guitar. All of a sudden, that set me off in this direction. But the thing that excited me musically at that time? When you’re a teenager, regardless of how cool the music is that your parents are listening to, you start to discover your own.”
Watch Slash live in action below.
