So, I just read an incredible tale about the origin of the guitar that Slash used for the Guns N' Roses album, 'Appetite For Destruction,' and New Hampshire plays a pretty big part.

As the story goes from L.A. Weekly (which I was directed to from laist.com, which I was lead to from the Union Leader), Slash was not satisfied with the tone from his guitars on the basic tracks for 'Appetite For Destruction,' and re-recording all of his parts was proving to be a very frustrating task.

Alan Niven, G N' R's manager at the time, purchased the guitar that Slash would eventually use on the album, from Music Works located at the time in Redondo Beach, California.

This is where the story gets interesting.

The guitar is a replica of a 1959 Gibson Les Paul and was made by a man named, Kris Derrig. Derrig, a graduate of Berklee College of Music in Boston, lived in an old trailer behind Music Works. Jim Foote was the owner of the music store and he would help Derrig find maple to use for the Les Paul replica tops, but for this guitar, Derrig's brother Dale, a retired Massachusetts police officer, claims the wood for Slash's guitar came from an old barn located in Hillsborough, New Hampshire. Derrig traveled back east specifically for that wood. From L.A. Weekly:

'It was extremely dense, old wood. That's where the tone comes from and that's what Chris wanted, Dale, now 69, says. Mellow, but with a bite to it.'

Slash used the guitar on the road for awhile but retired it sometime around 1989. Unfortunately, Kris Derrig, maker of Slash's 'Appetite' axe passed away of cancer two months before the album came out. That record sold over 18 million copies.

I bet you never thought there was a connection between Guns N' Roses killer debut album and the beautiful state of New Hampshire. I certainly had no idea, but what an amazing tale.