Richard Fortus has been busy rock ’n’ rolling with Guns N’ Roses for over two decades. Being part of such a high-profile band means he has managed to add quite a few guitars to his collection.
That includes a rather special Les Paul ’Burst, which he’d pick as the one guitar from his collection that he’d save from a burning building.
“I would grab the ’Burst just because of the value,” he tells Guitar World matter-of-factly.
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“I originally started selling [guitars] because I wanted to buy a ’Burst. I was looking for something with a broken headstock, or snake bites, which would make it more reasonable… I guess,” he adds.
Fortus goes on to say that he probably tried out around eight ’Bursts before he finally found his perfect match – one that had all the right snake bites, AKA road marks.
He continues, “A friend of mine was traveling through town and had this guitar. He called me up, saying, ‘Hey, I know you’re looking for something with snake bites… You gotta see this guitar.’
“And as soon as I plugged it in, I thought, ‘Fuck. This is it. I’m screwed now because that’s the guitar. It’s just perfect.’ It’s the best-sounding,” he gushes.
“Those can differ vastly from guitar to guitar, mainly because of the pickups’ sound. They just sound so different, but this one had everything.”
According to Fortus, his ’Burst can be best described as “the perfect-sounding Les Paul.”
The guitarist was so committed to his ’Burst quest that, around five years ago, he put up more than 200 pieces of gear as part of the Richard Fortus Collection at the Chicago Music Exchange – all in the hope of trading them for the ultimate collector’s prize: a ’Burst.
