Richard Fortus is the longest serving guitarist in Guns N’ Roses, with 23 years under his belt. And when it comes to working with founding guitarist Slash, he took a page from another Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band.
Fortus told Guitar World that when Slash rejoined in 2016 he knew he had to figure out a way to blend with the guitarist’s iconic tone. He says, “It’s very old-school. I simplified it and approached it in a Malcolm Young [of AC/DC] type of way. For the older stuff, my job is to support what Slash is doing, and for there to be a natural juxtaposition between two guitars.”
“So I wanted to go with a cleaner type of tone, similar to Malcolm, and how he spits around Angus Young’s tone. It’s the same type of dynamic. It’s also like Joe Perry and Brad Whitford [of Aerosmith]; you can tell the district guitar tones apart and hear how one supports the other.”
