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SLICK Guitars (as in Earl Slick)


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Gosh..musicians getting endorsements for free gear..the horror....the...horror.:angry39:

Anyways, mine arrived Friday, took to my go to guy for all things luthery, ThirteenthStreetGuitars. He took a look & found 3 or 4 uneven frets, so did a level & polish for me while I waited. Other than that the guitar seems rather well made, love the solid feel of the tuners &the bridge. Took it to my bud' house for some jamming & I like the pickups...a lot. They are well balanced, and sound pretty good thru my Quilter MP200. Bridge pup has a bit of P-90 snarl to it, which I like, & the neck sounds sweet too. My guitar guy doesn't think the body is swamp ash, it weighs too much.

But this is a good solid fun to play guitar for 2 Benjamins.

th_SL50-02.jpg

Edited by cBc
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I played a friend of mines tele that's made from ash and it's pretty heavy. Good to hear that's a good guitar for the money.

 

 

The typical white ash that Fender uses is usually denser than swamp ash (a.k.a. -- southern ash or green ash). However, there are also heavy grades of swamp ash -- which cost less because they are less desirable.

 

​No matter what its weight is, at least so-called swamp ash usually has a nice interesting grainy look about it compared to some white ash.

 

 

 

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Here's a clip of my guitar above just a few minutes after first plugging it in. Bridge pup, running thru a Zoom Power Driver into my Quilter Micro Pro 200. Playings a bit sloppy, but you can hear how the guitar sounds.

Edited by cBc
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Here's a clip of my guitar above just a few minutes after first plugging it in. Bridge pup, running thru a Zoom Power Driver into my Quilter Micro Pro 200. Playings a bit sloppy, but you can hear how the guitar sounds.

 

Sounds pretty good. I quite like the look of yours too, except for what looks like gluey fingermarks that stopped the stain taking, and I'd want to tape over the headstock badge.

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Gosh..musicians getting endorsements for free gear..the horror....the...horror.:angry39:

 

I don't have a problem with endorsements per say. What kind of annoys me are the people who advertise a ton of things. I mean, the ads for this (which all seem to have some sort of goofy Photoshopped background) say it's the best he's owned/played. That really makes me question the quality of the $5000 Framus he was trying to sell us a year or two ago.

 

I like Earl Slick. I think he's a great player. I have the Stray Cats record he is on and I think I'm probably the only one out there that bought Phantom, Rocker and Slick's debut and second album on both vinyl and cassette. I have a solo instrumental record he made as well where he has a Goldtop on some 90s type of background). I just find his marketing choices kind of goofy, but I guess he has to pay the bills.

 

I like GFS Jay as well. I think his marketing lingo is pretty goofy, but he's a decent guy and he fills a niche. There was a time where he was the biggest thing going on HCEG. Don't hear as much about them as we used to.

Edited by BG76
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Agreeing with you BG76, but we consumers just need to learn to cut thru the hype. Actually Framus was the ones trying to get us to part with $5000. I will never EVER spend near that kind of bread for any guitar, I have found too many good cheap ones to play.

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Sounds pretty good. I quite like the look of yours too, except for what looks like gluey fingermarks that stopped the stain taking, and I'd want to tape over the headstock badge.

 

Yeah, the only thing that really gripes me about these is the attempt to "relic" them up. It adds nothing to them, and makes them look bad. If they would have just painted the bodies & left them as they were....of all the color variants, I think the aged woodgrain came off with the least amount of the Uglies. Might consider sanding it down & redoing it someday. Or not...Looks aside, it is a pretty solid guitar for two Franklins.

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I think what's interesting is that Earl Slick is not a well known guitarist to the majority of music fans, despite his credentials. I had no idea who he was until I opened a Guitar World and saw him in an Eastwood advert. I've still not listened to much of his music, and I'm not a fan of the Lennon or Bowie tracks he played on.

 

With players like Slash or Zakk Wylde, their advert whoring is understandable to a degree because they're big names. Earl Slick, though? I'm not putting him down, but I've never seen a Wylde or Slash brand guitar. They've always had signature models through Gibson and Epiphone. Slick had an expensive Framus, and now has his own brand. That's just really odd to me.

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Yeah, the only thing that really gripes me about these is the attempt to "relic" them up. It adds nothing to them, and makes them look bad. If they would have just painted the bodies & left them as they were....of all the color variants, I think the aged woodgrain came off with the least amount of the Uglies. Might consider sanding it down & redoing it someday. Or not...Looks aside, it is a pretty solid guitar for two Franklins.

 

The relic-ing doesn't bother me on these. I"m normally not a fan of it, but on these I'm cool.

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Here's a clip of my guitar above just a few minutes after first plugging it in. Bridge pup, running thru a Zoom Power Driver into my Quilter Micro Pro 200. Playings a bit sloppy, but you can hear how the guitar sounds.

 

I love the crunchy!!!!

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I had no idea who he was until I opened a Guitar World and saw him in an Eastwood advert. I've still not listened to much of his music, and I'm not a fan of the Lennon or Bowie tracks he played on.

 

 

I like Bowie and Lennon fine, but know Earl Slick more from Phantom, Rocker and Slick then from anything he ever did with anyone else (aside from the Stray Cats record he played guitar on).

 

I know he did play with Bowie and Lennon, but am unsure what he played exactly.

 

The last few clips I've seen of him I haven't really dug what he has been doing or his tone, but that's just my opinion.

 

If you can get a copy of Cover Girl or the first PRS record you may dig his playing.

 

here he is recently, I'm not so into this, it seems like his playing isn't quite as sharp as the old days. On the other hand, you have to give him props for being the only guy to put a Floyd Rose on a Danelectro Longhorn!

 

Edited by BG76
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I thinks it's strange having a guitar artificially aged. I got an ole 1971 Gibson Flying V Medallion series guitar that I took all over the U.S. and Canada. It's pretty well worn , I was thinking of having it repainted to it's original fresh out of the factory look .... I think the V should stay as she is ;)

I'd love to try out that Slick Tele .... :)

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Check Bowie's "A Reality Tour" DVD, Slick is in the band there. I think he does some good work on it & elsewhere. Wasn't really drawn to the guitar by him near as much as the features it comes with & the price, of course. If Jay had put this Xaviere name on, I still would have bitten.

Sheesh, am subbed to this thread, but never get any update notes...ah well. HC still runnin' great...very-happy.png.197c47f720636f02390cc2b0a33804da.png' alt='smiley-veryhappy'>

Edited by cBc
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I had the chance to try a '59 (the "junior" model). Overall, for $200 it's impressive. The neck felt ok, and the pickup was very P90-ish. However, for me there was one show-stopper that stops me from buying one for fun or from recommending it to anyone. It was very neck-heavy, more so than any guitar I've played. I think it would be uncomfortable (for me anyway) after playing for any length of time. Is this because it's a bolt-on? The dimensions seems pretty comparable otherwise. Below is a side by side comparison the Slick and a Gibson with horizontal lines at the nut and 12th fret to line them up.

 

 

 

fetch?id=31209887&type=large

Edited by rlyacht
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I had the chance to try a '59 (the "junior" model). Overall' date=' for $200 it's impressive. The neck felt ok, and the pickup was very P90-ish. However, for me there was one show-stopper that stops me from buying one for fun or from recommending it to anyone. It was [i']very [/i]neck-heavy, more so than any guitar I've played. I think it would be uncomfortable (for me anyway) after playing for any length of time. Is this because it's a bolt-on? The dimensions seems pretty comparable otherwise. Below is a side by side comparison the Slick and a Gibson with horizontal lines at the nut and 12th fret to line them up.

 

 

 

fetch?id=31209887&type=large

 

The line for the nut doesn't actually line up with the nut.

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IMO, these guitars are not made of swamp ash as is advertised, which is known to be light(er) . My Luthier weighed the body & thought it too heavy to be real swamp, but just plain old ash. & yeah, the SL50 is a tad heavy, tho' with a wide strap, no issue for me. The upper bout should extend up a tad on the other models so the strap peg gets centered to the weight of the guitar to prevent neck-diving. The SL50 has grown on me due to it's fun to playness & pups.

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I don't care where a guitar is made, what brand is on it, or what it cost; I just care that it plays well and sounds great.  I bought a Slick SL57 and was I surprised.  It came with a low set up with no fret buzz, good fretwork, a neck profile I love, excellent intonation, and pickup tones that suit my playing style.  I play blues and use fender amps.  I have a $2100 custom guitar and I play the SL57 most of the time because the sound and playability suit me.  Turn up your nose if you must, but don't slander a guitar just because it doesn't suit you or because you're a brand snob.  The only thing I don't like is the logo!

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