Raw Power: Slick SL59 Review & Slick Brands

I started this blog because of guitars and other gear like this.

Either the market doesn't percieve the value or function of an item, potential customers are encouraged to stick with the tried and true, lines are discontinued...only to be discovered in a pawn shop window by an up-and-comer, made famous, and prices skyrocket.

See: MIJ Squiers and Fenders, Ibanez Universe seven strings, anything with an offset after Kurt, even humbler fare such as Airlines and DOD Gonkulator pedals after "name" people made their worth known. Even 80's shredsticks came around again, "San Dimas Charvel" being whispered in reverent tones after their ignoble stand in the 90's bargain rack.

Silverburst Pauls after everyone popped a boner over Tool.

Best place to be is ahead of the curve.

The "Cream of the Crap".

I've sniffed high and low for "the new Lawsuit Guitar", clones so damn good...and of course, post suit...collectible.

Old headstock SX basses. ESP EXPs.

The Slick brand of GFS made guitars doesn't push any legal boundaries, but they do seem to be too damn good for them to be had at the prices they sell for, new in the $200-$250 range.

In my case, used lightly, strung with NYXLs in 'my' gauge, & to boot - ugraded with a Dimarzio Super Distortion in soapbar size, though I'd have been happy with the stock P90 as likely as not.

Reverend Billy G formula for a C note guitar: solid body with the best wood you can find, hot rear position pickup, grocery sack for a case.

Check, check, check.

Earl himself would approve of the mod, he put the DSD humbucker on the map.

I have said it before, in general the "hype" is real on the Guitar Fetish site. Aside from early era stumbles, I don't see any duds in my experience, & "the new Rondo" is being said more and more of GFS.

"Earl has endorsed everything but Tampons."

So what? He owes Jesus a quarter, was around when Super Distortions and SRV was New Hotness, & if legends be true, even commissioned the first single hum Super Strat.

Valuable experience to take advantage of.

The appeal to me was...a "Rondo" equivalent with no real need to upgrade save for personal preference.

I utlized a set of Wilkinson locking tuners, cast aluminum roller saddles, a Bigmouth bridge and Dream 90 neck for my OLP McSwain Tin Top, & it's in my "wish I'd kept, but..." file.

As promised, good quality. Transformed my Chinese guitar from Good to Smoking. For less than one new Duncan and Grovers on sale.

I have a similar amount of dough in my new-to-me Slick SL59 as I did the upgrades for the OLP, which in 2009, used, cost me more than a new top of the line SLPB or SL57 would today.

And a Slick needs nothing, if you can turn a fastener and know how you like your setup. Strings du jour, a few tweaks. No trip to a tech for leveling, crowning and polishing, a cost itself more than I paid for the Slick.

The formula works. I simply rubbed it headstock to strap peg with some coconut oil, wiped dry. Neck is slick and sealed, fretboard conditioned, relicing is weather proofed, & unlike say, Tung Oil, this is fool proof and doesn't require steel wooling the congealed sticky excess oil off.

My main axe is a 2001 Gibson Melody Maker reissue. Unfilled body, single pickup, high quality woods and hardware, "student" price.

I knew about this formula before this line was a gleam in Earl's eye, in other words, no hipster intended.

The Slick exhibits a very similar "acoustic" quality unplugged as my set neck mahogany slab. I test guitars now by first taking them to the acoustic room and seeing what we have. Pickups come and go, so a real winner, in my opinion, is found unplugged.

We have a winner.

Sustain, punch, excellent playability worthy of a four figure guitar. Gets the hell outta your way.

Another reviewer noted that the specs are very similar throughout the line. Pick your scale length but pickups aside, the "original four" are very interchangeable, just like Leo would have wanted. So, if you don't dig single pickup Juniors, don't fret...there's one for everyone.

For the price of a Kurt Cobain signature Jaguar, you could equip a studio with every tone you'd really need, bass included.

By the by, Fender is selling $1400 Made In China guitars, so let us cut the crap on who is ripping off customers here. Kurt wouldn't approve...

...but he would approve of these Slicks. His whole aesthetic was "you don't need $5000 worth of gear to rock." These aren't dissimilar to his various Hot Rodded Fenders - hot bridge pickup and Gibby bridge on a Fender style backbone. A SL54T would stand in well for a "Vandalism Strat."

Billy Gibbons plays very similar instruments quite often, as does Dusty Hill..but they cost multiples of my car.

Most of the criticism of the Slick line has been by people who don't get it.

"I don't like relic finishes". Fine. Doesn't detract from its value as an instrument.

If you don't know what a Rat Rod is, or anything about Hot Rods in four wheeled or six string form, then I'm sure Squier will sell you the same plastic dipped shiny ok Fender copy everyone else has. For similar or more money.

For those that get that vibe, no explanation needed.

Anyone buying Squier pickups or hardware to upgrade Xavier instruments with? No? The opposite is a decent chunk of GFS business, one would imagine.

But 'a Squire is a safe bet'.

So is a Toyota Corrola, but mojo it has not.

Hyundai guys are trying to teach Earl Slick about fashion. Kinda funny. I'd rather take a cruise in one of his vintage Caddies, myself.

Average Forum Dingus strikes again.

Performance:

I've put this guitar through it's paces. Dead strings, new NYXLs, acoustic or plugged into a variety of amps: 6.5" Vox DA5 to Laney AOR with ported 2x12, JCM800 half stack pushed by a Satchurator, OCD, and other boosts, & for shits and giggles a Dual Recto/Sunn 412. SYL drop C riffery, Sabbath, Gilmourish schtuff, clean, semi grit, the Slick does it all, & the Super Distortion has been a real nice surprise in and of itself.

Played better than half the guitars at Guitard Center with dead strings on it. Stops every guitarist on the Boardwalk. Crunched, shredded, sang and moaned. Ain't changing Jack.

Speaking of which, here's merely one use: busking guitar for Venice Beach. The sun, salt, and sand test any instrument, & good luck keeping it shiny & purty.

A Slick just gets right to work. In a year, it ain't gonna be "fake relic'd" anymore.

Hardware? The brass on this shames guitars in price brackets far higher, & I honestly want the equivalent pieces for my Melody Maker. Kick the Gibby stuff down to my G400. Brass on old dirty black Nitro...yum. If they were merely equivalent in functionality, it's worth it for the look alone.

Summation:

If you aren't rich, can't navigate the "buy used and upgrade" waters, want Fender Custom Shop vibe for pennies on the dollar, need a good Beater or Backup or even a Keeper, Earl Slick worked overtime to give a present to you. Fender or Gibson, Vintage to Shred, even a P bass that's about to make me violate my "no new or new to market guitars/being a guinea pig" policy, big time.

Blues to Doom, vibe to spare, built like tanks These were designed for maximum tone, playabilty, solidity, and value, and succeeded everywhere.

Guitars don't grain fill, sand, primer, sand. inspect, reprime, color coat, clear coat, wetsand and buff themselves to shiny glossiness. People perform that labor at a cost.

Delivering a guitar at a given price, do you want shiny paint and meh woods, untended but servicible fretting, and ok pickups to fill in until you upgrade later? Or a fat chunk of swamp ash, tidy frets, and hardware worthy of touring with? I can't comment yet on Slick pickups, but reviews abound online. Again, if you don't expect Suhr quality at the price, it does what it says on the tin.

Show or Go? Hint: never race for pinks with the guy with the primered car. Where do you think he spent his money?

The stuff that counts, that's where.

TL;DR

"At that price? It's a gift."