slick SL-50 review and clip

[helliott***]

So here is my take on the Slick SL-50 I got a few days back.

First, ordering and delivery was fast and flawless, although they were out of stock for a long time when I first started to look. As Robert noted, shipping is expensive at about $130 (to Canada) when you consider the guitar costs about $260 or so.

If you want just the audio demo find it at the bottom. Otherwise…

The neck/head: Generally, I like the neck a lot. Skinnier at the nut than I am used to but no big deal. Frets are very well done for this price range, no sharp ends, even and clean mediums. The head is pretty Fender like. The tuners are very solid, but a bit odd that the posts and tuners are silver while the keys themselves are brass/goldish. This is repeated on other hardware. Don’t know if its price or a deliberate decision but it doesn’t bother me, so…
The other thing I like about the neck is that the back is virtually unfinished. Nice different feel, reminds me of a neck I had on a Parts-caster years ago.

IMG_0028.jpg

Other reviews have said the action was high out of the box, but this one wasn’t. Quite low. Nut tapers to the high E, which is very low to the frets. In fact, I will probably adjust the string height at the bridge to better facilitate slide.
But this thing was very playable out of the box.

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Body: As noted earlier, the faux classic wear and tear appearance looks cheap to me, but not enough to bug me a lot. Pleased with the wraparound bridge, although I suspect the fact that it is inset into the body will make string changing a chore.
Really like the big, rugged volume and selector controls. Seem sturdy as heck. No tone control, obviously.

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Pups: This is the highlight for me. Not wild about the big holes they are cut into, but they are very sturdy. And the sound won me over. The neck pup is a little spiky alone, and no tone control to soften that. But I was impressed how I could mitigate that with volume and lighter touch. This position will be useful on our country stuff.

Should say here that generally the pups are very loud, just this side of my LP but louder than my Fenders and my Epi Sheraton. I was looking for this so am happy.
The middle position is a pleasure for me. Quacky, nice tone variety with touch and volume, woody. Will use this a lot.

The neck pup is woody, but a little on the dull sounding side. Very nice for sittin and pickin in the practice lounge, will want a little boost and muscle on stage.
Overall, a very worthwhile investment at this price. The guitar will be coming out with me for sure, at least I think so now.
Below is the audio clip. Very simple. Slick through pedal board, only reverb on and only because the amp, a Mesa TA 15 doesn’t have a tank. Order will be obvious, bridge to neck. A few beefed up clips at the end where I kicked the Sparkle Drive, gain and clean set at zero, tone ¾ to the treble side.

Sorry this isn’t more sophisticated. Must get proper audio recording stands etc for iPhone and/or iPad.


https://app.box.com/s/3f1qos3u1l026a3wm70w74f5shh2sded
Cheers.