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Xaviere "Slick" SLPB Basses

Dradder

Dradder

Feb 7, 2013
466
404
76
Reno, Nevada
#1
For fans of cheap basses -- and who isn't? -- a new line of basses just showed up on the GuitarFetish.com website:

Xaviere Bass Guitars (the new line is on the page with the others that GF previously had available)

Apparently something to do with guitarist Earl Slick, with whom GuitarFetish has some kind of commercial relationship, for whatever that's worth.

Very minimalist -- as in one knob minimalist:

Vintage Cream Slick SLPB Solid Ash Bass Guitar Hand Aged Slick Alnico Pickup

For some reason, that appeals to the brutalist knuckle-walker in me. YMMV.

 
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#2
I think they're pretty cool also.

They have the room to pop in a tone control, and I do like the minimalist vibe.

The headstock shape reminds me of a post lawsuit Tokai, and that's cool too!

Swamp ash body? Could be a good weight, probably better than whatever mystery wood is used by Squier.

The cream and sea foams are the finishes I like.........:thumbsup:
 
#5
Brundlefly said:
They have the room to pop in a tone control
Click to expand...

But... but then you'd have more than one knob. You might as well be frickin' Phil Lesh!

4179.jpg
 
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#7
I'm interested in what the pickup sounds like or what existing pickup(s) it might be compared to. It's pretty easy to get a bare bones P bass right, as long as the neck isn't totally wonky and/or the frets ends don't cut up your hand while playing. It's got that rustic/relic vibe to it, so one would hope most of the cost that didn't go into shiny new aesthetics went into basic build quality and things like decent fretwork. I'd give one a try in a pinch (no need for one atm though), the black and the burst ones look pretty cool to me. Too bad there's no maple board/headstock option. Either one of those with a maple board would be killer looking to my taste.
 
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#8
Dradder said:
For fans of cheap basses -- and who isn't? -- a new line of basses just showed up on the GuitarFetish.com website:

Xaviere Bass Guitars (the new line is on the page with the others that GF previously had available)

Apparently something to do with guitarist Earl Slick, with whom GuitarFetish has some kind of commercial relationship, for whatever that's worth.

Very minimalist -- as in one knob minimalist:

Vintage Cream Slick SLPB Solid Ash Bass Guitar Hand Aged Slick Alnico Pickup

For some reason, that appeals to the brutalist knuckle-walker in me. YMMV.
Click to expand...

And they're already on sale!
 
#12
"Hand aged pickup"? *** is that?!? Does someone is a 3rd world sweatshop rub it incessantly for a couple of months?
One knob: what does it do? Tone or volume?
I hate when instruments are listed without details, such as scale length, nut width, neck profile, etc.
Also, if you're going to "relic" a body, don't slap a shiny neck on it. The same black shiny painted headstock appears on all the Slick models. Bleh!

I'll save my pennies for a MTB CRB.
 
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#14
Awesome!!! GFS makes some good stuff for the money in terms of guitar parts, but they tend to lack options for us bassists. GFS is primarily a guitar parts store.

I've seen a couple of their Xavierre guitars and they weren't bad. In general they needed a little extra fretwork, and I didn't like the stock tuners or pickups. But that was easily changed. It might sound strange but even if you order some OTHER GFS parts to do your upgrade you will get a really nice instrument for an incredible value. That is for guitars. I've never tried one of their basses.

The Slicks are supposed to be a bit higher end and road worn. The Xavierre line is the other one.


bholder said:
Looks like competition for Rondo - not so much for Sire, I'm guessing.
Click to expand...

The parts GFS sells are actually pretty good. Their guitars aren't bad, but I've never tried their basses. They tend to be used more by 6-string guitar modders though. Their pickups in particular sound pretty darn great for the dough.
 
#18
Corey Y said:
I'm interested in what the pickup sounds like or what existing pickup(s) it might be compared to. It's pretty easy to get a bare bones P bass right, as long as the neck isn't totally wonky and/or the frets ends don't cut up your hand while playing. It's got that rustic/relic vibe to it, so one would hope most of the cost that didn't go into shiny new aesthetics went into basic build quality and things like decent fretwork. I'd give one a try in a pinch (no need for one atm though), the black and the burst ones look pretty cool to me. Too bad there's no maple board/headstock option. Either one of those with a maple board would be killer looking to my taste.
Click to expand...

It seems like it's AlNiCo and wound to 13k. They use formvar wire.

Seymour Duncan has a AlNiCo pickup at 13k : Steve Harris P-Bass | Seymour Duncan

Lollar makes something like that (10% overwound) : [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Lollar says :
Our standard split P, with a 10% overwind to add more “push” and fat. You’ll hear more of the fundamental with less overtones. Smooth and round, it’s great for adding a “bigger” sound to the low end.
Click to expand...

GFS doesn't make anything else like that, their P pickups are around 11k and 16k respectively. 10-11k is vintage.

GFS tends to stick to Fender or Gibson specs on the aftermarket parts they sell so I'd wager we don't have to factor in magnet sizes, but we would maybe need to factor in the strength. I'm not sure where they get the magnets, or the quality. Still those examples might give us some idea.

I'm not saying GFS quality is as good as Lollar by the way. I have never used their bass pickups but the guitar ones weren't bad.
 
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