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Xaviere "Slick" SLPB Basses

#102
ColdEye said:
So I added the Jaguar mute and finished the Poly coat. I like that the finish did not come out perfect. So far The pick ups are nice. I am still thinking if I should replace it with my spare Aguilar pickup. Added a Tone knob too.
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I'm curious, where does one get these Jaguar mutes? I just recently heard about them in regard to the Sean Hurley CS bass and now I want one.
 
#103
You can order the whole Jaguar mute of off multiple vendors. Angela instruments and Darren riley has the complete kit ( plate, plunger, spring, mounting screw and foam). Less than $30 for all. As for the holes you just need a 1 inch deep 1/2 inch wide hole for the plunger and spring and 2 small tiny ones for the mounting screws. I got the idea for this from that thread. I will post a weight later, I only have a regular bathroom scale tho.
 
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#104
SonnyBassPlayer said:
If I found one of these at a shop or even online for the right price here in Italy (not what usually happens: 400$ becomes 450€ instead of 350) I'd totally be over a sunburst or brown one. Getting it from USA whould make the shipping cost as much as the bass. So curious.
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Its funny because I remember I posted my other slick guitar ( les paul look alike) at my local craigslist and it got sold to a gentleman on Italy. Shipping was around75 for the guitar disassembled. I see a couple of these on reverb from time to time ( guitars).
 
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#105
ColdEye said:
Would tung oil work on this finish? i remember my previous slick guitar was just raw wood with some paint on it.
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I have a SL59 I'm trading off only because it has a Super D and I have two 1H Gibsons now.

As advertised, smokes anything in the price range, acoustic feel, etc.

What I did to make it shagin' *perfect* was wipe it stem to stern with....drum roll...

...Coconut Oil.

I already use it as a fretboard dressing. Worked excellent on the neck and bare areas of the body. Impossible to shag up. Wipe it down twice and play it.

FYI the "unfilled" myth is real. My now #2 Melody Maker RI (P90, TOM) is nitro over mahogany, no filler, reliced up nice over the years. Always felt alive even new.

Actually so impressed by the hardware I might put the brass TOM & ST on the MM, bare brass on old black nitro.
 
#107
matrok said:
I own a Slick Tele and it is a great guitar! One of my friends who is tech/builder and all around guitar snob was blown away by it. I would certainly pick one of these up if I was in the market.
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I used a Xaviere telecaster as mod platform for my friend. They're pretty nice as well. The finish isn't the best (not sanded to satin or gloss, rougher than that) but it wasn't terrible. The main thing was that the parts fit together well and it took a great set up. It needed a little fretwork on the neck but that's about it.

What they cut corners on were the metal and electronic hardware attached to the wood.

In that tele I dropped in some locking tuners, upgraded saddles, and new pickups with a custom harness and it made the dang thing as good as a much, much more expensive instrument. That is after the little bit of fretwork I had to do.
 
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#108
Antisyzygy said:
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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i use their redactive j-bass pick ups in one of mine: really pleased with them. and they are cheap!

i do like the idea of one knob, though. who knew?!
 
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#110
Eilif said:
I'd love to hear more about these. How long ago did you get them. I read some really bad reviews of the redactive Jazz pups early on, but I'm hopeful things may have changed since then.
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maybe 18-24 months ago: i had a prime (exquisite) j-neck. i picked up a j style body from CL with cheapie pick ups and so i wanted to change those out. i'd never used anything but EMG (in active basses), but i was unsure how my 'parts build' would turn out. so: i ordered the redactives, rationalizing that it was a compromise, but maybe it would turn out OK without the cost (only 25-30%) of the EMG choices i would have made. glad to say: the parts build turned out to be a real player for me, the redactives are a part of that bass now, i don't regret it, i'm used to them, depend on them, and don't feel i need to change them. i also bought their control system for the redactive j-bass set up (don't remember what they called it).

having said all of that: i'm not a "tone chaser" (i just posted to that effect in a thread earlier!). i think i would recommend EMG's (or comparable) to anyone wanting one of the "best," as they probably are better in some way, but i've had 0 problems with the readactives. in that j-bass, i have everything i want (it's a fretless): i can get any tone i need for any occasion (mostly jazz, but a lot of variety at wedding/corporate events). and for me: the redactives really showed their stuff when i went from roto rounds to DR coated (rounds). so, in my experience: they're great!

i'm slowly building another parts/mods instrument and i'm actually considering the redactives! it would be a pj set up, so i'd get to sample their p pickup. i just think they are another option for anyone's bass.

i know a lot of players were dissing them at one point (maybe they still are). i don't remember what the complaints centered around. i read those pro's and con's before i bought them. i had a success --- i haven't looked back!
 
#111
JRA said:
maybe 18-24 months ago: i had a prime (exquisite) j-neck. i picked up a j style body from CL with cheapie pick ups and so i wanted to change those out. i'd never used anything but EMG (in active basses), but i was unsure how my 'parts build' would turn out. so: i ordered the redactives, rationalizing that it was a compromise, but maybe it would turn out OK without the cost (only 25-30%) of the EMG choices i would have made. glad to say: the parts build turned out to be a real player for me, the redactives are a part of that bass now, i don't regret it, i'm used to them, depend on them, and don't feel i need to change them. i also bought their control system for the redactive j-bass set up (don't remember what they called it).

having said all of that: i'm not a "tone chaser" (i just posted to that effect in a thread earlier!). i think i would recommend EMG's (or comparable) to anyone wanting one of the "best," as they probably are better in some way, but i've had 0 problems with the readactives. in that j-bass, i have everything i want (it's a fretless): i can get any tone i need for any occasion (mostly jazz, but a lot of variety at wedding/corporate events). and for me: the redactives really showed their stuff when i went from roto rounds to DR coated (rounds). so, in my experience: they're great!

i'm slowly building another parts/mods instrument and i'm actually considering the redactives! it would be a pj set up, so i'd get to sample their p pickup. i just think they are another option for anyone's bass.

i know a lot of players were dissing them at one point (maybe they still are). i don't remember what the complaints centered around. i read those pro's and con's before i bought them. i had a success --- i haven't looked back!
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Thanks for that review! The negative reviews I had read seemed to indicate that the first shippment had some pickups with such bad tone (microphonic or humming, IIRC) that they were virtually unuseable. If the current batch is good then it'd be a nice affordable way to try an active pickup system. All my previous pickups have been passive or passive with preamp.

Two other questions if I may.
-Did you get the EQ switchable or standard versions?
-Is the plug and play system compatible with EMG?

EDIT: I just noticed that the GFS pages for Bass Redactive says "New design for 2015". I'm pretty sure the reviews I read pre-dated 2015, so that is also a very good sign.
 
#112
Eilif said:
Two other questions if I may.
-Did you get the EQ switchable or standard versions?
-Is the plug and play system compatible with EMG?
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i got the EQ-able system: i didn't know what to expect and at the time they were only a couple $'s different: i put my low on the lowest low, the high on the highest high: they've been that way ever since: i've thought several times that i should try out both pickups in the neutral position to compare the difference (merely to know!) --- haven't gotten around to it. i'm not bothered by what they do in that axe.

i think their version of plug and play is just as simple as EMG (may be simpler). i don't know if (would doubt) they're compatible.

i don't have experience with the "new design." but i'm happy enough with mine enough to give the new ones a try. i think it's just an option: they worked out fine in my parts build. all in all, i was pleasantly surprised.

as far as passive with a pre-amp, i'm going to try that in another instrument soon. i like all of the options and considerations for what i'm doing...it's fun if not educational!

bottom line = redactives are a legitimate, low cost option for an active system. EMG is something different to me: i know pretty much what to expect because of years of experience. if i was unwilling to spend EMG money on a certain instrument, but i really wanted an active system: i'd probably look at redactives again, until someone comes up with another "next best great idea" to try. they were affordable.
 
#113
Dradder said:
But... but then you'd have more than one knob. You might as well be frickin' Phil Lesh!

4179.jpg
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Dear Lord, Dadder... ya just made me spew!!! (c;,'
 

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