Slick SL50
Right behind Mick Ronson
on my list of favorite
Bowie guitarists is the
mighty Earl Slick. Slick’s
raw, textural approach
gave albums like Station
to Station a wild rock ‘n’
roll edge that perfectly
offset Bowie’s coke-fueled
mysticism and romantic
inclinations. Besides his
time with the Thin White
Duke, he has also played
John Lennon and Yoko
Ono, The New York Dolls,
Slim Jim Phantom and
Glen Matlock, and many
others. Recently Earl Slick
partnered with Guitar
Fetish on a line of Slick-
branded guitars, including
the model SL50, a badass
and uniquely Slick take
on the Telecaster formula.
It features an excellent
pair of hot vintage, sand-
cast alni co Tele pickups
mounted straight to the
ash body, a raw brass
billet wraparound bridge,
12-inch fretboard radius,
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TONE TALK //
Japanese
''Lawsuit''
Teles
and a single volume
control. The wood is all
rough and raw with no
filler or seal, and just
a single thin layer of
automotive paint sanded
back down to almost
nothing. The result is
a no-nonsense rocker
that rings and howls and
comes to life in your
hands. Best of all, the
Slick SL50 sells direct
for an unbelievable 209
dollars. This is an insane
deal.
Everyone Deserves a Telecaster: Five Low-Dough Teles
In the ‘70s Fender
experienced a slow and
steady decline in quality
and craftsmanship,
and eventually sales as
well. This was due in no
small part to the sale
of the company to the
soulless, cost-cutting suits
over at CBS corporate
headquarters in 1965,
and the subsequent
departure of Leo Fender.
They just weren’t makin’
‘em like they used to
in the ‘70s, and when
guitarists couldn’t get
quality Fender guitars from
Fender itself, Japanese
manufacturers stepped
into the marketplace and
filled the need. Adding
insult to injury (at least
from Fender’s perspective),
these high quality Japan-
made Strat and Tele copies
were also way cheaper
than the real thing.
Many of these so-called
“lawsuit” guitars are still
around and just as great as
ever. Fine Japanese Tele
copies can be found with
various brand names (or
even no brand name) on
the headstock, including
Ibanez, Aria, Westminster,
Raven, and Tokai, among
others. The guitars built
in the Matsomoku factory
tend to be uniformly
excellent, and can often
be had for a few hundred
bucks.
ToneReport.com
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