Framus Artist Series Earl Slick FAS189691THASHFR - Electric Guitar - Red Satin

I had read many reviews about this guitar and they all had very positive things to say about this guitar. However finding one to examine in my area was near impossible to find. I took a chance and ordered one. When I received this guitar I was kind of disappointed that it was not made in Germany but in Korea. For the amount of money it did not come with a case but a gig bag. The color seemed to be some kind of sticker on the swamp ash body, not painted. the frets were nicely dressed. the tiger maple neck was nice but as I played and slid my hand up and down the back of the neck in two days time tiny holes seemed to start appearing along the neck and I could feel these with my hand. I have other guitars with maple necks that are many years old and this has never happened to them! The sound with the pick ups were nothing special, in fact this guitar reminds me of a shop project. I ended up sending the guitar back and getting my money back minus the shipping. I bought a dillion DMG-75T guitar quite a few years ago, I paid a lot less money for this guitar and I feel is much better made and looks more like a guitar should than the earl slick model and sounds better. I recommend that you should save your money and not buy this guitar and buy something of better quality.

I'm a vocalist and a weak guitar player. Wanted a guitar that makes my playing sound good, hurts my fingertips less, and ideally, replace my acoustic guitar as well.Tested against my other guitars:Line 6 Variax, which is a modeling guitar, with a street price of about $1,100 in October 2013.Dean ML--a screaming metal guitar, about $550 street priceFender dreadnaught acoustic DG200SCE using light gauge strings--street price $350.Laguna LE524HH--a mid level electric guitar, about $400 street price.Using:Various high end pedals.Fender 30 watts G-DEC, a modeling amp including setting for acoustic guitar amp modeling.Laguna isn't in the same class, so we'll remove. The Dean ML is built excellently for screaming metal. Line6 Variax is an excellent guitar, capable of reproducing many other guitar sounds. However, Variax tends to sound electronic, and its acoustic guitar modeling with Fender G-DEC sounds laughable. Nevertheless, Variax is a versatile, well crafted guitar with numerous sounds.Framus is truly robust sound. A better metal guitar than Dean, except for maybe the screaming highs. A far more resonating guitar and fuller sounding guitar than either the Line 6 Variax or Dean ML. Robust mid and low tones--similar to how Earl Slick plays on his Bowie recordings.Add the right effects boards, and Framus can do much of what Variax and Dean ML guitars can do, and clean too. Search Youtube for Earl Slick Framus to hear his using this guitar's low tones.The frets are very well contoured. I dislike playing guitars in great part because my finger tips would nearly rot. However, with the frets of this guitar, I experience less irritation in gliding the fretboard. This type of fret's precision also reflects the overall guitar's precision. Line6 Variax's frets are also excellent, but Framus is better.A remarkable capability--Framus on my Fender amp can sound more pleasing "acoustic guitar" than my Fender dreadnaught acoustic. Resonance is longer sustaining than a regular acoustic guitar, so it's not yet a completely natural sound. But, the "acoustic" tones are superior to my Fender dreadnaught, even when finger picking.I luckily purchased the Framus for almost the same price as the immensely popular Line 6. Line 6 Variax can create all kinds of sounds. But Framus can produce robust sounds and can replace the Dean ML and an acoustic guitar; so I have to say, Framus is the superior guitar.I disagree with prior 1 star reviewer on this guitar's appearance. I love this guitar's reddish-crimson color, its white trim, and its art deco looks. Without a doubt, a distinctive personality, very attractive look. Like the other reviewer, I also wished it came with a hardshell case, but the bag is a premium quality, full featured bag far superior to the bag I received from Line 6.OK, now to pay for all this--who wants to buy a very lightly used Fender acoustic, Dean ML, or Laguna electric? Framus is for those who want a Big Sound (and for bad guitar players like me to sound decent).