ELRICK BASS GUITARS: Exclusive Distribution for Spain and Portugal. Of course we ship worldwide
Rob Elrick is a Chicago based luthier who has been building high end basses for no less than 30 years ever since he opened his shop in Chicago back in 1992.
From first day until today Elrick Basses remains a one man shop, meaning he takes care of the whole building process. Elrick’s approach to bass building is a very traditional one. Check out this video of Rob handcarving his basses:
Rob Elrick only uses the best tonewoods and parts to build his fantastic instruments. You’ll find some jaw dropping exotic tops, custom made Bartolini USA pickups and electronics, top drawer Hipshot bridges and tuners, etc. Combined with his master craftsman skills, this makes for some of the best basses in the world, period. All things considered, we think that the prices are actually very good for such instruments. Remember, these are 100% USA handmade basses with some of the best woods and parts available in the world.
There are several series on offer. Limited Edition and Master Series are showcase grade instruments that are true works of art but at a price point that is beyond many player’s budget. Then there’s the Gold and Platinum Series which we think are the most interesting. That’s why we have focused on these to series for our first in stock Elrick basses. There’s also a more affordable Standard Series that consists of instruments made in a very good factory in the Czech Republic to Rob’s specs and you are probably familiar with Cort’s licensed instruments that have put some of Rob’s expertise in the hands of beginners and tight budget buyers. For the time being we will be concentrating on the Gold and Platinum series.
GOLD SERIES e-volution 6 SLC (Steve Lawson) spalted English walnut
As the name implies, this bass belongs in the Gold Series. It features a bolt on neck and has a very alive acoustic sound, something we believe is fundamental in order to get a great sound when you plug the bass to a nice amp.
This is Steve Lawson's signature model. Lawson is a true pioneer when it comes to using the bass as a solo instrument to create impressive sonic landscapes with the help of multiple complex effects units and looping devices.
This bass has a swamp ash body and sports a really amazing selected exotic English spalted walnut top. The neck is made from hardrock maple and there’s a beautiful slab of macassar ebony for the fingerboard that sports 24 perfectly shaped and crowned frets, allowing for low action with no buzz.
US made Elrick basses feature a zero fret and this has two important advantages: first of all, the sound of open or fretted strings is more consistent, but even more important is the fact that this allows for perfect intonation in the first positions, something that some basses with a less than perfectly cut nut suffer from. The zero fret removes that problem because the string sits at the exact height over that fret.
Top quality USA Hipshot parts are used for the hardware and in this case we get a Style B bridge with 17mm spacing. Tuners areUltralite and these help control head diving issues.
Regarding electronics,instead of the more standard Bartolini units used in most Elrick basses, this bass comes with a set of Aero humbuckers. These are completely handwound in Hawaii and deliver an incredibly natutal and open sound. In case you didn't know, Anthony Jackson's Fodera sported Aero pickups too for a long tome.
As you can see in the pictures, these are basses that are true eye catchers and while we love that, we feel that the two most important aspects when it comes to stringed instruments are comfort and sound. Fortunately all custom made Elrick basses score high in those departments. We truly believe that only when you get a non restricted playing experience you can pull the best sound out of an instrument.
We love the dimensions of this bass as these make for an incredibly easy to play 6 string bass. Scale is 33” and then we have a 51mm nut (same as a Spanish guitar actually) and 17mm spacing at the bridge. Wow!
Weight plays an important role here and this bass weighs in at just 3.85kg. Amazing. Balance is perfect and there’s no neck diving which is pretty impressive considering this is a very light bass. Proves that when the design is right, things make sense. We can feel that Rob has spent many a night designing the body shape as well as the neck in order to come up with basses that play beautifully. No matter what technique you want to play on this bass, it always delivers.
The modern C shape of the neck means you can play this bass for hours without feeling left hand fatigue.
Describing sound with words is no easy task but we would say this bass falls in the modern/HiFi category but with an added character to it that makes it much more interesting and substantial sounding than similar basses. It blends with the rest of the band beautifully but it also has a very nice solo sound. Best of both worlds, really.
After all it is the sum of all parts that creates a particular sound and we feel that Rob Elrick is like a good cook who knows how to blend the best ingredients.
We just love the way this bass sounds, how expressive it is, the huge dynamic range, the totally noise free operation, the playability, the balance and top it all, the looks. It’s a winner.
The low B is remarkably good too. it is strong, clear and best of all, it sounds completely integrated in the other strings (same tonality). That’s not easy to get so when we find a bass that nails it (like this one), we like to give the builder the due credit for it. Apart from that, the 33" scale also delivers a smoother sound in the treble strings because of the reduced scale and henec reduced string tension.
While some 6 string basses feel too big and cumbersome, this Elrick SLC 6 is probably the most comfortable 6 string bass you will ever play. So much that we can warranty you'll want to buy it as soon as you test it.
All things considered, we feel that the price is surprisingly good for a USA made custom 100% handmade instrument that is the result of a lot of research and hard work.
Custom hardcase included in the price.