Slighter back to basics with this Twist Neck?

This Slighter twist neck is on ebay at the moment. Nice to see a more "Old School" approach, vs some of the new model's.

Just wondering if anyone missed Tom's older work?

It's nice, a little too shiny for me.

But I wish he'd scrap his Ninja, Spider and Gaijin models and just focus on the Tacoma, Portland and Redmond, also have those in a LH option too. He had an auction for a Ninja in XM-19 steel which is kinda overkill, said it's worth over $750 if bought custom, auction closed for under $160 which says a lot about that model. He did have a Tacoma the close the day before for over $400 so not just bad timing.

The ninja is not bad but the spider and gaijin are two of the weirdest putters I’ve seen a legitimate putter maker put out. At least he’s not recycling the same old stuff I suppose.

I would agree on your too shiny comment, It would look better with a nice torched finish. I did see that auction for the Ninja in the XM-19 steel, the face milling was weird as ?? I have a Ninja in the XM-19, it has the drilled hole milling. Putter feels decent, and looks better in person but I would rather have a face similar to this twist neck. I didn't pay anywhere near $750 for mine and not sure who the ---- would. I did see the Tacoma auction as well, kind of a 1 of 1 model. Decent price for them and the buyer. Hopefully some more to come.

Thinking they would be better off focusing on the older models as well, and maybe some new tricks done to the old girls.

The Ninja is fairly forgiving, I am a fan of mallets though. That Nitronic 50 SS my Ninja is made of feels pretty good I'd have to say, but not $750 worth. The shape is Similar to the X5r I had Tom do for me. That was a sweet putter.

I'm not a fan of either the Spider or the Gaijin, not sure who would be. Wish they would take that creativeness and make a sweet Anser style with features that compare to the higher end putter Guru's. I know the new shop has the ability to provide very quick turn around Tom's the best in the business at communication so I'm wondering what the h-ll's the problem. Step er up Boy's let's get er going.

I have no idea where the pricing is coming from either honestly, maybe the time programming the CNC for the new stuff?

The face milling yeah the dimples look weird but I see what they're doing with it, a more classic face milling would be more popular but the $150 he's asking for it on certain heads is insane honestly.

The Ninja is probably the best out of the new models but seems like he's pumping out mostly the Tacoma and a few Portland heads here and there. But the Spider and Gaijin he never posts pics of them leaving the shop it's always older putter which are the popular models. I don't know if his new partner has a say in this but I do agree he should just do the simple ones he does best.

For the auctions I assume we'll see one with a Spider and a Gaijin model as well, I don't wish anything bad but I want to see those auction bomb just as a wake up for what people want. The hand work they do on the Tacoma and Portland are great and some no up charge face milling options and you'd see more sell. I think people want to see the old Tom back in action.

I just sent Tom an X5R to do a flow neck conversion on, black finish and some custom stamping. He did some custom work on an older cameron for me about 3 years ago and it turned out amazing. I’m glad he’s back to doing customization because that is where I feel he really shines. You can basically send him anything and I believe he could make it like whatever you wanted. And his communication is second to none.

I'm sure if one has to charge for all one's time on any given project the cost would be more than one thinks. Lots of high end machines and programming have to be paid for somehow I imagine. Thinking the shop has bread and butter jobs that keep the doors open, making putter's is probably more for fun than profitability. Think a few other putter guy's are in the same boat, one would have to charge a ton if that's all one did.

I am impressed in how the dimples feel, and how the ball comes off the face, but I just wonder how many others would be. Thinking just plain old face milling would appeal to a larger number of prospective buyer's. Adding extra $$ for milling doesn't seem right, and featuring the dimples front and centre on the web site would scare people off I'm thinking. I'm not even sure where on the web site one can see the face milling options, and I was looking for it.

Seems like the Tacoma's and the Portlands are the most popular, I like the Portland. Would love to see multiple face milling options, with numerous different types of stampings, show all the different necks available, pictures against a background other than white, outside shots in natural lighting. LOL seems like alot to ask. Ha.... Easier said than done.

Your probably right the Spider and Gaijin will be next, pretty sure it will be crickets for those Auctions, hopefully sends a wake up call, like you said. Thinking these new model's the Spider and Gaijin were not Tom's call, the new partner hopefully will wake up and get back to basics with Tom's help. The new partnership has the potential to do so much that Tom by himself couldn't do, just hope they figure it out sooner than later.

Hey Scotty, as you already know you won't be disappointed in how the X5R turns out. Tom is the King of the Flow Neck's, like u said customization is where he shines. Your making me very jealous with your X5R project in black, Tom did one for me a few years ago. He did a fantastic job, but ended up finding some copper 302 irons and sold off a bunch of stuff to justify the cost. Wish like H-ll I still had it, now that he's getting geared up with yours making 2 would be very economically feasible..

Here are a few pictures of the one he did for me.

Wow! That looks amazing. It makes me even more excited to see how mine turns out.

Thx scotty, It was a fun build. Tom did a fantastic job. Every time I look at the pictures I wish I still had it. Let us know how yours turns out.

I will for sure. I’ll update this thread with some pics when I get it back.

Your in good hands, enjoy the build.

They sent me some finished pics today. It turned out even better then I expected. I can’t wait to get it back!

That's nice, hope it treats you well.

Looks very impressive, even has your name on it. Love the extra stamping.

I was looking on ebay for another X5r, your bringing back some good memories.

Enjoy the new stick.

The stamping on the face blew me away. I had the idea but I wasn’t sure he would be able to do it because I know it’s somewhat harder to do with the shape of the putter. But he pulled it off perfectly

Looks very well done, love the flow neck X5r's.

I should mention the turnaround time as well. They received my putter last Thursday and I received the finished pictures today. I can’t recommend Tom enough. This is my second project with him and both times have been truly great experiences.

Yeah I wouldn't exactly say he's "back to basics". The guy is extremely talented and seems very nice, I just don't quite understand where he's going. Haha.

WTF? For a guy as talented as Slighter is, what’s he’s been putting out is awful looking.

Yeah I saw that and I just shook my head, I've been watching his past auctions and they're going for less and less, I'd be surprised if this is thing even gets over $100. Can only imagine what he's going to put up next but I bet it will be beyond awful.

Thinking Tom is concentrating on getting the refinishing/restoration aspect of the business back on line. He has let the new partner have full go at putter design, not quite sure that's a good thing. This particular putter shows some attempts at trying to be different. Got to be hard to come up with something different to compete with the latest and greatest putter co's. The picture from the face side on ebay looks kinda cool, but I'm into wrenching on things. I'll keep an eye on the auction and if she goes cheap I'm going to snap it up. This latest rendition is a step up vs the last 2 crazy designs. Kinda wish they would focus the attention on just making a sweet Anser style with some nice milling and updated stamping and finishes.

I agree. The new Tacoma head is actually pretty unique with the flowing bumpers. I think it could be popular. Just release one with a standard PN, some softening on the neck, normal placement and toe hang, matte satin finish, 350, sight dot, fine face milling. Him and his investors might find this boring but it would probably go for $350+.

Yup especially the hand softening he does on the putter, it's so nice. But I think the reason it's not more popular is that dimple face milling, I don't think many guys want that on their putter.

The other thing is probably the up charge for every last little thing. You don't play their standard loft, lie and length well that's $35 for all that. You don't like the 1/2 offset bottle neck? Cool that's $45 for another neck. Oh you like a lighter or heavier putter and a 350-360g range isn't good enough well cough up $250 for weight plugs. All in for those options you're looking at a $700+ putter with a resale value under $300 on ebay on a good day if you don't get any stamping. I think at one point he had different face millings but those were $150 options.

Honestly at that price I'm going to literally any other putter maker, for some I'm getting 2 putters for that price and I'd get exactly what I want and they have some resale value to them as well. I'm also not knocking Tom, I've heard nothing but good things from him, I'd love one of his older putters if I can find a LH at a decent price but we're literally watching a putter company fall apart, if Tom wasn't doing restorations/customization I don't think they'd be bringing in much to any income.

Huh well a bit of foot in my mouth that gear head is pushing the 200 mark, I guess some people do like it.

Hey Matt, I was kinda hoping Tom would create a secondary line consisting of modifications to the Tacoma/Portland line up. Back to basics like Nova 6868 mentioned. They should incorporate numerous modifications into a cost effective program. Like u have mentioned previously some of these one off putters have sold very cheap on ebay. Why not use the tooling available to them and pump out some putters with welded necks and modifications to the max. Have some of the features available on some of these boutique brand high cost putters at a price point us mortals can afford. I would love to see little to no branding and logo's unless it's of my design or choice. Have a web site full of different face milling options, numerous stamp choices, neck types, etc. I would hire a design firm to look up every putter manufacturer and have them beat them at there own game, would be cool to see what someone with fresh eye's could come up with. I remember having a logo design team send me numerous examples of logo's based on the parameter's I initially provided to them. This was a very low cost service with fantastic results, so many talented designer's at their disposal. Not sure they make any money but that was not my problem. I got what I was after and enjoy the positive feedback from my customer's. Slighter Golf could use some positive feed back at the moment.

Looks like the Gear Head putter has some follower's hopefully it brings a good price, and keeps the evolution of Slighter Golf on a upward trend.

Well the gear head finished at $343 which is way more than I though. I'm kinda curious what a full on gamer could go for?

I'm shocked it finished at $343. I'll admit I was wrong and that maybe Tom is finding a niche market that I didn't think existed.