Silhouette Special: can it be a great Strat?

[alf cockle]

Never had a strat..started out with a Mustang, tried a few strats,then bought a brand new,from EBMM factory ordered sil sp..ss hum,rosewood.Didnt touch the Mustang again,and have been very happy with the sounds I get out of that guitar.So versatile..wonderful single coil tones,and very full humbucker as well.I think its all up to the musician to find their sound....I really like the sound that superior guitar players get from a strat,but find that as an instrument,the sil sp blows it away! EBMM is still an undiscovered orebody.Absolutely wonderful guitars!

[jamminjim]

I've had a boatload of $trats - and wasted so much moolah messing with them that I could have bought a new corvette - and I'll say this, a Silo Spec is very much more preferred to my ears an fingers. Sounds better to me, plays better to me (rosewood boarded ones that is)......... maybe it's the DiMarzios but it ain't like a strat to me. Even a Super $trat isn't like a SS to my ear. An Al is more comparable to a $trat IMHO.
But you guys are performing musicians - and can be trusted right?

[whitestrat]

Speaking of rosewood, why isn't a rosewood 'board available all the time on Alberts? Albert himself played my '06 black/gold Limited and liked it. He said he hadn't seen one before with a RW fingerboard, and it was the Number One reason I bought the Limited; first time with rosewood.

If it came with a RW board, I'd have bought one already... I missed out on the LE06.

[e.mate]

I've had a boatload of $trats - and wasted so much moolah messing with them that I could have bought a new corvette - and I'll say this, a Silo Spec is very much more preferred to my ears an fingers. Sounds better to me, plays better to me (rosewood boarded ones that is)......... maybe it's the DiMarzios but it ain't like a strat to me. Even a Super $trat isn't like a SS to my ear. An Al is more comparable to a $trat IMHO.
But you guys are performing musicians - and can be trusted right?

I guess, if we're talking $trat with a handful of different guitar players, we'll be getting a handful of different ideas about what that means.

For me, the Silo (Spec) grabbed the basic building concept of a "classic" $trat and elevated it on a new design level in many aspects. So the Silo (Spec) has developped through the last two decades, maintaining those wonderful ergonomics, that make it so popular. So in that respect, it follows the original $trat idea.

The AL is a different design, but maintaining the "classic" tone of a "classic" $trat...so in that respect, it follows the original $trat idea.

So, we would be able to discuss this on and on, but after all, we all perceive something different when we think "$trat". Could that be the point of discussion here?

[moonpie96]

It's true what was said about amps and effect chain. I have an American deluxe Strat-SSH. When I plug into my Mesa Stiletto ace ,the cleans sound good but sterile. Then I plug into my marshall dsl 50 and im in the world of Jimi, SRV, DG...etc
I'v had many amps over the years; from a '65 fender twin all the way to Mesa amps.
Nothing gets that classic Strat sound like my Marshall.....IMHO.
-by the way , a Silhouette is on my wish list. hope this helps.....Later.

[e.mate]

...absolutely true - through my rack (JMP1>Rocktron Intellifex>Brunetti Rockit) anything could sound stratty

[RocketRalf]

Nice clips back there on page 2. Similar to my Silo, single coil-ish but not quite stratty. I would swap out the pickups if I were looking for 50-60s strat sound, or get an AL. But I like my guitar like it is

[candid_x]

There’s usually more to be gained by embracing the giant than to hold oneself aloof from her followers. I believe BP’s showing he’s got that dialed in. By showing respect to Fender, it makes it more natural for Fender fan boys (heh heh) to give a MM a fair shake, rather than reacting defensively to protect their F-ing Queen.

I like 'em both for what each does. While it's fun to imagine a Music Man vintage copy of a 62 Strat, thin finish nitro et al, I know it's not at all the company's style to do that. I'd like to see a couple a moves, however, like to a bigger body (ala 25th), wider nut on a med C neck, a thin urethane finish, on either a fundamental Silo Special or AL platform. Make that in tobacco sunburst, please.

[izzy]

I have an HSS Silhouette Special with piezo and <...snip...> Here is a video I made with the SS and a 5-watt amp ...

Thanks Matt, really good demos.

[roburado]

I think Strats are fine, and I still have one. I just reach for the Silo Spec or AL because they suit me better for their playability and sound. But that's just my personal preference.

[Ripper]

I'd like to see a couple a moves, however, like to a bigger body (ala 25th), wider nut on a med C neck, a thin urethane finish, on either a fundamental Silo Special or AL platform. Make that in tobacco sunburst, please.

Hey Bruce, long time no talk . Slight OT here - go try out a 25th. You will love it.

[ZeRaskolnikoff]

I just noticed that somebody said that Silo, b/c of the smaller body can't give you enough lows and mids to reproduce Strat' sound... Well, I think depends on many other factors, besides the size of the body. I have a Silo Special SSS and that guys has A LOT of sound. And believe it or not, it has A LOT of mids and lows )) That thing has a voice and the feeling you get in your left hand (unless you're a lefty) is very Les Paul-ish ))

every guitar is different... you can get a US Strat that will sound absolutelly dull and the body shape/size won't help... You can get a MM and put some good CS Fender pups on it and that will give an excellent Strat )

Silo gives you the Instrument, e.g. great wood and craftsmenship... The rest is up to you )

[Lance Romance]

Glad to see this thread revived. I've done some mods on my IRW-necked AL which have definitely made it a better strat than a Silo Special (see my earlier posts). While I like the stock pickups and Silent Circuit, I recently built a second pickguard with Suhr Fletcher-Landau pickups and their Backplate Silent Singlecoil System. It is now of of the finest strat-style guitars I've ever owned/played...which brings me back around to Brian's original question (hi Brian!). I've had extensive playing time with both guitars in various configurations, and still think the Albert Lee does sound the more "classic" of the two, with or without the stock pickups. The Silhouette Special, particularily in HSS, is the most versatile workingman's strat. As a vehicle for hot-rodding the Albert is still the better bet.
A quick aside on the Suhr electronics: The three pickups and the BPSSC noise reduction system was somewhat pricey, but that was forgotten the instant I plugged this system in. I had only ten minutes to tune the system before racing off straight to a New Years' gig in the worst singlecoil noise nightmare room we play. During soundcheck I could still hear some noise, but the rest of the night the guitar was substantially quieter than the stock electronics. Noiseless singlecoils with Tone. No negative artifacts. No humbuckers. Speaking of Tone, these are the juiciest singles I've heard. They're apparently patterned after Landau's '62, and sound as fat as my old '62, but with better detail and just full of harmonics. Some of the best money I've ever spent in 44 years in the music biz...Eric

[Headstock]

Lance - which of the FL's did you go with ? Standard or Classic?

[beej]

I've had the FL standards before as well, they are excellent.