'95 Silhouette: HSH - New Single

[gitapik]

Hey. I'm new here...but, like you, I love my guitars. Silhouette's no exception.

I got it back in '95 because I wanted a single guitar to take to showcase, 45 minute set gigs instead of two axes (Strat/LP). I also got it because it rocks the house.



It worked out ok...but I was never really happy with the single pup in the middle. It's a much thinner sound than what I've got on my Strat (Dimarzio Vintage Noiseless) and G&L ASAT. Then you compare it to the humbuckers and it gets skinnier. As a result, I ended up playing the 1 and 5 positions most of the time. Not the worst thing in the world...the sound's tremendous. But I do love those 2,3, and 4 positions on a 3 pickup guitar.

So I'm wondering about a new single coil. The ones I have in there, now, are the stock DiMarzios that it came with. Is there a great one I can put in there or is it about the string height, regardless of the pickup? Can I still get replacement plates with custom pups that will come closer to the sound I want? I like a single that has a solid bite to it. Something you can play funk/rock/country/blues...the whole shebang with. Chunk-a-chunk...ya know...

[Jonny Dubai]

hay welcome. Lovin that silo floyd. dont see too many of them but always a treat to catch one.

Stick around. This place is good fun.

J

[paranoid70]

I can't really help with a Pickup recommendation as I have rarely swapped them out of my guitars... and when I did I often wondered what was the point?

I was going to suggest, what if you just disconnect the Single completely and wire the guitar as a HH? Just a thought.

[ErnieJohn]

Hi, I put dimarzio fast track's in mine, they work a treat,

[RocketRalf]

I see your Silo has PAF Pros. The newer models have Virtual PAFs instead, which are lower output. I tinkered around with the pickup heights until I was happy with the balance between positions 1, 3 and 5. However I think positions 2 and 4 were better before I made my changes. It's a tradeoff I suppose. I play on positions 1 and 5 most of the time as well, but it's nice to have the single coil around, specially for cleans.

You can get replacement HSH pick guards from EBMM, or one to fit any pickups you want from Chandler (just google it).

BTW I love the almost-stealth look on your guitar with the black pickup pole pieces and black knobs. I want to do that to my guitar some day. Maybe with a D activator set, or those neat new black metal covers from DiMarzio.

[gitapik]

I can't really help with a Pickup recommendation as I have rarely swapped them out of my guitars... and when I did I often wondered what was the point?

I was going to suggest, what if you just disconnect the Single completely and wire the guitar as a HH? Just a thought.

I've considered that and might give it a shot...though I do like 2,3,4 for clean stuff. I like to play funk/blues rhythm stuff with it, especially.

That's interesting about the lower output humbuckers, now. I really like the ones on mine as they are. It's a great sound. Want to get a single that matches better with them. Someone mentioned these:

Wilde Bill's NF Singles

I'll give the Fast Tracks a look, too. Is that what Johnny Hiland uses on his Silo? I love his sound(s).

Thanks for the info, guys. And the compliment on the ax. I love the look, too. And it plays sssoooooo nice.

[beej]

I've suggested Wilde (Bill Lawrence) many times here- I've had just about all of his pickups at one point or another. (Most of the time these days I'm playing the L200/L200/L298 combo in my Albert Lee.)

Personally I'm always on the fence about the middle pickup- most of the sound of this position is due to the placement along the string, so I think you're going to be dealing with that basic tonality no matter what.

If it were me ... if I was looking for vintage 50's strat, Lawrence L200SM. For something meatier sounding, L298SM. For something with more clarity and high end, L45, all in the Lawrence/Wilde line.

[gitapik]

I've suggested Wilde (Bill Lawrence) many times here- I've had just about all of his pickups at one point or another. (Most of the time these days I'm playing the L200/L200/L298 combo in my Albert Lee.)

Personally I'm always on the fence about the middle pickup- most of the sound of this position is due to the placement along the string, so I think you're going to be dealing with that basic tonality no matter what.

If it were me ... if I was looking for vintage 50's strat, Lawrence L200SM. For something meatier sounding, L298SM. For something with more clarity and high end, L45, all in the Lawrence/Wilde line.

It's a plus that they're noiseless, too. It's a bit of a disconnect when you switch from a humbucker to a noisy single.

I'm mainly looking for serious rhythm sounds. Funk and blues. That's interesting what you're saying about the placement of the middle pup along the string. That's a big question in my mind: is it about the pickup or just the way the guitar's set up? I don't want to do a thing with the action. It's perfect.

[Mick]

If you just change the single Coil you´ll need a reversed one. Otherwise the Pos 2+4 will hum.

[gitapik]

If you just change the single Coil you´ll need a reversed one. Otherwise the Pos 2+4 will hum.

That's interesting. Why is that...? Will that happen even with a noiseless pickup?

[DrKev]

That's interesting. Why is that...? Will that happen even with a noiseless pickup?

Ideally, noise-cancelling combinations will work best if both coils produce the same amount of noise but of opposite polarity. If they are of the same polarity, you'll double the noise. If you add a noisy coil to a perfectly quiet coil, it won't change much at all, irrespective of polarity.

[beej]

Oops ... in my post-superbowl haze I forgot to mention the humming ....

Yes, for hum cancelling in the 2/4 positions you need the middle to be a standard single, RWRP from the other pickups. If you want noiseless when using it on it's own, then you have to decide what to do with the 2/4 positions.

[gitapik]

Oops ... in my post-superbowl haze I forgot to mention the humming ....

Yes, for hum cancelling in the 2/4 positions you need the middle to be a standard single, RWRP from the other pickups. If you want noiseless when using it on it's own, then you have to decide what to do with the 2/4 positions.

I was in a bit of a post SuperBowl haze, today, myself. Ugh.

It was a good SuperBowl. Exciting. Manningham's catch was classic...but they should mention Manning's throw and Gilbride's call of that play, too. Awesome.

Just to be sure, though: I can get the 2,3, and 4 positions all noiseless by reversing the polarity...?

[beej]

No. 2 & 4 are combinations of two coils, usually wired up in a noise-cancelling configuration. 3 is a single on it's own- so noisy. (If you use a noise-free single then it's the opposite of what I just described.)

If you want all positions to be noise-free, you have two ways to go. Use a noise-cancelling device (like the EB Silent Circuit, which you can't buy except second-hand) to reduce hum from the single on it's own, or get a noise-free single in the middle that can be split to be a noisy single for use in the 2/4 positions.

The latter is probably the easier way to go. The coils can't be isolated on the BL stuff, but all of the Dimarzio noisefree singles can be operated in single-coil mode. So if you find something you like from their lineup, you can wire it to be noisefree on it's own and split it for wiring in parallel with the split humbuckers. You'll also need a different 5-way switch too, with more poles.

[gitapik]

I was going to suggest, what if you just disconnect the Single completely and wire the guitar as a HH? Just a thought.

You know...I'm beginning to think that this really is the route to go. I mainly like this as a heavy rock/metal guitar. Sometimes I look for that fat middle sound between the two buckers and can't find it because of the single there. I've got an LP that I love, so I know the sound I'm looking for.

..and I'm not gonna be playing any country on this guitar.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Thought I saw a suggestion for rewiring somewhere on this thread. Guess it's somewhere else here...?