Silo Special Silent Circuit Alternatves

[gitapik]

Thinking of abandoning the silent circuit on my HSS Silo Special and either putting two silent single coils in there or getting a new HH faceplate and putting another humbucker in the neck.

It’s important that I eliminate the hum.

Got two Lollar Blackfaces and a Tyler Special in the bridge.

Anybody got suggestions on what would pair well with the Secret (if you’re familiar with it)? Looking at Zexcoils as singles at the moment. Not sure about another humbucker. I got the Secret because it works so well with singles

 

[coolhandluc]

I'm using DiMarzio Area 58s. Don't know how'd they pair with the Secret, but they sound great to me. And they balance well with my DiMarzio 36th PAF. Which is very close to the PAF they put in the Silo stock.

 

[coolhandluc]

Also I'd get a new pickguard so you can keep the stock electronics stock for an easy swap back.

 

[DrKev]

I'm currently loving the Area 67 in the neck, Area 58 in the middle, with the stock Virtual PAF humbucker in the bridge. Also try out the Bill Lawrence/Wilde silent singles.

 

[gitapik]

Thanks guys.

Hah: I just finished reading the review on your blog, Dr Kev. Interesting you went from the 61 to the 58 to the 67 in the neck position. More towards a vintage Strat vibe?

I’m thinking of going back to a standard wiring. I’d miss the neck/half Humbucker sound but I like the middle pickup on its own on my Strat. Not sure though.

Am also looking for a decent balance between the humbucker and singles. I like to alternate between pickups for leads. Don’t like the noticeable drop off.

I’ve heard a lot of thumbs up on the Lawrence pickups. I’ll give ‘em a look. Thanks.

 

[gitapik]

Btw: I actually love the sound of the Blackfaces combined w the Secret but finding a tech that’ll work on the silent circuit here in NYC is problematic. I can send the guitar to MusicMan in CA but that’s pretty expensive and if another problem crops up...

So I’m looking at alternatives. Thanks again.

 

[beej]

I've had most of the Lawrences. The L200s are similar to the Area line, they're great. If you want a real single with almost no noise (that the Silent Circuit would get down to 95% quiet), try the Alnico Micros - amazing; far less noise than any other single I've heard. But they're low output, vintage sounding (but real singles!).

I prefer noiseless pickups, but they are a compromise in terms of clean tones (they excel at dirty), and in combination with real singles (since the inductances/resistances are often quite different). So it all depends what you're going for.

My two cents ... I figure you either aim for chime/quack/other-stratish-adjectives (in which case the Areas/Lawrences/etc. are great) at the expense of output, or you aim for volume matching the humbucker (for example, Dimarzio Cruisers, etc.), at the expense of vintage tones.

I'm as fond of my Albert Lee with L200s as I am with my other AL with a Tone Zone S + Cruisers.

 

[gitapik]

Looks like I came to the right place.

Your two cents are mine, as well, beej.

The Blackfaces I have are hot for single coils and it shows especially in the 2 and 4 positions. I miss those sounds but have a Strat with Duncan SSL-1 pickups that does it in spades. So I do tend to use this Silo more for leads and fills.

Question of what I want, now. The wild card is that I picked up a ridiculous ‘94 Silo with Barden’s Gatton pickups, after I got this Special. THAT is a tremendous lead guitar but without the tremolo.

http://i.imgur.com/W6rumoi.jpg

So I might want to switch the Special over to the more classic sound but without the hum.

Decisions decisions. Nice to know my options. This shall take some thought. Tanks!

 

[jones4tone]

Is there tweaking you could do to improve the effectiveness of the silent circuit before you give up on it?

 

[gitapik]

Is there tweaking you could do to improve the effectiveness of the silent circuit before you give up on it?

That would be great but it looks like a no-go.

I’ve got some great techs. Gave them the MM directions to setting it correctly and asked about just replacing the circuit.

One of the techs advised me to ship it to MM if I want it right.

It’s been in and out of the shop too many times and for too long. But if anyone knows someone in the NYC area...?

 

[coolhandluc]

Looks like I came to the right place.

Your two cents are mine, as well, beej.

The Blackfaces I have are hot for single coils and it shows especially in the 2 and 4 positions. I miss those sounds but have a Strat with Duncan SSL-1 pickups that does it in spades. So I do tend to use this Silo more for leads and fills.

Question of what I want, now. The wild card is that I picked up a ridiculous ‘94 Silo with Barden’s Gatton pickups, after I got this Special. THAT is a tremendous lead guitar but without the tremolo.

http://i.imgur.com/W6rumoi.jpg

So I might want to switch the Special over to the more classic sound but without the hum.

Decisions decisions. Nice to know my options. This shall take some thought. Tanks!

Pretty sweet Silhouette!

 

[gitapik]

Pretty sweet Silhouette!

Thanks!

6.5 lbs.

Neck and action are perfect.

Sounds are stellar. Super clean through to heavy distortion.

It’s my main ax, now. I love it!

 

[GWDavis28]

Nice my first EBMM was a Silo Special SSS and I still love it and still have it.

You know man around it doesn't exist without pictures!!!!

Glenn |B)

 

[gitapik]

Nice my first EBMM was a Silo Special SSS and I still love it and still have it.

You know man around it doesn't exist without pictures!!!!

Glenn |B)

I’m in Mexico now. Will get some pix together when I’m home next week. That’s the Special in my avatar over there...

 

[DrKev]

Hah: I just finished reading the review on your blog, Dr Kev. Interesting you went from the 61 to the 58 to the 67 in the neck position. More towards a vintage Strat vibe?

All of the Area pickups are vintage strat vibe, just slightly different flavors. There is no one vintage strat sound.

I've just updated the blog post with the following addendum...

Update: February 2019...

So here I am a year later on and I have now switched again, with the Area 67 now in the neck position and the Area 58 in the middle. Again, I must reiterate that if we take A-B recordings of these pickups and try to compare them, they are very difficult to tell apart - which pickup you decide on is as much about how your style of playing and the pickup interact and that gets lost when we try to reproduce the same riff or a few chords in a recording. My current feeling is that the Area 67 is just slightly warmer and smoother than the Area 58. In use the difference in output is so slight as to make no difference at all. The Area 67 poses no problem with a low output humbucker like the Virtual PAF. Worth noting too that the Virtual PAF is not as thick and warm as many PAF style pickups are. I find that to be an advantage here in that there really is a great balance of tones across the pickup selector.

I’m thinking of going back to a standard wiring. I’d miss the neck/half Humbucker sound but I like the middle pickup on its own on my Strat. Not sure though.

I put a push-pull pot on the tone control which gives me standard wiring (or my full humbucker version of it) or gives me just the three singles on their own.

Am also looking for a decent balance between the humbucker and singles. I like to alternate between pickups for leads. Don’t like the noticeable drop off.

Provided you don't mind the humbucker being visually a little lower than you might set it on other guitars, it's not a problem.

 

[gitapik]

All of the Area pickups are vintage strat vibe, just slightly different flavors. There is no one vintage strat sound.

I’m leaning towards the 67 in the neck and 58 in the middle. Also considering Zexcoils. Any experience with those?

I put a push-pull pot on the tone control which gives me standard wiring (or my full humbucker version of it) or gives me just the three singles on their own.

I’ll talk with my tech about that one.

Provided you don't mind the humbucker being visually a little lower than you might set it on other guitars, it's not a problem.

Someone else mentioned this to me. I had a tech decades ago who steered me away from it. Said it would negatively effect the tone. So I haven’t revisited it since. I’ll give it a shot. Be wonderful if it works. Thanks!

 

[DrKev]

Someone else mentioned this to me. I had a tech decades ago who steered me away from it. Said it would negatively effect the tone. So I haven’t revisited it since. I’ll give it a shot. Be wonderful if it works. Thanks!

Grab a screwdriver and see. Go do it now! Set the humbucker 5/32" (4 mm) from the open strings. If you play with a clean clean tone it'll be identical just quieter, if you play with a dirty tone it'll like turning the gain back a notch. That's all. (Whether ot not you like that is a personal, subjective question).