Changed pickups SSS Silhouette

[Mimasu]

Played some different Silhouettes through the years. All early 90'ies (6 bolt necks).

Loved all, great build quality, feel and playability.

One thing bothered me, and yes I know it's very subjective and debatable: they all sounded somewhat 'sterile' to me. Some lack of personality, mainly the single coils and played clean.

Perhaps the problem is that they have to 'compete' with some others guitars I have. In earlier years some vintage Telecasters and in recent years a PRS Silver Sky (US) and a Fender CS 51 Broadcaster. Especially the Silver Sky is one of the best soundings 'strats' I've ever played.

Bought a SSS 1990 Silhouette recently and after some playing the same feeling came up again.

Since the first Silhouette I owned I assumed the Dimarzio PU's could be one of the possible reasons. Also had Dimarzio's in other guitars and for some reason the single coils were not my thing.

Got myself a set of Tonerider Pure Vintage, so just midrange strat PU's and not high end, and installed them.

The difference is great. The guitar sounds like it has opened up. Perhaps I'll try some other high end strat PU's in the near future.

And again: It's very subjective and perhaps it's only happening between my ears. But any similar experiences out there?

Leon

 

[daneford]

I've had similar experiences with silos from all eras. I do like the paf pros, and the singles sound fine or "non-descript." I've changed out most of them in favor of dimarzio virtual vintage or injectors, and Duncan antiquity Texas strat hots. The Duncans are probably the most "stratty."

 

[DrKev]

I've been through a few too. What I have learned from the experience is this....

What sounds "very different" to a guitar player is usually "slightly different" or "completely indistinguishable" to anyone else.
The differences we perceive when playing often vanish when we record them and do an A-B listening tests afterwards.
Things I thought about pickups in the past turned out not to be true at all (e.g. the Fender Japan singles in my old strat that I always thought were quite warm sounding are actually very bright, except for yesterday, when they were still brighter than anything else I have but not at all as bright as I remembered).

Is it all placebo effect/confirmation bias? Sometimes absolutely, but sometimes probably not, and sometimes I don't frickin' know.

But I do know that my perceptions and biases are part of my me and part of my instrument. Not listening with my ears is part of me too and if I'm not comfortable for any reason, real or imagined, I'm not happy.

So buy the pickups that make you happy.

Right now, I have Tone Hatch vintage-correct hand-wound singles in my Silhouette Special and they're truly lovely. They sound almost identical to the stock MM singles in my Cutlass (wired passive with an old-style MM silent circuit). Now I have two guitars that I love but sound too close to each other. I may need to go for an HH guitar? Or modify the Cutlass to be HH? I don't fickin' know.

 

[Mimasu]

Is it all placebo effect/confirmation bias? Sometimes absolutely, but sometimes probably not, and sometimes I don't frickin' know.

If you hear the difference it it's there, no matter what all the others say.

And who cares if you're the only one hearing it and getting happy by it

 

[DrKev]

If you hear the difference it it's there, no matter what all the others say.

Maye not. We know that we can present people with two sound samples that are 100% identical (e.g. I record the same guitar two times), but if I tell people that they are somehow different (e.g. maybe we lie and say sample A is DiMarzio and sample B is vintage Fender) people will 100% agree that they can hear a difference, even when I know with 100% certainty that it's not true. Nobody is immune to this form of confirmation bias, which is why blinded tests are so important, especially when the differences in question are small and/or subjective. And if people are invested in believing the false thing (because they like to think they have golden ears, or spent a lot of money on it) they will even refuse to accept the truth once revealed. And it poses a problem, because it makes it very easy to fool and cheat people. (See numerous examples across the decades in the guitar/pro audio/audiophile worlds).

And who cares if you're the only one hearing it and getting happy by it

Yes, I mostly agree but only so far. See above.