Carl M
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 22, 2018
- Messages
- 46
I have played and owned plenty of guitar brands and models over the years, but Music Man guitars are rare here in Sweden and until recently I had never player one. EBMM basses are common here though and I have owned a StingRay for many years, it was the one I always wanted and my first expensive bass. EBMM necks are famous for their comfort and my StingRay’s neck has this smooth and easy-to-play feeling and as a result I have both a strat and a tele with oil and wax treated necks.
The first time I became interested in Music Man guitars was when Steve Morse joined Deep Purple in the mid 90’s. He sounded great, but I assumed that was all in his fingers and that his guitar was just another Super Strat, but since I have heard so much good about the EBMM necks I was still interested in trying one to see what they’re like.
To cut a long story short I saw a used white Steve Morse Signature up for sale a couple of years ago and I thought about it, but felt that I had all the guitars I needed, so I passed. I have regretted that ever since and I haven’t seen another one. Then a little while ago, an all black Silo Special in great condition was up for sale in another part of the country. Since I am more into low output pickups than what SM is using and more comfortable with buying guitar with alder body than a poplar body, this could be the EBMM for me, so I bought it and had it shipped here.
After restringing it with Regular Slinkys to keep it all stock EBMM and a full set up I played it unplugged. The neck felt fantastic. Normally my favorite profile is the classic Gibson '59 profile and although this was slightly smaller and although I have big hands, it felt really good to play. The neck was really smooth and fast, the fretting was perfect, raw rounded fretboard edges meat it really comfortable to play, the intonation was great and I really liked the guitar’s unplugged tone, resonant and lively with a its own unique voice.
Plugged into my favorite Marshall, using the bridge humbucker it sounded fantastic and it had that unique focused Steve Morse tone which I thought was all in his hands. I obviously can’t play anywhere near as good as SM, but that focused clear core in the tone I associate with Steve Morse's playing was there inside my usual modified vintage plexi Marshall sound. It also responded really well to different picking techniques and allowed me to change the tone i different direction depending how I picked string and more so than other guitars I have played and owned.
Flipping over the the neck pickup it sounded like really good strat. Impressive, but I needed neck humbucker to better match the stock bridge humbucker (DiMarzio Virtual PAF), so after some research I replaced the neck single coil with a Satch Track, which gives me that neck humbucker tone I need without routing. To my surprise it also turned the position 3 into a very useful rock Tele-esque rhythm sound. And I will rewire position 2 to middle single coil alone because it would be useful for me to have access to one single coil sound in this guitar instead of the stock neck/middle setting.
To me this Silo Special is the ultimate Super Strat and one of the best guitars I have ever played. It feels great to play and it sounds just like I want. Even the other band members reacted after the first song I played with it at rehearsals and commented that my new guitar sounded really, really good. And I agree, it blends in perfectly in the busy band mix.
We all play different kinds of music and like different types of guitars and amps, but this one was 100% right for me. (I mainly play classic rock/hard rock.) I bought the guitar because I was curious about EBMM guitars and the only way I could try one was to buy one, but I never expected it to be this good.
So, congratulations to all of you who discovered EBMM long before I did!
The first time I became interested in Music Man guitars was when Steve Morse joined Deep Purple in the mid 90’s. He sounded great, but I assumed that was all in his fingers and that his guitar was just another Super Strat, but since I have heard so much good about the EBMM necks I was still interested in trying one to see what they’re like.
To cut a long story short I saw a used white Steve Morse Signature up for sale a couple of years ago and I thought about it, but felt that I had all the guitars I needed, so I passed. I have regretted that ever since and I haven’t seen another one. Then a little while ago, an all black Silo Special in great condition was up for sale in another part of the country. Since I am more into low output pickups than what SM is using and more comfortable with buying guitar with alder body than a poplar body, this could be the EBMM for me, so I bought it and had it shipped here.
After restringing it with Regular Slinkys to keep it all stock EBMM and a full set up I played it unplugged. The neck felt fantastic. Normally my favorite profile is the classic Gibson '59 profile and although this was slightly smaller and although I have big hands, it felt really good to play. The neck was really smooth and fast, the fretting was perfect, raw rounded fretboard edges meat it really comfortable to play, the intonation was great and I really liked the guitar’s unplugged tone, resonant and lively with a its own unique voice.
Plugged into my favorite Marshall, using the bridge humbucker it sounded fantastic and it had that unique focused Steve Morse tone which I thought was all in his hands. I obviously can’t play anywhere near as good as SM, but that focused clear core in the tone I associate with Steve Morse's playing was there inside my usual modified vintage plexi Marshall sound. It also responded really well to different picking techniques and allowed me to change the tone i different direction depending how I picked string and more so than other guitars I have played and owned.
Flipping over the the neck pickup it sounded like really good strat. Impressive, but I needed neck humbucker to better match the stock bridge humbucker (DiMarzio Virtual PAF), so after some research I replaced the neck single coil with a Satch Track, which gives me that neck humbucker tone I need without routing. To my surprise it also turned the position 3 into a very useful rock Tele-esque rhythm sound. And I will rewire position 2 to middle single coil alone because it would be useful for me to have access to one single coil sound in this guitar instead of the stock neck/middle setting.
To me this Silo Special is the ultimate Super Strat and one of the best guitars I have ever played. It feels great to play and it sounds just like I want. Even the other band members reacted after the first song I played with it at rehearsals and commented that my new guitar sounded really, really good. And I agree, it blends in perfectly in the busy band mix.
We all play different kinds of music and like different types of guitars and amps, but this one was 100% right for me. (I mainly play classic rock/hard rock.) I bought the guitar because I was curious about EBMM guitars and the only way I could try one was to buy one, but I never expected it to be this good.
So, congratulations to all of you who discovered EBMM long before I did!
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