Silhouette Bass Guitar ponderings

[NorM]

video link enclosed

Here it is:
Bach's Prelude in C with the Ave Maria melody played on my Silhouette Bass Guitar
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2bBf_BWFUk"]YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.[/nomedia]
Flame me please cause I need help with my inferiority complex.

 

[SteveB]

Thanks, NorM...

Now you've got me wanting a Silo Bass as well.

Nicely done.

 

[DaveF]

hi norm....does the low e string fretted at the A sound good ?? ie like an open a string almost?

andrzej

I've got one of the E-E tuned ones and the low E string does sound very flabby compared to the other strings. Like the tension isn't near as high.

This isn't much of a worry for me though as I intend to string the guitar up with the A-A tuned baritone set. Hopefully the issue goes away when I do that.

Did you find something to work out better for you than the ernie ball e-e bass strings?

 

[NorM]

I've got one of the E-E tuned ones and the low E string does sound very flabby compared to the other strings. Like the tension isn't near as high.

This isn't much of a worry for me though as I intend to string the guitar up with the A-A tuned baritone set. Hopefully the issue goes away when I do that.

Did you find something to work out better for you than the Ernie ball e-e bass strings?

Hi Ya Dave and welcome to the forum!!!!

Just curious, How did you find this place? Have you been lurking?
Anyway, Great to have another EB SiLO Bass player around. With the Flabby Low E string I was still considering a thicker string. I am concerned that if I have to go to a thicker string I will have to widen the slot on the nut. Going to an A to a set means the slots will be to wide and you might consider calling customer service to see if you could get an A to a nut.
Let us know how it goes.
BTW, What color is yours? Got any Pics you can put up for us?

 

[DaveF]

Hi Ya Dave and welcome to the forum!!!!

Just curious, How did you find this place? Have you been lurking?
Anyway, Great to have another EB SiLO Bass player around. With the Flabby Low E string I was still considering a thicker string. I am concerned that if I have to go to a thicker string I will have to widen the slot on the nut. Going to an A to a set means the slots will be to wide and you might consider calling customer service to see if you could get an A to a nut.
Let us know how it goes.
BTW, What color is yours? Got any Pics you can put up for us?

Thanks for the welcome. I found the forum while looking at the ernie ball website for info about this guitar before I bought it.

Here's some pics of the guitar and the nut with baritone strings mounted. It might be a little too wide, but it's not too bad. It does buzz a little but I haven't tried adjusting the truss rod yet.

 

[MCBTunes]

Thanks for the welcome. I found the forum while looking at the ernie ball website for info about this guitar before I bought it.

Here's some pics of the guitar and the nut with baritone strings mounted. It might be a little too wide, but it's not too bad. It does buzz a little but I haven't tried adjusting the truss rod yet.

nice color, looks wicked

 

[andyshand]

hi dave and norm....!!

"I've got one of the E-E tuned ones and the low E string does sound very flabby compared to the other strings. Like the tension isn't near as high.

This isn't much of a worry for me though as I intend to string the guitar up with the A-A tuned baritone set. Hopefully the issue goes away when I do that.

Did you find something to work out better for you than the ernie ball e-e bass strings?"

thank god!!!!! sombody could clarify the flabby e string....and yes its all about tension and the only way that can be cured is for the core on the low e to be beefed up while keeping the overall gauge the same.... i have advised beth...lets see what happens.

I think there are very few people using the e-e tuning but the jerry jones strings daddario baritone set might be worth a look since the olp guys are all using them ...even though its only 84 on the low_e it probably is still higher tension which is probably a lot better than some 90 gauge with a lot lower tension...i have a set on order.

cool guitar dave.....if i were you i would keep the nut and just put something under the string like a plastic rest if its rattling around....since if you ever wanted to go back to E it would mean another new nut or a nut alteration.

Also I have been advised by beth that by altering the guitar ...such as a nut replacment which i did will void your warranty for sure. (which i found to be a little harsh since nuts like strings will wear out through normal use)

also ...norm....thanks for the vid....really enjoyed the clip and yes all the strings sounded fine except for the e.....that final g on the low e sounded suspect...like a lifeless donk.

i hope someone from musicman reads this stuff.

andrzej

 

[NorM]

hi norm....!!
i be a little harsh since nuts like ...norm....really enjoyed all and sounded ...like a lifeless donk.

i hope someone from musicman reads this stuff.

andrzej

I hope they read it to. Thanks for the kind words

 

[andyshand]

hey norm.....you should work for the tabloids

 

[GWDavis28]

I just happened upon this.

http://www.billysheehan.com/gear/instruments_35.html

Glenn |B)

 

[andyshand]

if its a baritone then its probably the a-a tuning.

 

[Eilif]

Found this on YouTube:

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0ICtDQHDLE"]YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.[/nomedia]

 

[pepperman]

JP has a few and plays them on DT's last album "Octavarium." You can hear one on 2 songs that I know of: "These Walls", that's one at the beginning and throughout. WOW! What a rich, thick tone! And also on "Panic Attack," I think.

 

[Strangeglow]

Any issues in converting from E-E back to A-A? Also I noticed that JustStrings.com shows a set of eb strings for the Silo that go B-C like a 6 string bass. Looking at the guages, I think it's the E-E strings mislabled. Any thoughts?

jw

 

[Strangeglow]

By the way, has anyone tuned one of these in straight 4ths?

 

[strummer]

I have never seen one for real, but I have wondered why those guitar sissys have 7 strings when they could get a lot lower with a silo?

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

I have never seen one for real, but I have wondered why those guitar sissys have 7 strings when they could get a lot lower with a silo?

And that's why I have a Silo Bass arriving on Thursday

 

[Fred E.]

I need to start visiting here more often. This is one of the few times I've gone south of the stickies, as well.

I'm on my 2nd Silo Bass & my 5th Fender Bass VI--to my fingers & ears, they are quite different beasts. I tune them both E to E & use the EB set for my Silo Bass; I've never had any problem with a flabby E like some here have noted. I am currently using a set of LaBella flats, guaged for a Fender VI, on my Fender VI. As I recall the EB set for the Silo Bass E to E tuning are not the same guage as the Fender VI uses.

I got my current Silo used & when I got it, it was strung up for an A to A baritone tuning. I don't know what kind of strings they were & how the bass was otherwise set up, but I could not play it in that tuning--the pickups seemed to be as low as they could go & the strings still kept "bottoming out" on the pickups. As soon as I installed the E to E set, it played & sounded great with no further tweaking required.

 

[paranoid70]

Pepperman is right. John Petrucci plays a Silhouette Bass on a few songs. In 2005 when Dream Theater toured with Megadeth, he played the Silhouette Bass during the song Panic Attack. I had pit tickets, so I was close enough to actually see the difference. I didn't know what he was playing at the time, but I definitely knew it wasn't a EBMM JP guitar.

 

[ptg]

The problem for me (on this bass guitar forum) is that I don't play guitar and can't fingerpick. So, while I would love to expand my horizons with an instrument like this, it does not appear that you can play it with your fingers.
Wish I was more talented, but I will have to stick to more conventional axes.