Silhouette Special: can it be a great Strat?

[Brian G]

Hi Brian! Eric P. here (he says putting down new Luke piezo). My first MM was a Silo Special piezo, which got modified as all my guitars do. Closest I got to the true strat thing was with some of Jim (WCR) Wagners' SR singlecoils, RS pots and no silent circuit. Sounded similar to my old '62. My first Albert Lee was a RW-board Limited from '06; not very similar with the 3 MM90s. I tried it with 3 Area noiseless singles in another pickguard; better concept with the MM90s. Then I got your Rad Red Luke, which was Gilmour in spades. Then I got my Albert Lee with the solid IRW neck and the 3 Duncan singles. Whoa! This is a strat and then some (and is getting some Suhr FL pickups/BPSSC next week). Couple weeks back I got my new Luke trem piezo (Swiss Army knife acoustic-electric). I like EBMMs (had a killer quilt Axis too).
To the point: I like the Silo shape/pickguard the best also, but the real strat is the Albert. Strat balance points with even more forearm comfort, the pop of swampash (even more with a maple 'board), best quack of the bunch...I've been fender-free for years now.
So, here's the plan: Get an Albert SSS hardtail piezo AND a Silo Special HSS trem (there's a Pearl White one HSS trem with BFR solid IRW neck at The Arts). You will be covered for singlecoil guitars.

Gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to "Lance", aka Eric, one of the best guitar techs in Canada. And one who has probably accounted for more MM sales in the dealership (The Arts) he works for than a slew of guys on the sales floor!

Unfortunately for me, I moved away from their market area, and in so doing lost one of the best resources you could ask for, particularly when thinking about this type of decision. See - I don't try to evaluate guitars in shops, no good at it.

Want GAS bad? Just hang around Eric. Want a sweet setup? Same deal.

Hey Eric! - been meaning to email you for ages, we've been travelling most of the summer. I'll pick this up via email, if that's OK.

Please tell me that Silhouette doesn't have a white pearloid pickguard! (Eric has worked on my Strat, so he knows what I mean . . .).

Brian

 

[whitestrat]

Please tell me that Silhouette doesn't have a white pearloid pickguard! (Eric has worked on my Strat, so he knows what I mean . . .).

yes it does. And so does the Albert Lee. But they're also optional. you can order them in whatever EBMM has listed as options. Check the website for more info.

On the point about the Silo Spec being a strat? Short answer is: No.

It CAN get great stratty tones. With the right set of pups, it can work fantasitcally as a single coil sounding guitar. But it's lacking physically. I think this is due to the overall size of the EBMM, which makes the guitar lose a bit of low end thump. you hardly notice this when you plug it in and in a band mix, but play a strat close to your ears acoustically in a very quiet room, and you'll heard the difference. In exchange, it's very tight, more midrangey, brighter and articulate.

I think the Albert Lee makes up for this with an Ash body. When I still had my AL, I remembered that it did have a good strat-like vibe.

I say go AL if you want a strat-like EBMM. The Silo Spec does it's own thing exceptionally well, rather than be just another strat-clone.

All in all, if you can, get BOTH.

Position of the pickups

The SSS Silo Spec pickups are in very close positional similarities as compared to a strat. So minute are the differences that it doesn't make a difference. I can post a clip of a SSS Silo Spec and you'd swear it was a strat if I didn't tell you so.

 

[Lance Romance]

Yeah Brian, it has a pearloid 'guard. I actually ordered the Albert and the Silo in the same color to see which one I liked best. The Albert came out of the box first and it was game over. I was wondering how the white Silo would look with a tortoiseshell 'guard....hmmm.
My old friend and legendary gear slut Faracaster was over awhile ago and played my RW-neck Albert. He's owned all the old strats and all the new builders in multiples. After wringing some exquisite Beck tones out of it he asked to buy it. This speaks volumes to me as he's a notorious stratcat.
You need an Albert, and a Silo Special...oh wait, you can buy both for the price of a custom shop guitar!
Email me and we'll catch up.
Alberts rule.-Eric

 

[Brian G]

Eric - email sent.

So you scooped the AL, right?

Brian

 

[whitestrat]

I was wondering how the white Silo would look with a tortoiseshell 'guard....hmmm.

This is a nice combo... But it has to have a rosewood board.

 

[Lance Romance]

...or the solid rosewood neck.

Speaking of rosewood, why isn't a rosewood 'board available all the time on Alberts? Albert himself played my '06 black/gold Limited and liked it. He said he hadn't seen one before with a RW fingerboard, and it was the Number One reason I bought the Limited; first time with rosewood.

 

[robelinda2]

Have to agree, the RW AL is fantastic. It is an artist model, but then again Albert doesnt use the MM90's much, or the hardtail option.

 

[matty]

I have an HSS Silhouette Special with piezo and I absolutely love that guitar. In my mind there is no other. I also have an inexpensive strat as backup and have played many strats over the years and they definitely have their own thing going on. To me there's more of a difference in the "quack" position between the two but it probably has more to do with the humbucker in my Silhouette.

The neck pickup on the Silhouette is worth the price of admission alone. There's so much color and character it still surprises me every time I use it. I'm not sure how to describe the sound but it brings a smile to my face all the time.

I do not consider the stock pickups to be very high output at all, which to me is a good thing. The humbucker in the bridge has a very nice, round sound without being brittle or harsh and dirty sounds in the second pickup selector position give a nice vintage sound.

Here is a video I made with the SS and a 5-watt amp:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxnXZYe7crA&feature=channel"]YouTube- Richter 5.8/Ernie Ball MusicMan Silhouette Special[/ame]

Here's another with the SS and my Axe-fx:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOYtYg0g_DQ&feature=channel"]YouTube- Axe-Fx cae3 demo 1[/ame]

I hope this helps.

matt

 

[matty]

Here's another one with the Axe-fx direct:

axe-fx ac30 test - Photobucket

That's all for the next few months

 

[Brian G]

Matty - thanks, very nice playing & clips.

Particularly liked the AC30TB on Photobucket, recently that amp has been my go-to on the Axe as well.

 

[alf cockle]

Never had a strat..started out with a Mustang, tried a few strats,then bought a brand new,from EBMM factory ordered sil sp..ss hum,rosewood.Didnt touch the Mustang again,and have been very happy with the sounds I get out of that guitar.So versatile..wonderful single coil tones,and very full humbucker as well.I think its all up to the musician to find their sound....I really like the sound that superior guitar players get from a strat,but find that as an instrument,the sil sp blows it away! EBMM is still an undiscovered orebody.Absolutely wonderful guitars!

 

[jamminjim]

I've had a boatload of $trats - and wasted so much moolah messing with them that I could have bought a new corvette - and I'll say this, a Silo Spec is very much more preferred to my ears an fingers. Sounds better to me, plays better to me (rosewood boarded ones that is)......... maybe it's the DiMarzios but it ain't like a strat to me. Even a Super $trat isn't like a SS to my ear. An Al is more comparable to a $trat IMHO.
But you guys are performing musicians - and can be trusted right?

 

[whitestrat]

Speaking of rosewood, why isn't a rosewood 'board available all the time on Alberts? Albert himself played my '06 black/gold Limited and liked it. He said he hadn't seen one before with a RW fingerboard, and it was the Number One reason I bought the Limited; first time with rosewood.

If it came with a RW board, I'd have bought one already... I missed out on the LE06.

 

[e.mate]

I've had a boatload of $trats - and wasted so much moolah messing with them that I could have bought a new corvette - and I'll say this, a Silo Spec is very much more preferred to my ears an fingers. Sounds better to me, plays better to me (rosewood boarded ones that is)......... maybe it's the DiMarzios but it ain't like a strat to me. Even a Super $trat isn't like a SS to my ear. An Al is more comparable to a $trat IMHO.
But you guys are performing musicians - and can be trusted right?

I guess, if we're talking $trat with a handful of different guitar players, we'll be getting a handful of different ideas about what that means.

For me, the Silo (Spec) grabbed the basic building concept of a "classic" $trat and elevated it on a new design level in many aspects. So the Silo (Spec) has developped through the last two decades, maintaining those wonderful ergonomics, that make it so popular. So in that respect, it follows the original $trat idea.

The AL is a different design, but maintaining the "classic" tone of a "classic" $trat...so in that respect, it follows the original $trat idea.

So, we would be able to discuss this on and on, but after all, we all perceive something different when we think "$trat". Could that be the point of discussion here?

 

[moonpie96]

It's true what was said about amps and effect chain. I have an American deluxe Strat-SSH. When I plug into my Mesa Stiletto ace ,the cleans sound good but sterile. Then I plug into my marshall dsl 50 and im in the world of Jimi, SRV, DG...etc
I'v had many amps over the years; from a '65 fender twin all the way to Mesa amps.
Nothing gets that classic Strat sound like my Marshall.....IMHO.
-by the way , a Silhouette is on my wish list. hope this helps.....Later.

 

[e.mate]

...absolutely true - through my rack (JMP1>Rocktron Intellifex>Brunetti Rockit) anything could sound stratty

 

[RocketRalf]

Nice clips back there on page 2. Similar to my Silo, single coil-ish but not quite stratty. I would swap out the pickups if I were looking for 50-60s strat sound, or get an AL. But I like my guitar like it is

 

[candid_x]

imho

There’s usually more to be gained by embracing the giant than to hold oneself aloof from her followers. I believe BP’s showing he’s got that dialed in. By showing respect to Fender, it makes it more natural for Fender fan boys (heh heh) to give a MM a fair shake, rather than reacting defensively to protect their F-ing Queen.

I like 'em both for what each does. While it's fun to imagine a Music Man vintage copy of a 62 Strat, thin finish nitro et al, I know it's not at all the company's style to do that. I'd like to see a couple a moves, however, like to a bigger body (ala 25th), wider nut on a med C neck, a thin urethane finish, on either a fundamental Silo Special or AL platform. Make that in tobacco sunburst, please.

 

[izzy]

I have an HSS Silhouette Special with piezo and <...snip...> Here is a video I made with the SS and a 5-watt amp ...

Thanks Matt, really good demos.

 

[roburado]

I think Strats are fine, and I still have one. I just reach for the Silo Spec or AL because they suit me better for their playability and sound. But that's just my personal preference.