Help! 1989 Silhouette Pickguard

[j.k]

Today I received my second EBMM Silo (1989, 6 bolt). I love it, except that the pickups are SSS. I'm partial to a bit of metal, so that's 3 S's too many and two H's too few! I guess that the easiest way to change this is to just whip the old pickguard off and get a pickguard made and buy new pots, switch, knobs etc, so I essentially end up with two complete wired pickguards.

I found a couple places through google that claim to make them given a trace or the original; has anyone got experience with such companies? Anything to look out for? What is the quality generally like? If anyone could recommend a UK based company that would be great.

Also, a bit of an aside, the fret wire has a lot of green gunk around it; I'm not sure if this is from the fret wire itself, or copper from the strings the previous owner had on it. It's pretty solid stuff, so I can kind of chip it off with my nail if necessary, but that doesn't seem ideal. Just wondering if anyone had any cleaning tips for this sort of thing?

Thanks for any help!

 

[GWDavis28]

You can buy a pickguard assembly (with pots, pups, wiring and what not) from EBMM, in HSH form, if that's what you are looking for. It should be easily swapped out.

Is this what you are looking for? Since you are in the UK, you should be able to contact Strings & Things and they should be able to help you out.

Glenn |B)

 

[j.k]

That's the sort of thing I'm after, but I have some pickups lying about from previous projects which I could use. So really, I guess it'll depend on the price difference of getting a pre-wired one vs a custom pickguard for me to wire. Do you happen to know if Strings & Things do the pickguards on their own (no electronics)?

Thanks a lot!

 

[GWDavis28]

You can buy just pickguards from EBMM, thru Strings & Things, I would think. I know that I can buy and have bought just a pickguard from EBMM. Give Strings & Things a call, I'm sure they can help you out man.

You've gotta post of pictures of this Silo man.

Glenn |B)

 

[j.k]

I'll take a couple photos shortly

New to the forum...think I worked out how to add photos:

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It has a fair few dings which don't show in the pictures, but it's all about that neck for me! Love the birdseye maple Can't believe how light it is; it's about half the weight of my other Silo (a 5 bolt, 2004)!

 

[GWDavis28]

JK, sweet man. What color pick guard are you thinking about getting?

Glenn |B)

 

[j.k]

Tough call that one. It's so hard to decide without actually seeing it on it! Am currently stuck between black, black pearl and white pearl. Probably see what takes my fancy at the moment of purchase

 

[GWDavis28]

Personally, with that finish, I'd go with the White Pearloid man, I think it would look really shape. What color pups are you thinking about putting in, that's usually the driving decision for me personally?

From your pictures, it looks to be in good shape.

Welcome, by the way. You've got another Silo, pictures man, hahaha. Glenn |B)

 

[j.k]

I've got a Seymour Duncan white single coil for the neck. Also got a BKP warpig with a distressed cover in the same project guitar I no longer play, would be tempted to pull that one out, but I think it's F spaced 52mm and I get the feeling the Silo bridge is 50mm. So...I'll probably buy another high gain BKP humbucker (absolutely love them ). I expect I'd aim for white again, but it would really depend on what I could get for cheap on ebay! (all assuming it that it doesn't turn out the proper EBMM pre-wired ones are less than about £100, which I very much doubt!)

And yeah, the guitar is structurally sound, just has loads of minor dings and scratches. Don't mind that though; makes it feel loved

 

[guitfiddle]

Hey, can't help with the pickguard but just wanted to say nice Silo! Gotta love the old six bolters. These guitars hold up really well.

 

[TonyEVH5150]

There's a seller on eBay by the name of dazbootman who makes really good Silhouette pickguards. I don't know if he ships the the UK, but you could ask.

 

[GWDavis28]

Tony's right he's a good guy to deal with. He does them as a side job.

Glenn |B)

 

[custom53]

I always liked this setup... (not mine)

MUSIC MAN SILHOUETTE SPC PRE-WIRED PICKGUARD-DIMARZIO'S - eBay (item 150451165681 end time Jun-09-10 14:35:54 PDT)

 

[azazael]

What about just do what Vinnie Moore did and use stacked humbuckers?

 

[j.k]

I checked out the dazbootman ones (found him from a search in the forums about pickguards). As far as I can tell, all the ones he has at the moment are for 5 bolt, not 6. Bit of a shame because they look really good, for a fair price too.

I didn't think of stacked HB's. It's now another option I have to consider

Gotten in touch with a company who make custom pickguards for a quote. Will see what they come back with and work out the best way!

 

[jd_elam]

I got one recently from Chandler Guitars. It was for a 6 bolt and fit perfect. They have a website called Pickguard Heaven.