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Help to choose: Silhouette Special HSS vs Axis Super Sport

C

colobos

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Oct 1, 2012
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Hi!
I have played the guitar for 11 years in blues and rock styles (SRV, Joe Satriani, Gary Moore, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Dire Straits, Slash, etc) and my last and the only guitar was Ibanez RG 321 made in Korea. Now I want to buy more serious instrument, but I don't know what to choose for this music: Musicman Silhouette Special or Musicman Axis Super Sport? Which of this two is more versatile? I like sound of strat very much, but also I want to have a fat sound for some distortion.
PS: I don't have an ability to listen and compare them in real life :(
 
Last edited:
Hello and welcome aboard.

In any case, the Silo or the ASS are great instruments. I personally own an ASS MM90 (Axis Super Sport with Music Man P90 pickups) and I was really surprised by the versatility of this guitar. The P90 are single coil pickups but they have more aggression than classic single coils : thus you can play SRV but also some heavier stuff.
After that, the shape of the Silo is more traditional, the Axis is more original. Personally, I prefer originality but any case, the two shapes are user friendly !
 
I think you have to decide what kind of pickup you want in that neck position: single coil or humbucker? That right there is the biggest--and the most substantial--difference between the two guitars. You like how a strat sounds, but you also want a fat sound. Unless that strat sound you like is position 2 or 4, the two are mutually exclusive.
 
Just my two cents. I love the ASS, but if you love single coils, there's simply no substitute. It's hard to nail that out of phase Pos 2/4 in a SSS guitar unless you're sporting the Game Changer. Which easily fits the "most versatile guitar" description.

However....

I own a Silo Special SSS. It's already routed for HSS, so if you want a humbucker in the bridge and retain the neck and middle single you can. I'm mainly a humbucker guy, but I absolutely love love love my Silo Spec. It's THE single coil tone IMO.

Good luck
 
I think a Silo Special would suit you great in the HSS configuration. That is really my favorite, because it gives you the ability to get single coil tones and also a humbucker. I used to have a Silo Special that I would play Satriani, Vinnie Moore, Steve Morse, and more bluesy stuff SRV and fusion. Now I wish I had not sold it. The only thing about the Silo Special is that the bridge pickup is pretty weak if you want a fat thick growling tone. That was just my experience. I changed it to a Air Zone which was very nice.
 
With the Silo Spec, you absolutely won't get the GNR kinda neck pickup sound. With a Supersport, you can. If you're keeping your Ibanez, why not try the Silo Spec for those single coil sounds? In the 2 position, you'll have mid and the inner bridge coil. It's a good traditional looking guitar. Personally......if I want single coil sounds, my Al SSS is where I'm going.

Although I really like my Supersport MM90 for all around versatility, it isn't going to give you the traditional small single sound.

I guess it comes down to whether you're going to use 2 guitars in a gig and switch or if you're going to only one guitar for everything.
 
Wow, I think I can actually help you here. I have an Axis SS hardtail HH and A Silo Special HSS. They are two different animals, but both very vesatile.

Silo Special:
PROS: Single-coil sound, forearm contour is great, neck feels thinner like an Ibanez. Bright guitar, alder w/ maple neck. Good access to upper frets.
CONS: I had to change out all the pups, pretty lifeless in stock form. Generally not a very "pretty" guitar, no flamed maple, a super-birdeye neck on a Silo Special is kind of rare, mine is very plain, but I like it.

Axis SS:
PROS: Pretty guitar, like a telecaster on steroids. Thick baseball style neck (actually preferring the Silo neck right now, but liek the variety). Great tone, great pickups, do not swap them out. Versatile, but tone differences between the 5 positions are not as drastic as the Silo. Great beefy tone, like a Les Paul.
CONS: No forearm countour, VERY beefy tone, sometimes it is good, but it defintely toned in the lower spectrum. Guitar seems a little less refined than the Silo Special as far as form goes...........(mostly lack of forearm contour), but is so much prettier. Upper register is also a little harder to access than the w/ the Silo.

Summary: Both guitars are very versatile, however, if you are looking for the single coil sound (classic strat/blues sound), you can get fairly close w/ the Axis SS, but not quite. If you are looking for a beefy rock machine, jazz, and can even do non-single coil blues stuff, the Axis has it all day. I am going to put titanium vintage strat saddles on my Axis SS and see if it will give me more snap and more of single-coil sound, as my Silo Special has turned into my #1 right now, but I regretted buying the the Silo Special completely until I swapped out pickups. Silhouette still looks very plain-jane, but the Dargies and the PDNs, and some of the others are pretty nice looking. I actually wish sometimes I would have gottend a Silo Special SSS to be able to install pups Lincoln Brewster style, with an Area 61 in the Bridge. Did put an Area 58 in the neck though, very nice sound.

colobos said:
Hi!
I have played the guitar for 11 years in blues and rock styles (SRV, Joe Satriani, Gary Moore, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Dire Straits, Slash, etc) and my last and the only guitar was Ibanez RG 321 made in Korea. Now I want to buy more serious instrument, but I don't know what to choose for this music: Musicman Silhouette Special or Musicman Axis Super Sport? Which of this two is more versatile? I like sound of strat very much, but also I want to have a fat sound for some distortion.
PS: I don't have an ability to listen and compare them in real life :(
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