Here are my impressions of my Sterling Silo 30. I bought it used from Guitarcenter for $160.00 a few months ago. It came without a trem arm but in pretty good condition. Setup was appalling the strings being 3mm plus off the frets. I tried lowering the saddles and trem posts but could not get it really low till i realized the mounting studs were pulling out of the body. It took 2 goes with super glue to make them stay in the body. To achieve a 1.5-8mm action the trem is set flush with the body and the saddles particularly the high E string are resting on the term plate with no adjustment left. If i was using the trem and wanted it floating a low action would be impossible but am content to use it as a tremless guitar. The action at the nut end was very high so replaced the nut with a Tusq which improved the sound and lowered the action.
This was a used purchase and i have no idea how the previous owner treated it but suspect the woeful setup led him to sell it.
I also replaced the pickups with two custom wound alnico ll single coils from Rose Pickups ( $25.00 each !!! ) and a fender american humbucker.
I REALLY like this guitar, despite the poor quality setup issues and with a little investment in time and money this has become my most played guitar. I own or have owned a PRS, Carvin, Fender, Yamaha and while those are better made instruments there is something about this Silo that makes me want to pick it up and play. The whole design of the neck, headstock, super comfortable body and general feel is just fantastic. Its not one particular feature but more the sum of its parts. I can only imagine how wonderful a ‘real’ Musicman Silhouette would be. For now I am having a lot of fun and pleasure from my early Silo 30 and maybe one day will be able to afford the real deal.
