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New (to me) Silhouette Special in the House! (and question)

A

austin

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Aug 14, 2003
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Mineola, NY
Got a used one from the local Guitar Center. I had one way back when for a little while (one of the earlier ones with the Wilky bridge and gotoh tuners) and couldn't stand the neck even though it was otherwise ergonomically wonderful. Played the one in GC and it felt and sounded great, so I knew it would be mine eventually (I've been looking for a "strat-yet-not" to supplement all my setneck Hamers). Anyway, I got it home tonight and it's cool, but I can't tell if the Silent Circuit is doing anything? I know there's a trimpot somewhere and I was thinking about messing around with it (after making sure I marked its inital position), but I have no idea where it is? I'm going to be taking stuff apart to clean off the GC grunge, so I'll probably stumble across it anyway, but it would be nice to know what I'm looking for :D

-Austin
 
andynpeters

andynpeters

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If you hear nothing it's working....if you hear hum it isn't. I would leave the trim pot well alone unless you plan to change the pickups.
Actually they're pretty quiet guitars anyway....I had my Red Sparkle one for a year and decided to change the battery....only to find there was no battery in it!!
 
andynpeters

andynpeters

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austin said:
Actually, no I don't. No difference with a few different batteries in there. That's why I want to check out the trim pot. Anyone know where it's at?

-Austin
Click to expand...

You should hear no difference, as the guitar is well screened,unless you are in a situation where you would normally hear some buzzing (ie close to the amp, near another appliance) in which case the Silent Circuit will significantly reduce it.
Are you getting a lot of buzz?
 
threeminutesboy

threeminutesboy

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May 11, 2003
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I was getting lot of noise from mine when I received it until I discovered that the previous owner put a weird brand of battery.

Duracell is the way to go :) if the battery is too small the contact will be wrong and silent circuit not activate
 
Roubster

Roubster

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Aug 20, 2005
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Congrats on a brilliant guitar! Now what specs do you have on this guitar? Better yet, you MUST post pics ASAP :).
 
A

austin

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Joined
Aug 14, 2003
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19
Location
Mineola, NY
andynpeters said:
You should hear no difference, as the guitar is well screened,unless you are in a situation where you would normally hear some buzzing (ie close to the amp, near another appliance) in which case the Silent Circuit will significantly reduce it.
Are you getting a lot of buzz?
Click to expand...

I can hear the difference between the neck pickup and the other positions (which are basically completely quiet) under high gain (in clean and kinda-dirty, there really isn't any noise anywhere). Like you said in your initial post, it's a pretty quiet guitar in general, but the neck pickup does buzz under high gain. I'm going to get a a new energizer and try it in there to make sure the battery isn't the issue. It came with a duracell, but who knows if that was alive or not. I tried putting a duracell from my "battery drawer" in there, but it didn't fit (too big, I couldn't get the lid to close). I tried an Energizer from my battery drawer in there and it fit, but there was no change in the sound. Obviously, none of the batteries in this scenario are reliable, known quantities, so buying a new energizer and throwing it in there is my first choice. However, I like screwing around with my guitars anyway, so it would be nice to know where the trimpot is in case I want to mess with it.

The GC I went to had a bunch of incredibly swanky new and used MM guitars. Mine was one of the used ones, so it's possible the previous owner was messing around with the electronics (although I would tend to think not, since it's in great condition). I'll have to wait until this weekend to post a picture, but it's definitely a looker. I tend to stay on the LP-Gibson-y side of the spectrum, but it's nice to have something with single-coils every once and a while. And the SS defnitely fits the bill nicely. Some very nice design features you kind of wonder why everyone else hasn't adopted (like the truss rod adjustment being so easily accessible and being able to keep the trem arm in when it's in the case) and it just feels and sounds "right".

-Austin
 
J

John C

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Aug 16, 2004
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Kansas City
Austin - is your Silo Special an HSS or an SSS model?

On the HSS the Silent Circuit only works on the neck pickup (which I call position "5") - that is the only position where you get a single coil on its own. Here is the switching on the HSS model:

Pos 1: bridge humbucker
Pos 2: bridge humbucker + middle single coil
Pos 3: bridge humbucker + neck single coil
Pos 4: middle single coil + neck single coil
Pos 5: neck single coil

The middle single coil is reverse wound so it is hum cancelling when combined with other pickups. I'm not sure but I think the bridge humbucker is split in positions 2 and 3 but I'm not sure. The Silent Circuit is only active on position 5.

The SSS model switching is like a typical Strat:

Pos 1: bridge single coil
Pos 2: bridge single coil+ middle single coil
Pos 3: middle single coil
Pos 4: middle single coil + neck single coil
Pos 5: neck single coil

Since the middle pickup is reverse wound positions 2 and 4 are already hum cancelling. The Silent Circuit is therefore active on positions 1, 3, and 5 on the SSS model.

That should help you determine the position where you might need to adjust the trim pot. As others have said these guitars are extremely quiet - with the battery out of the Silent Circuit the only thing that mine have ever picked up have been noise from cathode-tube TVs. I've had two other Silo Specials prior to the one in my avatar.
 
A

austin

Member
Joined
Aug 14, 2003
Messages
19
Location
Mineola, NY
Well I guess it was the battery. I put a new energizer in there (I had to but a bit of tape on the back of it to make sure it was consistently pressing up against the contacts, but that's better than it not fitting!). I can definitely hear a difference now. Not huge since the SS is pretty quiet anyway, but it definitely gets rid of a big chunk of the noise. Now here's a horrible picture:

100_3063.jpg


-Austin
 
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