NorM / EMG

[Eilif]

Norm, I hope you don't mind my asking:

1) Do any of your Silhouettes have EMG 85 in the bridge position?

2) If so, have you ever played a Luke?

3) If so, how would you compare the bridge pickups?

 

[Eilif]

Would anyone care to chime in and compare the Luke EMG 85 to a Silhouette or Silo Special with an EMG 85 as the bridge pickup?

I'd imagine they would be very similar as they'd be the same pickup in the same position in an Alder body, but there might be differences due to saddles and bridges (and ???). I'm curious as to how much of an effect on the sound these would have and whether they'd be discernible to most ears.

 

[Sub1 Zero]

I know the bridges are the same.

 

[gerry d]

I have a Luke so I know the sound of the guitar very well, I also know someone who had a SS with HSS EMG's, and I think the sound was a little different, it's similar in that it's the same pickup but I think the response is a bit different, the SS had a pickguard which the pickup is mounted on, the Luke's is mounted on the body... the sound of the Luke to my ears was tighter and more focused if that makes any sense... really the Luke's tone is unique to that guitar... theres no shortcuts if you are looking for that tone....

 

[Arci]

The SS has a pickguard, but pickups are direct mounted

see? no pickup screws...

anyway it's ash bodied, this could be why it sounded different...

 

[gerry d]

The SS has a pickguard, but pickups are direct mounted

see? no pickup screws...

anyway it's ash bodied, this could be why it sounded different...

thats not a Silhouette Special...... and SS's are made from alder same as the Luke and the pickups are mounted on the pickguard.....

 

[Arci]

Ups!! I thought SS stand for SuperSport...

 

[candid_x]

Nice Axis Sport, not Super Sport.

 

[NorM]

Sorry it took so long to reply. Been slammed lately.
The first time I played a Luke I though OMG (then some one straightened me out and said EMG ).

I knew that I wanted a Morse.
Then a music store in Atlanta was going out of business (Clark's if anyone remembers) so I bought the 89 and the 85. I had those pups for 6 months before I finally graduated from college. I shopped and shopped for a guitar to put the pups into. Then I got the black SiLO. I really liked it the way it was but I just had a hardon to install the EMG's. The Black one is configured
neck 89
Bridge 85
The volume knob is push pull with the single coil in the down position. This is the guitar that was stolen that I got returned after almost 2 years. Customizing it so much sure made it easy to spot.
The other switch is a bridge pup activation switch just like Steve's. It's just cool.

This one also started life as a hardtail. The Floyd is a real EBMM.

Before the black one got Floyded what I wanted was a Trans Teal maple with a Floyd. The it showed up on ebay with the 89 and 89 installed. Damn it was beat up. Dissasembled it down to every nut and bolt. I had a cabinet re finisher that works for a local luither buff the body. I cleaned the neck for hours and found birdseye underneath the 5th layer of grime. Replaced the first 5 frets. Of course, refinished the neck to specs. Found a micro solder-er to wire it so that it's fireproof and shielded from nuclear explosions. Changed the Black guard to white pearloid and spent all night with a box of parts putting it together and setting intonation. (Good Times...)

The blue dawn was my first special order guitar. I love that color and after I played my first piezo trem pet I just had to have that on a SiLO. Abalone wasn't an option when the guitar was ordered but Scott sent me one and it arrived one day before the guitar did. The active coil is under the logo with the 89s. I remembered hearing steve once say his guitar was a 22 fret so the neck pup would be further away from the bridge. With that in mind I didn't think twice about flipping the 89 to put the active coil where it is. I love the abalone topped knobs on this one.

The Green Monster and the Blue dawn are both wired the same as the black one.

The GrapHearl has the 89 in the bridge with the active coil closer to the middle pup so I can get the position 2 sound form an unEMGed Silo. Also the 5 way was changed out to a super switch so it's wired just like a y2d and the push pull pot is humbucker in the down position.

Sorry I took so long to reply but thanks for letting me share.

 

[Eilif]

Thanks for sharing. The story of NorM and the Silhouettes is an interesting one.


But...to get back to my original question, how would you compare the bridge EMG 85s in your Silos and in the Luke?

Sorry I took so long to reply but thanks for letting me share.

 

[NorM]

The big problem with EMGs that I have found is that once you start using them you don't want anything else. Some people say they are to clean or sterile. I have a hard time seeing a problem with that. Sure the Morse pups make me smile but the EMGs are just so me. So I have only played an amplified Luke a couple of times but when I do I just have to say the bridge pup sound is identical to my 85 bridged SiLOs or my 89 bridge humbucker mode SiLO. Even though I've heard that you can put an EMG on a pine 2x4 and get the same sound I feel the sound is the same between the Luke and my EMGed SiLOs. They are both alder after all.

Just a minute. The Black SiLO is poplar and I dare say it's a little cleaner. Fuller undampened tone. Also the Green Monster is ash and it rocks like none other. My friend commented once that the Green Monster sounds better that the others. When others have played my guitars I think they don't turn them up loud enough. Either I just really like the sound or I am going deaf in the range it produces. Both viable claims.

I hope that if there is a BFR SiLO that it will just be natural ash. That would be so pretty.

 

[Colin]

cool post NorM

 

[gerry d]

The big problem with EMGs that I have found is that once you start using them you don't want anything else. Some people say they are to clean or sterile. I have a hard time seeing a problem with that. Sure the Morse pups make me smile but the EMGs are just so me. So I have only played an amplified Luke a couple of times but when I do I just have to say the bridge pup sound is identical to my 85 bridged SiLOs or my 89 bridge humbucker mode SiLO. Even though I've heard that you can put an EMG on a pine 2x4 and get the same sound I feel the sound is the same between the Luke and my EMGed SiLOs. They are both alder after all.

Just a minute. The Black SiLO is poplar and I dare say it's a little cleaner. Fuller undampened tone. Also the Green Monster is ash and it rocks like none other. My friend commented once that the Green Monster sounds better that the others. When others have played my guitars I think they don't turn them up loud enough. Either I just really like the sound or I am going deaf in the range it produces. Both viable claims.

I hope that if there is a BFR SiLO that it will just be natural ash. That would be so pretty.

I have a friend who has an ash bodied strat style guitar with EMG's and a Floyd with a maple neck....( Dudley connection here)... and it's just unbelievable.... you might think that combination would be bright and not very nice but it's a great combination that for whatever reason works very well so you saying that the green monster sounds as good as it does makes a lot of sense to me...

 

[Eilif]

I've had EMG 85s in my SUB 1, and I've owned a Luke. While I never had the two at the same time, I believe the Sub with the EMGs did not sound the same as the Luke. Similar, yes, but there were some differences, so I can believe that the body wood does make a difference in the sound.

 

[NorM]

True that. The subs were poplar

 

[Eilif]

I find myself preferring the alder over the poplar. The 85 sounded good in the SUB, but there was something missing. I really liked that humbucker in the Luke!

I also find myself wondering how much of a difference between a Silo (or Silo Special) with and 85 and the Luke...and hence this thread.

While I enjoyed my Luke, I like the Silo Special neck better. Could I "recreate" the Luke by converting a Silo Special to EMGs? Would I "lose" anything by going this route? These things keep me up at night. Curse this GAS...

So score so far: there is a difference (1); there is no difference (1). The game is tied.