Silent Circuit Always On?

[RedLizard]

Does anybody know if the Silent Circuit on my Silo Special is always on, or is it only on when using the middle and/or neck single coils? Just curious.

 

[jongitarz]

It's only on when the single coils are in use

 

[SteveB]

For anyone on the EB web development team...

I think this topic would be a great addition to the FAQ.

From the diagram for the Sil Special H-S-S, it looks like the Silent Circuit is only on when the switch is all the way toward the neck, with just the neck pickup engaged.

Is this the case? Or is it also on when just the middle pickup is engaged, and/or when combination of the middle and neck pickups are engaged?

I thought I was clear on this until I looked at the wiring diagram.

Edit:
Okay, I see that you cannot select just the middle pickup on an HSS Sil Special. But it still looks like Silent Circuit only turns on with the neck pickup alone.

 

[beej]

> But it still looks like Silent Circuit only turns on with the neck pickup alone.

That's right- with the HSS config the only way to get a single coil on it's own is the neck position. All the other positions have some combination (parallel, or series in the case of the 'bucker) of two coils.

 

[jongitarz]

Beej is on the money

 

[SteveB]

Ahhhh, a little light just turned on inside my head. Thanks, Beej!
I hadn't thought about the combination of two physical single coils working together to cancel hum. Duh.

 

[beej]

That's what the "Silent Circuit" really is, just a dummy coil to pick up noise but not signal. So it's always the second coil on single coil configs.

 

[RedLizard]

Damn smart idea to have that extra coil hanging around. Someone was really thinking the day they decided to add this feature. Thanks for the responses.