Silent Circuit, how well does it work?

[flukather]

Ok guys, I love MusicMan guitars etc so this is not some rant or something.

How well does the Silent Circuit system work? How much of the hum does it remove? I have only tried it a few times, and to my ears, it didn't work to well.

Granted, I played places with ****ty power when I tried 2 guitar with SC, but I didn't a noticed really big difference when removing the batteries from the guitars. I did try this with 2 guitars ( Silhouette Special and AL ) and several batteries. The hum from the guitar was pretty much the same as a normal Single coil guitar I have with me.

As I said, It might have been other factors that affected the test, but it didn't work too well for me. So guys, how well does the Silent Circuit work for you?

 

[Norrin Radd]

Hmmmm...

Mine works rather well, actually. Make sure the guitar is not directly facing the amp - stand in front of it at least a good 5-10 feet (like you were playing live). That will drastically cut the hum. You know - with your back to the amp. Sure, it still does hum a little, but nothing like a guitar without the Silent Circuit system. I A/B'd a couple different ones to test it out. The SC made a verynoticeable difference in the amount of hum.

Oh, and you can play a place with poor power with HBs and still get lots of noise. That's why you ought to have a power conditioner as part of any pro live gig set up. And a backup (of everything). Period. An old teacher of mine once said, "If you don't have two of everything you're gigging with, you have none, and you're not a pro."

 

[flukather]

I did the test away from the amp, but normally I stand right next to it. There simply isn't enough room on stage. I stand next to drummer, behind the bassplayer, and I have my pedalboard infront of me, my speaker to the right and the rack/head to the left Nothing is further away then I can touch it when I kneel down.

Anyway, didn't notice any difference with a greater distance.

 

[Norrin Radd]

I did the test away from the amp, but normally I stand right next to it. There simply isn't enough room on stage. I stand next to drummer, behind the bassplayer, and I have my pedalboard infront of me, my speaker to the right and the rack/head to the left

Anyway, didn't notice any difference with a greater distance.

Well, if the powers bad........

You also might want to check out all of your leads and make sure they're not at fault. BUT, without the ability to check the gear out again at a different location.......we're pissin' in the wind.

 

[lenny]

Have u changed the battery?.....when the battery is out of my AL it sounds different i must say and when the SC is on it is very clean not EMG clean but Very Clean i notice a difference when the battery dies, and i too play on smaller stages and thats where i notice the biggest difference of the Hum cancelling

 

[flukather]

Have u changed the battery?.....when the battery is out of my AL it sounds different i must say and when the SC is on it is very clean not EMG clean but Very Clean i notice a difference when the battery dies, and i too play on smaller stages and thats where i notice the biggest difference of the Hum cancelling

Yes I tried 5 different batteries + the 2 that were already in the guitars.

 

[candid_x]

On my Sil Spec's the SC all but completely eliminates any hum when in the neck p'up alone position, which is the only position active with SC on a SSH configuration. That said, it also takes a bit of edge from the guitar's tone, so I usually play without a battery installed.

The only hum the SC is supposed to reduce (as I understand it) is the sometimes prevalent 60 cycle hum. If a cap goes bad in the amp, or if there's some other cause - bad cable, dirty power supply, short etc - the SC isn't likely to help eliminate that.

 

[Smellybum]

Ok guys, I love MusicMan guitars etc so this is not some rant or something.

How well does the Silent Circuit system work? How much of the hum does it remove? I have only tried it a few times, and to my ears, it didn't work to well.

Granted, I played places with ****ty power when I tried 2 guitar with SC, but I didn't a noticed really big difference when removing the batteries from the guitars. I did try this with 2 guitars ( Silhouette Special and AL ) and several batteries. The hum from the guitar was pretty much the same as a normal Single coil guitar I have with me.

As I said, It might have been other factors that affected the test, but it didn't work too well for me. So guys, how well does the Silent Circuit work for you?

As a quiet man who's only form of expression comes from the internet - I beleive a quote from the youth of today would explain my stance.....

Q- does it work well

A - LIKE A MOTHERF*"$£r!!!!!!! - Best thing since the delay pedal

 

[robelinda2]

i quite like it when i'm playing live, every gig i do it seems the power is crappy, and i need the silent circuit. at home i always take the battery out, sounds better to my ears, plus i dont mind the hum, and there really isnt much anyway.

 

[Astrofreq]

It's hard to tell how well it works. I put my ear right up to the battery compartment and couldn't hear a thing.

But seriously, I just tried playing with and without the battery and found a HUGE difference, at least on heavily distorted sound. Hope that helps.

 

[beej]

It definitely makes a big difference, and does a pretty good job of cancelling out a lot of the noise.

If you can't hear the difference with a bit of gain in your signal on any of the single coil only positions, then something is definitely wrong. Most likely cause is battery in backwards, or not fully pressed into the compartment (try a bit of paper on top of the batter so the latch forces it in place). But you should definitely be able to hear a difference!

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

I think its a dummy coil of some kind that makes it work.

 

[threeminutesboy]

works perfectly with my AXIS SS MM90

but I'm not so conviced with the Silo SSS. Can't hear difference with our without