Question Silhouette Necks

[mizzle]

Hey all, it's been a while since I've been here. Hopefully someone here can help. I own two silhouettes. One neck has the perfect profile and fit for me. It does however have a finished neck. The other one doesn't feel as "perfect fit" in my hand but it does have an unfinished neck which I prefer. So, what are suggestions for getting a 2nd neck that matches the first one that is just right?

The prodigal son story comes to mind. Years ago I played live with my silhouettes. Perfect guitars for me in a live situation. For some reason, I got a strat bug up my ____ and I desperately wanted to play fender strats. Well, haven't been playing live for a bit now and I am wrestling these strats for the past few years. (I don't think my hands like a 7.5 radius). I got out of the closet my first bought silhouette and low and behold, I am so in love with this guitar. It literally is the perfect guitar to handle so many situations. The pick up configuration is perfect for me. HSH. Maple neck. 24 frets. Floyd Rose trem. I am a fool for stashing these babies away for so long. I knew I would never sell them so I am happy that I still held on to them.

Thanks and look forward to hearing some advice.

Anyways, I am glad to be back with such fantastic instruments.

 

[the24thfret]

Good to have you back. Sounds like you have an older Silo and a newer Silo. They've only come with unfinished necks for years now (exception being the recent special roasted neck option).

I think you have a couple options here. First, I suggest contacting Customer Service with your serial numbers to get a read on when the guitars were made and what the main differences are. For example, some used to be 6-bolt necks, now they are 5-bolt. The necks would fit differently in that case. I think there is only a slim chance that EBMM would make a new, unfinished neck to replace your finished neck, for a variety of reasons but mainly because they only replace original parts with the same part (to the best of my knowledge). You'd also have to give up your original neck in that case. But you should at least ask. The other option is remove the finish yourself and give it a similar treatment with wax as an unfinished neck would have. A few forumites here have done it, but I wouldn't recommend it because it'll change the feel of the neck and if it was me I'd screw it up somehow!

I thought of another option which most forumites here will support... buy another NEW Silo!!!

Best of luck.

 

[mizzle]

Thanks for the response. I will try the customer service angle first I guess. I certainly don't want to do anything myself. Be too afraid of messing up a good thing ya know? Both of them have 5 bolt necks. Another small tiny different is that on my (earlier?) finished neck silhouette, the neck plate is sunk into the body. So it is smooth and flush where as my (later) unfinished silhouette neck's plate is not. It sits on top of the body. It's a minor detail but of course I love the way the flush one feels in the palm. I'll get some pics up but I think I read somewhere that I have to post a bunch of times before I can add pics.

 

[guitfiddle]

Hey mizzle, glad you found your way back. I too like the recessed neck plates. I'm a detail guy. I can't recall exactly when they stopped doing that, but if you do a search here on the forums you'll find out when and why they stopped. The guitars in my sig up to the '99 Axis have the recessed plate, anything I own newer then that doesn't.
I wouldn't strip the finish off of a neck that fits you perfectly. I'd rather live with the finish - its a good finish. I know what you mean about loving the waxed necks though. They are brilliant. The best there is in my opinion.
Looking forward to the pics! I know there is a rule about not being able to sell on here unless you've been around for a while (which I am strongly in favor of), but I don't recall any restrictions on posting pics of your guitars. Give it a try!

 

[mizzle]

I think I would be happy to keep one finished and one not finished but my unfinished is a bit thicker. Not hugely different but enough that with my eyes closed I could tell which guitar I was holding. I will have to get out a micrometer and measure the thickness at the 2nd fret, 12th fret and 22nd fret on both guitars and see what it is about the finished neck that just fits perfectly in my palm. I will try the pics and see if it happens. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[agt]

my unfinished is a bit thicker

If that is the case, you could sand the unfinished neck until it matches the finished neck that you prefer. I suggest using very fine sandpaper (1000 grit or above) and proceeding veeeeery sloooooowly. In other words, take only a tiny bit off each day and spread the process out over several days (or better, weeks). Play the guitar each day and evaluate, and don't get over zealous and take too much off at once because you can't put it back! This will most likely void your warranty, so proceed at your own risk.

 

[mizzle]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

 

[Anchor_man]

Hey Mizzle, how did you go?

What year are the Silo's? They are awesome!