Silhouette PUPs

[jadaxis]

The wealth of knowledge here is my fail-safe...
so, my question is: Any experience/suggestions on pickups I could put in my Silhouette to make is sound similar to my Axis?

The Silo has a nicer clean sound (IMHO in positions 2 and 4) however the distortion tones do not have the mid & bass boost, yet very tight articulation the Axis has.

I was thinking maybe a Dimarzio Norton (or maybe an Air Zone) in the bridge and an Air Norton in the neck... but I'm wondering if those are good choices or not.

I know, tone is a preference and is subjective, but is there any experience that can save me some time/money/frustration?
I'm I crazy!?

Thanks guys,
J

 

[Roubster]

Not crazy at all! The thing is that these are completely different guitars and will not sound the same even with the same pickups. The Silhouette also has 250K pots and the neck pickup is closer to the bridge whereas the neck pickup on the Axis is further away due to the 22 fres vs. 24 on the Silo. However if you want more warmth and midrange I would recommend the Air Zone or AT-1 and Air Norton for neck is a good choice also. I have the Air Zone in my Silhouette Special with 500K pots and I absolutely love it.

 

[jadaxis]

Thanks Roubster. I hadn't even considered the difference in pots.
Any suggestions on where I can learn more about the effects of the different pots?

 

[Roubster]

There is a good amount of info out there, and a lot of the guys here are experts on this stuff. Here is a link that should get you started though...I did my research a long time ago when I got sick of getting everything done by incompetent techs hehe.

Alan Ratcliffe - Articles: Electric Guitar Volume Pots

 

[DrKev]

Thanks for that link Roubster. Nice to see so much info in one place.

 

[NoUse121]

I went with a Dimarzio Tone Zone in the bridge of my Silhouette Special with the recommendation of the guys in this forum and I love it. The Tone Zone is Nice and Fat with a good amount of warmth. Plus its amazing if you want to shred it up. Cleans up REAL well too. Now my only down fall with the pickup is that it has a lot of output and does not match well with the stock single coils so in the past I have thought about changing it to get more of a balanced tone between the pickups.

 

[hansaustria56]

I have a tone zone ( bridge ) and a air norton ( neck ) ! Bought my guitar second hand with the changed PUs.
I love the sound !

Hans
SAC ... die österreichische Partyband
GuitSAC
GuitSAC & his Coverband "SAC" | Free Music, Tour Dates, Photos, Videos

 

[ScoobySteve]

tone zone/air norton combo is great. Especially for a HH setup. But I'm curiously how that combo does with 500k pots. Particulaltly how the single coil in the middle is affected.

 

[littlephil]

I'm a big fan of the Air Zone in the neck, its very fat but smooth, and gets great harmonics too, but you need a pretty hot bridge pickup to balance it out (I'm using a Bareknuckle Nailbomb in the bridge)
The Air Zone in the bridge with an Air Classic in the neck is a nice combo too.

If you can spend a little more, I'd really suggest checking out Bareknuckle pickups. They are a little expensive, but they are worth it! I've been a big Dimarzio fan for a long time (and I still am) but the BKP's are amazing.

 

[beej]

This is a great resource for understanding the electrical principles of pickups:

BuildYourGuitar.com :: The Secrets of Electric Guitar Pickups

Another great one is Bill Lawrence's site. (he's the guy that basically started the aftermarket pickup market ... nobody on the planet knows more about pickups that BL ... and he turned 80 this week):

Bill Lawrence: All About Tone

 

[fogman]

I've been considering switching pups in my Dargie Silo as well.
Similarly the neck and bridge pickup lack personality, but I absolutely LOVE position 2 & 4.
My concern and question is, if I switch the bridge and neck humbucker, what will happen with my position 2 & 4???
how much will their sound change?

 

[Roubster]

It depends on what you want to do with the pickup swap, whether to keep the 250K pots or go o 500K. I changed the pots when I had my Silhouette to 500K and it opened it up more, but those specific pickups sounded a bit bright to me...especially the bridge pickup. Position 2 & 4 will still give you a nice tone, but will also probably be a bit brighter...and depends on the pickups you put in there and how those will interact with the middle single coil. You just have to experiment I guess. I rewired my Silhouette Special so many times...but I am happy with it now...but always considering something. The Y2D on the other hand is perfect as is though .

 

[fogman]

hmmm.... thanks Rob.

the boostier pots are tempting, but my 25th takes care of that department pretty darn well.
i guess i'll have to do more research and eventually try some (many) things.

 

[matty76]

first thing I changed on my Dargie II Silo, bought a Humbucker from Hell and an AT1 (andy timmons pickup) ended up throwing an Air Norton in the neck instead, just as a test and really loved the sound, I found the stock pickups weak and thin, this combo really fattened it up and it screams now. was going to change the single to an Area 58 (best single IMO) but I thought that the stock sounded pretty darn good so I left it.

 

[Roubster]

Matty76 did you use the stock pots or changed them to 500k? Just curious how the AT1 sounds with 250K pots if that's the case.

 

[matty76]

stock pots, AT1 sounds great, really warms it up, not sure if it's the pick guard mounting or the woods or just the pickups, but the guitar seemed a little (or a lot) thin/harsh sounding, and not a lot of sustain, with the stock pickups, with the change it sounds very close to my RG 550, with Tone Zone/Area58/HFH setup. I notice that it cuts through the mix a little more than my 550 setup, has more of that hollow growl sound.

should note that this was a general observation with a full range of gain and clean settings playing through Orange Rockerverb, with keeley compressor and modded TS9 out front

 

[jadaxis]

I had considered the Tone Zone / Air Norton combination.
Could any of you who have this set-up, or even just a Tone Zone in the bridge of your Silo, post any clips of the sound?

Thanks to all of you for your input!
J

 

[Roubster]

Here is something similar...the Air Zone me trying to do Deliver Us by Timmons. I think it has very similar characteristics to both the Tone Zone and AT1. I think it's really a great pickup, warm and full.

YouTube - Deliver Us by Andy Timmons intro cover