Silhouette Special re-wired! (video inside)

[DrKev]

After more than a year of idle threats, I finally re-wired my Silhouette Special and even made a little vid to show off the new tones. The changes are in posns 2 and 3, which now have the full humbucker in parallel with the middle and neck single coils (with silent circuit), rather than just one coil from the humbucker. Position 3 is the killer - sounds like a cross between the middle positions on a Tele and an LP. Funky!!

Skip ahead to 4:50 for the actual sounds and playing (yes, I talked about why for nearly 5 minutes). Excuse the iphone audio quality and crappy playing but I think you get the idea.

 

[jzeijen]

Nice! Something tells me you're gonna spend quite some time in that 3rd position (of the pickup switch of course..)

Sounds really good.

 

[lock-ny]

Doc that guitar was made for you! some reason I pictured you as an older gentleman...lol

 

[DrKev]

I am an older gentlemen. The camera adds ten pounds of baby face.

 

[gregc]

Thanks for posting this. Nice, interesting wiring job & tones.

 

[beej]

Very cool Kev. On the middle position- I have the opposite thing going on my Y2D (split brige & full neck HB), and I quite like that position for a similar reason.

 

[DrKev]

Wiring Diagram added, for future reference of whoever wants it.

 

[Eric O'Reilly]

Really cool Kev, i liked the sounds, you should do a demo with some distorted tones as well ( even though i dont think its your cup of tea) it would still be cool!

 

[DrKev]

It's not that it's not much cup of tea just not what I need right now. One of these days I'd like to do a short demo with better audio quality than the iPhone can do but ya know, life etc.. If I do, I'll crank a little gain too.

 

[Eric O'Reilly]

You know what i do for iphone recordings? I use an Irig. Its an iphone guitar adapter, and i go from, guitar--POD 2.0---Irig--iphone. So when i shoot an iphone video i am getting direct guitar sound from the pod, and they sound great! Or you could mic an amp and take the mic cable into the irig and record that way too!

 

[Eric O'Reilly]

Ps , what amp are you using Kev?

 

[Tollywood]

haha, yes, a Fun Control...I will be awaiting that diagram! You are hilarious, Dr. Kev. Seriously, that was an excellent video.

 

[DrKev]

Ps , what amp are you using Kev?

That was a Laney LC15-110 with a Jensen Mod 10-50 speaker, and a TC Hall of Fame Reverb (stock spring setting).

 

[Spudmurphy]

What was your thinking - what was your thought process during your eloquent playing?


..... Nah I'm not that interested!!!

 

[Ricman]

Great Vid Kev thank you.

By spooky co-incidence, I have just re-configured my SSS Silo Special. Dimarzio Chopper in the bridge, Cruiser (Bridge model) in the neck, left the original pickup in the middle, but my middle position is now the neck and bridgepickups in parallel. Sounds great, mine is more Tele than LP, but still very useable.

Loving your work Sir!!!!

 

[DrKev]

but my middle position is now the neck and bridgepickups in parallel. Sounds great, mine is more Tele than LP, but still very useable.

Yep! On my old strat I had the same sounds too (I went with one tone control and used the second as a blender pot to add neck pickup to any other position). It also gave me all three pickups in parallel, which I didn't find as interesting.

Of course all the HSH Game Changer owners are laughing hard cause they can audition all this stuff on the fly!

 

[LewisW]

not to thread hijack but im curious... has anyone ever used a piezo style silhouette pickguard to have two tone knobs?

 

[DrKev]

not to thread hijack but im curious... has anyone ever used a piezo style silhouette pickguard to have two tone knobs?

I don't know of anyone that has done but there is no reason why not. It might also have the volume knob closer to the strings, which would also make for easier volume swells.

 

[daneford]

not to thread hijack but im curious... has anyone ever used a piezo style silhouette pickguard to have two tone knobs?

One of the things on my do do list this year. I'm putting the original pickups back in the silo spec. I'm going to ask the tech about a concentric knob so that I can add a tone knob and still have the volume for the piezo. We'll see.

DrKev,

Nice work, and nice playing too. Sounds great! Do you have the bridge set to float slightly?

 

[canuck6string]

You, sir, have given me some audible insight and inspiration to my conundrum with the 2 Silo Specials. Wire the hardtail as you have. Wire the tremolo Special as per a typical HSS with:
1) HB
2) full HB + middle
3) middle
4) middle + neck
5) neck

This'll give me that Tele/LP/Strat/EBMM magic in 2 neat little bundles of Vintage Burst comfort and joy.