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Question Silhouette Trem Posts

N

nerdstradamus

Member
Hi. I'm just wondering if it's normal for the Silhouette Special's bridge plate to be touching the pickguard or if the trem posts on this guitar have issue? I can't lower the trem post more than this (can't have the front of the bridge almoat flush with the body), it would start to clip off the pickguard when I do a trem dive with full range of motion.

Thank you.

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Some variation is normal but that's too close. This is almost certainly a pickguard fitting or dimension issue rather than a mounting post issue. Take the pickguard off, look for obvious signs of the body wood deforming at the trem mounting posts or the posts being wiggly. All being well, you're gonna sand back the edge of the pickguard. Taking off enough to give you the required clearance is your goal, rather a neat border all around the trem (which is a real chore to do cleanly).

Start by either removing the controls and pickups or use masking tape to protect them from pickguard dust. Use masking tape to give you a reference line to work to and stay parallel to. If you just go at with it sandpaper or files in your bare hands you *will* have a mess. Use small sanding blocks for best results. I have 2" pieces of wood borrowed from a toddlers wooden toy set that are great for the job. Keep sanding motions more parallel to the pickguard edge rather than across it. 300 or 400 grit will probably be fine enough. Maybe 600. Too coarse a grit can leave little chips in the edge so emery cloth type coarse is to be avoided.

Take care with the corners when working the flat part because you don't want to "dig in" with the edge of your sanding block. If you need to clean up the corners wrap your sand paper around a pencil or knitting needle or needle file smaller in radius than the corner itself.

It's not a difficult job but if you do too much in one place you cannot undo it! Best results will come going slower than you think you need to and check your progress annoyingly often. Put on a pot of coffee or tea, maybe a pack of cookies, light some candles, play some Kenny G, and Bob's yer uncle.
 
Fortunately, you have a plastic pickguard ! With a SUB and its industrial metal pickguard, sanding is a real work of patience !
 
DrKev said:
Some variation is normal but that's too close. This is almost certainly a pickguard fitting or dimension issue rather than a mounting post issue. Take the pickguard off, look for obvious signs of the body wood deforming at the trem mounting posts or the posts being wiggly. All being well, you're gonna sand back the edge of the pickguard. Taking off enough to give you the required clearance is your goal, rather a neat border all around the trem (which is a real chore to do cleanly).

Start by either removing the controls and pickups or use masking tape to protect them from pickguard dust. Use masking tape to give you a reference line to work to and stay parallel to. If you just go at with it sandpaper or files in your bare hands you *will* have a mess. Use small sanding blocks for best results. I have 2" pieces of wood borrowed from a toddlers wooden toy set that are great for the job. Keep sanding motions more parallel to the pickguard edge rather than across it. 300 or 400 grit will probably be fine enough. Maybe 600. Too coarse a grit can leave little chips in the edge so emery cloth type coarse is to be avoided.

Take care with the corners when working the flat part because you don't want to "dig in" with the edge of your sanding block. If you need to clean up the corners wrap your sand paper around a pencil or knitting needle or needle file smaller in radius than the corner itself.

It's not a difficult job but if you do too much in one place you cannot undo it! Best results will come going slower than you think you need to and check your progress annoyingly often. Put on a pot of coffee or tea, maybe a pack of cookies, light some candles, play some Kenny G, and Bob's yer uncle.
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Well said!!!

I did that job a couple of times and you couldn't have it said better.

Take your time, have patience and proceed step by step.
Do intermediate measurements while going on, just to know when it's enough and it's time to stop.
Use tools suggested by DrKev to sand the pickguard by hand and good luck!
A question: is that pickguard original?
It's not so close to posts on my Silho.
 
Thank you for all the responses. I'll try out what DrKev suggested. I might also order a new pickguard, hopefully it won't be that hard from where I'm from.

I removed the pickguard and nothing looks deformed on the body (at least for me) and the trem posts are snug.

Unfortunately, I can't confirm if the pickguard is original, unless there's a marking I should look for underneath or anywhere as I'm the 3rd owner of this, and the guy I bought it from said he got it the way it is now. It looks to be neglected if I'm honest, this is the first time I've pulled out the pickguard.

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nerdstradamus said:
That's gorgeous. I really wanted this color but I can only get used ones from I am.

How do you have your trem set up? Is it dive-only or floating?
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The tremolo is floating on my Silho (I bought it used), as I do on all my guitars. :)
I do not see anything wrong on yours, posts seems to be ok.
I still have the doubt that pickguard is not original, but this is an issue with simple solutions:
1) sanding that pickguard as suggested
2) buy an original one from MM, as you said
 
Iperfungus said:
The tremolo is floating on my Silho (I bought it used), as I do on all my guitars. :)
I do not see anything wrong on yours, posts seems to be ok.
I still have the doubt that pickguard is not original, but this is an issue with simple solutions:
1) sanding that pickguard as suggested
2) buy an original one from MM, as you said
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Thanks. I'm not sure what happened, but I tried to lower the trem posts then put the pickguard back, and the the bridge doesn't clip the pickguard anymore. Visually, there's still no gap between the pickguard and the bridge, but the clipping is gone so I'll leave it as is for now while I wait for a new pickguard. Thanks again!
 
I had a similar issue with my 02 silo spec. The trem plate would catch on the pickguard, which original to the guitar. It cause minor tuning issues when I used the trem. I took the guard off, shaved it down a bit, and the issue was gone.
 
nerdstradamus said:
Thanks. I'm not sure what happened, but I tried to lower the trem posts then put the pickguard back, and the the bridge doesn't clip the pickguard anymore. Visually, there's still no gap between the pickguard and the bridge, but the clipping is gone so I'll leave it as is for now while I wait for a new pickguard. Thanks again!
Click to expand...
This never happened without pictures! :)
 
daneford said:
I had a similar issue with my 02 silo spec. The trem plate would catch on the pickguard, which original to the guitar. It cause minor tuning issues when I used the trem. I took the guard off, shaved it down a bit, and the issue was gone.
Click to expand...

Planning to do that, but I'd like to wait for the new pickguard for now just so I can compare them.
 
You can buy pickguards from PickguardPlanet.com They make the pickguards from Music Man and with far greater choices of colors too!
 
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