Steve and the Silhouetts

[NorM]

Steve and the Silhouettes

Well here they are my collection of Music Man guitars. I guess we all have to compensate someway. When people ask why I play Music Man guitars I tell them, After I have been playing for about four hours, I am ready to play for four more. Hopefully a moderator can help with the born on dates and perhaps some other history.

Steve Morse Model S/N# G09107
Blue Burst Hard Tail with Black Pearloid pickguard, Schaller Locking Tuners, Schaller Strap Locks, and a wonderfully figured Birdseye neck.
This is the only time I have ever seen a Steve Morse Model hanging in a music store. I was going to buy it then they put it on sale. So I bought it right away. Not long there after I flew from Tucson to Atlanta to see The Steve Morse Band open for The Dixie Dregs. After the concert Steve always signs autographs. And yes, he signed this guitar on the top side. Steve is truly my hero when it comes to guitar playing. After I attended a clinic before a show once, I knew I too would be playing Music Man guitars.

Silhouette Bass Guitar S/N G07272 DOB 2/99
Pearl Purple and a lightly figured Birdseye neck. (Tuned E to E)
I tried bidding on the Burnt Apple model that the Casey Lee Ball Foundation put on ebay but I just missed out. This one came from a dealer in Pennsylvania via ebay. Purple is my favorite color. I bought some Schaller locking tuners with the intention of putting them on this one. It's so new that I haven't even changed the strings yet.

Silhouette Guitar S/N G22222
Blue Dawn HSH with Piezo Tremolo, Birdseye maple neck and fretboard, Abalone pickguard, Schaller Locking Tuners, Schaller Strap Locks, and a custom toggle switch to add the bridge pickup to what ever is selected on the five way. (Ala Steve Morse)
I took delivery of this guitar in February of 2003. This was a custom order. I found out about the abalone pickguards after I ordered it. When I called Ernie Ball to ask if they could change it they said no. They went on to say that I could change it and they mailed me one. It arrived two days before the guitar did. This is my main gig guitar and the piezo option is incredible.

Silhouette Guitar S/N 94018
Translucent Teal, Floyd Rose, HSH EMG pickups (Bridge to neck 85, SA, 89), White Pearloid pickguard, Schaller Strap Locks, ash body and an amazingly figured Birdseye neck.
I found this guitar on ebay with the EMG 85 and 89 already installed. It had suffered some abuse and was very dirty and beat up when I got it. When I took the neck off to have the body buffed ot the date 5-15-95 was written in pencil on the body in the neck pocket along with a peace symbol. In cleaning the Floyd rose I found some of the saddles had seized. While unseizing one I broke it. That's when I learned there is a slight difference between evh and other Music Man Floyds of that era and the saddles used on the axis today. A little custom machining was necessary to make it fit. The guitar was wired so that the battery was always on. I had to rewire the entire guitar and put in the EMG SA. I also replaced the original black pickguard with a white pearloid and added the bridge activation switch. After I put it all back together and spent all night setting it up this guitar rocks like none other.

Silhouette Guitar S/N#98237
Translucent Sunburst, HH, Floyd Rose, Ash body, Lightly flamed birdseye neck with rosewood fretboard and Schaller Strap Locks.
This was a New Old Stock item in a music store in New York. It has the recessed neck plate and has been played very little by me. But make no mistake, this guitar has balls.

Silhouette Guitar S/N 98653
Black (For formals) Floyd Rose, HSH EMG pickups (Bridge to neck 85, SA, 89), Black pickguard, Black Schaller Strap Locks, poplar body and a neck you could destroy baseballs with.
This guitar started life as a hardtail. First, I put in EMG's. The 89 is the split coil set up as a single with the volume knob push pull pot to set it to humbucker. In the high end with the 89 opened up this guitar sings!! Then I put on an axis lowers pitch only Floyd Rose complete with a D-tuna. With this I installed a black locking nut and black schaller strap locks. The black hardware made for a nice touch. Finally I added a bridge pickup activation switch just like on the Steve Morse models. The abalitiy to run both humbuckers at the same time just made since to me. Since I have a Steve Morse model too, this lets me be consistent between guitars.

Please feel free to email me to find out more information about my CD.
Thank you for letting me share.
NORM

 

[The P-Man]

Nice collection man!

BTW, what's the difference in neck shapes of the Steve Morse and various Silhouettes?

Cheers,

Pete

 

[Jimi D]

Nice wall o' guitars! I too would be interested in your impression of the differences between a Morse neck and a Silhouette neck...

 

[NorM]

OK, so what I just did was play each guitar for about 4 hours each to make a good determination. (As a rocket scientist I feel it's important to have lots of data to make this kind of decision)
First of all the SM model is a 12" radius and the Sils have a 10". So when I mash my fingers way up high on the tiny strings to go medly medly medly medly medly, the SM seems a little more comfortable. Also alternate picking and string jumping exercises seem more effortless on the SM. Almost as if that is the way Steve plays. (hmmmmm).
I can still get speeding tickets on the sils too. Especially the Teal one. The back of the necks are certainly not symmetric on either model. The side with the higher strings seems a little shallower than the side with the lower strings. This feature is more pronounced on the SM. String spacing feels identical. Thanks for asking guys. I never really considered it before.
I read in a history book somewhere that the sil was the first guitar that Ernie Ball produced. Furthermore, the SM model was introduced about 6 months later. With that in mind is suspect that Steve started with a sil neck and worked from there. I could almost picture him saying. Shave a little more off the bottom and flatten it out to a 12 and let's try again. On ebay from time to time I have seen one of the original 50 SM prototypes for sale. I have to think there were some differences in the neck shapes. I have only had the opportunity to play one other SM. It was a used one in a music store. I wasn't thinking about neck shapes at the time. All I could think was a quote from the French knights when King Arthur told them he was seeking the holy grail.
"Oh! That's very nice but we've already got one you see."

The SM is closer in shape than the Axis. But when EB was building the EVH they were trying to copy a specific guitar. (I remember all the way back to when Eddie use to play guitar) The axis neck seems a little bit fatter to me compared to the SM and the sils. I found this feature more pronounced on the wolfgang models. (No opinon was stated...intentionally)
The attachment is from the last time I saw Steve play in San Juan CA back in Feb.

 

[Derek]

Norm,

Thanks for supporting Music Man guitars were
glad that you enjoy our craftmenship and quality.

Here is some seriel number info on your guitars.

94018 SIL Teal 6/93

G09107 Sil 2/00

98653 sil black rosewood 11/96

98237 VSB -ROSEWOOD 8/96

The Silhouette was the first EBMM guitar produced and The Morse signature came after. It is quite possible that Steve played on a few Silhouettes before diving into the R&D process on his own model. I know that one of the first guitars we put into John Petrucci
hands was a Silhouette so he see and feel
how we do what we do.

We have experimented with different,pickups, bridges
and tuners before we have arrived at the current model.
Current spec
MM trem
alder body
schaller tuners
5 bolt neck attachment
HSH pickup configuaration

Discontinued:
Schaller Tremelo
Floyd Rose
Poplar/ Ash body
SSS pickup configuration
HSS &HH configuration
6 bolt neck attachment
lacquered neck

Thanks

Derek