Jack FFR1846
Well-known member
First, I'll thank Pete and Nick and Doug for putting up with me and not laughing too much. 
.
I spent some time with an EBMM silo hardtail hsh, a SBMM silo20 which is also a hardtail hsh and to do the comparison, my 04 sub 1 HH/trem.
First, just on sound, feel and overall, if they were the same price, the EBMM silo is hands down the best all around. No surprise there. Very balanced, and the arm contour had a more comfortable feel. The pickups were balanced, especially noticable when switching from one to another. The tone was (to me) more warm in all positions. Of course, since there are 5 very different positions, they all sound very different from one another.
On to the more equal contenders. The silo20 had (to me...an Axis lover) a slightly more comfortable feel of the neck itself. It's described as assymetrical, but is what I would describe as in between an Axis and a JP. Easy to play everywhere and the neck was setup just about perfectly. (I was more critical as this was not a $1500 guitar). All of the pickups sounded somewhat brighter and thinner to me. I understand that the switching is different, so I tried my best to concentrate on the bridge only and neck only so I could do some comparison with the Sub. Don't get me wrong here....I was very impressed by the pickups. They weren't at all bad. If I didn't have the other guitars to compare side by side, I would probably think they were not far apart. I used the same amp with the same settings. The overall fit and finish of the guitar were flawless from what I could see. Thinking back to my old OLP, there's no comparison. The pickguard lay flat on the guitar, the neck and frets were all nice....no sharp edges, nothing out of place, no unlevel frets (I looked). Controls all worked well. I liked seeing the Schaller locking tuners.
Ok...on to my Sub 1. The pickups are waaaaay hotter. Closer to an Axis than what was on either of these other 2 guitars. I ended up resetting the amp settings (and playing all the guitars again) as I was unintentionally overdriving it right from the start. Once I was level set, I tried to listen to the differences. I felt the sub tones were not as well defined. A little muddy by comparison. I thought the neck was not all that different from the EBMM Silo (except for 22 instead of 24 frets...and of course the painted finish and rosewood board). Visually, of course, the sub does not have the contours or a glossy finish. It does have a trem, which the other 2 did not have. Also, the body wood is poplar, which I would expect to create the least bright sound out of the bunch, which I did hear.....but I'm not able to know if it was the pickups, the wood or both. The sub also felt better balanced than the SBMM. I'd have to say...the same feel I got with the EBMM silo.
So of the 2 fair contenders....sub and sbmm, which is the "better" guitar? Unfortunately, I cannot say. I am actually still not sure how I'll go. I did not trade my sub for one of the others (yet). I will say this. I would be happy to own or keep any of the 3. They are all far better than others in their category. I play $300-$400 used guitars all the time and the SBMM easily holds it's own against those that I've played (and some in the $700+ area used). The one conclusion that I've made is that (stock), the sub and SBMM are quite different guitars. So, if you're considering picking up one or the other, try to play both (together, if possible).
postscript: I played an AX40 unplugged for just a little bit. It re-enforced my preference for the Axis neck. I was, however immediately impressed that it was not up to my Axis. The balance and feel were quite different to me.
Oh.....and now I know that Nick isn't Pete's dad
jack
.I spent some time with an EBMM silo hardtail hsh, a SBMM silo20 which is also a hardtail hsh and to do the comparison, my 04 sub 1 HH/trem.
First, just on sound, feel and overall, if they were the same price, the EBMM silo is hands down the best all around. No surprise there. Very balanced, and the arm contour had a more comfortable feel. The pickups were balanced, especially noticable when switching from one to another. The tone was (to me) more warm in all positions. Of course, since there are 5 very different positions, they all sound very different from one another.
On to the more equal contenders. The silo20 had (to me...an Axis lover) a slightly more comfortable feel of the neck itself. It's described as assymetrical, but is what I would describe as in between an Axis and a JP. Easy to play everywhere and the neck was setup just about perfectly. (I was more critical as this was not a $1500 guitar). All of the pickups sounded somewhat brighter and thinner to me. I understand that the switching is different, so I tried my best to concentrate on the bridge only and neck only so I could do some comparison with the Sub. Don't get me wrong here....I was very impressed by the pickups. They weren't at all bad. If I didn't have the other guitars to compare side by side, I would probably think they were not far apart. I used the same amp with the same settings. The overall fit and finish of the guitar were flawless from what I could see. Thinking back to my old OLP, there's no comparison. The pickguard lay flat on the guitar, the neck and frets were all nice....no sharp edges, nothing out of place, no unlevel frets (I looked). Controls all worked well. I liked seeing the Schaller locking tuners.
Ok...on to my Sub 1. The pickups are waaaaay hotter. Closer to an Axis than what was on either of these other 2 guitars. I ended up resetting the amp settings (and playing all the guitars again) as I was unintentionally overdriving it right from the start. Once I was level set, I tried to listen to the differences. I felt the sub tones were not as well defined. A little muddy by comparison. I thought the neck was not all that different from the EBMM Silo (except for 22 instead of 24 frets...and of course the painted finish and rosewood board). Visually, of course, the sub does not have the contours or a glossy finish. It does have a trem, which the other 2 did not have. Also, the body wood is poplar, which I would expect to create the least bright sound out of the bunch, which I did hear.....but I'm not able to know if it was the pickups, the wood or both. The sub also felt better balanced than the SBMM. I'd have to say...the same feel I got with the EBMM silo.
So of the 2 fair contenders....sub and sbmm, which is the "better" guitar? Unfortunately, I cannot say. I am actually still not sure how I'll go. I did not trade my sub for one of the others (yet). I will say this. I would be happy to own or keep any of the 3. They are all far better than others in their category. I play $300-$400 used guitars all the time and the SBMM easily holds it's own against those that I've played (and some in the $700+ area used). The one conclusion that I've made is that (stock), the sub and SBMM are quite different guitars. So, if you're considering picking up one or the other, try to play both (together, if possible).
postscript: I played an AX40 unplugged for just a little bit. It re-enforced my preference for the Axis neck. I was, however immediately impressed that it was not up to my Axis. The balance and feel were quite different to me.
Oh.....and now I know that Nick isn't Pete's dad
jack
