This thread brought to you by the number 3

[roburado]

Have you ever met someone who you thought might be someone that you might be interested in only to be turned off somehow. Maybe, you weren't quite attracted enough to the person. Maybe, there was something about them that annoyed you. Whatever it was, there was something about them that kept you from making a move. Then, you don't see them for a while. After a year or so, they come back into your life, and things are different. They blossom somehow. You want to make a move. You're glad she's available.

Most recently, that happened to me with this little lady. My fellow Knuckleheads, meet Mercedes.

More pics in the "Official Pics" thread.

I found this beauty on the wall of a local GC's "Vault" or whatever they call it at that particular store. I played the guitar. She needed some serious clean-up, set-up work, etc. She wouldn't stay in tune. Then, I lost track of her. She disappeared from that location, probably to make room for some 73nd3r, G-brand, or P brand. I didn't see this guitar anywhere in that store for a very long time until I met up with her again today. Still needed some clean-up. The set-up problems were mostly gone. There's some iffy stuff going on with the bridge. I forgot to take some pics of that. Also, she's not without some scars, a few dings here and there. She plays nice, and she sounds like a single-coil/HSS dream, though. Plus, I'm loving the color. Is that Medallion Gold? Or is it another gold? Las Vegas? Anyway, I gave her a little cleaning and conditioning with the WWs. She seems to clean up nicely.

Silo Spec owners please chime in, if you will. The trem looks as if it were raised up at the "mounting posts" a couple millimeters. The back end is not level, and it's angled down. Should the trem be level and be flush with the body? That's what I'm guessing. Should I just drop the bridge down and loosen up the spring claw?

Also, there was neither an OHSC, nor a trem bar. Maybe, I should have grinded them a little harder on the price, but it still seemed fair.

 

[robelinda2]

Sweet jesus!!!! Thats awesome! Check the neck!!!!!! Thats a great find, enjoy it. And give us a tonal review when you get the chance!

 

[roburado]

Not bad for a GC rescue, eh?

Some brief comments on tone.

I played the guitar through a 73nd3r-produced amp from their line of products endorsed by he who shall remain nameless. I was very surprised by that amp, BTW. I expected garbage, because that's what I was told it sounded like by someone who heard it on a video of he who shall remain nameless (HWSRN) trying out/demonstrating the amp. Very useable tones. Great touch sensitivity. Loved the shimmering clean. Not quite as warm on the distortion as I'd like, but it was pleasantly surprising.

Anyway, that guitar gives me that great single-coil tone tone I love out of the neck and neck/middle combo. It does that bubbly, bouncy, thing really well. It gives a great rendition of what I call that "round" sound out of those two positions--almost that Riviera Paradise tone, just somewhat brighter. The middle pickup, which I have eschewed on my Str@t Plus, finding it useless to my ears in recent years, is finally useful again. I like it. The guitar gives a great shimmering high end. The humbucker positions? Well, I'm a JP player. I'm a 20th Silo player. It's not quite the same sound, but it's still nice, still useful. It's not quite as warm as the bridge position on the 20th. It's much brighter. I don't know if that's the guitar itself or just the pickup, but it's probably both. It's not quite as "metal" as the old JP bridge pickup or the D-Sonic, but that's to be expected. Overall, I think it's a great, versatile axe. The 2 position (coils 1 & 3) is not one that I really spent much time with. I don't really like that same position on the Str@t. So, I didn't really check it out on this guitar except to see if it worked. Sounds okay. I just prefer the fuller neck/middle combo with coils 3 & 4 in parallel. The Silent Circuit? Well, my Str@t Plus was a very quiet guitar. I haven't owned a Str@t or Str@t-killer without some kind of noise reduction, whether it's Lace Sensors or the Silent Circuit. So, I can't really tell you how much difference I feel it makes.

There's a Luke in that same GC. Nice guitar, but I think this guitar sounds much more organic to my ears. I find the neck a bit more to my liking too. Don't get me wrong. I like the Luke neck, but it takes more adjustment for me to play the Luke. They sold the JP6 that was also there a few weeks ago.

Who says you can't find EBMM guitars at a GC? Oh...I was one of those.

 

[fogman]

LOL!!!!
Good way to put it!
Nice geetar!

 

[glockaxis]

Great looking guitar. congrats.

 

[lock-ny]

The bridge should be flat on the body, the saddles shoud have been used to raise action, thats a nice score, if the neck is in good shape and straight it looks good, what did you pay btw?

 

[Sweat]

Very nice, have never seen a Silo at GC except for the 20th I posted, like that color

 

[millifoo]

Ooohhh... I love the back of the neck! Just lovely! Nice find. Isn't it neat when the one that gets away comes around again?

 

[GWDavis28]

Rob man that a Las Vegas Gold Silo Special, that thing is awesome!!!!

CONGRATS man big time!!!

Glenn |B)

 

[roburado]

The bridge should be flat on the body, the saddles shoud have been used to raise action, thats a nice score, if the neck is in good shape and straight it looks good, what did you pay btw?

Used guitar: $699 + tax. Seemed okay. I hope I'm not wrong. Regardless, it sounds great. Plays just fine. I'm going to work on that bridge, however.

 

[fogman]

Used guitar: $699 + tax. Seemed okay.

That's a steal!!!!

I don't usually like matching stocks on the Silos, but it looks really sweet here!

 

[roburado]

Thanks for the kind words, guys.

Las Vegas Gold? Cool. Is Medallion more yellow?

 

[fogman]

Thanks for the kind words, guys.

Las Vegas Gold? Cool. Is Medallion more yellow?

YES!

 

[GWDavis28]

Thanks for the kind words, guys.

Las Vegas Gold? Cool. Is Medallion more yellow?

Rob yup you got it man.

Glenn |B)

 

[roburado]

Cool. Thanks, Foggy!

 

[roburado]

Is that Moonstone?

 

[J-Nick]

Awesome!

Just one question for you: how could you not fall in love with this beauty the first time you saw her

Seriously it's a great catch, especially at that price.

I'm loving my newly acquired silo spec maple fretboard too.

 

[kneeoh]

Just one question for you: how could you not fall in love with this beauty the first time you saw her

Having tested that same guitar previously, I can tell you that it had been at the GC for some time and played horribly... the victim of a very poor set-up and apparent neglect. Both roburado and I had thought it had been sold cuz it disappeared for about a year, only to turn up today. (WARNING... bad analogy ahead)... Like the ugly duckling that becomes the swan, she was now set-up much better and played about a billion times nicer. If robu didn't get it, I was seriously considering it. She is certainly a beaut!

 

[roburado]

Problem was that the guitar would not stay in tune at all the first time I encountered it. For some reason, the feel of the guitar...well, it just didn't feel right the first time. I think that the action may have been too IIRC. I just didn't want to take on a charity case of a guitar, a fixer-upper, if you will. This time, it was different. I guess they had someone do a set-up on the guitar. So, this time, it played great.

The same dings were there before. So, that wasn't different.

The price was definitely different today. I don't know what I could have gotten it for back then, but the price tag said $899, IIRC, which is what it said today.

The manager knows I'm an EBMM kind of guy. He saw me with the guitar, and he said, "Take that thing home!" Then, he gave me his asking price. He gave me a deal on a hardshell case, one of those Roadrunner cases that every GC has. Also, it has no trem bar, but I'll try to get one from CS.

 

[73h Nils]

Holy Crap! I love the pickguard colour; it matches perfectly!