Howdy all!
Recently picked up a 1997 Silhouette with a Floyd. I had a 2008 Silo with the MM trem but wanted one with the Floyd. Of course, they aren't made anymore, so I found an older one. Paid through the nose for it based on its condition, but I wanted it anyway.
A previous owner had obviously not taken very good care of it. All of the hardware is pitted/rusty/worn, and the body has a bunch of dings. The pickups were changed to active EMGs (EMG = YUCK to me) and to make the bucker fit a dremel was used to mod the pickguard. Not in a good way, either. Since they were active they needed a battery, so the control area of the pickguard was bent up in order to gain access to the battery to replace it. The 5-way switch was completely disconnected. I found that rather hilarious, too, as all five of the lugs were wired to ground with separate wires! The body has plenty of scrapes and dings, but fortunately the neck is in surprisingly wonderful shape.
The neck ... oh such a sweet neck! I've never seen one so nice in person myself.
So ... since I will *never* be selling this one, it's being retrofitted with new parts. Since all of the hardware is in bad shape it is all being junked (I still have it all, but it's junk nonetheless.). The licensed trem is in very rough shape, two of the strings couldn't be removed from the locking blocks. The jack plate is worn, and the Schaller tuners have seen better days. Only the string retainer on the headstock is good enough to keep, and even that's borderline. The neck plate is perfect though, so that's good.
It will receive new locking tuners (I know, I just prefer locking tuners for easy string changes), a locking nut,
Shaller straplocks, a new jack plate (on order from MM), matte white pickguard (original is black), matching matte white trem cavity cover (original is black, and broken), all new pickups, switch and wiring (will be using a super switch). I will also (properly) install a battery box on the back. That's because I will be installing a Graph Tech LB63 Floyd piezo bridge and Acousti-Phonic module.
Now, for the body. As titled, "to refinish or not". Since everything else will be nice and clean, pretty much new, I'm thinking about getting the body refinished. With everything else I'm doing to it the body would stick out. MM doesn't do that but I could have them make a new one for upwards of a grand in the same color. The thing is, I would prefer a different color. If I had money to burn I'd have a replacement body made that would complement the neck, but I don't have that kind of money and wouldn't feel right having it copied anyway.
The pics I have of the guitar are attached. Check out the neck - that's mostly why I had to have it (not counting the other reasons why I love this model of guitar). The body pics don't look bad, but those aren't the best pics in the world either and they're all I have for now.
Does anyone here know what it might cost to have the body refinished? Know anybody who does that? I'm certainly not about to try it myself!
I would be interested in hearing your opinions as to how much it might cost. I have no experience with this kind of thing.
Thanks for reading and looking!
Recently picked up a 1997 Silhouette with a Floyd. I had a 2008 Silo with the MM trem but wanted one with the Floyd. Of course, they aren't made anymore, so I found an older one. Paid through the nose for it based on its condition, but I wanted it anyway.
A previous owner had obviously not taken very good care of it. All of the hardware is pitted/rusty/worn, and the body has a bunch of dings. The pickups were changed to active EMGs (EMG = YUCK to me) and to make the bucker fit a dremel was used to mod the pickguard. Not in a good way, either. Since they were active they needed a battery, so the control area of the pickguard was bent up in order to gain access to the battery to replace it. The 5-way switch was completely disconnected. I found that rather hilarious, too, as all five of the lugs were wired to ground with separate wires! The body has plenty of scrapes and dings, but fortunately the neck is in surprisingly wonderful shape.The neck ... oh such a sweet neck! I've never seen one so nice in person myself.
So ... since I will *never* be selling this one, it's being retrofitted with new parts. Since all of the hardware is in bad shape it is all being junked (I still have it all, but it's junk nonetheless.). The licensed trem is in very rough shape, two of the strings couldn't be removed from the locking blocks. The jack plate is worn, and the Schaller tuners have seen better days. Only the string retainer on the headstock is good enough to keep, and even that's borderline. The neck plate is perfect though, so that's good.
It will receive new locking tuners (I know, I just prefer locking tuners for easy string changes), a locking nut,
Shaller straplocks, a new jack plate (on order from MM), matte white pickguard (original is black), matching matte white trem cavity cover (original is black, and broken), all new pickups, switch and wiring (will be using a super switch). I will also (properly) install a battery box on the back. That's because I will be installing a Graph Tech LB63 Floyd piezo bridge and Acousti-Phonic module.
Now, for the body. As titled, "to refinish or not". Since everything else will be nice and clean, pretty much new, I'm thinking about getting the body refinished. With everything else I'm doing to it the body would stick out. MM doesn't do that but I could have them make a new one for upwards of a grand in the same color. The thing is, I would prefer a different color. If I had money to burn I'd have a replacement body made that would complement the neck, but I don't have that kind of money and wouldn't feel right having it copied anyway.
The pics I have of the guitar are attached. Check out the neck - that's mostly why I had to have it (not counting the other reasons why I love this model of guitar).
The body pics don't look bad, but those aren't the best pics in the world either and they're all I have for now.Does anyone here know what it might cost to have the body refinished? Know anybody who does that? I'm certainly not about to try it myself!
I would be interested in hearing your opinions as to how much it might cost. I have no experience with this kind of thing.
Thanks for reading and looking!
