Question Ultimate Silhouette (please humour my mad fantasy)

[martinrking]

Hello, I am looking at a beautiful used 2014 Silhouette, HSH. Here is my vision of my perfect guitar, is it possible?

I want to replace the neck pickup with a P90. Then I want the switching to go like this: 1. Bridge humbucker 2. Bridge humbucker split + middle single coil. 3. Bridge split + neck P90. 4. Middle single coil. 5. Neck P90.

I love the sound of strat's middle pickup alone, which the Silhouette doesn't provide if I'm not mistaken. I never really use neck+middle so is it possible to trade one out for the other? Also, what experience have people had with putting P90s in their Silhouettes?

Thank you. I hope this isn't too dumb for you to handle, I understand if this causes frustration.

 

[DrKev]

The Silhouette (HSH) does use the middle single coil, only the Silhouette Special (HSS or SSS) does not (uses bridge split/neck instead). You can download the pickups selector drawing on the right of this page...

Silhouette

Assuming the P90 you buy fits in the body rout (I don't know why it wouldn't but I've never done it), you can absolutely do that. A good luthier or guitar tech can do the wiring for you. With a 5-way super switch you'll be able to do almost any pickup selections you need.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[canuck6string]

There was something similar on Reverb a few months ago except it had a Tele p'up in the bridge. I couldn't stop drooling. Complete tone monster.

If this is a fantasy guitar, I applaud you, my friend. If you wish to make it a reality, there will be some small hurdles.

A soapbar pickup is larger, so you'd most likely need to rout out the neck pickup cavity to make it fit. Secondly, the custom pickguard (or adjust the current one to size). An HB sized P90 is a nice compromise.

Good luck and we'll need some pics.

 

[martinrking]

Thank you for your replies!

I picked up the guitar last week and played it unplugged for a few days since I was away from my main practice space. As a life-long strat guy I am very happy with the instrument's shape, playability and resonance. The set up is perfect! I'm used to sacrificing playability for tone; after getting my strat set up I usually raise the action a bit to get more more life out of the instrument's sound. With the Silhouette I have low action and very slight neck relief, and every spot on the neck still rings out beautifully.

Here's the bad news: none of that tone transfers over when I plug it in. I read online that the Virtual PAFs are relatively low-output with strong clarity but I find mine to be very warm, to the point of being very muffled. When I play unplugged I can hear the fundamental and the harmonics, all clear and tightly focused; plugged in the fundamental just goes "thud" and that's it. The pickups don't pick up a tenth of what I hear unplugged. Dont get me started on 2nd and 4th positions on the blade switch .

I've fallen in love with the feel and playability of Music Man. I don't think I can go back to a strat now, it just feels bulky (I thought I'd never say that!). For the record, I have small hands. I'm thinking about this kind of set up to make it sound better, I would love your feedback:

Pearly Gates in the bridge.
Area 67 in the middle.
Bluesbucker in the neck.

I had one more question: the Silhouette has less wood overall compared to a strat, do you think this makes a big difference in the instruments tone? I feel like there's a possibility that it makes it tighter and more focused, and that's where the "modern" sound comes from. It reminds me of a Mustang or a Cyclone, except with a 25.5" scale. I have an Xotic SP compressor that I love but the Silhouette seems to already be "compressed" without it. Your comments at much appreciated!

 

[canuck6string]

Were you able to try it (or one like it) prior to buying it? Or able to test drive an HSH guitar? Few things come to mind.

The pickups may need adjusting, closer to the strings perhaps. Or it could be your expectation of what the guitar should sound like isn't met with an HSH guitar. The settings on your amp may need adjusting.

Did you plug it in at the store? Similar amp to what's at home?

I don't believe the smaller body size will make a significant tonal difference. The position of the neck pickup on the Silhouette will alter the tone compared to another brand's HSH even if you used the same pickups. The Silhouette is a 24 fret, so the neck pickup is repositioned further towards the bridge than a 21 or 22 fret guitar with 25.5" scale.

I had a similar experience coming from an Esquire build to the Silhouette Special. The pickups sounded 'different' than what I expected. I set up the guitar to factory, farted around with my amp and spent about 3 months simply playing the guitar. I still dream of swapping out the pickups for a single Tele in the bridge, but that's another story.

I like the Silhouette shape. It's more comfortable than the '57 Reissue I owned and I too find the Strat odd to play now. However, I didn't buy the guitar for the tone.

Your choice of pickups is good, individually. I don't know how they would sound split, considering the configuration you suggest in your initial post. The tech staff at DiMarzio offer suggestions based on the sound you hope to achieve, style of music, type of guitar.

I could have simply suggested playing the guitar for a month or so and see if there is an issue with the pickups or if the guitar's tone isn't what you were expecting. Best thing about an HSH rout is that you have numerous options available to you with a custom pickguard... Tele/single/HB, Mini-hum/single/mini-hum, rails/rails/HB, H/S/S...

 

[martinrking]

Thank you for your comments, canuck6string. I had a chance to dig deeper yesterday and I found some much better sounds. I was really getting my money's worth out my amp's presence knob. I'm glad to say that the ice-pick sounds are easy to roll of with out losing the guitar's sparkle, something which is nearly impossible on my stock American strat. It's also going to take some time for me to modify my technique; picking just a little closer or father away from the bridge was making a big difference. The amp also seems to appreciate it when I roll the volume knob down to 8 while I'm playing rhythm.

I'm going to keep experimenting and give it some time to grow on me. Right now I still feel that the bridge pickup is too honky for my tastes. I'd like it to be a lot clearer, while still being a bit more nasal than a Strat. Humbuckers in the neck have never agreed with me, even if I can recognize that it sounds good. I love P90s in the neck but I've never had the chance to get one.

I'm not going into this wanting to make the guitar something it isn't. I want to grow as a musician and make more modern music and that's why I chose the Silhouette, to stand out and make sounds that are different from what are typically heard.

 

[canuck6string]

Good to hear that you are making some headway with your tone. I am/was in the same boat coming from a very familiar tone ('57 Strat and classic Esquire) to the DiMarzio HSS set up. I've surprised myself on more than one occasion how the stock pickups fill many shoes (Strat quack, some LP P.A.F. bridge, quasi-Tele middle position).

Depending on which position you find yourself in the most, that's the pickup I'd start swapping out if the tone just isn't to your liking. Believe you me that my 'Unicorn' tone isn't factory, but as far as the comfort of these guitars and how it hangs, I wouldn't alter a thing...except maybe make them around the 6 lb mark.