Help! Valentine or Silhouette? 1st EBMM purchase

[Gschrock313]

Hello all, (1st post!)

I've been wanting to purchase an EBMM for a while and I have an opportunity to get a (used) Valentine or a Silhouette and the choice is killing me. The Silo is a mint condition 2013, the Valentine is a 2016.
I gravitate towards more cleans and EOB type sounds - rock, funk, sometimes a bit gnarly.

The Valentine is sort of 335/Tele (killer combo) - and many have said the Silo's versatility and comfort are some of its strong points . I've been looking at the specs for both and have watched many vids to try to see/hear something that turned me off from either (quite unsuccessfully). What are some of the key factors that would make one a better choice?

I know there are many of you have played and may have both -- any advice would be appreciated (even though I have a feeling the first won't be the only...).
Thanks in advance

 

[elvisdog]

Never played a Silo but I've had a Valentine for a couple of years now. It plays great, sounds great, most versatile guitar in the pile. You can get a LOT of different sounds out of it.

 

[msquared]

Either guitar will do the clean rock/funk thing very well. The Valentine does gnarly very well. I've never messed with a Silo in that space but I'm sure it's wonderful.

They're similar as far as comfort. The one Silo I've played was in between my two Valentines for neck thickness.

I feel like I could replicate Ed O'Brien's sounds with either guitar but would prefer to do it with a Valentine, though that's because they're what I play the most. For someone coming into a new guitar I think it's worth comparing both of these to the Fender Ed O'Brien Signature Strat.

The EOB Strat is essentially a sleeper superstrat, so the Silo is going to be closer in sound and function to that guitar than the Valentine. The pickup layout is similar and, assuming a normal spec Silo and not a special run, the 2013 models had an alder body like the EOB Strat. All you need to do is swap the stock neck pickup for a sustainer pickup and you're right next to the EOB Strat in sound and function.

The Valentine's a brighter guitar overall. The main differences are the ash body, P90ish bridge pickup, and no middle pickup. The humbucker split function is a subtle but really nice function. If you do a lot of neck pickup playing, the Valentine wins for versatility here. Overall it is great at occupying the same sonic space as a Telecaster but I find that it covers more ground and is more versatile than my Teles. It does funk extremely well. It won't do that 3kHz spike that the Strat's position 4 does but you're an EQ pedal away from getting that whenever you like.

 

[Fusionman]

Assuming you’re talking about the Sillhoutte HSH set up I’d go Valentine as I’m not a fan of 24 fret necks which moves the neck humbucker a bit out of the deeper harmonic range and causes it to sound a bit brighter. Also the HSH Silhouette is just too cramped with pickups for my liking. The Valentine also compensates for the bridge pickup by giving you a on board boost option. Whether or not you need a trem is up to you.

 

[beej]

The more modern MM guitars have updated features like buffered output, stainless steel frets, etc. which are pretty handy. Unless you're really looking to nail the classic Strat 2 & 4 sounds, I'd give the nod to the Valentine.

 

[NickNihil]

As a massive Radiohead fan, I'll second the idea of staying away from a Silo (or any guitar) with 24 frets. It really weakens the neck pickup cleans. I had a Silo for a hot minute-it's EXTRAORDINARILY comfortable, playability was an all timer for me, but I could not get on with the neck pickup, no matter how I EQ'd it, so it sadly had to go back. Neck cleans are the most important to me. I also associate Ed's tones as being fatter/darker/warmer than Strats. His sig strat has a Duncan JB jr in the bridge as well that sustainer neck pickup which is darker/smoother than a strat neck. All in all, I'd go Valentine.

 

[Sweat]

never played a valentine though always been interested, I vote Silo' many options out there used and new is good too

 

[Gschrock313]

Thanks everyone.
This is all great info especially the bits about the neck pickup on the 24 fret model, I love smooth sounds with some available bite so I do spend some decent time there and I have a G&L Legacy that sounds great with the PTB circuit- I wish I could put that on all of my guitars!
I've recently located a Silo Special non-trem (Fire Engine red with a maple neck)) in really nice condition and it's a definite contender along with the Valentine (and the '13 mint condition Silo HSH) -- life is full of such tough decisions !

I should mention that I've never played a MM - just a Sterling Cutlass for about half an hour and was impressed so I have a feeling any one I choose will be more than satisfying.

 

[nervous]

I will vote Silo Special if you don't need 24 frets. Beautiful players with great tonal flexibility and often current pricing can make them an incredible value. Full disclosure I have never played a Valentine and they have never had any appeal for me, yet, but the on board boost is a nice feature I would like.

 

[Gschrock313]

I'm still on the hunt -- and important detail I didn't mention is that I'm currently living in China so my choices are quite limited especially for the used market. The prices seem a bit high but I'm determined to find something!

I did find the Fire Engine Red SS (lovely guitar!) and I'm attempting to buy it - but it's coming from a shop in Japan and the shop has been really slow in responding, then I'll have the pleasure of dealing with the customs folks bringing it in.
I've also been checking the States and one course of action is to find something and ship it to a friend for safe keeping and I'll bring it back when I visit in the next few months - most likely taking it apart and putting it into a suitcase or backpack. I'd be interested to hear if anyone has done this for air travel internationally. I may end up with two MM guitars as my first purchase -

Back to the search!

 

[msquared]

Bill Frisell and Julian Lage both disassemble their guitars while traveling. Pretty clever IMO.

Your plan should work with no issues. Certainly it's a better plan than checking it unless you have a very rugged case.

 

[Sweat]

Yea or wait until you get back to Merica

 

[Gschrock313]

Update: I'm on my way back to 'Merica and... I found one on Reverb! It's being shipped and hopefully will arrive around the time I get home.

It's a '96 TransRed in great condition - can't wait to get my mitts on it! My only thought for a possible upgrade would be locking tuners but it's not a necessity.

Thanks to everyone for the advice - I truly appreciate it.

 

[mr mojo]

Congrats ! What a beautiful instrument. Enjoy playing it !!!

 

[GWDavis28]

Wow nice congrats!!!! Hope you love it!!!!

Glenn |B)

 

[nervous]

That's some good looking birdseye and rosewood. Congrats. EBMM made some nice stuff in that era.

 

[daneford]

Update: I'm on my way back to 'Merica and... I found one on Reverb! It's being shipped and hopefully will arrive around the time I get home.

It's a '96 TransRed in great condition - can't wait to get my mitts on it! My only thought for a possible upgrade would be locking tuners but it's not a necessity.

Thanks to everyone for the advice - I truly appreciate it.

View attachment 55019 View attachment 55020

This was the correct choice. Beautiful guitar.

Signed,

A guy with 5 Silhouettes.