nickname009 « Good fixer-upper... »
Published on 05/09/11 at 16:58 * Basswood Body w/ ergonomic contourings.
* Maple Neck w/ Maple Fingerboard
* Locking Tuners
* 24 Medium Jumbo Frets
* Music Man® Designed hardtail bridge
* 25.5" Scale
* 5 Bolt Music Man® Designed Neck Joint
* Pickguard Mounted 2x Sterling White Humbuckers, 1x Single Coil 1x Sterling Single Coil (Middle)
* 5 Way Selector (1-bridge, 2-bridge and neck inner coils, 3-all coils, 4-neck parallel, 5- neck)
* 42mm Nut Width (1.65")
* Spoke Wheel Truss Rod Adjustment
* Heavy Duty Gig Bag Included
* Glossy Black Finish
Made in Indonesia
On paper it looks great, it's pretty much the same specs as an american silhouette.
UTILIZATION
The body itself is exact in accordance to the american counterparts. Which is a good thing for me because I bought it mainly for the shape as well as the similar neck contour. All the regular body contours are there and the neck is the asymmetrical type which some people like and some people need time to get used to.
The 5 bolt neck joint is also exactly the same and allows upper fret access just like it would on an american ernieball silhouette. So I'd say utilization is just as perfect as an american version.
The problem I encountered with my specific silo20 is the fretwork. Though I didn't initially expect much, the frets needed dressing right from the box. I don't know why, it's a brand new guitar! Anyhoo, it played a lot better afterwards without any buzzing on fret positions. So again the utlization part is good, but it needed a fret dress right fromt he get go and the problem with this is that most people who intend on buying this guitar, aren't completely proficient with dressing frets,so the consistency of the fretwork quality from guitar to guitar will most likely be different. I'm not suprised, but at the same time i did expect more from musicman even though it's an overseas guitar.
SOUNDS
Sounds are nearly nothing to write home about. The bridge pickup is decent and clean, under some dirt it's very sterile sounding, yet it does pickup harmonics quite easily.
The middle pickup is completely useless. Not only does it have the 60 cycle hum but even the blended positions have it.I don't know how or why or how that is, again it could be just down to my specific guitar and not the others. The output is also maybe 100x quieter than the humbuckers, no matter what height the pickups are at.
The neck pickup is ok. Clean and good under distortion, a little muddy at times, also bland sounding overall. I think this is probably the worse part of the guitar, the sound. The pickups definitely need to be replaced with some better quality pickups, or at least change the middle pickup to work with the others and get some versatility.
OVERALL OPINION
Overall, it's a good fixer upper like I said. If somebody really wanted an ernieball neck and body and knew how to install pickups and dress frets this would be the perfect guitar for them! Otherwise I wouldn't say this is a guitar to be picked up and played out of the box. Again i don't know if it's just my guitar, which means that the consistent quality 'setup from the ernieball factory in california' isn't so consistent.
So to review this gutiar as it is without all the mods I've done to it (pickup change, fret dress and setup) I'd give it an average rating. It needs work to be up to par. But the body and neck are good.
* Maple Neck w/ Maple Fingerboard
* Locking Tuners
* 24 Medium Jumbo Frets
* Music Man® Designed hardtail bridge
* 25.5" Scale
* 5 Bolt Music Man® Designed Neck Joint
* Pickguard Mounted 2x Sterling White Humbuckers, 1x Single Coil 1x Sterling Single Coil (Middle)
* 5 Way Selector (1-bridge, 2-bridge and neck inner coils, 3-all coils, 4-neck parallel, 5- neck)
* 42mm Nut Width (1.65")
* Spoke Wheel Truss Rod Adjustment
* Heavy Duty Gig Bag Included
* Glossy Black Finish
Made in Indonesia
On paper it looks great, it's pretty much the same specs as an american silhouette.
UTILIZATION
The body itself is exact in accordance to the american counterparts. Which is a good thing for me because I bought it mainly for the shape as well as the similar neck contour. All the regular body contours are there and the neck is the asymmetrical type which some people like and some people need time to get used to.
The 5 bolt neck joint is also exactly the same and allows upper fret access just like it would on an american ernieball silhouette. So I'd say utilization is just as perfect as an american version.
The problem I encountered with my specific silo20 is the fretwork. Though I didn't initially expect much, the frets needed dressing right from the box. I don't know why, it's a brand new guitar! Anyhoo, it played a lot better afterwards without any buzzing on fret positions. So again the utlization part is good, but it needed a fret dress right fromt he get go and the problem with this is that most people who intend on buying this guitar, aren't completely proficient with dressing frets,so the consistency of the fretwork quality from guitar to guitar will most likely be different. I'm not suprised, but at the same time i did expect more from musicman even though it's an overseas guitar.
SOUNDS
Sounds are nearly nothing to write home about. The bridge pickup is decent and clean, under some dirt it's very sterile sounding, yet it does pickup harmonics quite easily.
The middle pickup is completely useless. Not only does it have the 60 cycle hum but even the blended positions have it.I don't know how or why or how that is, again it could be just down to my specific guitar and not the others. The output is also maybe 100x quieter than the humbuckers, no matter what height the pickups are at.
The neck pickup is ok. Clean and good under distortion, a little muddy at times, also bland sounding overall. I think this is probably the worse part of the guitar, the sound. The pickups definitely need to be replaced with some better quality pickups, or at least change the middle pickup to work with the others and get some versatility.
OVERALL OPINION
Overall, it's a good fixer upper like I said. If somebody really wanted an ernieball neck and body and knew how to install pickups and dress frets this would be the perfect guitar for them! Otherwise I wouldn't say this is a guitar to be picked up and played out of the box. Again i don't know if it's just my guitar, which means that the consistent quality 'setup from the ernieball factory in california' isn't so consistent.
So to review this gutiar as it is without all the mods I've done to it (pickup change, fret dress and setup) I'd give it an average rating. It needs work to be up to par. But the body and neck are good.