Musicman/ Ernie ball silhouette

Ted

HI - Sorry to ask for yet more advice. I think i've decided i want a musicman after seeing various videos of it in action, but i could get any of the sellers on this site to come down to the sort of price i could justify.

I came across this  this one(link attached), i suspect it's been well used. Before I go out to try i t out. I wondered if anyone could spot any issues from the not very good photos.

https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/ernie-ball-musicman-silhouette-/1298787067#. Thank you for you attention.

meltedbuzzbox

Have you played one before?

Ted

No But have done quite a lot of research on the web into its sound - particularly the Silhouette, to establish it's the sound i want

maltingsaudio

Looks very good to me, older 6 screw neck joint should have DiMarzios in it and nifty attachment to change the whole scratch plate as one unit. 
Play my silhouette as my main guitar alternating with my Eggle can’t go wrong. Playing tip use the volume pot there is a lot of difference between 10 and 8 

meltedbuzzbox

Ted said:

No But have done quite a lot of research on the web into its sound - particularly the Silhouette, to establish it's the sound i want

You can't get a true reflection of the sound via the web, YouTube or whatever. 
You really need to plug one in. It's not a cheap punt

Ted

meltedbuzzbox said:

Ted said:

No But have done quite a lot of research on the web into its sound - particularly the Silhouette, to establish it's the sound i want

You can't get a true reflection of the sound via the web, YouTube or whatever. 
You really need to plug one in. It's not a cheap punt.

You are right of course. I would not buy it without trying it first, but it's quite a long journey and I wanted to establish that of it's make it was OK. In terms of comparison I've played cheaper guitars like Hoehners and Squiers so I would expect this to be considerably better than those.

KrisGee

For £250 more I'd buy this one:

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/253607964225

Looks in a better nick, modern rounded neck joint, locking tuners and tremolo which is the best one I've used so far. You can always block it if you decide you won't be using it.
It's also buy now or best offer so you could possibly get a better deal than what it is at the moment.
I had an ss special, great guitar, prefered a neck on axis tho, you can check my youtube Maroon clip if you fancy.

TheBigDipper

My "go to" guitar looks just like this Silhouette, except mine has a rosewood fretboard and was made in '89. The serial no of this one (assuming it's the original plate) makes it a 1990. The finish used to be called "honeyburst". A lot of guitar for that price. 

Ted

I emailed the seller about condition. He said the electrics and pickups were original, but that the frets had recently been 'dressed' - is this good or bad?

Ted

Just waned to say thank you for all the advice.But  I  wanted to clarify with somebody - when the seller says that the frets have been dressed - does that mean the guitar has seen a lot of use to have to be serviced in this way

grungebob

Dressing the frets is quite normal and me personally I’d want to know it’s been done on a guitar of this age. 
Mask for a close up of the frets so you can see them?

Ted

Thank you

bazxkr

grungebob said:

Dressing the frets is quite normal and me personally I’d want to know it’s been done on a guitar of this age. 
Mask for a close up of the frets so you can see them?

Agreed. Providing frets have been done well is a plus point. You do not see many EBMM guitars down at that level of pricing. If you like the feel and it plays well it looks a good buy. They are superbly built. Many find the 6 bolt necks a plus point too altho I have 5 EBMMs all 5 bolters and the necks do not move in the pocket at all.

Sometimes evidence a guitar has had a lot of use is a good thing cos it means it is a good player and regular use also means well looked after service wise even if they pick up a few battle scars along the way. That looks a nice colour configuration.

Ted

bazxkr said:

'Agreed. Providing frets have been done well is a plus point. You do not see many EBMM guitars down at that level of pricing. If you like the feel and it plays well it looks a good buy. They are superbly built. Many find the 6 bolt necks a plus point too altho I have 5 EBMMs a'l 5 bolters and the necks do not move in the pocket at all.'

Thank you for your advice. But I am coming at the used guitar market with the atitude of a second hand car buyer. If I wanted to buy a thirty old car even if it was in very good condition I would not expect to pay more than 10% of the  current new purchase price -  on this basis this guitar should be going for £200. But maybe this logic is flawed in some way.

 Per

StuartMac290

Ted said:

Thank you for your advice. But I am coming at the used guitar market with the atitude of a second hand car buyer. If I wanted to buy a thirty old car even if it was in very good condition I would not expect to pay more than 10% of the  current new purchase price -  on this basis this guitar should be going for £200. But maybe this logic is flawed in some way.

Just a bit, aye.

grungebob

Yeah that logic doesn’t carry over into the used guitar market. For a fair reflection of used market values check out sold items on reverb and eBay 

prlgmnr

Ted said:

Thank you for your advice. But I am coming at the used guitar market with the atitude of a second hand car buyer. If I wanted to buy a thirty old car even if it was in very good condition I would not expect to pay more than 10% of the  current new purchase price -  on this basis this guitar should be going for £200. But maybe this logic is flawed in some way.

Interesting viewpoint which I think may have some merit.

Apropos of nothing whatsoever, do you have any guitars you're interested in selling?

Ted

prlgmnr said:

Ted said:

Thank you for your advice. But I am coming at the used guitar market with the atitude of a second hand car buyer. If I wanted to buy a thirty old car even if it was in very good condition I would not expect to pay more than 10% of the  current new purchase price -  on this basis this guitar should be going for £200. But maybe this logic is flawed in some way.

Interesting viewpoint which I think may have some merit.

Apropos of nothing whatsoever, do you have any guitars you're interested in selling?

Much as I hate to miss the opportunity to sell something, only an Earth Fire acoustic that needs restringing. 

exocet

@Ted ;I have a Silhouette Special that I'd sell for £750. It's Sunburst colour (same as the eBay listing above).

I bought it in SSS config but currently it has HSS fitted (the body was already factory routed for a Humbucker). I say HSS, more accurately it's HHH but with Dimarzio Andy Timmons AT-1 in bridge and Cruiser in Neck / Middle. 

Happy to include both scratch plates loaded with pickups.

I live in Kent.

PM me if your interested. I can sort out pictures tomorrow. 

maltingsaudio

exocet said:

@Ted ;;I have a Silhouette Special that I'd sell for £750. It's Sunburst colour (same as the eBay listing above).

I bought it in SSS config but currently it has HSS fitted (the body was already factory routed for a Humbucker). I say HSS, more accurately it's HHH but with Dimarzio Andy Timmons AT-1 in bridge and Cruiser in Neck / Middle. 

Happy to include both scratch plates loaded with pickups.

I live in Kent.

PM me if your interested. I can sort out pictures tomorrow. 

Nb Silhouette special 22 fret the one your looking at 24 fret although both good value and no doubt great guitars. @exocet guitar would probably tip it for me with the trem and extra pickups (and rosewood board but that’s a personal thing)