Silver Sky in a mix?

[joshoptical]

Anyone play their SS in a band or otherwise mix setting? I have a 2020 maple board in Orion Green and can’t help finding it incredibly bright- always looking for more “umph.” Ive been playing over 20 years so it’s not as though I don’t know how to work an amp or tone knob. Meaning I’m not talking about an over abundance of high end, though it does tend to sound overly bright and stringy/acousticy in that way. I’m talking about what’s not there in the lows and low mids, even and especially in positions 4 & 5.

It bums me out, but I hold out for hope that in a band setting I’ll go “ahhhhh, now it makes sense.”

Experience?

 

[elvis]

I only find mine bright on the bridge pickup so I keep that tone knob rolled down a little.

I also tend to boost a little with a KOT so I can control tone there. I actually notice that I like to boost the high mids a bit with a compressor for ultimate strat goodness.

Also it’s supposed to be brighter than other guitars.

 

[alantig]

The Silver Sky only seems brighter than other guitars because the people who play them are brighter than other guitarists.

 

[elvis]

Incidentally I only play the bridge position like 1% of the time. Mostly I am in positions 4 and 5.

 

[joshoptical]

Incidentally I only play the bridge position like 1% of the time. Mostly I am in positions 4 and 5.

Heard, that’s what a Strat is good for. One of the reasons I’m more a Tele guy when it comes to single coils, all three sounds are equally beautiful and useful, and I’m not constantly thinking about switching tones. But nothing does what a S type does for those certain sounds.

 

[elvis]

I’m also a tele guy. Have 3, including a 6/12 double neck.

But there are tones that only a strat can produce. The SS is perfect for that.

 

[Rider1260]

YES the SS is best when jamming with others, REALLY comes alive when with my Humbucker heavy friends

 

[joshoptical]

YES the SS is best when jamming with others, REALLY comes alive when with my Humbucker heavy friends

Makes sense and that’s what I was hoping. One day!

 

[shinksma]

Anyone play their SS in a band or otherwise mix setting? I have a 2020 maple board in Orion Green and can’t help finding it incredibly bright- always looking for more “umph.” Ive been playing over 20 years so it’s not as though I don’t know how to work an amp or tone knob. Meaning I’m not talking about an over abundance of high end, though it does tend to sound overly bright and stringy/acousticy in that way. I’m talking about what’s not there in the lows and low mids, even and especially in positions 4 & 5.

It bums me out, but I hold out for hope that in a band setting I’ll go “ahhhhh, now it makes sense.”

Experience?

What guitars do you normally play? If this is your first strat-type, this will sound so very different from a LP, for example, or any other HB guitar.

Related to that, you will find you need to use different amp settings and/or effects/settings to get whatever sound is in your head.

David Gilmour doesn't sound like Slash, and although their styles may play a part in that , it is also related to their preferred equipment.

 

[dmatthews]

I play rhythm in our band and I can (and have) play the SS all night.
Love it!

 

[László]

A Strat with a maple fretboard is about as bright-sounding a traditional guitar as there is. But balanced with a bass, keys, and perhaps another guitarist, suddenly you have a pretty tasty mix balance.

Strats aren't my thing, but they sure can mix well if paired with the right amp and associated gear.

 

[elvis]

I like to record with a tele or SS on one side and a singlecut on the other. Guess which one cuts through every time...

 

[joshoptical]

Nope. Been playing over twenty years and owned over a hundred electric guitars including easily a dozen SSS guitars. Fender USA, Japan, Mexico, Fernandes Japan, etc.

The SS is far and away the thinnest sounding I’ve ever played, in every position but position 1. And I’m not saying that’s “bad,” only that it’s very unsatisfying at home. Hoping for an answer to my post question.

What guitars do you normally play? If this is your first strat-type, this will sound so very different from a LP, for example, or any other HB guitar.

Related to that, you will find you need to use different amp settings and/or effects/settings to get whatever sound is in your head.

David Gilmour doesn't sound like Slash, and although their styles may play a part in that , it is also related to their preferred equipment.

 

[joshoptical]

I play rhythm in our band and I can (and have) play the SS all night.
Love it!

Here’s to a post-pandemic world

 

[joshoptical]

A Strat with a maple fretboard is about as bright-sounding a traditional guitar as there is. But balanced with a bass, keys, and perhaps another guitarist, suddenly you have a pretty tasty mix balance.

Strats aren't my thing, but they sure can mix well if paired with the right amp and associated gear.

Right. I should’ve clarified I’ve owned oodles of strays including maple board ones. Woods don’t have near as much influence as pickups in an electric guitar. So I the real subject of my post is the unusual lack of bass in the silver sky pickups.

 

[László]

Right. I should’ve clarified I’ve owned oodles of strays including maple board ones. Woods don’t have near as much influence as pickups in an electric guitar. So I the real subject of my post is the unusual lack of bass in the silver sky pickups.

Actually, woods have a surprisingly large influence, This is my experience in writing TV/ commercial music, recording and mixing it professionally for the last 30-plus years. Sitting in front of a pair of studio monitors day after day can provide a lot of insight. It can also make you crazy, which is why I am the way I am.

Yes, of course pickups also have a large influence. As does every other feature of the guitar. Nonetheless, a maple board Strat is perceived as a brighter guitar because the note attack is more present than the note attack with a rosewood board.

If you put Strat pickups in, say, a Custom 24, it will not sound like a Strat. Too many design, wooden and metal items are different. It will sound like a CU24 with Strat influences.

 

[joshoptical]

Actually, woods have a surprisingly large influence, This is my experience in writing TV/ commercial music, recording and mixing it professionally for the last 30-plus years. Sitting in front of a pair of studio monitors day after day can provide a lot of insight. It can also make you crazy, which is why I am the way I am.

Yes, of course pickups also have a large influence. As does every other feature of the guitar. Nonetheless, a maple board Strat is perceived as a brighter guitar because the note attack is more present than the note attack with a rosewood board.

If you put Strat pickups in, say, a Custom 24, it will not sound like a Strat. Too many design, wooden and metal items are different. It will sound like a CU24 with Strat influences.

I get that, all other things being equal (which is impossible to measure without ripping the fingerboard off a guitar and replacing it with a different wood, reinstalling the same frets...) maple is perceived as brighter.
Lest we go down a wood rabbit hole I’ll reiterate that I’ve owned plenty of maple board S type guitars, and none have been as remotely lacking in bass and low mids as my Silver Sky. The variable in question is the pickups.

 

[joshoptical]

Actually, woods have a surprisingly large influence, This is my experience in writing TV/ commercial music, recording and mixing it professionally for the last 30-plus years. Sitting in front of a pair of studio monitors day after day can provide a lot of insight. It can also make you crazy, which is why I am the way I am.

Yes, of course pickups also have a large influence. As does every other feature of the guitar. Nonetheless, a maple board Strat is perceived as a brighter guitar because the note attack is more present than the note attack with a rosewood board.

If you put Strat pickups in, say, a Custom 24, it will not sound like a Strat. Too many design, wooden and metal items are different. It will sound like a CU24 with Strat influences.

And yes pickups aren’t everything- but I’m talking only about the influence of pickups and fingerboard choice on a guitar of a particular construction. As my engineer friend Allen says, “It sounds how it sounds cause it is what it is.” Physics and all.

 

[shinksma]

My Silver Sky sounds "just like a Strat", in the sense that it is in the same tonal ballpark. If anything, it is less ice-picky than a typical strat, especially with the bridge pup.

Mayhap you have a wiring issue that is somehow sucking all the low end out, like a capacitor in series not parallel, or somewhere it doesn't belong.

 

[joshoptical]

My Silver Sky sounds "just like a Strat", in the sense that it is in the same tonal ballpark. If anything, it is less ice-picky than a typical strat, especially with the bridge pup.

Mayhap you have a wiring issue that is somehow sucking all the low end out, like a capacitor in series not parallel, or somewhere it doesn't belong.

That may be worth investigating. I have a sense this one was rushed off the line a bit, if only because the neck pocket fit is...not poor, but, poor for a bolt-on of this caliber. Had to shift the neck to get the strings aligned and get the high E off the edge of the fingerboard.
Nothing urgent but I’ll have my guy take a look some time. My 594 needs some attention too. Thanks for your response.