Hi everyone ! I recently bought this beauty from one of the local shops in a lovely city that's called Bordeaux (that's where I live), and when I saw it, I knew I had to
have it. And, one day later, I had brought it home with me !
I have to confess that I've been looking forward to having a Silhouette for a long time. But this is the most beautiful Silhouette I've ever seen (images below, but wait till the end, do not spoil this).
So, it had that HSH combo with two Paf Pro that I didn't even try: I had them replaced by the Holydiver/VH-II combo and next thing I knew, it sounded amazing.
It sounds different compared to my Ibanez RG 3120 (which I'm selling by the way), a bit more low-mid thump, and less highs, but a bit more attack on the high register (which I like, especially for a solo with the VH-II).
But, the more I played it, the more I was annoyed by that f... I mean freaking middle pickup, so I came to the conclusion that I had to remove it.
But then it would leave an awful hole in the pickguard...
And then I had THE idea: put a birdseye maple top over the pickguard, so it would seem to be a maple one !
I had my luthier do that, and along the way he also refretted the neck with Jumbo 6100 frets and we switched the... switch (no pun intended) for a new one (three positions).
So the luthier had it finished last friday, and I had the week-end to play it freely.
And god is this guitar amazing.
Not only is it super beautiful, but it stays in tune well, and with the strings I put (11-54 for D standard/Drop C tuning), I can still bend the hell out of the strings, and have an amazing tone (I had only played on 10-52 in that tuning before, and I do like heavier gauge strings after all).
The pickups do an AMAZING job on this guitar, the cleans on the neck/middle position are amazing, the lead sound is amazing on every position, the HEAVY AS $%&# rhythm sound is... guess what ? AMAAAAAAZING
I think my amp is a little responsible for the sound quality I suppose (Mesa/Boogie DC-5), but damn, when I feel it resonate against my belly, when I feel it shaking when I pick the hell out of the low strings... DAYUM !!!
Ok, I guess I've kept you waiting long enough. Here are the pictures.



And here is me rocking its Ernie balls out:

And finally a little clip which showcases the Rhythm Dirty sound with the Holydiver:
https://soundcloud.com/arthur-laborderie/kiss-my-flowerSo here it is ! If you think I've forgotten something, just tell me, and feel free to comment about anything ! Cheers !