Sorry if this topic has been brought up before, but I have been curious for a while about Keith's relationship to these guitars. I recall him using them on the late 80's Winos tours and then quite heavily on the Steel Wheels tour. He would also rave about how great they were in interviews, saying something to the effect of how he had not connected so much with a guitar since the Telecaster. Then, just like that, from 94 onward, we never saw him with one again. I often wondered, did he just have some kind of advertisement deal with Ernie Ball where he got paid to endorse those guitars?

The Silhouettes in white and black were his go-to guitars beside the Telecaster from 88-93. And you’re right: he dumped them summarily from Voodoo Lounge onward. Not sure why, other than that he tired of them. I don’t think Keith has ever had a sponsorship deal, but I could be wrong.

In my opinion Keith was at his peak as a live performer in those years, and those guitars had something to do with it. The Lea Paul Jr through tweed amps is a godawful dry tone. Whenever you think Keith’s peak as a player was, he would not have sounded as good if was using today’s guitar-rig combination.

True.Good points. MelBelli. 89-90 he was definitely (IMO) trying to live up to his now-established "guitar god" reputation and play more like the typical soloist of that era (one needs only to listen to his solos on "Sympathy" from that period to hear this). I imagine the Music Man guitars were probably more conducive to that style of playing though, to be frank, he is simply now, and never was, a "shredder". A genius, absolutely, but I think during that period he was trying to almost emulate people like Eddie Van Halen, which he simply cannot do. Perhaps in 93 he just came back to the reality of the fact that his strengths lie in rhythm, blues, and bouncing off of Ronnie.

If I remember the story correctly, Keith's original was a prototype which was later stolen or lost, and the replacements were not as good.
I've had two Silhouettes , and I think they're excellent guitars, the one's like KR and Wood used. I've always thought KR was attracted to it because the neck is similar to the Dan Armstrong.

I loved his playing and the sound he got from those guitars....Sympathy and Shelter in Atlantic City 89 so good!

In the video from the Guitar Legends show in Sevilla '92 you can see and hear the high E-string gets stuck in the fret ends, so Keith has to pull it out. A guitarplayer needs his tools to be flawless and work smoothly all the time. Obviously the Silhouette didn't, so out the window it went. Can't say I blame him.

Watch from about 4:10 in this video of Going Down:

[www.youtube.com]

[www.reverbnation.com]

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audun-eg
In the video from the Guitar Legends show in Sevilla '92 you can see and hear the high E-string gets stuck in the fret ends, so Keith has to pull it out. A guitarplayer needs his tools to be flawless and work smoothly all the time. Obviously the Silhouette didn't, so out the window it went. Can't say I blame him.

Watch from about 4:10 in this video of Going Down:

[www.youtube.com]

I doubt that's the reason he stopped using it.

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tomk

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audun-eg
In the video from the Guitar Legends show in Sevilla '92 you can see and hear the high E-string gets stuck in the fret ends, so Keith has to pull it out. A guitarplayer needs his tools to be flawless and work smoothly all the time. Obviously the Silhouette didn't, so out the window it went. Can't say I blame him.

Watch from about 4:10 in this video of Going Down:

[www.youtube.com]

I doubt that's the reason he stopped using it.

Not the only reason for sure, but when stuff like that happens to your gear, your love starts to fade.

[www.reverbnation.com]

Does anyone know Keiths basic rig for those late 80's gigs? Was he hitting a pedal on the SFD and GS lead work?

He has people to do that kind of thing for him

It seems he wanted to get back on a bunch of Gibsons like his LPs and his ESs. Controlling the feedback on those big ESs was a hassle til more recently,

See more info here: [iorr.org]

Must be one of the few here that cannot stand Keith's hi-gain tone with the Silhouettes. Clean they sounded OK, but those over driven sounds he used during the 89/90 tour (and with the Winos') just sound not right.

Beautiful guitars though.

C

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tomk
If I remember the story correctly, Keith's original was a prototype which was later stolen or lost, and the replacements were not as good.
I've had two Silhouettes , and I think they're excellent guitars, the one's like KR and Wood used. I've always thought KR was attracted to it because the neck is similar to the Dan Armstrong.

You're correct Tom.... Keith did not like the replacements he was given so dropped them. I had a black one and it was a lovely sounding guitar but some bastard stole it.

I think Keith was trying his best to be a hot shot lead player on The Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle tour, and some of his playing is damn good. However, although it was on that tour that I was first introduced to the band, it would be my last choice of tour when wanting to listen to a live recording now.

His white one must have adjusted for shredding, or something

He never played nearly as fast or fluent with the black Silhouette.

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thegreenmanalishi
Does anyone know Keiths basic rig for those late 80's gigs? Was he hitting a pedal on the SFD and GS lead work?

A Marshall head was the source for the leads in Sad Sad Sad etc.

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GasLightStreet

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thegreenmanalishi
Does anyone know Keiths basic rig for those late 80's gigs? Was he hitting a pedal on the SFD and GS lead work?

A Marshall head was the source for the leads in Sad Sad Sad etc.

Only at the US leg?

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DandelionPowderman

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GasLightStreet

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thegreenmanalishi
Does anyone know Keiths basic rig for those late 80's gigs? Was he hitting a pedal on the SFD and GS lead work?

A Marshall head was the source for the leads in Sad Sad Sad etc.

Only at the US leg?

I don't think KR or RW have had a pedal onstage since 81/82.

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tomk

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DandelionPowderman

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GasLightStreet

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thegreenmanalishi
Does anyone know Keiths basic rig for those late 80's gigs? Was he hitting a pedal on the SFD and GS lead work?

A Marshall head was the source for the leads in Sad Sad Sad etc.

Only at the US leg?

I don't think KR or RW have had a pedal onstage since 81/82.

I meant the Marshall head - the amp they (or Keith only?) used in the mix in 1989.

Ronnie still has a wah wah-pedal on stage, btw.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2018-06-26 10:51 by DandelionPowderman.

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tomk
If I remember the story correctly, Keith's original was a prototype which was later stolen or lost, and the replacements were not as good.

This is about the Dan Armstrong he used from 1969 until 1971, which has a prototype pickup. Stolen in July 1971, and replaced for the early 1972 shows and abandoned ever since.

Mathijs

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GasLightStreet

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thegreenmanalishi
Does anyone know Keiths basic rig for those late 80's gigs? Was he hitting a pedal on the SFD and GS lead work?

A Marshall head was the source for the leads in Sad Sad Sad etc.

He actually used a Soldano SLO-100 for most of the US tour, and a 50 watt Plexi from some US shows and the 1990 tour.

Mathijs

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Mathijs

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GasLightStreet

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thegreenmanalishi
Does anyone know Keiths basic rig for those late 80's gigs? Was he hitting a pedal on the SFD and GS lead work?

A Marshall head was the source for the leads in Sad Sad Sad etc.

He actually used a Soldano SLO-100 for most of the US tour, and a 50 watt Plexi from some US shows and the 1990 tour.

Mathijs

The heads in the pic I posted above are Marshalls, aren't they?

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Mathijs

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tomk
If I remember the story correctly, Keith's original was a prototype which was later stolen or lost, and the replacements were not as good.

This is about the Dan Armstrong he used from 1969 until 1971, which has a prototype pickup. Stolen in July 1971, and replaced for the early 1972 shows and abandoned ever since.

Mathijs

No, he said this about the MM Silo. What you wrote above is true, too.
I believe it was mentioned on the description plate when the MM was on display at Exhibitionism.

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DandelionPowderman

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GasLightStreet

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thegreenmanalishi
Does anyone know Keiths basic rig for those late 80's gigs? Was he hitting a pedal on the SFD and GS lead work?

A Marshall head was the source for the leads in Sad Sad Sad etc.

Only at the US leg?

From what I know, all of the legs.

There was some guitar magazine that he talked about it, using the Marshall for the solo in Sad Sad Sad and a few others. I'm guessing that means not all of the solos, just those... more meaty ones. Which may include SFTD. He didn't do a whole lot of solos on that tour...

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tomk

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Mathijs

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tomk
If I remember the story correctly, Keith's original was a prototype which was later stolen or lost, and the replacements were not as good.

This is about the Dan Armstrong he used from 1969 until 1971, which has a prototype pickup. Stolen in July 1971, and replaced for the early 1972 shows and abandoned ever since.

Mathijs

No, he said this about the MM Silo. What you wrote above is true, too.
I believe it was mentioned on the description plate when the MM was on display at Exhibitionism.

It doesn't make sense that it is about the MM, as he still has that very first white one (now on display) and sold the black one some years ago.

Mathijs

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Mathijs

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GasLightStreet

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thegreenmanalishi
Does anyone know Keiths basic rig for those late 80's gigs? Was he hitting a pedal on the SFD and GS lead work?

A Marshall head was the source for the leads in Sad Sad Sad etc.

He actually used a Soldano SLO-100 for most of the US tour, and a 50 watt Plexi from some US shows and the 1990 tour.

Mathijs

Thank you!

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DandelionPowderman

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Mathijs

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GasLightStreet

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thegreenmanalishi
Does anyone know Keiths basic rig for those late 80's gigs? Was he hitting a pedal on the SFD and GS lead work?

A Marshall head was the source for the leads in Sad Sad Sad etc.

He actually used a Soldano SLO-100 for most of the US tour, and a 50 watt Plexi from some US shows and the 1990 tour.

Mathijs

The heads in the pic I posted above are Marshalls, aren't they?

Yes, both. He started with the Soldano's (on advice of Clapton who used them at the time) but changed over to the Marshall's halfway or so.

Mathijs