NGD - Silvertone!
Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2022 8:11 pm
This model was marked down at MF during their clearance sale and with the reward points I had sitting around with them I had to make the purchase. It's a Silvertone 1478 Reissue in black. Very similar to the original 1963 model in that it has the same body, neck and pickguard shape. Same white tuner knobs (so cool) and single coil pickups that are supposed to be as close as they can to the original. It also has a 20 fret neck at 24.5" scale. Now I've never owned an original 1478 so I can't comment on all the differences, but the most obvious is replacing the original vibrato with a licensed Bigsby.
My impressions of the guitar are all mostly favorable. I absolutely love the look of it - cool retro. Starting with the neck the tuners seem to work just fine and the overall neck is very nice. Silvertone states that it's a c-shape neck but I would describe more like a flat C - if that makes any sense. Either way it's very comfortable in the hand. One of the online reviews claimed that the model he received had a lot of fret buzz so I was a little worried on what I might get - but honestly there is no buzzing at all. The nut (albeit plastic) seems to be cut very well, and the neck relief seems pretty spot on and the action is very nice right out of the box. Very playable guitar.
I'm no expert on vintage Silvertone pickup sounds - but I had and idea in my head on what these should sound like, and these sound like that and a little better. I really like the neck pickup as it has a little more warmth and roundness to it that I find very pleasing. This guitar seems like it's made to play surf and blues music (at least to me). The bigsby seems well made and works well.
So my pro and cons list:
Pros:
Great fit and finish - put it on par with my CV Jaguar. Both made in Indonesia.
Like the neck - feels good, set up well, nice binding, cool tiltback headstock with the retro white plastic tuner knobs, nice pearl inlays, good fretwork, I like the shorter scale.
Great neck pickup
Very comfortable guitar
Love the retro look (although aren't all of our standard guitars ie. strats, teles, jags, LP's all retro too?)
Cons:
Volume/tone knobs are correct to the look, but feel cheap in the hand. I'm sure the originals did too LOL. Pots a little stiff made worse by the small knobs.
Selector switch doesn't seem to be of great quality. Getting some crackling when using it. Sometimes in the middle position when adjusting volumes I'd get a signal drop. Need to investigate - if anyone has any ideas please post.
Only two color options. I dig both of them as they are original, but I think this thing would look great in something bright.
Considering I payed a nice chunk under $300 this guitar was a great buy. I'd highly recommend this guitar to someone into the retro look/ feel and wasn't planning to use if for shredding or playing above the 20th fret LOL. Here's a few pictures and I hope you enjoyed the review. Happy New Year AGF!
My impressions of the guitar are all mostly favorable. I absolutely love the look of it - cool retro. Starting with the neck the tuners seem to work just fine and the overall neck is very nice. Silvertone states that it's a c-shape neck but I would describe more like a flat C - if that makes any sense. Either way it's very comfortable in the hand. One of the online reviews claimed that the model he received had a lot of fret buzz so I was a little worried on what I might get - but honestly there is no buzzing at all. The nut (albeit plastic) seems to be cut very well, and the neck relief seems pretty spot on and the action is very nice right out of the box. Very playable guitar.
I'm no expert on vintage Silvertone pickup sounds - but I had and idea in my head on what these should sound like, and these sound like that and a little better. I really like the neck pickup as it has a little more warmth and roundness to it that I find very pleasing. This guitar seems like it's made to play surf and blues music (at least to me). The bigsby seems well made and works well.
So my pro and cons list:
Pros:
Great fit and finish - put it on par with my CV Jaguar. Both made in Indonesia.
Like the neck - feels good, set up well, nice binding, cool tiltback headstock with the retro white plastic tuner knobs, nice pearl inlays, good fretwork, I like the shorter scale.
Great neck pickup
Very comfortable guitar
Love the retro look (although aren't all of our standard guitars ie. strats, teles, jags, LP's all retro too?)
Cons:
Volume/tone knobs are correct to the look, but feel cheap in the hand. I'm sure the originals did too LOL. Pots a little stiff made worse by the small knobs.
Selector switch doesn't seem to be of great quality. Getting some crackling when using it. Sometimes in the middle position when adjusting volumes I'd get a signal drop. Need to investigate - if anyone has any ideas please post.
Only two color options. I dig both of them as they are original, but I think this thing would look great in something bright.
Considering I payed a nice chunk under $300 this guitar was a great buy. I'd highly recommend this guitar to someone into the retro look/ feel and wasn't planning to use if for shredding or playing above the 20th fret LOL. Here's a few pictures and I hope you enjoyed the review. Happy New Year AGF!
