I recently picked up a PRS Silver Sky guitar: the full-fat USA version, not the Silver Sky SE version.
What convinced me to buy one? How does it sound? Read on for all of that and more.
Continue reading “First Impressions: 2022-spec PRS Silver Sky”Andertons Unveils New Fender Signature Models
Andertons are back with a world exclusive! After PRS took a Fender Strat and stuck a PRS headstock on it, Fender are hitting back with new signature models from Slash and Carlos Santana. After all, if PRS can take an iconic guitar and slap a new headstock on it, why can’t Fender slap one of the most iconic headstocks of all time on a PRS guitar too?
This is an April Fools’ joke from Andertons, based on how the guitar community has reacted to the PRS Silver Sky. The two guitars in the video do exist, and are currently being auctioned on eBay for charity. Full links are in the video description on YouTube, so click through if you fancy bidding on either of these instruments!
PRS Silver Sky vs Original Fender 1965 Stratocaster
The first batch of PRS Silver Sky guitars is out in the wild. Tim Pierce has borrowed one, and he’s posted a comparison of the Silver Sky vs an original Fender Stratocaster from 1965 – a guitar that costs about 10 times as much as the Silver Sky.
Have a listen.
I couldn’t hear a difference between the two guitars, not in the mix at any rate. And, honestly, I think that’s impressive.
Folks have been trying to recreate the fabled 59 Les Paul tone for decades, and so far no-one – including PRS – has managed to do so. We’ve ended up with some really good instruments to choose from if we don’t want a Gibson, but that hallowed tone has remained elusive. (In part because no-one can agree on what it is …). The PRS McCarty 594 is a fantastic guitar, but it does not sound like a Les Paul.
With the Silver Sky, it appears that PRS have managed to recreate that 60s Strat tone, and then improve on both the tone and the playing experience.
Once people get over the headstock, I’m sure this guitar is here to stay.
Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed Tim’s video.
John Mayer Talks PRS Silver Sky
I promise that I’ll stop posting about the PRS Silver Sky soon. Before I do, I have to share with you John Mayer’s own thoughts on his new guitar.
He’s not pulling any punches here. He tackles the guitar’s Fender heritage, why he went to PRS for this guitar, what makes it different from a Fender Strat, and where the time went on designing the Silver Sky. If you want to understand how he sees this guitar, it’s compulsory viewing.
The key thing I took away from this is that this all started with tone. He wanted something that looked like a Strat, and played like a Strat, but that addressed some of the things he didn’t like about the Fender Strat sound. Paul Reed Smith is all about tone in a way that few other guitar builders are. And things evolved from there to become the Silver Sky that we’ve all been talking about.
Whether you like John Mayer or not, he deserves credit for putting out a video like this. It’s not some slick PR video. It’s just John talking into his phone on a livestream. How many other mega-artists would do this?
Sadly, he doesn’t post directly to YouTube, and I don’t know where the original video was posted. I couldn’t find it on Instagram or on Facebook.
PRS Silver Sky – John Mayer Rig Shootout
Today, we have a different kind of demo from Peach Guitars. They’ve done a shootout between John Mayer’s current rig – PRS Silver Sky and JMOD amp – and his old, pre-PRS rig – Fender 63 Stratocaster and a Two-Rock amp.
The PRS Silver Sky continues to be the most talked about guitar of 2018. I still can’t figure why it’s generated the reaction that it has – including my own reaction.
The more I hear it though, the more I’m interested in trying one for myself. To my ears, it sounds like a lot has gone into tuning it to be a great guitar for completely clean tones. That’s where I used to live before moving onto Les Pauls. I’d love to find the right guitar to go back to that style one day.
Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed Peach Guitars’ video.
Which Is The Best Strat – Fender, Suhr, PRS
Not to be outdone by Anderton’s PRS Silver Sky video today, Thomann have shot a shootout video comparing a real Fender Strat against two of its competitors – Suhr (who used to work for Fender) Classic Pro and the new PRS Silver Sky.
It’s wonderfully click-bait-y – but do we learn anything from this video? I’m not sure that we do.
I didn’t hear much difference between the three – and nowhere near the amount of difference that I was expecting. The extra low end we heard the PRS Silver Sky do on the Andertons video isn’t there, and neither is the high-end from the Suhr’s stainless steel frets. I played a Suhr Classic Pro about a month ago, and in person that extra high-end is far from subtle.
So yeah, I’m surprised, and I’m not sure what to make of it.
Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed Kris’s video.
PRS Silver Sky Demo and Discussion
The PRS Silver Sky has been the most-discussed guitar of 2018 … and now Andertons are weighing in with their thoughts. Oh, and they have one to demo for us too.
This is a great video, and not at all the kind of sales-y video you might be expecting. From a first unboxing to first impression playing to discussing many of the points raised online – including comparing it to Fender Strats – there’s a lot of useful ground covered.
One thing in particular – there’s plenty of string bends in this video, showing that the vintage radius isn’t going to cause string bends to choke out.
For me, it sounds fantastic in this video. It has that quintessential Strat tone in buckets. There’s both a top-end snap and a bottom end chime that I personally look for from Strats and the like. The pickups seem nicely balanced in output too, and across the full range of the neck.
When they’re more readily available, I’m definitely going to try one out.
Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed this video.
Initial Thoughts On The PRS Silver Sky
This evening, my friend Matt asked me on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/matthew_darcy/status/971115684552937473?s=21
Well, truth be told: I haven’t played one, and until I do, all I have is an emotional reaction to the announcement.
And my feelings are really mixed.
The pricing was a nice surprise to me. I’m used to PRS charging top dollar for their guitars. In return, you get an amazing musical instrument that’s also often a work of art. Plus this is a signature model.
I was expecting it to be priced around the same as the Custom 24, if not higher. So to see it priced where it is was a really nice surprise. If I was looking for a top-end Strat, it’d make my to-try list on price alone.
The thing I’m not feeling good about is that, in looks at least, it’s a Strat. It’ll have all the little tweaks and improvements that PRS do best, but it’s a Strat. It’s a little too close to being a clone for my comfort.
I don’t know why I’m having this reaction. I grew up playing Strat clones, and I still own one to this day that I’ll never part with. Last month, I was very happily bonding with an Xotic California Classic, and I didn’t have the same reaction then.
It makes no sense, but there it is.
PRS Announces The John Mayer Silver Sky
This has been teased for months … and now it’s finally out in the open for us all to see.
Let’s not beat about the bush. This is PRS’s take on a vintage Strat, just like the 594, McCarty and SC250 models have all been PRS’s take on the Les Paul.
An interesting thing about the Silver Sky is the pricing. They start from £2,299.99 in the UK. That competes well with Fender Custom Shop Strats, and is in aspirational reach of anyone looking at Fender’s Elite series.
What do you think? An interesting addition to the market?
Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed these PRS videos.