A discussion on how the Silver Sky changed over the years.

[Revelation]

I think many of us have seen this video which was very insightful.

For those who have played multiple Silver Sky's from different years:

1. How do the pickups on the original (v1.0) sound compared to the 2020 (v1.1), and 2021 (v2) pickups? Which are your favorites and why?

2. What are you opinion of the original JM neck to the JMR neck that is now on the rosewood fretboards? Do you think they should have changed the maple necks to the same neck shape?

3. What is your opinion on the 6230 frets from 1998-2020 to the 6105 frets?

4. When did the Gen 3 screws come out, what difference is there?


Regarding the pickups, I don't recall what I thought about the original ones as I was more focused on the different look and feel of the guitar. However, my son has the 2020 pickups. They have less output than my 2023 pickups. I will have to do more A/B testing on the differences on their tone.

I wanted the maple fretboard, so I did not look closely at the rosewood neck. I'm sure I would want one of them too if I looked more closely at them.

Frets: My son has the smaller frets on his 2020 SK which are similar to the fret size on my 82 Strat. They are ok, but I much prefer the larger ones they have on the current Silver Sky.

 

[Going Modal]

"Silver Sky...over the years...?" Crap, I feel old. I thought these just came out.

 

[Revelation]

Over 100 views without any comments? Interesting.

 

[Glide-bpm]

My pink one is a 2023 Silver Sky! Love love love love it!!!

 

[ThePanda]

I think many of us have seen this video which was very insightful.

For those who have played multiple Silver Sky's from different years:

1. How do the pickups on the original (v1.0) sound compared to the 2020 (v1.1), and 2021 (v2) pickups? Which are your favorites and why?

2. What are you opinion of the original JM neck to the JMR neck that is now on the rosewood fretboards? Do you think they should have changed the maple necks to the same neck shape?

3. What is your opinion on the 6230 frets from 1998-2020 to the 6105 frets?

4. When did the Gen 3 screws come out, what difference is there?


Regarding the pickups, I don't recall what I thought about the original ones as I was more focused on the different look and feel of the guitar. However, my son has the 2020 pickups. They have less output than my 2023 pickups. I will have to do more A/B testing on the differences on their tone.

I wanted the maple fretboard, so I did not look closely at the rosewood neck. I'm sure I would want one of them too if I looked more closely at them.

Frets: My son has the smaller frets on his 2020 SK which are similar to the fret size on my 82 Strat. They are ok, but I much prefer the larger ones they have on the current Silver Sky.

What screws? They changed the screws?

I first tried the Maple SS and loved it. I bought a 22 Rosewood and the neck does feel really different but I really like it. The shoulders take a little to get used to.

 

[Rider1260]

I have heard small neck change , bigger frets , lower output pickups

 

[TheBlueOne]

Reviving an old thread. I have a 2019 rosewood board SS. I just saw some photos of a late 2023 rosewood board Silver Sky (Dec manufacture date) and the back of the neck seemed finished more like the satin maple board ones, rather than the gloss of the rosewood ones usually have. Is this a new change or is it just the way it was photographed?

 

[ThePanda]

Reviving an old thread. I have a 2019 rosewood board SS. I just saw some photos of a late 2023 rosewood board Silver Sky (Dec manufacture date) and the back of the neck seemed finished more like the satin maple board ones, rather than the gloss of the rosewood ones usually have. Is this a new change or is it just the way it was photographed?

That is a good question. Earlier this year I played a Rosewood Roxy Pink in a shop and was surprised the neck felt satin.

Maybe they changed it.

 

[kennetha1a]

Hey all, thought I'd share my recent experience because Im a new owner of the SS and think I ran into a very similar situation. It was troubling me pretty bad until I could get this sorted out. So... I just bought a maple 2020 Moc Sand and it sounded good, but I recalled playing a 2018 rosewood in a store when these first came out and I remember something being different about it. I was thinking the neck changed in that little time. I couldn't resist but to buy another 2018 in rosewood Tungsten, do a compare, and maybe return one or the other. Well, turns out I LOVED the 2018 pickups quite a bit more. The neck also felt a little slicker but not enough of a difference to make me choose one over the other. I was also still a fan of the moc sand maple colors a tiny bit more than the tungsten.

Regardless, I became unhappy with the 2020 moc sand and just kept gravitating back to the tones I was getting from the 2018 tungsten. It was soooo good. When I would go back to the 2020, it just didn't have as much meat or punch, and the tone was a little too bright. I'd adjust the tone on the bridge to try and accommodate things, adjust my pedals, but none of that seemed to make them match, as much as I wanted it to.

I thought maybe changing the strings might help but before I waste another 12 bucks on strings, what else could I do with the current situation. The 2020 action seemed a little high so I lowered the saddle height. Im no technician so I was worried I might make this thing worse. Well, I did because now the guitar got even brighter than before, plus I now had saddle screws showing that were tearing up my palm a little bit. The strings were simply lower and now closer to the pickups, so I then lowered the pickups. That helped but the tone still wasn't greatly improved, I was kind of back to square one. I had only lowered the strings but then lowered the pickups. This is where it got interesting (for me at least).

I looked at the 2018 saddles and they had no screws showing. I compared the neck reliefs holding them side by side. I wasn't 100% sure but it looked like the neck might be just a hair tighter (back further) than the 2020. I decided Im going to undo whatever I did on the 2020 and make these 2 guitars identical in measurements which is what I should have done from the beginning.

Here's where my DIY antics came up. I put the 2018 flat back against a wall and measured how far the headstock was from the wall. Then I did this to the 2020 and confirmed the 2018 was back more and slightly tighter. So I loosened the strings on the 2020 and tightened the neck until the headstock was the same distance from the wall.

Next I measured each saddle and it's distance from the back of the bridge. The saddles on the 2020 were further out than the 2018. It was close in comparison but not identical. I had to tighten that one screw on the back of the bridge for each saddle on the 2020 until it was a perfect match with the 2018. Lastly, I raised the saddle height on the 2020 back to how it was with the top screws not sticking out or showing. It now matched the 2018's saddle heights. I then retuned the original strings back to standard tuning.

I found the 2018 pickups were closer to the strings than the 2020. So I matched the heights. Things were better. The 2020 was still a little brighter though on the 2020. I decided to lower my pickups on the 2020 just a little at a time. I kept plugging the other guitar in back and forth comparing the 2. I got the heights on the 2020 to what I felt were their sweet spot which still ended up being lower than the 2018's height, but guess what......it fu***ing rocked! Blew my mind how much it got better!

To conclude, the 2 guitars are not 100% alike, but 1 is also maple neck while the other is rosewood. Besides that, I honestly don't know which one I like more now. They are both so much better. It's a good problem when they are not the same but 1 love both and TRULY can't decide. Maybe the moc sand just needed an improved setup (which I've never done one before). I just found a template setup of the same model guitar that I liked more and tried to make them match. It so worked, maybe I got lucky. Furthermore, Im attached to both guitars now and will somehow manage to keep both. Im playing both of these guitars more than my Fender American Standard which is loaded with Fat 50's and sounds killer. Sorry Fender, but PRS really nailed it with these pickups, all 5 positions rock. Hope these details, as amateur as they might sound to many, may be helpful to someone out there. Cheers all!

 

[bodia]

Hey all, thought I'd share my recent experience because Im a new owner of the SS and think I ran into a very similar situation. It was troubling me pretty bad until I could get this sorted out. So... I just bought a maple 2020 Moc Sand and it sounded good, but I recalled playing a 2018 rosewood in a store when these first came out and I remember something being different about it. I was thinking the neck changed in that little time. I couldn't resist but to buy another 2018 in rosewood Tungsten, do a compare, and maybe return one or the other. Well, turns out I LOVED the 2018 pickups quite a bit more. The neck also felt a little slicker but not enough of a difference to make me choose one over the other. I was also still a fan of the moc sand maple colors a tiny bit more than the tungsten.

Regardless, I became unhappy with the 2020 moc sand and just kept gravitating back to the tones I was getting from the 2018 tungsten. It was soooo good. When I would go back to the 2020, it just didn't have as much meat or punch, and the tone was a little too bright. I'd adjust the tone on the bridge to try and accommodate things, adjust my pedals, but none of that seemed to make them match, as much as I wanted it to.

I thought maybe changing the strings might help but before I waste another 12 bucks on strings, what else could I do with the current situation. The 2020 action seemed a little high so I lowered the saddle height. Im no technician so I was worried I might make this thing worse. Well, I did because now the guitar got even brighter than before, plus I now had saddle screws showing that were tearing up my palm a little bit. The strings were simply lower and now closer to the pickups, so I then lowered the pickups. That helped but the tone still wasn't greatly improved, I was kind of back to square one. I had only lowered the strings but then lowered the pickups. This is where it got interesting (for me at least).

I looked at the 2018 saddles and they had no screws showing. I compared the neck reliefs holding them side by side. I wasn't 100% sure but it looked like the neck might be just a hair tighter (back further) than the 2020. I decided Im going to undo whatever I did on the 2020 and make these 2 guitars identical in measurements which is what I should have done from the beginning.

Here's where my DIY antics came up. I put the 2018 flat back against a wall and measured how far the headstock was from the wall. Then I did this to the 2020 and confirmed the 2018 was back more and slightly tighter. So I loosened the strings on the 2020 and tightened the neck until the headstock was the same distance from the wall.

Next I measured each saddle and it's distance from the back of the bridge. The saddles on the 2020 were further out than the 2018. It was close in comparison but not identical. I had to tighten that one screw on the back of the bridge for each saddle on the 2020 until it was a perfect match with the 2018. Lastly, I raised the saddle height on the 2020 back to how it was with the top screws not sticking out or showing. It now matched the 2018's saddle heights. I then retuned the original strings back to standard tuning.

I found the 2018 pickups were closer to the strings than the 2020. So I matched the heights. Things were better. The 2020 was still a little brighter though on the 2020. I decided to lower my pickups on the 2020 just a little at a time. I kept plugging the other guitar in back and forth comparing the 2. I got the heights on the 2020 to what I felt were their sweet spot which still ended up being lower than the 2018's height, but guess what......it fu***ing rocked! Blew my mind how much it got better!

To conclude, the 2 guitars are not 100% alike, but 1 is also maple neck while the other is rosewood. Besides that, I honestly don't know which one I like more now. They are both so much better. It's a good problem when they are not the same but 1 love both and TRULY can't decide. Maybe the moc sand just needed an improved setup (which I've never done one before). I just found a template setup of the same model guitar that I liked more and tried to make them match. It so worked, maybe I got lucky. Furthermore, Im attached to both guitars now and will somehow manage to keep both. Im playing both of these guitars more than my Fender American Standard which is loaded with Fat 50's and sounds killer. Sorry Fender, but PRS really nailed it with these pickups, all 5 positions rock. Hope these details, as amateur as they might sound to many, may be helpful to someone out there. Cheers all!

Nicely done. Glad you got the 2020 to the point that you’re digging it.