Premier Guitar PRS SE Silver Sky Review

[matonanjin]

"John Mayer’s Cheaper PRS S-Style Plays & Sounds Like a Million Bucks". That subtitle says it all.

The article goes on, "Budget renditions of established-model guitars used to make me skeptical. There was often a hitch: rough frets, pickups that were let-downs, funky pots, etc. But over the past decade-plus, the quality of guitars built in Asia by the major brands has continued to improve. PRS’s lower-priced version of their John Mayer signature model, the SE Silver Sky, is a premier example."

The magazine awaarded the guitar its "Premier Gear" pick designation.

The article was hugely complimentary and can be read HERE.

I did do what I think is a thorough search before posting it. I thought for sure someone would have posted about this before now. I don't think it's a duplication.

 

[Dirty_Boogie]

I hate when writers use the word "cheaper" for price. Cheap implies lower quality - what they should have used was "less expensive".

TBH, kinda getting tired of reading the SE Silver Sky reviews... they all sound like they were written by the same person, from the same copy. Everything may be true about the guitar, of course (speaking from experience), but these "reviews" are starting to sound a tad disingenuous.

 

[andy474x]

I tried one at the shop last week. The hype it has gotten is kind of a conundrum for me - on the one hand, it was a considerably better instrument than what Fender is putting out right now in that price range and above. On the other hand, the USA model is still a little better, and has been around long enough that I would've thought a lot more people who wanted one would've just scored a used USA model by now.

The SE neck felt much like the USA model in shape, no sharp fret ends (an area where Fender is majorly struggling of late), and as a whole, the USA SS tone really is there, lots of punch in the lower mids and not painfully bright. Probably one of the closest tonal matches to a USA model PRS I've heard out of an SE. The only real disparities I noticed were the SE didn't play as easy as the USA, the strings seemed stiffer whereas the USA more slinky feeling, and the nut was a little sharp on the corners and just looked a little chintzy (although to be fair, it may well be better in sound an function than it looks). On the plus side, I actually preferred to satin feel of the neck finish to the USA version, at least my RW board with the glossier neck finish, I think the USA w/maple board may be more of a satin too. Felt a lot like the satin on the ZM.

I'll be sticking with my USA model, but you'd have to hand me a pretty nice USA Fender to make me want it more than the SE Silver Sky. No way I'd be buying anything else in the sub-$1K bracket.

 

[Doug B]

7.5 lbs? I weighed mine last night - 6.8 lbs!

Best S**** I’ve played in a long time, and that includes the one that I had made for me by a Nashville luthier. It really does sound and feel like the ‘64 Strat I used to borrow from one of my heroes many years ago.