Silver Sky Body Templates?

[Cory A]

Hey guys,

I've looked through the internet a fair amount but can't seem to find any information whatsoever on the SS body. I'm a long, long way from justifying (and affording) a purchase, so in the meantime I'd love to do a home build, Partscaster-style.
Is there anywhere you guys would know to look for this? Do you guys know how similar it is to the EG bodies?

 

[Broseph]

I’m curious which pickups do you plan to place in there? I don’t see a used JM pickup set on the market. Use a strat pickup set? If so which?

 

[Cory A]

I’m curious which pickups do you plan to place in there? I don’t see a used JM pickup set on the market. Use a strat pickup set? If so which?

I'm planning on winding my own vintage-style strat pickups.

 

[SinSir]

I dont thiink you'll see a ton of support around here for such activities like a strat board. Not just opinions but parts. It's not really a thing in the PRS world to build your own. Strats on the other hand there are plenty of outlets and parts including genuine fender parts and licensed. The PRS templates and parts I've found are of overseas origin and not approved or condoned.

I get it. I'm a fan of building partscaters myself. I find it extremely rewarding to say I built this and it's part of the fun of this hobby. The SS is Paul's take on the strat ala loosely a PRS partscaster of sorts. So, I build my idea of a perfect strat instead of someone else's.

 

[Cory A]

I dont thiink you'll see a ton of support around here for such activities like a strat board. Not just opinions but parts. It's not really a thing in the PRS world to build your own. Strats on the other hand there are plenty of outlets and parts including genuine fender parts and licensed. The PRS templates and parts I've found are of overseas origin and not approved or condoned.

I get it. I'm a fan of building partscaters myself. I find it extremely rewarding to say I built this and it's part of the fun of this hobby. The SS is Paul's take on the strat ala loosely a PRS partscaster of sorts. So, I build my idea of a perfect strat instead of someone else's.

That's a really good way of looking at it, the Strat-style guitars in the world vary more than anything else and those nuances really make it yours. The body of the SS has a massive appeal to me, but everyone's got something they'd want different on it. I'll wait on my build until I can find a new direction to try for an approach.
Really leaves me wondering about just how long it'll be until there's a generation of heavily modified PRS guitars, it's bound to happen! It'll be different than it was for companies like Fender or even Gibson, but there'll be a time when it takes off. Until then, there's still plenty of fun to be had with guitars people wouldn't mind having modded.

 

[garrett]

The Silver Sky body is different from any of the EG styles. It is much more like the NF3 and DC3.

Keep in mind the SS is still a proprietary shape. It isn't public domain like a Strat or Tele body so I think you'll have a lot of trouble getting specs. Pretty much everything is proprietary about it, really. There's not a single part shared with other S style guitars.

I'd recommend doing an inspired-by build using readily available parts. You could use the Warmoth tilt-back neck with their 3+3 headstock reversed along with any S body and that'll get you pretty close. But then, you may as well save for a bit and look for the real deal used on Reverb.

 

[Broseph]

My thoughts too. At that point you’re creating your own strat like rather than a silver sky. I don’t see the Silver sky ever becoming the fancy of a part caster model. At least not anytime soon. The strat got a 60 year head start with plenty of competitors and brands dedicated to upgrading them. Right now it’s a struggle to even find a different pick guard for the silver sky

 

[SinSir]

I’m curious which pickups do you plan to place in there? I don’t see a used JM pickup set on the market. Use a strat pickup set? If so which?

I stumbled across a company hand winding a repro on reverb this morning. Zero affiliation. experience, or knowledge of them besides the listing.

 

[Going Modal]

I would think that if you're building a guitar from whatever parts, you're not actually building a Silver Sky but rather you're building a "partscaster" as they're known. And this is not a bad thing, it just "is." There have been some really amazing partscasters that have left their mark on music history (Van Halen, anyone?).

Heck, the Silver Sky--for what it's worth--is like PRS himself building a partscaster... he just happened to do it in one of the best ways possible, and with the resources of being able to make every detail the best that it could possibly be. And he also owns a factory that can replicate it thousands more times. And with that quality, of course, comes the (understandable) cost of a new SS.

So, I guess what I'm saying is, just build the best partscaster for your needs and within your budget, and don't worry about trying to build a Silver Sky.

 

[tabl10s]

I just want an SS with a rosewood neck like some old Strats have. That way, I won't have to purchase a current Fender with said neck or build one.