Silver Sky Finish / Year / Color recap ?

[DarkskyZ]

OK so I hope this has not been clarified on another thread, I have searched for it, read dozens of pages of the officiel silver sky thread but no luck, I couldn't find a definitive answer so here I am asking the people in the know before I make a commitment to buy one.

I am refining my choices before buying a Silver Sky (US) and I am particularly keen on getting a CAB body finish. I have read that PRS started this finish on Silver Skies somewhere between end of 2019 / beginning of 2020. Am I right ?
As maple fretboard models appeared in 2020, does that mean that all maple fretboard Silver Skies are CAB finished ?
Also in case I go for rosewood fretboard, Polar Blue and Midnight Rose also appeared in 2020, does that make them all CAB finished too whatever fretboard they have ?
Is there any other obvious clue I am missing ?
Is there any other way for me to be sure ? Some kind of serial decoder like on my other core guitar for example ?

I will have to order sight unseen from maybe a dealer I don't know as there is not a single PRS dealer around me I could just drive to unfortunately (French guy here so not that many choices to begin with), I have had good luck before buying PRS Guitars this way (not so much with Fen and Gib...) so that doesn't bother me much. The problem is that most of those I already asked in France or Germany have no clue about the body finish of the guitars they have for sale, I already have been told "you know more than I do for sure, I didn't know about any finish change at all except for colours and fretboard". That is not helping to say the least...

Thanks in advance for your take on this.

 

[Birdsofprey]

Hello, The way to be sure is to email PRS via there webpage.

 

[bodia]

All 2020s should have CAB finish.

 

[DarkskyZ]

Hello, The way to be sure is to email PRS via there webpage.

I am going to do just that but in the mean time if this is somehow known things, I would be happy to see it shared and aggregated here too

All 2020s should have CAB finish.

That is my guess but I have read "end of 2019 / beginning of 2020" so I was unsure. One of the guitars I am looking at in particular is a March 2020 Polar Blue Maple neck and the dealer doesn't known if it is CAB or not.

 

[bodia]

I am going to do just that but in the mean time if this is somehow known things, I would be happy to see it shared and aggregated here too



That is my guess but I have read "end of 2019 / beginning of 2020" so I was unsure. One of the guitars I am looking at in particular is a March 2020 Polar Blue Maple neck and the dealer doesn't known if it is CAB or not.

By March it definitely would have been. I grabbed a 594 from November of 2019 and it had the CAB finish and vintage tuners. IIRC, the switch over to CAB started in late October, 2019 and was supposed to be completely on all Core models by February, 2020.

 

[DarkskyZ]

OK so I ordered a 2020 Golden Mesa, maple fingerboard Silver Sky from Anderton's in the UK. That is done. 2nd PRS I'll have. Can't wait.

That is my 3rd guitar purchase from them and their customer service is just unparalleled in my experience. That will end costing me a fair amount much than any French dealer around because of import duties and all that stuff but at least I got the color I like best which is now unavailable on 2022 models. It was also the last Golden Mesa in stock I could find in Europe.

Anyway, before ordering I had a chat with a salesman at Anderton's and he went the extra mile bringing the guitar from their warehouse to the shop so he could check the date of manufacture for me and he has gone even as far as asking PRS about the finish for that guitar. All that in a matter of a few hours. Very much appreciated, that's very different from the experience eI have with other dealers.

What PRS answered seems reasonable : Silver Skies being bolt on guitars, they don't keep records on their finishes. I suppose being bolt-on guitars, one can't really say -for sure- when both body and neck were made as it can be different for each.
So I gambled and bought it anyway as it is a July 2020 guitar which, to me, seem long enough for PRS to have used all their non CAB bodies by then.
Anderton's guy (a really helpful fellow) told me he thinks it is 95% surely CAB as it has a some slight orange peel to it like every CAB guitar he has in the shop while the other PRS guitars he has and which are not CAB don't have.

So now the wait for the DHL customs taxes bill is starting as well as the wait for the guitar to be delivered (in that order of course...).

Thanks again for you help