Silver Sky refretted to 6105 Style Frets - Awesome!!

[MA Pete]

Hey guys! I had my Gold 2020 Silver Sky refretted with 6105 Style Frets (Jescar 55090), just got it back today.

WOW!! It totally transforms the guitar for my tastes, with regards to playability and feel!

I still "notice" the 7.25" Radius as being different to my many 10" radius PRS Guitars, and the 9.5" Fender Custom Shop Strats that I recently sold. But with frets I dig on there now, I don't find the Radius too off-putting. This confirms for me that what put me off the most was the stock frets. I find the Neck Carve to be a little on the beefy side as well, but again, neither the board radius nor the neck size/carve was nearly as off-putting for me as the small frets, I can now confirm.

My tech did a great job with the refret and setup, I can bend the G, B and E strings *2 full steps* and not have the strings fret out or even diminish in sustain, which is awesome!

I have always loved the Silver Sky pickups, best S-Type pickups of any brand that I have played. What was a surprise to me today was that to my ears they sounded even BETTER today! Maybe that was just a by-product of the fact that I now find the guitar much easier to play, so I was playing it better and with more authority and control.

I was on the fence before about also adding a Maple-boarded one to the collection, given my concern with regards to the feel and playability. But now I am 100% certain I will be getting one of those and doing the same refret to that one.

FYI - the cost was $465 for refret, blocking of the Trem, new bone nut and set up. The cost of a Silver Sky plus the cost of the refret makes the guitar well worth it in my opinion, considering I now like it better than the many $3-4K Fender Custom Shop Strats I have owned in the past few years.

For anyone that has considered doing this, but is concerned how it would turn out, I can fully endorse doing it!!

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Bangin’! I’d love to try yours (someday?) as the little frets weren’t my thing either.

 

[Warmart]

Very sweet! Congrats, I still haven't tried one, I sold my American Std to put $$ towards my CU24 - never ever bonded with that but one day I shall try a Silver Sky. Glad the fret job works for you, seems well worth it to me!

 

[Bowtiefanatc]

The 6105's take it closer to his original strat specs too.

 

[bodia]

Nice, Pete! Can't wait to try it out some day.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

OWNER!

And, as I've said several times here and at TGP, I figured the small frets would bother me worse the the radius. I haven't played one, but that's based off my thoughts on other guitars I've played that had small frets. I think you just confirmed for me that I was probably dead on in that assumption.

Way to go Pete! OWNER!!

 

[Mark Ray]

6105's are my favorite!

 

[OU812]

Nice, hey at the end of the day it’s your guitar and do what makes you happy and enjoy playing it. I actually don’t mind the frets the guitar comes with, but that’s my personal preference. My other guitar has bigger frets.

 

[WEDGE]

Love it. My fat fingers need bigger frets.

 

[AaeCee]

I love that as well, and it would be even better with the standard PRS 10" radius. Wish it was an option.

C'mon PRS, @Shawn@PRS .... take heed!

 

[RaySachs]

FYI - the cost was $465 for refret, blocking of the Trem, new bone nut and set up.

Glad you like the new frets. The other 7.25" fretboards I've played recently have had the narrow tall frets and I liked them a lot, but the vintage frets on the SS don't bother me in the lease. If I ever need a refret, I might consider going taller, but it sure ain't broke, so I'm not gonna fix it anytime soon. And I just flat out like 7.25" fretboards, so that's no adjustment at all. In fact, for some reason I don't understand, the SS neck FEELS flatter than the other 7.25" radius boards I've played. I think it might have something to do with the neck carve / profile. I'm used to (and prefer, but not greatly) a smaller shouldered neck than the SS, and reaching around those shoulders may be what makes the fretboard feel flatter. I don't really know. But that reminds me, you said this neck carve was somewhat off-putting to you, and IIRC, your's is the new 2020 rosewood board neck carve which is supposedly smaller shouldered and rounder than the earlier rosewood models AND than the current maple board models, which all have the original SS neck. So, if what you have is at all an issue now, you might want to play one of the maple board models before you order one - you may well like that neck carve less than this one.

One final thing - could you flip it over and get a photo of the blocked trem? I'm a longtime hardtail, blocked, decked guy - I've never found anything I could do musically with a trem bar. My main strat prior to the SS and still my backup is a Robert Cray hardtail. And I'm just fine with the stock setup on the SS, decked as it is. I leave the trem bar in the gig-bag and it plays like I like it just leaving it stock. Wonder why you had it blocked? Did they have to change anything about the position of the trem block and the bridge before they blocked it? Do you notice any difference in sound and feel from that particular mod?

Thanks,

-Ray

 

[Rider1260]

So tell me about these frets and why you decided to change them Pete.
What do they compare to PRS fret wise.

Interesting thing is I went the other way as both of mine are set to float and I like the sound MUCH better, more alive that said I also adjusted the pickup heights

 

[MA Pete]

Thanks guys, for the comments!

Glad you like the new frets. The other 7.25" fretboards I've played recently have had the narrow tall frets and I liked them a lot, but the vintage frets on the SS don't bother me in the lease. If I ever need a refret, I might consider going taller, but it sure ain't broke, so I'm not gonna fix it anytime soon. And I just flat out like 7.25" fretboards, so that's no adjustment at all. In fact, for some reason I don't understand, the SS neck FEELS flatter than the other 7.25" radius boards I've played. I think it might have something to do with the neck carve / profile. I'm used to (and prefer, but not greatly) a smaller shouldered neck than the SS, and reaching around those shoulders may be what makes the fretboard feel flatter. I don't really know. But that reminds me, you said this neck carve was somewhat off-putting to you, and IIRC, your's is the new 2020 rosewood board neck carve which is supposedly smaller shouldered and rounder than the earlier rosewood models AND than the current maple board models, which all have the original SS neck. So, if what you have is at all an issue now, you might want to play one of the maple board models before you order one - you may well like that neck carve less than this one.

One final thing - could you flip it over and get a photo of the blocked trem? I'm a longtime hardtail, blocked, decked guy - I've never found anything I could do musically with a trem bar. My main strat prior to the SS and still my backup is a Robert Cray hardtail. And I'm just fine with the stock setup on the SS, decked as it is. I leave the trem bar in the gig-bag and it plays like I like it just leaving it stock. Wonder why you had it blocked? Did they have to change anything about the position of the trem block and the bridge before they blocked it? Do you notice any difference in sound and feel from that particular mod?

Thanks,

-Ray

With regards to the neck on the Maple Boarded ones, that doesn't concern me, I had one of the 2018s with the same carve, I know what it is, I don't think it is too much different from the new 2020 carve on the Rosewood Boarded ones, like my Gold one.

I looked at the Trem after reading your question - it turns out he did not block it, he just "decked" it.

I normally block most of my Trem PRS Guitars so they had more stable tuning, and so you don't have that double-stop bend tuning issue you get with a Trem.

So tell me about these frets and why you decided to change them Pete.
What do they compare to PRS fret wise.

Interesting thing is I went the other way as both of mine are set to float and I like the sound MUCH better, more alive that said I also adjusted the pickup heights

Why I decided to change them? I have always stated that I thought the Silver Sky Frets were too small and that was my number issue with the model, and that if I got another one I would likely get it refretted. Just finally got around to it.

I don't know what I would compare it to with regards to a PRS Fret, perhaps the Custom 22 Special Semi-Hollow Frets. The 6105 is the most common Fret on a Fender Strat, at least the Custom Shop ones I owned, and also both the S-Type and Singlecut Macon Patrick James Eggle models had them. The Fenders had the 6105s, the PJEs had the Jescar 55090, which is pretty much the exact same spec as the 6105. In fact, my tech bought a bunch of the Jescar 55090 Fretwire because he liked them so much on the PJEs, knowing they were the same spec as the 6105. That's why I knew he had the Jescar 55090 in stock to do the Silver Sky.

I haven't tried adjusting the pickup heights on the Silver Sky yet, they sound pretty darn good where they are!

 

[RaySachs]

Thanks guys, for the comments!



With regards to the neck on the Maple Boarded ones, that doesn't concern me, I had one of the 2018s with the same carve, I know what it is, I don't think it is too much different from the new 2020 carve on the Rosewood Boarded ones, like my Gold one.

I looked at the Trem after reading your question - it turns out he did not block it, he just "decked" it.

I normally block most of my Trem PRS Guitars so they had more stable tuning, and so you don't have that double-stop bend tuning issue you get with a Trem.

I haven't tried adjusting the pickup heights on the Silver Sky yet, they sound pretty darn good where they are!

Good to know about the neck carve - I was hoping to try a 2020 model, but if they’re not very different I may leave well enough alone.

in terms of decking the trem, Mayer likes em that way, so that’s the default setup on a SS. If you put the bar in, you can push down on it to lower pitch, but you can’t pull up to raise it. And if you don’t have a bar in it, it plays (and stays in tune) like it’s blocked or a hardtail. I wonder if your tech did anything to it. My understanding is if you want to convert it to float, you’re supposed to add a shim and it takes some real adjusting, but if you like it decked, it comes that way!

Ive played around with only the middle pickup height. If you lower it, you get more quack in the 2 & 4 positions, but you do lose a bit of volume in all three middle positions that use that pickup. I found a sweet spot where it doesn’t lose enough volume to be noticeable to me, but still adds a bit of quack.

-Ray

 

[OU812]

Good to know about the neck carve - I was hoping to try a 2020 model, but if they’re not very different I may leave well enough alone.

in terms of decking the trem, Mayer likes em that way, so that’s the default setup on a SS. If you put the bar in, you can push down on it to lower pitch, but you can’t pull up to raise it. And if you don’t have a bar in it, it plays (and stays in tune) like it’s blocked or a hardtail. I wonder if your tech did anything to it. My understanding is if you want to convert it to float, you’re supposed to add a shim and it takes some real adjusting, but if you like it decked, it comes that way!

Ive played around with only the middle pickup height. If you lower it, you get more quack in the 2 & 4 positions, but you do lose a bit of volume in all three middle positions that use that pickup. I found a sweet spot where it doesn’t lose enough volume to be noticeable to me, but still adds a bit of quack.

-Ray

What is the difference between the 2018 and 2020 neck shape?

 

[OU812]

Also, in regards to the neck (and I posted this in the official Silver Sky thread) my hang tag says JM64 neck profile. I emailed PRS about this and they said it’s a typo and said they can send out a new tag to me. However, browsing online guitar shops yesterday I found a new 2020 as well that had the same thing written, JM64, and not JM635. My guitar is dated Jan. 20, 2020 and the guitar online is Jan. 22, 2020 but. 55 serial numbers below mine.

Edit:
Here is another one that has the same code, JM64
https://eddiesguitars.com/electric-guitars/paul-reed-smith-silver-sky-john-mayer-tungsten-11757

 

[RaySachs]

What is the difference between the 2018 and 2020 neck shape?

I didn't recall what they named them, but the 2018 and 2019 rosewood board models AND the 2020 maple board models all have the same, original Silver Sky neck. I guess that one was the JM635 - i.e., John Mayer 1963 1/2, or sort of a hybrid between a 63 and 64 strat neck.

For the 2020 rosewood board models (of which I don't think there are many out in the wild due to the halt in production from this virus), they changed the neck, reduced the shoulder and made the neck a bit slimmer feeling and rounder. So if you have on of the relatively few 2020 models out there and you have a rosewood board, you have the rounder, reduced shoulder neck. I guess that's a JM64, presumably closer to a 1964 strat neck.

I have a 2018 model (bought new in January or February of this year) and, as much as I love the guitar, the neck profile is my one quibble with it. I like it fine and don't really notice it when I'm playing it, but when I pick up my Robert Cray strat with a slimmer, rounder feeling neck, I notice and like the difference. I find I can wrap my thumb more easily on the Cray than on the Silver Sky. I hope to someday get a chance to try a 2020 rosewood Silver Sky at some point to see if I prefer it and, if I do, whether by enough to make it worth spending the extra money to sell mine and buy a new 2020. Based on Pete's comment earlier in this thread, I'm guessing it wouldn't be different enough for me to go through the hassle. But I'd still like to try one with the slimmer neck and find out for sure. We're all oddly different in how sensitive we are to these things.

So, you know, if you somehow find your neck is too slender and you yearn for something with broader shoulders, let me know. Maybe we could work out some kind of trial trade. They're both Tungsten, both look and sound identical, but they have slightly different neck profiles.

-Ray

 

[OU812]

I didn't recall what they named them, but the 2018 and 2019 rosewood board models AND the 2020 maple board models all have the same, original Silver Sky neck. I guess that one was the JM635 - i.e., John Mayer 1963 1/2, or sort of a hybrid between a 63 and 64 strat neck.

For the 2020 rosewood board models (of which I don't think there are many out in the wild due to the halt in production from this virus), they changed the neck, reduced the shoulder and made the neck a bit slimmer feeling and rounder. So if you have on of the relatively few 2020 models out there and you have a rosewood board, you have the rounder, reduced shoulder neck. I guess that's a JM64, presumably closer to a 1964 strat neck.

I have a 2018 model (bought new in January or February of this year) and, as much as I love the guitar, the neck profile is my one quibble with it. I like it fine and don't really notice it when I'm playing it, but when I pick up my Robert Cray strat with a slimmer, rounder feeling neck, I notice and like the difference. I find I can wrap my thumb more easily on the Cray than on the Silver Sky. I hope to someday get a chance to try a 2020 rosewood Silver Sky at some point to see if I prefer it and, if I do, whether by enough to make it worth spending the extra money to sell mine and buy a new 2020. Based on Pete's comment earlier in this thread, I'm guessing it wouldn't be different enough for me to go through the hassle. But I'd still like to try one with the slimmer neck and find out for sure. We're all oddly different in how sensitive we are to these things.

So, you know, if you somehow find your neck is too slender and you yearn for something with broader shoulders, let me know. Maybe we could work out some kind of trial trade. They're both Tungsten, both look and sound identical, but they have slightly different neck profiles.

-Ray

Thanks for the info. I love the neck, was just curious how it compared to the older models. Yea I have a 2020 model, Jan. 20, 2020 is the date on the tag. Really loving the guitar. Was just interesting that PRS emailed me back saying it’s a typo when obviously it’s not. Appreciate the feedback, I always like researching and finding out all these little details etc.

 

[Eilif]

My understanding is that the Silver Sky comes stock with a bone nut, but maybe that is not correct. If it does come with a bone nut, why the replacement nut? Not being critical, just curious.

Beautiful guitar, BTW. I always thought that I'd get white, if I ever bought one, but I love that gold color. Golden Sky.

FYI - the cost was $465 for refret, blocking of the Trem, new bone nut and set up.

 

[OU812]

My understanding is that the Silver Sky comes stock with a bone nut, but maybe that is not correct. If it does come with a bone nut, why the replacement nut? Not being critical, just curious.

Beautiful guitar, BTW. I always thought that I'd get white, if I ever bought one, but I love that gold color. Golden Sky.

If the frets you install are now taller, you’ll need to install a new nut or shim the old one to have the same action because now the frets are closer to the strings. A shimmed bone nut is the cheap way to do it, that’s more for when you have a Floyd locking nut. For bone you just make a new one to your exact specs and string gauge.