Silver Sky vs Fender CS

[Milsco]

Am I crazy for considering selling my Fender Custom Shop Stratocaster (1960 NOS) and replacing it with a Silver Sky?

I absolutely love how my Strat looks, but there’s always little things that have bugged me, most notably the trem. The SS just seems to nail everything I want from an S-type.

My head says do it, but my heart says I’ll miss it.

What do you think?

 

[Olympic Tortoise]

Oh, that’s a tough call. That is one very classy Strat right there…

 

[bodia]

I’d do it and wouldn’t look back.

 

[veinbuster]

I would do a reality check on relative value, but if the strat isn’t doing it for you, try the Silver Sky.

 

[Milsco]

I would do a reality check on relative value, but if the strat isn’t doing it for you, try the Silver Sky.

Can I ask what you mean? No shade, genuinely curious.

 

[tedtan]

Buy the SS and keep both for a month. Then keep the one you like best and sell the other.

 

[veinbuster]

Can I ask what you mean? No shade, genuinely curious.

The custom shop strat might be worth more than the silver sky. I would check it’s resale value before doing a straight up trade. Good odds you end up with a silver sky and some spare cash.

 

[Milsco]

The custom shop strat might be worth more than the silver sky. I would check it’s resale value before doing a straight up trade. Good odds you end up with a silver sky and some spare cash.

Ah, yes! Sorry I can see my wording wasn’t particularly clear, but I didn’t intend it to be a straight swap. Thank you for pointing it out to me in case I didn’t know though

 

[Milsco]

Buy the SS and keep both for a month. Then keep the one you like best and sell the other.

Not a bad idea at all. It just requires explaining to somebody why there’s another guitar in the house

 

[alantig]

Not a bad idea at all. It just requires explaining to somebody why there’s another guitar in the house

No explanation is necessary. You just say, "I have another guitar now" and hand her your business card.

 

[Broseph]

Now dumb question here: have you thought about upgrading the tremolo block? I install Callaham blocks on strats. Allows for pop in arm action. Direct fit into the vintage strat plate.

It’s a tough call. Silver Skys are great and cheaper than a custom shop. A strat is iconic, and a custom shop should play incredible smooth. Sometimes I’m not a huge fan of the vintage spacing with the string on the edge of the fret boards. That’s when a better cut nut or vintage narrow trems help quite a bit.

 

[show_a_little_faith]

I'm assuming you've played an SS before? If so, maybe you need another round but it seems to me that you like it enough to want to do it, maybe you're just hesitating on sentiment/perception of the Fender brand being the pinnacle of S-type guitars.

When I was younger and couldn't decide between two choices, I'd often flip a coin. But frequently, I'd end up re-flipping, as many times as it took to get the answer I knew I really wanted. I guess I was just looking for "fate" to affirm it

 

[Maertl513]

First let a technician check the vibrato.

 

[Milsco]

Now dumb question here: have you thought about upgrading the tremolo block? I install Callaham blocks on strats. Allows for pop in arm action. Direct fit into the vintage strat plate.

It’s a tough call. Silver Skys are great and cheaper than a custom shop. A strat is iconic, and a custom shop should play incredible smooth. Sometimes I’m not a huge fan of the vintage spacing with the string on the edge of the fret boards. That’s when a better cut nut or vintage narrow trems help quite a bit.

The string spacing at the board edge is my number one peeve with this guitar. It’s too faithful of a vintage reproduction and I can’t help but feel that a more refined guitar (say, Silver Sky) would be better for me.

And then I remember how how much I love the look of this one.

 

[Milsco]

I'm assuming you've played an SS before? If so, maybe you need another round but it seems to me that you like it enough to want to do it, maybe you're just hesitating on sentiment/perception of the Fender brand being the pinnacle of S-type guitars.

When I was younger and couldn't decide between two choices, I'd often flip a coin. But frequently, I'd end up re-flipping, as many times as it took to get the answer I knew I really wanted. I guess I was just looking for "fate" to affirm it

I am definitely hardwired to believe that Fender is the pinnacle of S-types. And I do think I’m struggling to let go of that despite knowing that every Silver Sky I’ve played has felt better to me.

I think ultimately I’ll miss having a strat more than I’ll miss playing a strat. Which is stupid

 

[watelessness]

my vote is to NOT do it. i've been down this road. i never found a SS that i liked better than my CS, as much as i wanted to have a PRS that sounded like a strat.

that said, if you dont like your CS, move on

 

[Broseph]

Get a vintage narrow bridge first. Better to spend $150 first and experiment. See if you like it. If not you can reverse it and put the custom shop for sale. I’ve installed relic vintage narrow bridges on both of my relic strats. Plenty of silver sky’s out there and will stay there. Moving off the custom shop strat too soon could be a mistake, and cost a lot to undo

 

[SinSir]

I am definitely hardwired to believe that Fender is the pinnacle of S-types.

I'm in this camp.. the SS is the pinnacle of S type for JM. Just sayin. A strat can be tweaked and tweaked to your liking. What the CS was meant to be for those of us that aren't JM. If the SS is the same to you as it is JM. Then there you go.

I think ultimately I’ll miss having a strat more than I’ll miss playing a strat. Which is stupid

I don't think this is stupid. I feel the same way. I'll always have a Fender Strat and a partscaster. Someday I'm sure I'll bring home a Silver Sky being such a PRS guy..I've come damn close countless times. I'm differnet though. I love my strats and just want a SS because it's a PRS, not the other way around. Wanting a S type but prefer the SS.

 

[dogrocketp]

Bye-bye, fender……..

 

[Mind Flayer]

Love my silver sky, if I had to keep only one strat style guitar, that would be it. It’s just better than my fenders, which I love too. But like any guitar, you have to find the right one. Definitely differences between the model years. I had a couple that I let go before I found the one I’m keeping forever.