The "Official Silver Sky" Thread

Yay! Sorry can’t help but read it as “Onion”, lovely guitar, enjoy my friend.

Think of it as Orion Slave Girl Green - from Star Trek.

58191d2a914c6dae66371c9dcdc91b41.jpg
 
There’s a YouTube video with JM’s guitar tech that I think covers this.

If I can find it I’ll upload it
That would be great, ta.

Think I need to check one out in person....just picked up another Fuzz Face replica and got the itch for some single coil action.
 
Hello brothers, my friend got a SS Tungsten recently ( the only one in Lebanon so far) and he's very happy with it but his only complaint is that when he rolls the volume down there's a treble loss, so I guess that's by design and the resistor on the volume pot is adding to this effect ( his estimation), so he's thinking of adding a treble bleed capacitor as a remedy...
So how many of you did this/ left it stock?
Do you recommend this?
Thx for your suggestions in advance.
 
Hello brothers, my friend got a SS Tungsten recently ( the only one in Lebanon so far) and he's very happy with it but his only complaint is that when he rolls the volume down there's a treble loss, so I guess that's by design and the resistor on the volume pot is adding to this effect ( his estimation), so he's thinking of adding a treble bleed capacitor as a remedy...
So how many of you did this/ left it stock?
Do you recommend this?
Thx for your suggestions in advance.

Morning G

Quite an interesting YT video on Treble boost pedals by Pete Thorn, which could be an option.

Bryan May pays tribute on the vid to Rory Gallagher who gave him his sound.
 
Hello brothers, my friend got a SS Tungsten recently ( the only one in Lebanon so far) and he's very happy with it but his only complaint is that when he rolls the volume down there's a treble loss, so I guess that's by design and the resistor on the volume pot is adding to this effect ( his estimation), so he's thinking of adding a treble bleed capacitor as a remedy...
So how many of you did this/ left it stock?
Do you recommend this?
Thx for your suggestions in advance.

Another options is to use the Tone controls!!

If you set up your amp and gear whilst the tone control is rolled down to say 6/7, you have much more control over the tone. If you set up with the Tone control on Max, the only thing you can do is roll the tone down but if you set up with tone rolled down, then you have the option to roll the tone down as before but you can also roll it up too - saves having to buy a treble boost....

What's the point in having Tone controls on your guitar if you never use them?
 
Thx guys, the tone is not the issue here its the treble loss when turning down the volume, he's very happy with the sound when the volume is on 10 but below 8 it's losing the treble frequency, it's the usual problem with the old wiring I guess.
 
I haven't notice anything particularly uncomfortable on the "rolling the volume / treble lost" thing mentioned. Sure, there is some but nothing that can drive my attention specially compared with other strats I have seen in my time.
 
Been fortunate enough to had play 5 Silver Sky's (including mine) in the last 6 months and have a couple of thoughts about it. First will accept I’m pretty nerdy and OCD almost diagnosed (well, not really but you get my point).

I have looked for:
  • Tone: Same as in feel, pretty similar in tone overall. About this, even tho it is close to the same each has their respective flavor if you look for it without loosing the "classic" Silver Sky well know by now.
  • Feel: Its 100% true that PRS found a way to replicate the “magic” as was suggested by John himself. Didn’t find any significant worth mention differences in this regard (except about factory setup).
  • Overall finish: here is where I have my biggest findings. Unfortunately not all are finished with the same “care” or attention to detail. In some cases I saw real questionable job on fret ends, necks with close to no lacquer (it was so different that I thought it was a new natural neck approach), details on the bone nut cavity and pretty different setups overall straight from factory. Maybe the quality is having a hit by trying to maintain the market fulfill as quick as possible with the demand? I know that not every owner/looker is as nerdy but still, this things were pretty obvious.
With that said (I swear I’m not been biased) my SS is the cleanest most almost-immaculate I have seen vs the other 4, so I guess there are really magic ones out there. I’m totally honest by saying that I’m not a PRS fan (even by loving my SS) that masks any flaw their guitars may have. In fact I think based on their reputation and prices, it’s fair to say what we really see in real life.

Will post some pics of this guitars finishes compared to mine as reference to prove its inconsistencies.
 
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Thx guys, the tone is not the issue here its the treble loss when turning down the volume, he's very happy with the sound when the volume is on 10 but below 8 it's losing the treble frequency, it's the usual problem with the old wiring I guess.
r/whoosh

he's not referring to the tone being a problem. he's suggesting a perception remedy. he is saying; if you set up your amp tone with he tone rolled off a bit. this way when you roll off the volume and start loosing the treble, you can roll it back in with the tone knob.

also, yes... the easiest fix is to put in a treble bleed.
the current resistor has nothing to do with it. it's to lower the potentiometer from 300k to in-between 300k and 250k. mine had a 2.7M resistor in it which when measure it brought my 306k pot down to 278k.
the treble roll off has nothing to do with this resistor. keep it there. I've taken it off and while it's not that noticeable at first, if you switch to another guitar every other guitar will seem dark.

most Strat guitars without a treble bleed circuit loose treble when rolling off the volume. some people like this some people don't
 
Been fortunate enough to had play 5 Silver Sky's (including mine) in the last 6 months and have a couple of thoughts about it. First will accept I’m pretty nerdy and OCD almost diagnosed (well, not really but you get my point).

I have looked for:
  • Tone: Same as in feel, pretty similar in tone overall. About this, even tho it is close to the same each has their respective flavor if you look for it without loosing the "classic" Silver Sky well know by now.
  • Feel: Its 100% true that PRS found a way to replicate the “magic” as was suggested by John himself. Didn’t find any significant worth mention differences in this regard (except about factory setup).
  • Overall finish: here is where I have my biggest findings. Unfortunately not all are finished with the same “care” or attention to detail. In some cases I saw real questionable job on fret ends, necks with close to no lacquer (it was so different that I thought it was a new natural neck approach), details on the bone nut cavity and pretty different setups overall straight from factory. Maybe the quality is having a hit by trying to maintain the market fulfill as quick as possible with the demand? I know that not every owner/looker is as nerdy but still, this things were pretty obvious.
With that said (I swear I’m not been biased) my SS is the cleanest most almost-immaculate I have seen vs the other 4, so I guess there are really magic ones out there. I’m totally honest by saying that I’m not a PRS fan (even by loving my SS) that masks any flaw their guitars may have. In fact I think based on their reputation and prices, it’s fair to say what we really see in real life.

Will post some pics of this guitars finishes compared to mine as reference to prove its inconsistencies.

do you mean there was lacquer still left on the fret ends? or the fret ends weren't properly filed and polished? that would be horrible. honestly one of the best things I've found about my PRS is the neck. it's the most perfect neck I've ever played. no rocking at all with a fret rocker. fret ends are properly rolled.

honestly the rest of the guitar I could toss. not that it's bad, the body is well weighted and shape is designed well, my Strats now feel awkward and clunky. the pickups are great. very articulate, wonderful clarity... quite bright though but also not harsh. I ended up switching back to a 250k pot. I ended up messing with different resistors for awhile. I believe I switched from a 2.7Mohm to 3.3M which got the 306k pot I had to about 269k... I just threw a 250k pot that was reading at about 260k in it and I still roll off the tone a bit. My HITONE amp is quite bright though.

my problem with this guitar was the bridge. it turned out to be a battle.
I float my trem. as you guys know it's designed to be 'DECKED'
there is a PRS video showing how to float the bridge and it involved putting shims in the neck.
my first Silver Sky from the factory already had 3 shims in it. so in order to float the bridge I had to put in 5 shims total?
long story short, sent it back to PRS... they sent it back, it had cracked when they shipped it back and I got a replacement guitar with no factory shims.

the bridge is designed to sit above the body as are all the bridges using the GENIII screws which have a knife edge bevel in them. this works for very fluid movement with all the PRS trems (video showing this below). when it arrives from the factory it is decked (we all know this), but the front edge is still lifted above the wood (because of the screw design). with the back of the bridge decked there is certainly enough vibration transfer and I understand why it was John's choice to 'deck' it. the thing is. it's obvious PRS bridges aren't meant to be decked, nor was this one. because of this design when using the wang bar it lifts the bridge completely off the guitar and the only contact is between the screws. you will notice a very slight loss in volume when using the trem bar. it's not enough for a layman to noticed but I noticed.
also remember John doesn't even use the bar.
Also when floating the bridge, it's recommended that you use shims? isn't that weird? anyway...
I switched bridges all together. which is actually really hard because the GENIII screws are a lot larger than other screws.
I talked to a company in UK that solved this problem in previous PRS guitar with their retrofit bridge that remains in contact with the body at all times even when floating or being used. they make a retrofit bridge that uses the existing screws.

http://www.wudtone.com/product/prs-silver-sky-upgrade/

I just ended up using their 52.4 spaced bridge dowelling and gluing the bridge holes with hide glue then using the reinforced screws they offer.

watch this video to see what I'm talking about when floating the bridge...

EDIT: not only does the bridge work better, smoother and remain in contact with the body... just like the video it is LOUDER, more succinct, better string retention and and overall better toanz.
I mean in the video the level difference is so different it clips the camera.

even after this I ended up switching the stock PRS saddles as well. again for another improvement.

also no affiliation...
 
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Thinking about adding a mini toggle as an neck on option.
So I can get 2 more settings - bridge/neck and all 3 pickups.

While I have used blender knobs wiring before I prefer to have a mini toggle as I don't want a master tone.

I added a recessed neck pickup switch *like gilmours* in mine.
also a back pickguard, and new knobs.. and a new bridge...

thzi68o.jpg
 
anybody have pix of the inside wiring?
I'm wondering if there's anything different in how they wired these to make them sound so good?
 
What bridge did you use?

Wudtone
here is a link! they have other great hardware for Strats and PRS. I saw they had this so I contacted them and asked them if they could make me one to fit the Silver Sky.
It's basically MIM size (2 1/16 spacing) but they had to alter the size of the bridge holes to fit the PRS GEN III screws.

If you do reach out, tell Andy that Justin sent you!

again, no affiliation.... I just want them to know that I'm so damn happy with this upgrade.
watch the video above the post you quoted to see how the bridge works.

Silver Sky Bridge upgrade:
http://www.wudtone.com/product/prs-silver-sky-upgrade/
 
anybody have pix of the inside wiring?
I'm wondering if there's anything different in how they wired these to make them sound so good?

na it's normal.
the only thing different is they tie off the wires to the side with a plastic zip tie anchor because the routing is different than a strat.
also the volume potentiometer is 300k instead of 250k but they attach a resistor to bring it down just under 300k. I've seen them with 2.7M and 3.3M resistors... it all depends how the pot reads. I think I remember mine reading out to be 278k w/ the resistor and 306k w/o
other than that which is a rather normal modification for people wanting to brighten up a dark guitar or dark pickups (I have a really dark sounding LP and I use 550k (reads 548k) volume pots in my neck and then I'll use a resistor to drop the bridge to around 515k...

not my pics... just a google search of "PRS silver sky guts"
IMG_20180520_1257514.jpg

IMG_20180520_1258164.jpg
 
na it's normal.
the only thing different is they tie off the wires to the side with a plastic zip tie anchor because the routing is different than a strat.
also the volume potentiometer is 300k instead of 250k but they attach a resistor to bring it down just under 300k. I've seen them with 2.7M and 3.3M resistors... it all depends how the pot reads. I think I remember mine reading out to be 278k w/ the resistor and 306k w/o
other than that which is a rather normal modification for people wanting to brighten up a dark guitar or dark pickups (I have a really dark sounding LP and I use 550k (reads 548k) volume pots in my neck and then I'll use a resistor to drop the bridge to around 515k...

not my pics... just a google search of "PRS silver sky guts"
IMG_20180520_1257514.jpg

IMG_20180520_1258164.jpg
Lol! That's my guitar and pics!:cool::D
 
Lol! That's my guitar and pics!:cool::D
ahaha sorry mate... thanks for being the first thing on google silver sky guts!
I kinda wish I got a black one...

im actually considering refinishing it? if there is interesting grain maybe sunburst? otherwise, fiesta red is always a favorite,.. especially with a tinted neck.
 
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