The "Official Silver Sky" Thread
- Thread starter Shawn@PRS
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sean matthew
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- Aug 5, 2019
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Shawn@PRS
yogi
Similar to Dunlop 6230
sean matthew
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2019
- Messages
- 3
welp, just called guitar center and the mgr said "damn dude, that sucks that they're available in other stores." he looked up my order and it is now set to ship in December...
dmatthews
Dave's not here
OK, well that would push me over the edge to source elsewhere.welp, just called guitar center and the mgr said "damn dude, that sucks that they're available in other stores." he looked up my order and it is now set to ship in December...
Yup...what he said.
My SS arrived yesterday. I ordered it without ever playing or seeing one in person. I’m new to PRS guitars. I’ve been playing guitar since the mid ‘80’s. I just never got around to buying a PRS before now.
I apologize in advance to all of the SS veterans but I’m going to provide a lengthy review for the folks on the fence about the SS.
My initial impression:
1. The gigbag is nice. Thick padding, heavy duty zippers, heavy duty stitching. nice handle, back pack straps and plenty of storage space. It has a built in headstock guard to keep the string ends from damaging the inside of the gigbag. It also has rubber bump guards on the ends where it is most likely to get the most wear and tear when traveling. I can honestly say it’s one of the nicest gigbags I ever owned. As a side note: I like cases but have no problem with a nice gigbag. All of my cases and gigbags get stored away. The guitars hang on the wall.
2. I know this is cliche but the horizon finish looks better in person. It looks more burgundy than red at certain angles in the light. I consider it to be a deep read with a touch of metallic. Almost candy apple but a tad darker / deeper. I chose horizon because I don’t own any red guitars. The finish is flawless. I couldn’t find a single blemish anywhere.
3. It was built on 12/12/2018. I was slightly surprised it was built nearly 8 months ago with how fast they are selling but I think horizon is not one of their most popular colors. I weighed it at 7 lbs 3 oz. The weight seems to be in the average range with other SS guitars. It is 12 oz lighter than my American Strat (alder).
4. I played the guitar unplugged for a solid 45 minutes prior to running it through my amp. The fretwork is incredible. The setup out of the box was comfortable - not too high with just a touch of neck relief. It plays buzz free with no dead frets. It resonates well and sounds great acoustically. No dead fret out on bends anywhere on the neck. I was doing 2 whole step bends with ease. The frets are smooth. I found myself doing tons of slides. More than normal. The tremolo is silky smooth. Much smoother than my American Strat. I suspect it has something to do with the knife edge screws and zero slack in the trem bar. Very impressive.
5. Neck profile / fretboard radius: I read and watched a bunch of reviews of the Silver Sky over the past year. There are so many different opinions and descriptions of the neck - many conflicting. People claim it’s thick, wide across the fretboard , soft V, flat D, etc, etc. I never seen so many different descriptions of a neck profile. I honestly didn’t know what to expect. I’ve owned many guitars over the past 35 years. I have average size hands. I don’t consider the SS neck to be thick, a soft V, a flat D or wide across the fretboard. In my hands it feels like a C shape neck profile just a touch thicker/ deeper than my EVH Wolfgang neck profile with a similar shape and width. I never owned a 7.25” radius. The combination of the neck profile with the rounder radius makes the neck fit perfect in my hand. I don’t even think about the rounder fretboard. It’s just super comfortable and natural. I can wrap my thumb around to fret the E all the way up the neck. It’s hard to explain but I can honestly say it’s more comfortable than the modern C - 9.5” radius neck on my American Special Strat. PRS and Mayer designed a killer neck.
5. Fret size: PRS calls them narrow / tall. I owned an Eric Clapton Strat with vintage frets. The frets on the SS are nearly identical in size. They may be a tiny bit taller than standard vintage frets but they are far smaller than the modern narrow / tall frets Fender puts on their American Professional Strat (I owned one of them too). The fretwork on the SS is superior to the fretwork on the EC Strat I owned. They are more polished, more crowned and super level. They are glass smooth, vibrato and bending is effortless. All my other guitars have jumbo frets but I’m very flexible when it comes to fret size and neck profile. I believe the vintage frets, fretboard radius and neck profile work extremely well together. I don’t think it would feel right with larger frets. That’s just my opinion.
I think the frets are perfect for the guitar however, if you’re convinced you can only play medium jumbo or jumbo frets the SS is not for you.
6. Pickups / electronics: I realize tone is subjective. The pickups are outstanding in my opinion. I assumed I would have to lower the stock height nearly flush to the pickguard like I do on Strats to tame the brightness. I was wrong. The SS pickups don’t have the traditional ice pick brightness I associate with traditional single coil pickups. I’m not sure how they did it, but they sound balanced - plenty of bass with out getting muddy and plenty of treble without sounding shrill and loud. You can roll off the volume without sounding muddy. In addition, the tone pots give it a wide range of usable tones.
7. Is it a glorified Stratocaster knockoff? Not in my opinion. I believe it is an updated version of a classic guitar. It’s a blend of Strat concepts and PRS engineering combined with Mayer’s tastes in playability and tone. I believe the tilted headstock (no string trees), PRS knife edge tremolo screws, PRS locking tuners, PRS electronics and pickups set it apart from the typical Strat.
8. Problems: My Switch tip is cracked in the center. I noticed it right away. I think it’s a design flaw. The steel switch creates a weak point in the wide plastic knob. Like splitting a log. I sent an email to PRS. The static noise - crackle and pop - I read about it on the forums. My guitar does it when I touch the neck. It’s very slight. No big deal. Interestingly, I had the same problem with an Eric Johnson Stratocaster but it was more severe - especially in the winter. The EJ Stratocaster has a lacquer neck like the Silver Sky. Unlike the SS, It has lacquer on the fretboard as well. I believe the lacquer is the issue. I believe it builds up static electricity. I may be wrong. I tried shielding the EJ pickguard and the dryer sheet trick. It didn’t eliminate the static.
In conclusion, I think it’s a great guitar. I’m happy with my decision to buy it.
I apologize in advance to all of the SS veterans but I’m going to provide a lengthy review for the folks on the fence about the SS.
My initial impression:
1. The gigbag is nice. Thick padding, heavy duty zippers, heavy duty stitching. nice handle, back pack straps and plenty of storage space. It has a built in headstock guard to keep the string ends from damaging the inside of the gigbag. It also has rubber bump guards on the ends where it is most likely to get the most wear and tear when traveling. I can honestly say it’s one of the nicest gigbags I ever owned. As a side note: I like cases but have no problem with a nice gigbag. All of my cases and gigbags get stored away. The guitars hang on the wall.
2. I know this is cliche but the horizon finish looks better in person. It looks more burgundy than red at certain angles in the light. I consider it to be a deep read with a touch of metallic. Almost candy apple but a tad darker / deeper. I chose horizon because I don’t own any red guitars. The finish is flawless. I couldn’t find a single blemish anywhere.
3. It was built on 12/12/2018. I was slightly surprised it was built nearly 8 months ago with how fast they are selling but I think horizon is not one of their most popular colors. I weighed it at 7 lbs 3 oz. The weight seems to be in the average range with other SS guitars. It is 12 oz lighter than my American Strat (alder).
4. I played the guitar unplugged for a solid 45 minutes prior to running it through my amp. The fretwork is incredible. The setup out of the box was comfortable - not too high with just a touch of neck relief. It plays buzz free with no dead frets. It resonates well and sounds great acoustically. No dead fret out on bends anywhere on the neck. I was doing 2 whole step bends with ease. The frets are smooth. I found myself doing tons of slides. More than normal. The tremolo is silky smooth. Much smoother than my American Strat. I suspect it has something to do with the knife edge screws and zero slack in the trem bar. Very impressive.
5. Neck profile / fretboard radius: I read and watched a bunch of reviews of the Silver Sky over the past year. There are so many different opinions and descriptions of the neck - many conflicting. People claim it’s thick, wide across the fretboard , soft V, flat D, etc, etc. I never seen so many different descriptions of a neck profile. I honestly didn’t know what to expect. I’ve owned many guitars over the past 35 years. I have average size hands. I don’t consider the SS neck to be thick, a soft V, a flat D or wide across the fretboard. In my hands it feels like a C shape neck profile just a touch thicker/ deeper than my EVH Wolfgang neck profile with a similar shape and width. I never owned a 7.25” radius. The combination of the neck profile with the rounder radius makes the neck fit perfect in my hand. I don’t even think about the rounder fretboard. It’s just super comfortable and natural. I can wrap my thumb around to fret the E all the way up the neck. It’s hard to explain but I can honestly say it’s more comfortable than the modern C - 9.5” radius neck on my American Special Strat. PRS and Mayer designed a killer neck.
5. Fret size: PRS calls them narrow / tall. I owned an Eric Clapton Strat with vintage frets. The frets on the SS are nearly identical in size. They may be a tiny bit taller than standard vintage frets but they are far smaller than the modern narrow / tall frets Fender puts on their American Professional Strat (I owned one of them too). The fretwork on the SS is superior to the fretwork on the EC Strat I owned. They are more polished, more crowned and super level. They are glass smooth, vibrato and bending is effortless. All my other guitars have jumbo frets but I’m very flexible when it comes to fret size and neck profile. I believe the vintage frets, fretboard radius and neck profile work extremely well together. I don’t think it would feel right with larger frets. That’s just my opinion.
I think the frets are perfect for the guitar however, if you’re convinced you can only play medium jumbo or jumbo frets the SS is not for you.
6. Pickups / electronics: I realize tone is subjective. The pickups are outstanding in my opinion. I assumed I would have to lower the stock height nearly flush to the pickguard like I do on Strats to tame the brightness. I was wrong. The SS pickups don’t have the traditional ice pick brightness I associate with traditional single coil pickups. I’m not sure how they did it, but they sound balanced - plenty of bass with out getting muddy and plenty of treble without sounding shrill and loud. You can roll off the volume without sounding muddy. In addition, the tone pots give it a wide range of usable tones.
7. Is it a glorified Stratocaster knockoff? Not in my opinion. I believe it is an updated version of a classic guitar. It’s a blend of Strat concepts and PRS engineering combined with Mayer’s tastes in playability and tone. I believe the tilted headstock (no string trees), PRS knife edge tremolo screws, PRS locking tuners, PRS electronics and pickups set it apart from the typical Strat.
8. Problems: My Switch tip is cracked in the center. I noticed it right away. I think it’s a design flaw. The steel switch creates a weak point in the wide plastic knob. Like splitting a log. I sent an email to PRS. The static noise - crackle and pop - I read about it on the forums. My guitar does it when I touch the neck. It’s very slight. No big deal. Interestingly, I had the same problem with an Eric Johnson Stratocaster but it was more severe - especially in the winter. The EJ Stratocaster has a lacquer neck like the Silver Sky. Unlike the SS, It has lacquer on the fretboard as well. I believe the lacquer is the issue. I believe it builds up static electricity. I may be wrong. I tried shielding the EJ pickguard and the dryer sheet trick. It didn’t eliminate the static.
In conclusion, I think it’s a great guitar. I’m happy with my decision to buy it.
dmatthews
Dave's not here
Awesome write up!
bodia
Authorities said.....best leave it.....unsolved
bodia
Authorities said.....best leave it.....unsolved
Awesome write up!
What Dave said!
dmatthews
Dave's not here
bodia
Authorities said.....best leave it.....unsolved
Agreeing with me twice in 6 minutes?
I gotta go buy a lottery ticket!
Hey man, when you're right, you're right!!!!!!
Tucson Thump
Mint Heavy Relic
Superb
dmatthews
Dave's not here
They are available...
D
Deleted member 5962
Guest
As we see multiple posters now complaining about how long a "sold order" takes, perhaps we need to remember that A) they are available in stores, but B) those people ordered theirs months before yours. I think what is ticking people off, is that they have a sold order that isn't taking precedence over a "stock" order. It's not my decision to make... if I had a sold order, I may be ticked at waiting over a year, while seeing them in stores. But if I worked at a store as a salesman and we ordered 5 for stock a year ago and I had people waiting to play/buy them, I'd be ticked to know that some guy who ordered one yesterday was getting his before my stock orders.
One store even told me that he didn't care if every sold order cancelled, because they'd need all those for stock anyway, as so many people wanted to try them out. He was confident that if all his presold orders cancelled, they'd all sell quickly to other buyers once they got there. In fact, he said the most frustrating thing was having so many potential buyers, but never having one in stock for them to try.
The moral of this story: There ain't no way to make everyone happy when there is a backlog. If you're loyal to the store you bought from, wait it out. If not, buy one that's in stock. IMHO
One store even told me that he didn't care if every sold order cancelled, because they'd need all those for stock anyway, as so many people wanted to try them out. He was confident that if all his presold orders cancelled, they'd all sell quickly to other buyers once they got there. In fact, he said the most frustrating thing was having so many potential buyers, but never having one in stock for them to try.
The moral of this story: There ain't no way to make everyone happy when there is a backlog. If you're loyal to the store you bought from, wait it out. If not, buy one that's in stock. IMHO
dmatthews
Dave's not here
I have no patience when I want something.
bodia
Authorities said.....best leave it.....unsolved
I have no patience when I want something.
Ditto!
