The "Official Silver Sky" Thread

Did any of you guys hear a difference when plugged in? My understanding was Mayer wanted it decked for improved resonance and lower secondary hum/improved signal/noise ratio. With a PRS tremolo I did not think they worried about the intonation/stability that is common to strats. It still blows my mind they didn’t create a gen 3 equivalent bridge for the silver sky. They could have easily made a steel version instead of brass.

Did any of you guys fully float it? I know PRS suggests a shim in the neck if you plan that
 
Broseph said:
Did any of you guys hear a difference when plugged in? My understanding was Mayer wanted it decked for improved resonance and lower secondary hum/improved signal/noise ratio. With a PRS tremolo I did not think they worried about the intonation/stability that is common to strats. It still blows my mind they didn’t create a gen 3 equivalent bridge for the silver sky. They could have easily made a steel version instead of brass.

Did any of you guys fully float it? I know PRS suggests a shim in the neck if you plan that
Click to expand...
I didn’t fully float it. Mine is just loosened a little but it’s so much better now. If anything mine sounds better. When decked my third string at the 14th fret A note produced a dead note. I was really upset about that because for a $2800 guitar to have a dead note is just crazy. Now that the bridge isn’t in contact with the body it doesn’t have that problem anymore. Honestly, the whole decking the bridge for better resonance is subjective and in some instances probably has some merit to it but as in the case of my guitar it was actually causing a problem.
 
Broseph said:
Did any of you guys hear a difference when plugged in? My understanding was Mayer wanted it decked for improved resonance and lower secondary hum/improved signal/noise ratio. With a PRS tremolo I did not think they worried about the intonation/stability that is common to strats. It still blows my mind they didn’t create a gen 3 equivalent bridge for the silver sky. They could have easily made a steel version instead of brass.

Did any of you guys fully float it? I know PRS suggests a shim in the neck if you plan that
Click to expand...
I fully floated both of mine and yes I shimmed them both, you can do it without but the adjustment screw stick way up without the shim. I also used the shim to fine tune the neck angle to my liking.
I also like the tone better with the bridge floating
 
Whammy bar: I also found the whammy bar to be firmer that I am used to. So I just started playing with it more. Learning how to get that gentle vibrato where you strum a chord and you gently move it back and forth. As I have done this for multiple weeks, it seems the resistance is a little less. I also have gotten used to working with it that way. I have a Strat with a floating bridge so if I need to use a whammy going up and down, I have that option (I needed it once in the last 3 years). I have found with the bridge on the deck, it does stay in tune better, so I am keeping it that way.

Neck: In regard to the 7.25 radius neck, I have no problem playing on it at all. However, it is not my favorite neck size. My 9.5 radius neck on my Fender Telecaster is my favorite. I think this has to do more with what your used to and the size of your hands.

Strings: I was surprised how much of a difference nickel strings sound vs nickel plated strings on the Silver Sky. The DR web site states that nickel ware warmer and nickel plated are brighter. My SS came with 09 PRS strings. I was amazed how easy it was to bend the strings with little resistance. It had a very glassy sounding which was very different from my Fender Strat. Once I put on DR Blues strings, the glassy sound was greatly diminished, and I found it harder to bend the strings with 010's. I ordered the PRS Signature strings with 010's. The main reason I choose these strings was that it has the extra strength by the ball of the string. This is an area that strings break more often than other areas. So playing live, I would have a little more confidence that the string would not break. Though the sound of the guitar with 09's was beautiful, it was too easy to bend compared to my other guitars that all have 10's. I found it better to have more consistency with string resistance with each guitar so when you bend up to a note, you won't overshoot the note. With putting nickel plated string back on, it had more of a brighter sound which helped the 2 and 4 positions quack a little more. In addition, bending the strings was easier than the DR strings even though both were 10's plus that glassy sound came back, though not as much as the 09's had. With 10's, the sound of the pickups had a little more meat on it and for a single coil, that is important to me.

Getting to know your guitar: I found it so important to play one guitar on a regular basis and really get to know its character, how it sounds on volume 8, or 6. Know how to get the clean, dirty, and distortion sounds with your settings. Getting to know the guitar so well that your not thinking, your just playing. That the guitar just becomes an extension of you. When you have multiple guitars, this becomes more of a challenge. There are so many great guitars out there and for me personally, I am no longer saying WOW, I want that one too. I am taking the approach, hey I really appreciate that guitar and I admire it but that's where it has to stop, unless you just want to be a collector of guitars. I want enough guitars to have several flavors and then once that is done, stop buying any more guitars. If your not playing a specific guitar every other week or at least twice a month, you won't know the guitar inside and out. It won't be an extension of your playing. You will be looking down and saying to yourself, how to I get that sound or when you slide up the neck, the chance of you over shooting the position you want will be greater.
 
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Broseph said:
Did any of you guys hear a difference when plugged in? My understanding was Mayer wanted it decked for improved resonance and lower secondary hum/improved signal/noise ratio. With a PRS tremolo I did not think they worried about the intonation/stability that is common to strats. It still blows my mind they didn’t create a gen 3 equivalent bridge for the silver sky. They could have easily made a steel version instead of brass.

Did any of you guys fully float it? I know PRS suggests a shim in the neck if you plan that
Click to expand...
It's fully floating on both of my SE's. No shims.
 
Quite interestingly the 635JM pickups seem to come with a resistor and capacitor soldered to them recently (this one was made in November 2022).

https://postimg.cc/9zbgCNvq

Edit: PRS customer service confirmed this to be normal for the guitar. It can also be seen in this video:
 
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I watched a YouTube video of Paul being interviewed. He said they use TCI in which they tune the pickups by capacitors and inductors. They can control what note the pickups whistle at and how loud it is.
 
02JOHNMAYER-GUITARFACE-05-qgfw-superJumbo.jpg


From today's New York Times:
"From far left, Mr. Mayer, Jay Lane, Bob Weir and Mickey Hart performing at the final show of Dead & Company’s Final Tour on July 16."
 
MohnJayer said:
Quite interestingly the 635JM pickups seem to come with a resistor and capacitor soldered to them recently (this one was made in November 2022).

https://postimg.cc/9zbgCNvq

Edit: PRS customer service confirmed this to be normal for the guitar. It can also be seen in this video:
Click to expand...
The resistor is to raise the 250K volume pot to to a higher value. I forget what. 280K? Something like that.

In any case it gives more sparkle to the treble.

The guy in the video doesn't know why there are steel slugs between the six alnico 5 polepieces.

Same reason old PAF humbuckers and PRS 57/08's have four steel screws (not brass screws) holding the bobbins to the metal base.

They become magnetized by the close proximity to the magnets and become polepieces themselves.

So it's for tone.
 
Lewguitar said:
The resistor is to raise the 250K volume pot to to a higher value. I forget what. 280K? Something like that.

In any case it gives more sparkle to the treble.

The guy in the video doesn't know why there are steel slugs between the six alnico 5 polepieces.

Same reason old PAF humbuckers and PRS 57/08's have four steel screws (not brass screws) holding the bobbins to the metal base.

They become magnetized by the close proximity to the magnets and become polepieces themselves.

So it's for tone.
Click to expand...
Yes, but I didn’t mean the resistor on the volume pot, but the resistor and capacitor on the pickups. This hasn’t been discussed yet, as far as I know.
 
shinksma said:
Minor thread bump...

I've played my Midnight Rose with maple FB Silver Sky off and on since I got it, gosh, three years ago? (EDIT: I just checked when I posted my NGD thread - I got it on 6 July 2020, so yeah, three years ago almost to the day!)

The whole time I accepted that the feel was different from my Mexi-Strat because JM prefers his trem decked, and apparently with pretty firm spring resistance.

Today I decided to try to reduce the spring resistance, at the very least, to get it to where it "feels" more like what I'm used to.

...chop...

Now I have my Silver Sky playing like I like it - just played through the intro to Sorrow (Floyd) a few times, with Gilmour's lovely trem work and string bends, and it is "just about right". I don't pull the trem up much, but I like a little. Guitar feels much more familiar to me now, and I don't feel like I'm having to use as much force to bend the strings. (I have no idea why that is the case, it really shouldn't be, string tension is string tension, but I cannot deny that it does feel "easier".)
Click to expand...
Another thread bump:

You know how sometimes you get a guitar and it plays great, but you haven't quite completely bonded with it for some reason or another? It isn't bad, you don't want to move it on to someone else, but you just haven't had a chance to really "get it" for some reason.

Well, that's kinda how it was with my Silver Sky, until last night. It is a great guitar, played better than my mexi-strat (well, duh), and when I needed to jam some Gilmour it was perfect, especially after the bridge float I described above.

But last night we had band practice, going over some of our more rock'n'roll songs (vs the Celtic fusion stuff we started out with as a band), and I didn't feel like pulling out either of the guitars I usually practice with (SCHB II or P245SH) because they were still in gig bags from our last gig. So I snagged the Silver Sky as I walked past it in the upstairs hall, and plugged in.

Dang, there it is - that totally immersive lost-in-the-guitar-and-music feeling, when everything just clicks and seems effortless. Even my bandmates commented on how good my "dirt tone" was last night. (PRS Horsemeat into a Boss Reverb/delay into an Archon clean channel.)

Gonna see how it sounds tonight using different pedals and amps, since an upcoming gig definitely leans towards using a simpler set up like my FlyRig straight into PA. But that Silver Sky will definitely be my instrument of choice.
 
Hey, y'all
Apologies if this has been asked - in my defense, I did do a search for "silver sky volume pot" and got nothing!

So - I bought a second (brand-new) SilverSky - Polar Blue - and as with my Midnight Rose model, I absolutely love it.
(bragging completed)

Anyhow - my volume pot is is nasty and needs to be replaced. I found the part I need, etc - but I wanted to ask y'all if there was a certain pot which is preferred here in the community or whatnot.

If YOU had to replace your volume pot, would you stick to the "500k Potentiometer with Split Shaft, Custom Taper, and 180pf Capacitor" or is there another unit you would prefer?

Thanks for the input!!

-Scott
 
FarOut said:
Hey, y'all
Apologies if this has been asked - in my defense, I did do a search for "silver sky volume pot" and got nothing!

So - I bought a second (brand-new) SilverSky - Polar Blue - and as with my Midnight Rose model, I absolutely love it.
(bragging completed)

Anyhow - my volume pot is is nasty and needs to be replaced. I found the part I need, etc - but I wanted to ask y'all if there was a certain pot which is preferred here in the community or whatnot.

If YOU had to replace your volume pot, would you stick to the "500k Potentiometer with Split Shaft, Custom Taper, and 180pf Capacitor" or is there another unit you would prefer?

Thanks for the input!!

-Scott
Click to expand...
There should be a silver sky specific volume pot available on the PRS spares website. The 500k would normally be for the humbucker guitars. I was looking through the UK PRS site a couple of months ago and sure I saw one for the silver sky. However, I bought the 500k one for my Strat (that has all single coils) and that's working for me but that does have a higher output darker bridge pickup which I wanted the 500k to add a bit of presence on the top end
 
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