RaySachs
New Member
The only downside to the headstock from a functional standpoint is it's hard to bend the strings behind the nut. If you don't do that you probably wouldn't even notice that it's any different. It won't matter that much to me in the big picture.
I don't bend the strings behind the nut (or ever use a trem bar for that matter), but one thing I noticed pretty quickly with the Silver Sky is the two highest strings seem notably easier to bend than on a strat. Honestly, a bit easier than I liked at first - I thought about trying a set of 11's on it instead of the 10's I generally play. I don't know but I'm guessing that might be the 3x3 headstock and the shorter run of the higher strings from bridge to final resting place at the tuner? Seems logical... In any case, I adapted and now my Cray strat feels just a bit stiff when I play it.
As mentioned before by others in this thread the pickups are special. I have a pile of vintage Strats and am intimately familiar with the guitar that the Silver Sky is based on. I really believe Paul knocked it out of the park with the pickups. The in between positions are a little light in the quack but all is forgiven due to the incredibly usable bridge position. The reality is I'm impressed with all the positions.
Yeah, total agreement here. And if you lower the middle pickup just a bit, you can get a bit more quack out of the 2 & 4. Too much and the volume of the 2, 3, 4 takes a hit, but there's a sweet spot there.
I don't like the aesthetics of the SS as much as the strat. Before I had one sitting next to my similar color strat I never gave it any thought. But when I look at them side by side, I definitely prefer the softer lines and curves of the strat. I don't care much about the headstock. But I also don't really care about the aesthetics much at all. It would take a really REALLY ugly guitar to make me think about the looks past a first glance. So no problem with the SS in that regard.I don't love all the cosmetic details but it sure is a player.
I also still don't like the neck profile quite as much as on my Cray or near as much as a Clapton soft-V, but I like it more than enough to never give it a second thought when I'm playing it.
Overall, a solid A if not quite an A+. But I can tell you it's not going anywhere. The Cray lives in the closet now and when I reach for an electric, this is the only one on the rack or the wall...
-Ray