NEW PRS --Silver SKY

I posted this on ETSG, but I'll do it here as well:

I don't really know John Mayer's music, so I can't say anything about his talent, tone or general musical skills, but why has he stopped playing Fenders? Did he run into problems with them or something?

As far as the guitar goes, I find it strange that a company like PRS is ok with so obviously copying another company's guitar. I guess they would never admit to copying a Stratocaster, but come on! This is so close it isn't even funny.

I have liked all the PRS guitars I have played (which granted aren't that many), and I consider them modern classics. The body and headstock design are great, and while I'm not gasing for one as such (too many nice Gibsons and Telecasters for that), I certainly wouldn't mind owning one. So why couldn't they design something that fulfilled JM's needs without making it look like a cheap Strat knockoff? All they really had needed to do was drop the pickguard... And "easy first fret access"?? Is that a selling point? Seriously? In what way does that guitar make reaching the first fret easier than on ANY other guitar? Does it make your arms longer?

I wonder for how long JM will actually be playing it. It seems that most big artists scoring an endorsement deal will play their signature guitars for a while, then move back to either their old favorites or to whatever new guitar strikes their fancy.
 
Gahr said:
but why has he stopped playing Fenders? Did he run into problems with them or something?
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Celebrity endorsements make BIG $$$$$

I am sure PRS is paying him a pretty penny ----

IT has evolved ----but do you really think KISS wanted to play ONLY GIBSON GUITARS AND PEARL DRUMS??? --- (probably not) it was a $$ deal...
Ive heard where Gene Simmons Grabbers and Rippers had custom necks that where Fender shaped --- even with the skunk stripe----but it SAID Gibson on it......

ITs about endorsements no worries Garh I am sure John has a BUNCH of Strats at home :)

Which begs me to ask (I was thining this after I posted) why spend 2900.00 on a PRS "Strat" when you can get this
Fender American Pro Strat.......for 1399.00 ???? In an array of colors.......
Fender American Professional HSS Shawbucker Stratocaster - Olympic White with Maple Fingerboard

I mean HELL you can get 2 of these and an AMP for the same money
Fender American Special Stratocaster - Olympic White with Maple Fingerboard
 
eSGEe said:
Which begs me to ask why spend 2900.00 on a PRS "Strat" when you can get this Fender American Pro Strat for 1399.00 ???? In an array of colors
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Are you a Ford man or a GM man? You can't cross over!
Same, if you are a PRS man and always wanted a Strat now you can buy one with a clear conscience.
 
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BUt,,,,,,I own a Ford.......and a Subaru......and a KIA, and a Triumph..........

people are too hung up on labels man.......blow money freely and across the spectrum I say ......
 
Gahr said:
I posted this on ETSG, but I'll do it here as well:

I don't really know John Mayer's music, so I can't say anything about his talent, tone or general musical skills, but why has he stopped playing Fenders? Did he run into problems with them or something?

As far as the guitar goes, I find it strange that a company like PRS is ok with so obviously copying another company's guitar. I guess they would never admit to copying a Stratocaster, but come on! This is so close it isn't even funny.

I have liked all the PRS guitars I have played (which granted aren't that many), and I consider them modern classics. The body and headstock design are great, and while I'm not gasing for one as such (too many nice Gibsons and Telecasters for that), I certainly wouldn't mind owning one. So why couldn't they design something that fulfilled JM's needs without making it look like a cheap Strat knockoff? All they really had needed to do was drop the pickguard... And "easy first fret access"?? Is that a selling point? Seriously? In what way does that guitar make reaching the first fret easier than on ANY other guitar? Does it make your arms longer?

I wonder for how long JM will actually be playing it. It seems that most big artists scoring an endorsement deal will play their signature guitars for a while, then move back to either their old favorites or to whatever new guitar strikes their fancy.
Click to expand...
I think JM ran into issues with Fender Inc., not Fender Strat. He had an endorsement deal that went sour. I guess he decided he was no longer going to give away free advertising just because he actually enjoys the instrument. JM is thin on integrity. At one point, he wrote this on twtter

@Fender why are you taking your artists and pitting them against each other in a sports tourney bracket? Kind of lousy.

So he went to PRS. There was another sig model before this, the Super Eagle, a Private Stock run for $11K.

In actuality, $ 2,300 is not expensive for a new, PRS core guitar. It is certaily a copy, but PRS fitv and finish is astounding, and is arguably second to none in quality and playability for production guitars.
 
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This is one of those things were I find this discussion interesting, but have no interest in the product.
Seems counter productive.
Which is comical as I am supposed to be working.
 
Gahr said:
As far as the guitar goes, I find it strange that a company like PRS is ok with so obviously copying another company's guitar. I guess they would never admit to copying a Stratocaster, but come on! This is so close it isn't even funny.
Click to expand...

They've been doing it since at least 1990 with the EG-3. Mayer didn't talk Paul into doing something he hadn't already done in the past.

Gahr said:
II have liked all the PRS guitars I have played (which granted aren't that many), and I consider them modern classics. The body and headstock design are great, and while I'm not gasing for one as such (too many nice Gibsons and Telecasters for that), I certainly wouldn't mind owning one. .
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Got to agree there, and I have a soft-spot for them having grown up in Maryland. But, now that I have owned a few of them I have to say, they just don't do it for me. They are beautifully made but I find them kind of soulless. The only one that stayed for longer than 6-8 months was the Mira I have now, but it took 4 sets of pickups for me to be happy enough with it to keep it around.
 
On our end the best course of action is to go to a dealer and torture test one. Some will like it, some will hate it, while some will be in the middle, lest, you find the so called " diamond in the rough " in which case you'll have to have that particular one stat
 
I have a PRS that I bought almost on a whim about five years ago. It will be the last guitar I ever get rid of. It just feels right in my hands and is as responsive as anything I ever owned. And it is dependable - vice-free. Other guitars seem to have off days, but not my McCarty 58.
 
Mine is a Custom 24 from 1989, played on a slew of gigs and never let me down. the Pups could of been changed, as I've often read, but I left mine alone. At that period, of a few weekend worrier years, I was always playing a pair of early 60's Voxen, of either AC30 - AC15 or AC10's. Sometimes the smaller AC15/10's had to be just ever so gently mixed/leaked into the PA
 
And a real plus is the trem use never ever makes the guitar out of tune. The bar easily slips in and out, and stays where you position it! Scarlet Red got my heart. I have the vintage wide neck but in retrospect I do like the wide thin neck on my real 61' SGLP and 61' special. Funny thing is I've never adjusted the neck as wherever the action goes , high or low , it always plays the same, like Butta
 
I had a 1991 PRS Custom 24 played it three nights per week gigs until 2000 nine years it never went out of tune or broke a string 10 top vintage sunburst

After PRS changed the neck joint I'm not interested in PRS now.
 
I had an '85 as a backup but since I've never had any issues w/ the 89' I sold it at a guitar show pretty easily since the dealer desperately wanted one from their first year, hence he paid well, as I knew there was really no reason to have 2 of the same. Have not picked one up since then cept the 89'. Tom Anderson Drop Top was just like the PRS custom, never broke a string or went outta tune ... is a 91' and has a choice of series or parallel or a mix of each and a " Blow " switch that overwrote everything to the bridge pickup, if you wanted during solo's. Between those two guitars I felt very close to having it all, not to mention that there are 35 others to choose from. When the bride is in the closet complaining she " hasn't a thing to wear " I always look at my Guits and reply that " I don't have a guitar to play on this next gig " :pound-hand::popcorn:
 
I can't really stand John Mayer...a bit of a drama queen if you ask me. He is a bit over-rated like Joe Bonamassa and if his signature guitar is over-priced then it's not worth it for me personally. I like the original PRS style guitars and not a Strat copy like his Silver Sky. It probably is a good guitar and very well-built but it doesn't really hook me at all.


;>)/
 
Silver Sky?

Okay, now PRS is reaching.

They even had to latch onto Fender’s atmospheric reference with the Stratocaster by using the word, “Sky.”
 
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The guitar will sell.
Paul is far from stupid.
It has a niche market though.
Every "PRS guy" that likes Strats will buy one.
That'll be it though.
I have spoken.

:)
 
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