Lewguitar
Strat-O-Master
Hear all about it:
The PRS Silver Sky is the best sounding, best playing "Strat" I've ever owned...
- Thread starter Lewguitar
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I haven't bought a Fender since 1989 and I would never buy another, so many better Strats to buy that or not a Fender. I have built my own since the late 80's.
Lewguitar
Strat-O-Master
I'm the same way. Except I don't think I've bought a new Fender since about 1964 when I bought a new Jaguar! But I did buy a new PRS Silver Sky in 2022. Mine is the SE version and it is WONDERFUL!
Y
You see, it’s because that guy, one of the greatest guitar builder ever took all his expertise and time to produce a guitar that mimics a 1963 Stratocaster that I just had to jump on the bandwagon. I bought my Silver sky knowing this guy did everything he could to give me the feel of playing a 63 Stratocaster and to me that was all I could ask for from a Fender Custom Shop
You see, it’s because that guy, one of the greatest guitar builder ever took all his expertise and time to produce a guitar that mimics a 1963 Stratocaster that I just had to jump on the bandwagon. I bought my Silver sky knowing this guy did everything he could to give me the feel of playing a 63 Stratocaster and to me that was all I could ask for from a Fender Custom Shop
Lewguitar
Strat-O-Master
My main guitar for almost 40 years WAS a '63 Strat! Truthfully, it wasn't any better than these new PRS guitars, and in some respects it wasn't as good. Tiny frets made it a pain to bend notes on, as did the smaller fingerboard radius which required high action so wide bends wouldn't fret out. My PRS also stays in tune better and I feel that the vibrato mechanism on the Silver Sky is a better design. The look of the headstock on the PRS takes some getting used to, but ultimately I think that's an improvement as well because there's less string behind the nut and I suspect that's one reason it stays in tune better than my '63 did. And I like the PRS tuners better than the old Klusons. There's a lot to like about both versions of the Silver Sky...both the Core model and the SE model. And now it's available with a rosewood or a maple fingerboard. Mine is rosewood, but I like both and I feel there's a warmer tone with rosewood and a "spankier" tone with more "pop" with maple.
nigelr
Senior Stratmaster
Each to his own, I've owned 5 US made PRS guitars and never bonded with any of them. The quality was outstanding but something was missing.
Lewguitar
Strat-O-Master
Players want to see "Fender" on the peghead but obviously there is no one working for FMIC that was there when Leo was running the company. The company has gone through a few owners and moved to new locations since Leo was at the helm. In a way, Paul Reed Smith is the new Leo Fender and he's right here in the world making wonderful instruments of his own design TODAY. The new PRS guitars are, IMO, the best PRS guitars that have been made since the company started. They have steadily improved in quality, finish and electronics. The pickups PRS is making now are better than any they have used in the past. Now is the time to check out PRS, because these are the guitars that are going to be the '59 Les Pauls and '50's and 60's Strats of the future.
Lewguitar
Strat-O-Master
They've always been excellent but the sound of the pickups was not what I wanted to hear.
Now they are. Paul admits in recent interviews that he's learned A LOT!
The Silver Sky is the first PRS I've owned that I didn't replace the pickups in or even think about replacing.
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I would never say PRS is the new Fender. He just built on what Leo had already designed and built . In addition to Strats , he came up with the tele along with all those amps . Then came the Jaguar, Jazzmaster and so on. The man was a genius .Not to take away from what Paul has done , but Leo Fender did a lot for what we know today as the music industry. Hard to find recordings of music from the greats that doesn’t use some of his equipment.
BTW , no one at Ford is there that was there when Henry made the Model A either , but it’s still Ford .
BTW , no one at Ford is there that was there when Henry made the Model A either , but it’s still Ford .
Lewguitar
Strat-O-Master
How old are you? Just curious.
By all accounts Leo was tone deaf and couldn't play the guitar at all.
Old enough to remember a decent amount of Fenders history and all of PRS history. How is that important ?
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Lewguitar
Strat-O-Master
I just wonder sometimes who I'm talking to. I'm old enough to have bought a brand new Fender Jaguar in 1964. Would have been 15 years old. And it wasn't my first guitar or even the second.
Lewguitar
Strat-O-Master
I traded that Jaguar straight across for a 1956 goldtop Les Paul standard. That would have been about 1967.
Fender makes Strats, PRS makes Strat copies. It’s not a Strat if it was made by PRS, just like my Cooleycaster’s are not Tele’s.
Sorry, dang autocorrect foiled me again . Should read Fender. Yeah , you got me by a few years . I was 1 when the 59 bassman came out. Fenders guitars weren’t even on my radar until I was in my 30s . To me the thing that separates Fender from most is the innovation from almost nothing . Paul Reed Smith took guitar making to almost an art form .
Best sounding strat is so subjective , it’s not even worth saying.
Lewguitar
Strat-O-Master
It is amazing how much Leo Fender got right the first time. The Telecaster and Strat for example.
It took Paul a while. His first guitars with the rotary switch and all the double coil to single switching from a pair of humbuckers were beautifully made but IMO didn't sound so good. Neither the humbucking mode or the single coil mode.
But he's learned a lot since then and I really do think his most recent guitars with nitro finishes and his latest Strat style and Gibson style pickups are right up there with the best Fenders and Gibsons ever made.
Stratafied
Dr. Stratster
Stratafied
Dr. Stratster
I’m going to test drive one. I’ve been curious about them. I’m just curious about the neck, if it’s fatter than my American standard that might not work.
I don’t hate copies if they are well made. It’s still a copy. I make my own but I call them what they are Tele Copies or Strat Copies. My acoustics are copies of the old figure 8 body design and I call them Figure 8’s. My son makes vintage Martin Copies and if he builds a D-45 he calls it that, a JC Baxendale D-45. He doesn’t call it something like “Heavens Manna” or some dumb chit like that. If I make a Slope D, I call it a Baxendale Slope D.C
Crap , I bought you one for Christmas. Now what
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