I recently spent some time with the PRS Silver Sky SE. I’ve seen and read a lot of reviews of this guitar, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. Let’s do the review!
The Good
The PRS Silver Sky SE is the “budget” version of the American PRS Silver Sky. It’s based on the Strat. You already knew that. You probably already know the specs and the pros and cons from other sites and channels. You’re here because I’m a bit more real than other reviewers who always want to give products high marks, so they can maintain a steady stream of them. In my opinion, this is a great guitar, and quite frankly, I like the neck on this guitar better than on the American version. It just feels a little less like a baseball bat, and the 8.5 radius feels better to me than the 7.5 on the American version. The pickups sound good, the body is comfortable, and it’s close in playability and sound to the American version for less than half the price.
I mean, what more do you want? It’s what it should be. It’ll get you closer to John Mayer’s tone than any of the other Strats or Strat copies in this range. I’d love to own one.
The Bad
It’s hard to find something “bad” about this guitar. I’d say the neck is too big for some players – if you like a race car neck, which I do, you might find the neck to be too fat. And you can’t do anything about it. On a Fender Strat, if you don’t like the neck, you can swap it out. I wouldn’t recommend that on this guitar. I’d love to see someone try – it wouldn’t work, because the neck pocket is different. But honestly, you’re buying this guitar because of the neck (at least partially). It wouldn’t make sense to try a neck swap.
The Ugly
OK, I said the pickups were “good.” They are. But I like GREAT pickups. There’s definitely a difference between these knockoffs and the real American pickups. None of the SE pickups are great, in my opinion. The good news is that you could swap out the pickups. You can’t buy the American Silver Sky pickups, so you’d have to go with something from John’s past, which would not be his current sound. In terms of this guitar being a great Strat, well… if you’re not after the JM thing, you might like a Mexican Strat from Fender better. You might, rabbit. You might. If this guitar were $750 it’d be a much better deal. $850 seems a little high to me.
Conclusion
You can’t expect a $850 to be exactly like a $2,200 guitar. It’s as good as it can be for the price range, even though it’s a little more than I’d like. If you can find one used, snag it, but you won’t find these used for a long, long time. The neck and the sound will be the determining factors for you as a player. If you love them, buy this thing, because there’s nothing exactly like it on the market.
