JM- “Hey Paul, I’m tired of playing the same old Strat, let’s build a guitar together “. PRS- “Sounds great!!! Do you want the body to be one of our double cuts or single cut?” JM- “Actually, can you make it more like a Strat body?” PRS- “Yeah yeah, we can do that! Do you want a modern profile neck with a compound radius?” JM- “Actually, can you make the neck feel like a vintage 60’s Strat neck, and give me a 7.25” radius?” PRS- “Ermm… sure sure. So about the pickups, we have these awesome humbuckers that we can wire for splitting, out of phase, etc.” JM- “That sounds awesome, but Paul, I’d preferred if it had 3 single coils with a pickguard similar to a Strat and a 5-way selector switch.” PRS- “Okeiii… Hey John our trem systems are great. I was thinking..” JM- “I’m so used to the vintage style 6 screw Strat bridge, can you make one just like that?” PRS- “John, you’re asking me to build you a Strat?” JM- “Nooooo!!!! It’s a PRS, but let’s make it unique and reverse your headstock!!!!” PRS- “Sigh… sure John, whatever you want.”
There isn’t much modern about the Silver Sky at all, except that it’s being offered in ugly Tesla-inspired colors (apart from the special finish runs like Nebula). I don’t have a problem with it, apart from the fact that John Mayer is trying to make it out to be some evolution of the Strat… It IS a Strat, with a PRS headstock.
@@joeykelly5642 yeah that was very weird to hear. You’d think he meant a guitar with piezo in the bridge vibrato saddle, stereo outs with a magnetic pickup and piezo blend knob, stainless frets etc. it’s just a strat in the sea of strats, that, like he said ironically make his guitar yet another station wagon tribute
I worked at PRS many years ago and in the years since I haven't met a guitar exec that even gave one tenth of a s**t about the actual guitars that Paul does. He is a really good guitar player as well. SO glad Mayer is using PRS!
@@paulmcgrath6118 the SEs are usually pretty good, but I’d also recommend the S2 line if you can swing a bit more money. They use similar hardware and pickups, but are built in their US factory and generally have a higher build quality. The satin Vela in particular is a fantastic guitar.
I worked at Taylor Guitars for years and Bob Taylor was in the factory every day. If needed, he could cover anybody’s job for the day. Said hello whenever we passed each other but did not know him personally. Ranks in the top 2 best bosses I’ve ever worked for.
the touch and details on ALL PRSes are near perfect, its just like people at PRS just hate making any substandard guitar that carries the PRS name, unlike most other big names which will eventually bumping into bad makes once in a while
Actually PRS COPIED the guitar that DID create the surf culture of the 60's. (Dick Dale) It also was the choice of Hendrix, Vaughn, Clapton and hundreds of other great established guitar LEGENDS. What has always been obvious is it's the great players that made the instruments 'ICONIC'. The brand of guitar doesn't make anyone a great player. That comes from years of practice, focus, and driven devotion. Any guitar is only as good as the person playing it.
@@TheScottJeter He wasn't lured away. Way before there was a Fender EC Model he explains in a RUclips video that he bought used Strats in pawn shops and pieced the neck he liked best to one of the bodies. (Blackie). He has played Strats much longer than gibsons. "Blackie" is the guitar that became/is synonymous with Eric Clapton and the first year of the EC Artist Model was 1988.
Yeah, I don’t really understand what he means. He wanted contemporary design cues, so he went to a company that makes 80s-looking guitars and asked them to make him the exact car-inspired surf guitar he already plays? I think it’s just that PRS treats him better so he moved on.
Funny how John makes a whole speech about guitars being the same for the last 60 years, and goes to another brand asking for a Strat - aka the old-fashioned/sixties model he always played with.
Because Fender has been making their strats the same way as always and PRS has been innovating guitar technology for a while now. Especially in their electronics and most importantly in their playability. Fender is so inconsistent in their quality and playability that it's almost comedic. It's almost like playing a lottery buying a new fender guitar these days because you probably will have to get some work done on it to get it the way you want it - assuming you're the caliber of player that can tell the difference
@@zynthio Looks like you are in the minority with your reply. There is not a single electronic innovation in the 'Sky' that Fender had not already used. If you just read all the Videos that Mayer has posted you will find that he asked Paul Smith to "COPY" his vintage 7-1/4" radius Fender Strat necks. The key word is "COPY". Mayer also asked for the "Sky's' pickups to "COPY" the same tone of his vintage "Strats". Since the 'Sky' came out, Fender has sold at least 100 American made Strats to each PRS 'Sky' sold. Fender Custom Shop is 6 years behind in some of the orders. The "Sky" was not an innovation at all. It is, However, a nice copy of the Leo Fender "innovation".
Fender Operator: “Boss, we’ve got another artist on the phone with ideas on how to revolutionise the Strat and bring it into the 21st century.” Fender CEO: “It’s John isn’t it? Tell him I’m at lunch. Yes, I know it’s 8am.”
The artists made Fender. The company, after Leo's original design, has basically not done anything truly innovative. It's really luck of perfect timing that Fender became what it did-- that so many artists used them for so much great music that it became a self-fulfilling prophecy of success. And they've been cashing in on cheap to make 1950s designs for 70 years.
@@G5Hohn What a total bullshit statement! You sound like a middle school bully trying to break someone down because they had success and you cant stand it.
@@weschilton I have no idea how you get that. Unless you aren't mature enough to recognize that a big part of the successful vs the failure is just dumb luck. The more honest successful people will admit that. Once the "vintage" craze hit in the 90s, guitar innovation (especially at the big guys) basically stopped. Go ahead and list off the major "innovations" from Fender since, oh, 1985. I'll wait.
@@G5Hohn Well I don't know how innovative it is, but my Elite Strat is one of the finest instruments on earth. The Ultra Strat also won all kinds of "guitar of the year" awards the year it came out.
I find it staggering that Fender wouldn't make him a custom neck and call it a day. Because that's really all the PRS model is. A much smaller radius on the neck. Which is vintage Fender. Blows my mind.
@@reed311 from his 40 or 60 minutes video he explained that the person inside of fender who used to do his old one left, the new people he had some people then when prs called he wanted to make some change some things and prs let him he explained it a lot better hopeful this helps.
@@reed311 You watched the video, right? His contact at Fender left. The "new" Fender rep was more concerned with the company bottom line, than making customers happy. I would imagine John is pretty difficult to work with (In the nicest way. He's a perfectionist and should be!). Fender just wants to slap John's signature on a strat and call it an artist strat. PRS wants to give John what he wants, and feel good about it.
Let's freshen up the electric guitar aka let's make a Strat with the same shape, fretboard radius, pickup configuration and vibrato they had in 1954. The result: Toto.
From what I’ve heard about it (haven’t played it personally) it has a pretty “hi fi” kind of sound to it. Heard the same sort of explanation from multiple people. So I guess it’s just like a strat as intended, with more of a modern kind of sound, and then feel with the PRS neck and body details. Take what you will from that. Just think I’ve heard from too many people now that it just isn’t a strat, and I’m starting to believe it
@@CigLivery I think usually it’s pickups related. Like I said before I’ve not actually played one so I’m guessing here. Woods do matter as well though but I don’t think it’s anything out of the ordinary what they’re using. Except the carve is a bit different
@@grahamr7756 The wood's main effect lies in the sustain. If the wood resonates with the string, it helps the string to ring longer, and thereby generate more harmonics etcetera. Pickups then push out the signal according to their sensitivity and frequency response.
A guitar is so much more than just how it looks ya know. The type of wood, fretboard, pick ups, tuners, bridge you use can look like a Strat but feel and sound completely different
Man, the ignorance in these comments. Yes, the SS is based off John’s favorite ‘64 strat, but go play one and you’ll see that it stands alone. The pickups have the quack of a strat, but the sustain and clarity PRS is known for. The neck, while having a traditional 7.25” radius, is unique in its feel. I’ve never played a more comfortable neck. String tension feels different from a strat. Not to mention, every position is usable without being overly harsh. Hard to find that in a Fender. Disclaimer: I own a SS and multiple Fenders. I believe they are different enough to stand alone. Gotta have both IMO.
Great analogy there by John about designing a guitar is like cooking food for other people. I like my musicians like I like my books - intelligent and insightful.
Looks like you just changed the headlights on the old station wagon I loved the JM fender strat with big dipper pick ups black with rosewood absolutely beautiful
John, I'm not a Rockstar like you but I've been playing a while. And today, many guitar players have left the typical assembly line guitars and opted for custom guitars because of the exact reason you had with Fender. Hope your new prs sound serves you well.
Fender is an iconic guitar company with a name seared into musical history. I didn't know what PRS even was up until a few years ago, but they do make some Beautiful guitars. Unfortunately the pretty ones cost more than a Gibson or a Fender (private stock, McCarty 594 wood library etc) no thanks. But John Mayer is a seasoned guitarist so I'm sure he knows what he's doing, and he's well within his right to choose PRS over Fender.
High end PRS are comparable in price to top of the line Gibson but NO Gibson at ANY price can even compare to top shelf PRS. Last time I checked out a $3k-$4k Gibson LP custom I was appalled at the atrocious lack of any standards of quality applying to the finishing cosmetics like inlays and binding. The inlays were actually plastic and if that wasn't atrocious enough they weren't even cut to the proper shape but instead they just inlayed rectangular plastic blocks that roughly simulated MOP then simply painted over them to create the desired shapes such as the Gibson logo!?! Absolutely deplorable and abysmal manufacturing standards. It was difficult not to suspect Gibson corporate of conspiring to hatch a sinister, diabolical scheme to scam unsuspecting naive guitarists with no eye for quality by selling them guitars manufactured with defects BUILT INTO THE DESIGN as part of a carefully planned, elaborate campaign to cut corners to the level of quality once inherent to older guitars basically doing away with pesky standards of quality in order to simplify and streamline the building process. No longer must they agonize over even obvious flaws and defects since they are now inherent to the very design itself. Not to mention most of their most popular guitars have design characteristics that are inferior and long outdated compared to modern designs like PRS(such as the LP neck joints laying part of the fretboard directly onto the body). To top off the admirably evil practices, they are known as being by far the most sue happy guitar company ever! Once sueing even the smallest, most boutique guitar builders for building anything even remotely resembling a Les Paul or SG. SMFH... I will no longer even consider buying from the greedy, corporate, monopolizing company that is Gibson... K, rant over!
@@spencerriggs6777 Ascetics are only ascetics. If you don't see the guitar being played (blind test) it sounds exactly like a Strat. That is the sound Mayer wanted and as the project developed the more Mayer wanted specs to be like his 2 favorite vintage Strats. He says that in other videos. You have to maintain the basics of the build to get that sound, as ALL the boutique copiers have done. The bottom line is about the sound of a Strat. The last thing is PRS was willing to pay John more for an endorsement than Fender was. Van Halen changed guitar companies at least 4 times. It's about $.
I agree with everyone who said that John Mayer now plays a Strat-copy. PRS is a guy full of hyperbole when he talks about the silver sky pickup development. Guitarists are like fisherman, they're suckers for gear of any type. If that gear has a line of bull to help sell it, so much the better. The Silver Sky does have an angled headstock. Great innovation there... PRS is also a guy who makes the most beautiful production guitars in the world. The Silver Sky isn't one of them.
I haven't had so many belly laughs from the comments section ever. Thanks to so many of the commentators in this thread. John M is a living example of the McCartney lyric, "I'm Looking Through You," for so many of you in this thread. Thanks for the laughs.
I haven't really ever been into any guitar with single coils. Especially strats and tele's. Infinite respect and admiration for both, I was just never really into the sounds and tones you get with singles. I've never owned either a strat or a telecaster, but have played them enough to draw a bead on my personal feelings for them. However, I was shuffling through my local guitar shop about a month or so ago, and they happened to have two silver sky's. The yellow one and the pinkish orange-y one. So I grabbed one, took it to the demo room and plugged in. I was hooked before playing the first note. It just felt so good in my hands and on my legs. Like it had grown from my hands and fingers, as if it was an extension of me. For me personally (having physical handicaps that prevent me from being able to play standing) I'm a core kid for life and my heart beats in breakdowns. Simply HOLDING a silver sky and feeling it's ergonomics and textures, it MADE me want to play differently. As guitarists we all experience something like that at least once. As for myself, I never would've dreamed that a strat style guitar would hit me the same way Jason Richardsons music man did (a complete metal machine) leave it to PRS to make a stratocaster better than any fender lmao
And what's inside of it is absolutely nothing interesting or innovative. Copied vintage Strat neck and body specs, reverse-engineered and PRS built same old vintage strat pickups. It's literally just a strat, just a boring one.
@@Quicksilver_Cookie PRS actually has a unique way of doing the wiring on the Silver Sky. Using resistors on the pots to keep them at a precise value and really finding the sweet spot for the pickups and capacitors to work together to make the controls much more interactive than most Strats I’ve played. While you could mod any guitar this way I think you’re hard pressed to find a production guitar with that extra thought put into it. Copied or not I give PRS some merit on that.
@@mitcharney1 Fair enough that it’s been around for a while. I don’t personally know of another production guitar that uses it though. I’m not a huge PRS fanboy, but I appreciate the thought Paul has put into them. Like doing a $10 mod to help it achieve the best sound out of the factory.
I thought the reason he left Fender was a complete different story than the "developing is own guitar" story he is trying to sell here. I believe Fender at some point demanded that he could only use Fender or Fender related guitars with the exception of acoustics during live performances and that all his amps could only be Fenders or at least show the Fender logo. He was ok with the guitars but not with the amps so he left. At that point he wouldn't do free Fender endorsement by still playing his strat so he went to PRS and asked them to build a strat for him. The "developed" parts are just there so it wouldn't be a complete copy...
@@mitcharney1 evh is a different story. Moved to MM when kramer was going to collapse. Then with Peavey to build basically the same guitar plus his copy of a Soldano and having a better worldwide spread. Then he was fired by Peavey when he went to NAMM drunk while presenting the new line. Then Fender offered him a personal line to produce his basic guitar PLUS the amps (evolution of the peavey 5150) plus all of his older guitars that people still asked. With Fender wasn't an endorsment, was a company in the company
What doesn't add up is he said he had new ideas about his guitar and Fender is reluctant to bite, but aside from the headstock of his signature PRS, everything else is pretty much based on Fender Strat. So what is the new idea that Fender didn't bite that he had implemented on his PRS Strat? If he wanted modern ideas which Fender is reluctant to do he could have gone to Suhr, Ibanez or even Fender's owned Jackson or Charvel side. Clearly Paul made him a deal he couldn't refuse unless off course the idea he had was a Strat with just a different headstock.
I'm glad he switched. I made the fixtures PRS uses for milling the guitar bodies in their CNC machines. Also made them for the S2 and Midline. Jobs like that are the fun part of being a toolmaker.
I don't think Fender is "stuck" anywhere. They are constantly (exhaustively?) releasing new, exciting products. And in the case of the Stratocaster...it's one of the most iconic shapes that has ever been invented..
@kitano0 I don’t think that’s the point that John was making. His point is that his collaborative relationship with Fender changed. When in the past they would be more creatively open minded to artist ideas and work flow, they shifted to a more rigidly corporate behaviour, which in John’s mind stifles creativity when it involves the artists they endorse. Personally, I don’t have an opinion one way or the other. I have a Eric Johnson model strat that I’m happy with, but I didn’t buy it new and I doubt I’ll be buying a Fender product any time in the future unless it’s old and vintage.
@@Clayphish exactly, fender just became more about the production and the dollars at the end...not so much about the music and the artist anymore. @kitano0, is it really new what they do? feels more like apple without steve jobs. They keep on making different products on the same theme. Whatever they make it always looks like a former model... Besides that, I think PRS is absolute a stunning company especially as long as Paul Reed Smith himself stays with the company.
Where are the new and exciting products lol? Release the same version of a strat with the only big change being the price that is 300$ more ? I freaking love strats, but they're starting to be like Gibson
An artist will play whatever guitar that a manufacturer will give them for free and a little money to boot. Several artists have even changed string brands if they know they can get an endorsement or free strings. Bottom line is you have to go where the money is.
@@rambleon2011 doubt he does this for the money when he has Range Rover and G-Shock money on the side and is John Mayer lol. Silver Sky sold a lot and a lot of non-Mayer fans got it.
@@rambleon2011 Is he known for paying his girlfriends bills? Rumour says no. We all need more money. This PRS deal is just the business deal! A dream come true. Good package with return.
John’s right to a point. Big guitar companies are still living in the past a lot because of the draw of vintage instruments. But he also overlooks the numerous brands that are doing crazy things like fanned frets on aluminum necks and pickups you can swap in seconds. Just gotta look about.
yeah that's what i didn't understand. the silver sky is most definitely a traditional s type guitar lol. i do agree with him on how idolizing vintage guitars to the point of trying to recreate them in perfect detail 60 years later is ridiculous. but fender has been backed into this corner where it's like they're scared to change their strats and teles for fear of pissing off their traditionalist customers. i'm glad leo sold the company and went on to make G&L guitars where he continued what fender could've been if they werent living in his shadow. If leo were still around today who know where his next company would end up. but yeah many many other companies and doing much more innovative things than 3+3 tuners on a strat body lol
@@rangowilder8099 brands like Relish Guitars from Switzerland have that funky pickup switching with a really light aluminum framed body. Strandbergs are cool for the fanned frets.
prs make amazing guitars . the new colours are awesome . to change guitar brands is is great idea. its keeps you from getting to settled on a particular sound and neck shape . nothing wrong with fender guitars and their history . i think fender have been very creative constantly releasing new models and shapes . and we are so lucky to have both brands of guitars . really the sound is all in the hands not the guitar . nothing wrong with a strat clone if it what the musician really wants.
John to Fender: I want to update the Strat. Fender: No. John to Paul: I want to update the Strat. Paul: Ok. Here it is. John to Paul: wow! I really don’t like it! I want a vintage Strat, Paul! Paul: (sighs) Fine. Here it is, but it kinda has to look like a PRS, John. That’s the deal. John: cool, that way I can say I designed it, not Leo Fender… or you.
When I watched the first few seconds of this video I thought it might be deepfaked because I never thought I'd see these two together. But it was surprisingly insightful and entertaining!
my 62 re-issue american strat is very similar to the silver sky i set up for a friend..... both very nice guitars but my 76 les paul custom that was refretted by paul reed smith is still my baby.... what i liked about paul is he did'nt trash other makers, he was more interested in what worked and what did'nt work in all the different designs..... if i was loaded i would play a modern eagle..... best electric guitar i ever played
John “let’s freshen up the electric guitar”. Continues to make as close to a classic guitar as possible without infringing in Fender’s copyrights”. Sometimes John literally makes no sense.
Watch the review with phill knight and Marty music sorry if I missed spelled there name but Phill pointed out fender does not own the strat anyone can make it . Also they made slight changes so they can not get sue, the electric parts are different to.
Honestly, I've been super curious about what HIS thoughts are about it. I'd like to hear more about what makes it different and unique, instead of just a rebranded strat...but even if it is just that, I understand going where you're appreciated
Only down side to the Silver Sky I can see is the Nitro lacquer finish on the back of the neck. Hate that sticky feel. Wish this guitar had a satin neck finish instead.
"Playing this thing thats 100 percent mine" Is a strat with the same neck, radius, 3 single coils, 5 way switch, even a 6 screw tremolo... He talks like he reinvented the wheel. It's bizarre. Lol
Man I love John. But he is so full of it. I finally just got it. I do love John Mayer. So much. He is a phenomenal guitarist. His work particularly in the Coninumn area...was just phenomenal. He is one of the best guitarists over the past 20 years. I’ve been struggling to come to terms with how much the silver sky looks like a Strat. Maybe I could get on board if it wasn’t for the pick guard. But I know JM’s point of view is that this is the future version of the strat and it’s just Occurred to me why it looks so much like a strat... John says this is the future interpretation of a strat because John Mayer’s ego is so big. Why not just do a different shape guitar? Why not have these fantastic pick ups in a slightly different body and take away the pick guard which so obviously makes it look like a strat? Its just become clear to me John’s ego is so big he thinks he’s redefining the strat. Advancing the most important guitar in history. Well that’s just classic John Mayer isn’t it? What happened to the supposed self-proclaimed recovering ego addict?
Great story apart from the fact that the “totally new” guitar is indistinguishable from a Fender Stratocaster. Look at the St Vincent signature guitar if you want to see what a fresh idea looks like. And even people who don’t appreciate her music love that guitar.
He said “redesign the electric guitar” to gain some distance from the old vintage things we always had. Not create something new from scratch. He said he has been a Fender guy his whole life, but when the company decided to stop taking what artists had to say on an instrument, or the ideas to make it better, he just moved somewhere else towards a place where he could actually make something, to have the freedom, and PRS was that place. After the massive success the Silver Sky was, im sure Fender are gonna start taking their artist more seriously
The haters will always be the ones who will comment first. And they say the internet is a nasty place LOL negative people have their safe haven in these comments section
I think I'm picking up what you're putting down, Andrew. His "totally new" story moving forward from these apparent tributes to station wagons to today rings quite hollow when you consider the final product. It isn't exactly a Tesla guitar. Hell, it isn't even one of Ryan Bellamy's designs. Brian May and his father had a guitar design leap. I am amazed by John's talent, but he and PRS didn't exactly reinvent the proverbial wheel.
well Saint Vincent is kind of an experimental musician whereas mayor is making traditional sounding music. it makes sense that her guitar would be some weird new concoction whereas his would be pretty basic but just filled with his preferred specs.
EVH had the same thing said when he was at Music Man . Like go anywhere and pull his guitar off the wall and it would be home . Great stories , Love the Ross
Why did Mayer really leave Fender? This is what I heard don't know if it's fact.... " Mayer was given an ultimatum that he could not perform live with any guitar whose manufacturer isn't owned by Fender (with the exception of Martin Acoustics). I was told JM was open to considering this, but Fender also insisted that all of his stage amps appear to be Fender Amps. JM is well known for his collection of incredibly rare, expensive (and excellent sounding) Dumble Amps. Fender didn't care if he used Dumbles live, as long as they were mic'd on the back line and Fender amps/cabs were stage facing (even if they had no speakers). John thought this would be "tricking"'his audience and refused. Fender didn't budge, so JM severed ties."
Bruv you also get some matte colour options on the prs. Other than the nebula blue nothing is striking. The Silver Sky is an exact replica of a strat:(
His ideas for re-imagining a strat must be pretty subtle because the PRS version pretty much just looks like they changed the headstock, which they would have to do for copyright reasons anyway.
Lets get real, the evolution of the strat was brought by people like Eddie van Halen and the whole hot rodded supper strats from companies like Jackson, Ibanez etc...But I can see where John Meyer is coming from, because in reality he was longing for a better relationship with a guitar company and PRS was willing to provide that regardless of how little or how much the guitar was improved compared to a Fender.
My girlfriends dad is one of the founders of PRS, worked with Paul for 35 years, has Carlos Santana’s number in his phone to this day, you wouldn’t believe your eyes if you saw his guitar collection.
John Mayer you did update the strat at all, what you have is a strat with prs headstock and yes i owed one. The clapton strat is a much bigger evolution of the strat as is the Gilmore and beck strats than what john mayers prs strat is.
Can’t imagine Fender will lose much sleep over this. Can’t imagine the market is huge for signature guitars so not worth it to them to retool just for a few signature models. Also not really sure what’s in it for PRS. The guitar they built for him is basically saying Mayer doesn’t like our guitars so we had to make him a fender copy.
@@MaestroJericho Fair enough mate. Don’t really listen to Mayer that much, he’s a fabulous player when he’s jamming but his mainstream stuff isn’t for me really.
Bottom line; Paul Smith paid John more money than Fender to get his endorsement. The Sky is just another of many boutique Stratocasters and it doesn't do anything more than any of the other company's $2400.00 copies of a Stratocaster in that price range. John's idea ended simply as a modified Strat. They admit that they 'copied' neck specs and pickup specs from John's vintage Stratocasters. Same wood for body and neck. The Strat is the most copied electric guitar ever made. 'If it looks like a duck and "quacks" like a duck, it's basically still a duck.
Let’s think about a different topic then what is being argued. John Mayer truly enjoys PRS’s guitars. That’s all. He probably enjoys a ton of guitars. But he resonates with PRS. I think that’s cool.
I like Fender and Gibson but PRS are more consistent and better quality control. You may hear some imperfect PRS once in awhile but it is negligible compared to how often people hear of issues with Fender and Gibson. Just like John Mayer said, he can go to a guitar store, pick up another PRS and it be the same. That is difficult to do unless you make guitars slower and focus more on quality which PRS does. They don’t turn out high amount of guitars like Fender and Gibson. PRS prefer steady, consistent quality which I prefer. A quality instrument right off the shelf in my style and color versus testing numerous guitars to find one that is well made but be turned off because the color or style is ugly is not appealing to me. I would see a Les Paul finish I love but then find the neck doesn’t feel right, pickups don’t sound right etc. and similar with Fender. I actually prefer Yamaha even over Fender in terms of consistent quality on low end. Those small changes in looks and feel I notice big on Yamaha and PRS. If I find a Fender or Gibson I love and have the money I may buy one because I still respect and wanted one but with Gibson’s constant attacks on guitar companies and other issues I’m hesitant to support a company like that. Paul Reed Smith treats his employees and customers with respect and thanks them for the support and that is rare nowadays and I support that.
And notice how Fender has now updated the finishes and some parts of the Strat to be more “today” or “current with time” after PRS Silver Sky was released? Fender realized after the success with Silver Sky John was right and updated the look and now use more young people to advertise it. 🤷♂️
@@davidgangemi3314 to your point, it looks very much like a Strat and I do think he's being a little silly even implying that what he did is a redesign but... I don't think JM is crazy enough to think he "designed" the guitar himself.
So by creating something 100% new, he really means I took my 64 Strat, put birds on it and now sell it through PRS. And oh yeah, charge $2,600 for it. Seriously, the Silver Sky is a 60’s Fender Strat made by PRS.
I like what he's done with PRS,..I agree that its a better relationship to have with the guys whose name is on the door,.LoL! I am still and always will be a "Strat guy",..but you an life a happy life liking and enjoying more than one thing,..!
His point isn't about tweaking, though (like swapping out pickups or electronics). He's saying the basic design hasn't changed in 60-70 years. The most popular electric guitars-Teles, Strats, Les Pauls, &c.-haven't changed much. The guitar manufacturing business is possibly the most conservative business I can think of. The vintage market has made things worse in that sense, because guitar buyers are so conservative that they think nothing can be improved in the design because Leo Fender or Les Paul "got it right the first time."
@@danielstoddart I'm sure that I'm as conservative as any player out there. Buy the simple truth, and in this case the driving force for new guitar design is the fact that "if it's not broke, don't it." And I'm happy with that.
But he basically created a fender strat with a different headstock. There are loads of companies doing newer and more different things that don’t hark back to the 50s
@@chickenmanoktae I have played 3 and it may well be a fine guitar but for him to say he created something that wasn't just like the old guitars is laughable. It's as close to a strat as he could get PRS to be without them getting sued for copyright infringement (Paul's been there before). That's fine, just don't claim it is something it isn't.
Lol he hasn’t mastered my fretboard invention doing FretCorner bends yet. I’m the king of the style so no matter how badass any Rock star thinks they are they have to admit they can’t do FretCorner bends as good as me or have never invented any legit modification to a fretboard. Atleast 99.99%. Lastly I offer these guys a free guitar to try and instead of taking up offer .. they bitch tf out. That’s weak af. Kill the ego. Admit you can’t do a style and I’m the best at it.
The funny thing is, any decent guitar player knows that it doesn’t matter what you play, it’s how you play it. Now, you can make that guitar feel more comfortable in your hands and be a certain weight, get different pick ups to make it sound this way or that way. But truthfully, I’ve seen great guitar players play hundred dollar guitars that they customize with their own pick ups and bridge and nut materials, that sound every bit as good as a $5000 custom anything. I always tell new guitar players, any guitar no matter what you pay for it and how custom you make it will only sound as good as the person strumming the strings. So, to new guitar players out there who may be watching these videos… Take your time and learn how to play the cheapest guitar that you can get a hold of. The second that you make that guitar sound good with your playing… then, spend the money you want to or you think you need to and design the dream guitar you’ve always dreamed of. But until you can make that cheap guitar from the pawnshop sound good, there’s no reason to go out and pay a ton of money on anything custom. That is the absolute same for any instrument. The most important thing is learning not only how to play, but then add your own little intricacies to make it your own style. Knowing how to play forward and back without ever looking down at the keyboard or your strings, becoming the best you can at playing that instrument. Then and only then should you consider anything more expensive than what you already have. I am speaking from experience. I have and have had dozens of guitars in my life and none of them mean absolutely squat, no matter how much I paid for them without the knowledge and experience behind the fingers playing them. Meaning, no matter what you have, it’s never going to sound any better than your talent or experience level will let it. With RUclips, you have the world at your fingertips with the best of the best musicians teaching you how to play via their years of experience both on stage and off. How some of those incredible musicians learned to play themselves and them teaching you techniques and styles in order to more easily better your own abilities. So don’t worry about what you’re playing, worry about learning how to play it and then move on to greener pastures from that point on. The idea is to make yourself the best musician you possibly can, not a poor or moderately talented musician with expensive looking or playing guitar. And most importantly, have fun. Figure out the best way you can learn personally. I am better when I am shown stuff in front of me and getting that immediate feedback from that teacher or software, that tells me what I’m doing wrong and how I can fix it. For those who can’t afford music lessons or maybe RUclips isn’t quite doing it for you, get a FretLight guitar. Which has LEDs on every position of the fretboard, that cannot only teach you where to put your fingers, but also scales to teach you leads and even timing. They have guitars ranging from $300 up to $1000, all of them with those LEDs behind every position… With the software also listening to the notes you are playing and giving you instant feedback on where you may or may not be going wrong. They also have games you can play based off of those LEDs and positions, for those who get bored quickly. Sort of like a guitar hero or rock band, except it’s actually teaching you how to play the instrument. Regardless, once you understand and can play well, spend until your hearts content to get the instrument you’ve always dreamed of. Don’t go out and buy 50 guitars, spend your money on one, two or three decent guitars that will give you the sound in the action that you’re looking for. Go to your local music shops and play to your hearts content to see what works best for you and go from there. Nothing beats hearing those instruments in person. that way you know what you’re buying, Then if you want to do something custom… You can go from that point and add or subtract what you do or don’t want. And again, it’s all about enjoying yourself and trying to become the best musician you can to limit frustration when you want to learn how to play something or write stuff on your own. Which can be the biggest obstacle in any studio. Getting frustrated because you don’t know how to play something or getting stuck behind technology that you don’t quite understand how to use. Which can stifle the creative process and make you walk away from what could be a masterpiece.
Although never a self described “Fender guy” as John professes to be - (I’m a Gibson Guitar endorser) - i still love their tube combo amps. But in regards to their guitars, i wholeheartedly agree. Like a lot of players, I’ve just reached the end of the road with them. They’re now a big corporate monolith who’ve totally lost site of the magic and beauty in music making. This new game they’ve decided to play with unsuspecting newbies, selling them “Fender” not “Squire” guitars that are NOT made in America is shameful. Then turning around and telling them “oh well if you want a Fender guitar made in America like the old days that’s going to cost you another $700.” For the exact same guitar. And some of these people pay it, totally not understanding the history or what’s going on. Not to mention the total destruction they imparted on both the Guild and Ovation companies… In short, Fender is just not cool anymore.
JM- “Hey Paul, I’m tired of playing the same old Strat, let’s build a guitar together “.
PRS- “Sounds great!!! Do you want the body to be one of our double cuts or single cut?”
JM- “Actually, can you make it more like a Strat body?”
PRS- “Yeah yeah, we can do that! Do you want a modern profile neck with a compound radius?”
JM- “Actually, can you make the neck feel like a vintage 60’s Strat neck, and give me a 7.25” radius?”
PRS- “Ermm… sure sure. So about the pickups, we have these awesome humbuckers that we can wire for splitting, out of phase, etc.”
JM- “That sounds awesome, but Paul, I’d preferred if it had 3 single coils with a pickguard similar to a Strat and a 5-way selector switch.”
PRS- “Okeiii… Hey John our trem systems are great. I was thinking..”
JM- “I’m so used to the vintage style 6 screw Strat bridge, can you make one just like that?”
PRS- “John, you’re asking me to build you a Strat?”
JM- “Nooooo!!!! It’s a PRS, but let’s make it unique and reverse your headstock!!!!”
PRS- “Sigh… sure John, whatever you want.”
100% accurate
There isn’t much modern about the Silver Sky at all, except that it’s being offered in ugly Tesla-inspired colors (apart from the special finish runs like Nebula).
I don’t have a problem with it, apart from the fact that John Mayer is trying to make it out to be some evolution of the Strat… It IS a Strat, with a PRS headstock.
Lmao facts!
@@joeykelly5642 yeah that was very weird to hear. You’d think he meant a guitar with piezo in the bridge vibrato saddle, stereo outs with a magnetic pickup and piezo blend knob, stainless frets etc. it’s just a strat in the sea of strats, that, like he said ironically make his guitar yet another station wagon tribute
Yeah even a $150 Cort G series is more of an evolution in terms of being a strat style guitar.
John mayer laughs one octave higher than he talks
hahahaha wow
I think it has something to do with his vocal surgery and him having to learn to laugh different so as to avoid irritating his vocal chords
@@soumakbasak9848 Totally you may be right because he developed his habit after around the same time
Mr. Perfect Pitch over here.
@@soumakbasak9848 he’s always laughed like that I’m pretty sure
I worked at PRS many years ago and in the years since I haven't met a guitar exec that even gave one tenth of a s**t about the actual guitars that Paul does. He is a really good guitar player as well. SO glad Mayer is using PRS!
@@paulmcgrath6118 The SE series from PRS is great. Anything PRS ! IMHO
@@paulmcgrath6118 the SEs are usually pretty good, but I’d also recommend the S2 line if you can swing a bit more money. They use similar hardware and pickups, but are built in their US factory and generally have a higher build quality. The satin Vela in particular is a fantastic guitar.
I worked at Taylor Guitars for years and Bob Taylor was in the factory every day. If needed, he could cover anybody’s job for the day. Said hello whenever we passed each other but did not know him personally. Ranks in the top 2 best bosses I’ve ever worked for.
@@paulmcgrath6118 play a modern eagle and you will never want to play a fender again.....
the touch and details on ALL PRSes are near perfect, its just like people at PRS just hate making any substandard guitar that carries the PRS name, unlike most other big names which will eventually bumping into bad makes once in a while
PRS has finally made a guitar tied to the car and surf culture of the 60s. Thanks John.
Actually PRS COPIED the guitar that DID create the surf culture of the 60's. (Dick Dale) It also was the choice of Hendrix, Vaughn, Clapton and hundreds of other great established guitar LEGENDS. What has always been obvious is it's the great players that made the instruments 'ICONIC'. The brand of guitar doesn't make anyone a great player. That comes from years of practice, focus, and driven devotion. Any guitar is only as good as the person playing it.
@@mitcharney1 Clapton established his career on Gibsons. THEN in the 70s, Fender lured him away.
@@TheScottJeter He wasn't lured away. Way before there was a Fender EC Model he explains in a RUclips video that he bought used Strats in pawn shops and pieced the neck he liked best to one of the bodies. (Blackie). He has played Strats much longer than gibsons. "Blackie" is the guitar that became/is synonymous with Eric Clapton and the first year of the EC Artist Model was 1988.
Yeah, I don’t really understand what he means. He wanted contemporary design cues, so he went to a company that makes 80s-looking guitars and asked them to make him the exact car-inspired surf guitar he already plays? I think it’s just that PRS treats him better so he moved on.
Check my patented fretboard invention 🎸🎶
John relationship with Paul is the stuff of any guitar players dreams
Guy from musiciswin is crying somewhere
@@yungplague5534 you mean tyler
Any guitarist's relationship with Paul is the stuff of a guitarist's dreams.
Funny how John makes a whole speech about guitars being the same for the last 60 years, and goes to another brand asking for a Strat - aka the old-fashioned/sixties model he always played with.
Was just gonna write this. The Silver Sky model is just like every other 60's strat-style guitar. Lol.
Yeah made no sense.
IIRC, his old number one is a SRV tribute made in the 80s.
Because Fender has been making their strats the same way as always and PRS has been innovating guitar technology for a while now. Especially in their electronics and most importantly in their playability. Fender is so inconsistent in their quality and playability that it's almost comedic. It's almost like playing a lottery buying a new fender guitar these days because you probably will have to get some work done on it to get it the way you want it - assuming you're the caliber of player that can tell the difference
@@zynthio Looks like you are in the minority with your reply. There is not a single electronic innovation in the 'Sky' that Fender had not already used. If you just read all the Videos that Mayer has posted you will find that he asked Paul Smith to "COPY" his vintage 7-1/4" radius Fender Strat necks. The key word is "COPY". Mayer also asked for the "Sky's' pickups to "COPY" the same tone of his vintage "Strats". Since the 'Sky' came out, Fender has sold at least 100 American made Strats to each PRS 'Sky' sold. Fender Custom Shop is 6 years behind in some of the orders. The "Sky" was not an innovation at all. It is, However, a nice copy of the Leo Fender "innovation".
Fender Operator: “Boss, we’ve got another artist on the phone with ideas on how to revolutionise the Strat and bring it into the 21st century.”
Fender CEO: “It’s John isn’t it? Tell him I’m at lunch. Yes, I know it’s 8am.”
Fender CEO finally gets a hold of John Mayer guitar sketch and gives him a "well done" sticker star on his forehead
"This is going RIGHT on the fridge, John! Good job!"
“Transfer him over to Charvel, where modern fenders are made”
@@JohnL2112 yup.
LOL
In all honesty, we are lucky to have both Fender and PRS. Thanks to the artists and companies that make something special.
The artists made Fender. The company, after Leo's original design, has basically not done anything truly innovative. It's really luck of perfect timing that Fender became what it did-- that so many artists used them for so much great music that it became a self-fulfilling prophecy of success. And they've been cashing in on cheap to make 1950s designs for 70 years.
Indeed! Like Dokovich and Federer. They push each other.
@@G5Hohn What a total bullshit statement! You sound like a middle school bully trying to break someone down because they had success and you cant stand it.
@@weschilton I have no idea how you get that. Unless you aren't mature enough to recognize that a big part of the successful vs the failure is just dumb luck. The more honest successful people will admit that. Once the "vintage" craze hit in the 90s, guitar innovation (especially at the big guys) basically stopped. Go ahead and list off the major "innovations" from Fender since, oh, 1985. I'll wait.
@@G5Hohn Well I don't know how innovative it is, but my Elite Strat is one of the finest instruments on earth. The Ultra Strat also won all kinds of "guitar of the year" awards the year it came out.
I find it staggering that Fender wouldn't make him a custom neck and call it a day. Because that's really all the PRS model is. A much smaller radius on the neck. Which is vintage Fender. Blows my mind.
But he made it more like a custom shop with the vintage sounding pickups but instead of it being outrageously priced it's 2200
Gotta be more to the story because they will make me a custom neck for the right price.
@@richarddeschaine7689 Well, $2200 is pretty outrageous to me. I don't even like paying $1000, although I've done it a couple of times.
@@reed311 from his 40 or 60 minutes video he explained that the person inside of fender who used to do his old one left, the new people he had some people then when prs called he wanted to make some change some things and prs let him he explained it a lot better hopeful this helps.
@@reed311 You watched the video, right? His contact at Fender left. The "new" Fender rep was more concerned with the company bottom line, than making customers happy. I would imagine John is pretty difficult to work with (In the nicest way. He's a perfectionist and should be!). Fender just wants to slap John's signature on a strat and call it an artist strat. PRS wants to give John what he wants, and feel good about it.
This is a gold channel
My guitar player has a Silver Sky. Awesome guitar. Best strat style I've played since my friend's 1963.
Let's freshen up the electric guitar aka let's make a Strat with the same shape, fretboard radius, pickup configuration and vibrato they had in 1954. The result: Toto.
From what I’ve heard about it (haven’t played it personally) it has a pretty “hi fi” kind of sound to it. Heard the same sort of explanation from multiple people.
So I guess it’s just like a strat as intended, with more of a modern kind of sound, and then feel with the PRS neck and body details.
Take what you will from that. Just think I’ve heard from too many people now that it just isn’t a strat, and I’m starting to believe it
@@grahamr7756 im don't understand much about guitar gear, so I'm curious, what actually made the difference? The tone wood the pickups?
@@CigLivery I think usually it’s pickups related. Like I said before I’ve not actually played one so I’m guessing here. Woods do matter as well though but I don’t think it’s anything out of the ordinary what they’re using. Except the carve is a bit different
@@grahamr7756 The wood's main effect lies in the sustain. If the wood resonates with the string, it helps the string to ring longer, and thereby generate more harmonics etcetera. Pickups then push out the signal according to their sensitivity and frequency response.
A guitar is so much more than just how it looks ya know. The type of wood, fretboard, pick ups, tuners, bridge you use can look like a Strat but feel and sound completely different
Man, the ignorance in these comments. Yes, the SS is based off John’s favorite ‘64 strat, but go play one and you’ll see that it stands alone. The pickups have the quack of a strat, but the sustain and clarity PRS is known for. The neck, while having a traditional 7.25” radius, is unique in its feel. I’ve never played a more comfortable neck. String tension feels different from a strat. Not to mention, every position is usable without being overly harsh. Hard to find that in a Fender.
Disclaimer: I own a SS and multiple Fenders. I believe they are different enough to stand alone. Gotta have both IMO.
I enjoyed this part of the interview,it had the laughter in it , along with the documentary feel.Just 👍 great!.Thanks,for sharing.
Great analogy there by John about designing a guitar is like cooking food for other people.
I like my musicians like I like my books - intelligent and insightful.
Damn, I'm so happy with my old Fender station wagon, wish I could get an even older one.
That cooking analogy is too accurate!!
Looks like you just changed the headlights on the old station wagon I loved the JM fender strat with big dipper pick ups black with rosewood absolutely beautiful
The silver sky reminds me of homers chili cook off spoon. “They say he carved it himself! From a bigger spoon”
John, I'm not a Rockstar like you but I've been playing a while. And today, many guitar players have left the typical assembly line guitars and opted for custom guitars because of the exact reason you had with Fender. Hope your new prs sound serves you well.
My guitarist has a silver sky. It's a beauty.
Fender is an iconic guitar company with a name seared into musical history. I didn't know what PRS even was up until a few years ago, but they do make some Beautiful guitars. Unfortunately the pretty ones cost more than a Gibson or a Fender (private stock, McCarty 594 wood library etc) no thanks. But John Mayer is a seasoned guitarist so I'm sure he knows what he's doing, and he's well within his right to choose PRS over Fender.
PRS Private Stocks are the same price as Gibson Murphy Lab Les Pauls
The SE guitars are really nice
High end PRS are comparable in price to top of the line Gibson but NO Gibson at ANY price can even compare to top shelf PRS. Last time I checked out a $3k-$4k Gibson LP custom I was appalled at the atrocious lack of any standards of quality applying to the finishing cosmetics like inlays and binding. The inlays were actually plastic and if that wasn't atrocious enough they weren't even cut to the proper shape but instead they just inlayed rectangular plastic blocks that roughly simulated MOP then simply painted over them to create the desired shapes such as the Gibson logo!?! Absolutely deplorable and abysmal manufacturing standards. It was difficult not to suspect Gibson corporate of conspiring to hatch a sinister, diabolical scheme to scam unsuspecting naive guitarists with no eye for quality by selling them guitars manufactured with defects BUILT INTO THE DESIGN as part of a carefully planned, elaborate campaign to cut corners to the level of quality once inherent to older guitars basically doing away with pesky standards of quality in order to simplify and streamline the building process. No longer must they agonize over even obvious flaws and defects since they are now inherent to the very design itself. Not to mention most of their most popular guitars have design characteristics that are inferior and long outdated compared to modern designs like PRS(such as the LP neck joints laying part of the fretboard directly onto the body). To top off the admirably evil practices, they are known as being by far the most sue happy guitar company ever! Once sueing even the smallest, most boutique guitar builders for building anything even remotely resembling a Les Paul or SG. SMFH... I will no longer even consider buying from the greedy, corporate, monopolizing company that is Gibson... K, rant over!
I’m still confused as to how the silver sky isn’t just a strat with birds.
He leaves Fender so PRS can build him a Fender Strat. This seems so retarded.
@@malachi9898 yep nail on the head
@@malachi9898 yet he talks about it like it’s a revolutionary instrument. I’m so confused.
Well there’s dozens of things different about it if you just cross the specs. It’s pretty obvious
@@spencerriggs6777 Ascetics are only ascetics. If you don't see the guitar being played (blind test) it sounds exactly like a Strat. That is the sound Mayer wanted and as the project developed the more Mayer wanted specs to be like his 2 favorite vintage Strats. He says that in other videos. You have to maintain the basics of the build to get that sound, as ALL the boutique copiers have done. The bottom line is about the sound of a Strat. The last thing is PRS was willing to pay John more for an endorsement than Fender was. Van Halen changed guitar companies at least 4 times. It's about $.
I agree with everyone who said that John Mayer now plays a Strat-copy. PRS is a guy full of hyperbole when he talks about the silver sky pickup development. Guitarists are like fisherman, they're suckers for gear of any type. If that gear has a line of bull to help sell it, so much the better. The Silver Sky does have an angled headstock. Great innovation there... PRS is also a guy who makes the most beautiful production guitars in the world. The Silver Sky isn't one of them.
I haven't had so many belly laughs from the comments section ever. Thanks to so many of the commentators in this thread. John M is a living example of the McCartney lyric, "I'm Looking Through You," for so many of you in this thread. Thanks for the laughs.
I haven't really ever been into any guitar with single coils. Especially strats and tele's. Infinite respect and admiration for both, I was just never really into the sounds and tones you get with singles. I've never owned either a strat or a telecaster, but have played them enough to draw a bead on my personal feelings for them. However, I was shuffling through my local guitar shop about a month or so ago, and they happened to have two silver sky's. The yellow one and the pinkish orange-y one. So I grabbed one, took it to the demo room and plugged in. I was hooked before playing the first note. It just felt so good in my hands and on my legs. Like it had grown from my hands and fingers, as if it was an extension of me. For me personally (having physical handicaps that prevent me from being able to play standing) I'm a core kid for life and my heart beats in breakdowns. Simply HOLDING a silver sky and feeling it's ergonomics and textures, it MADE me want to play differently. As guitarists we all experience something like that at least once. As for myself, I never would've dreamed that a strat style guitar would hit me the same way Jason Richardsons music man did (a complete metal machine) leave it to PRS to make a stratocaster better than any fender lmao
Mayer says it's time to move on from the design language of the 1950s but he asked PRS to make a Strat clone. Curious.
No doubt PRS makes great guitars. I just bought one and love it (after I swapped out the strings they put on), I still love my Strat & Tele.
why didn u swap out the strings ?
"It looks like a Strat". Just like with cars, what's inside the guitar is what makes the PRS Silver Sky awesome
And what's inside of it is absolutely nothing interesting or innovative. Copied vintage Strat neck and body specs, reverse-engineered and PRS built same old vintage strat pickups. It's literally just a strat, just a boring one.
@@Quicksilver_Cookie PRS actually has a unique way of doing the wiring on the Silver Sky. Using resistors on the pots to keep them at a precise value and really finding the sweet spot for the pickups and capacitors to work together to make the controls much more interactive than most Strats I’ve played. While you could mod any guitar this way I think you’re hard pressed to find a production guitar with that extra thought put into it. Copied or not I give PRS some merit on that.
@@Stratpack59 That mod has been used for years and not a PRS idea. It's cost about ten bucks.
@@mitcharney1 Fair enough that it’s been around for a while. I don’t personally know of another production guitar that uses it though. I’m not a huge PRS fanboy, but I appreciate the thought Paul has put into them. Like doing a $10 mod to help it achieve the best sound out of the factory.
Ok I never thought my comedy world and music world come together Jeff Ross x John Mayer
I thought the reason he left Fender was a complete different story than the "developing is own guitar" story he is trying to sell here.
I believe Fender at some point demanded that he could only use Fender or Fender related guitars with the exception of acoustics during live performances and that all his amps could only be Fenders or at least show the Fender logo. He was ok with the guitars but not with the amps so he left. At that point he wouldn't do free Fender endorsement by still playing his strat so he went to PRS and asked them to build a strat for him. The "developed" parts are just there so it wouldn't be a complete copy...
PRS was willing to pay John more $ for an endorsement than Fender was. Have you forgotten how many times Van Halen changed guitar companies?
Yea I think that's the main point he pointed out on his RUclips channel when he was describing the prs guitar from the fender guitar.
@@mitcharney1 evh is a different story. Moved to MM when kramer was going to collapse. Then with Peavey to build basically the same guitar plus his copy of a Soldano and having a better worldwide spread. Then he was fired by Peavey when he went to NAMM drunk while presenting the new line. Then Fender offered him a personal line to produce his basic guitar PLUS the amps (evolution of the peavey 5150) plus all of his older guitars that people still asked. With Fender wasn't an endorsment, was a company in the company
didnt he have a concert in 2020 where he used a fender strat though?
What doesn't add up is he said he had new ideas about his guitar and Fender is reluctant to bite, but aside from the headstock of his signature PRS, everything else is pretty much based on Fender Strat. So what is the new idea that Fender didn't bite that he had implemented on his PRS Strat? If he wanted modern ideas which Fender is reluctant to do he could have gone to Suhr, Ibanez or even Fender's owned Jackson or Charvel side. Clearly Paul made him a deal he couldn't refuse unless off course the idea he had was a Strat with just a different headstock.
"Cool color Silver Sky, what is it?" "Canter's Kishka Metallic."
I'm glad he switched. I made the fixtures PRS uses for milling the guitar bodies in their CNC machines. Also made them for the S2 and Midline. Jobs like that are the fun part of being a toolmaker.
I love my S2. Nice work sir!
I love how his shirt cuff is rolled up to show off his watch. This guy is a watch connoisseur.
I don't think Fender is "stuck" anywhere. They are constantly (exhaustively?) releasing new, exciting products. And in the case of the Stratocaster...it's one of the most iconic shapes that has ever been invented..
The fender that designed the strat is not the same fender we have today.
@kitano0 I don’t think that’s the point that John was making. His point is that his collaborative relationship with Fender changed.
When in the past they would be more creatively open minded to artist ideas and work flow, they shifted to a more rigidly corporate behaviour, which in John’s mind stifles creativity when it involves the artists they endorse.
Personally, I don’t have an opinion one way or the other. I have a Eric Johnson model strat that I’m happy with, but I didn’t buy it new and I doubt I’ll be buying a Fender product any time in the future unless it’s old and vintage.
@@Clayphish exactly, fender just became more about the production and the dollars at the end...not so much about the music and the artist anymore. @kitano0, is it really new what they do? feels more like apple without steve jobs. They keep on making different products on the same theme. Whatever they make it always looks like a former model...
Besides that, I think PRS is absolute a stunning company especially as long as Paul Reed Smith himself stays with the company.
I love fender but, no. They’re not releasing new and exciting product.
Where are the new and exciting products lol? Release the same version of a strat with the only big change being the price that is 300$ more ? I freaking love strats, but they're starting to be like Gibson
“Chicken Parmesan metallic”… John, I’m all in!!! By the way, the Roxy Pink?… KILLER!
And Cordon Bleu Baby Blue
I'm honestly curious to see what that color would look like now lol.
I was never really tempted by the silver sky....but the roxy pink.....wow
An artist will play whatever guitar that a manufacturer will give them for free and a little money to boot. Several artists have even changed string brands if they know they can get an endorsement or free strings. Bottom line is you have to go where the money is.
John doesn’t need the money
@@rambleon2011 doubt he does this for the money when he has Range Rover and G-Shock money on the side and is John Mayer lol. Silver Sky sold a lot and a lot of non-Mayer fans got it.
@@rambleon2011 Is he known for paying his girlfriends bills? Rumour says no. We all need more money. This PRS deal is just the business deal! A dream come true. Good package with return.
That's called prostitution integrity. That's an oxymoron. Follow the money right off a cliff.
John’s right to a point. Big guitar companies are still living in the past a lot because of the draw of vintage instruments. But he also overlooks the numerous brands that are doing crazy things like fanned frets on aluminum necks and pickups you can swap in seconds. Just gotta look about.
yeah that's what i didn't understand. the silver sky is most definitely a traditional s type guitar lol. i do agree with him on how idolizing vintage guitars to the point of trying to recreate them in perfect detail 60 years later is ridiculous. but fender has been backed into this corner where it's like they're scared to change their strats and teles for fear of pissing off their traditionalist customers. i'm glad leo sold the company and went on to make G&L guitars where he continued what fender could've been if they werent living in his shadow. If leo were still around today who know where his next company would end up. but yeah many many other companies and doing much more innovative things than 3+3 tuners on a strat body lol
What brands would you recommend someone to look into? I wanna checkout these features
@@blinxs99 Gibson is the same way though.
@@rangowilder8099 brands like Relish Guitars from Switzerland have that funky pickup switching with a really light aluminum framed body. Strandbergs are cool for the fanned frets.
“Still putting out tributes to the station wagon” 💯😂
Aesthetically he says the tribute to vintage cars and surf culture within guitars should move on… then his PRS is basically a Strat tribute lmfao.
prs make amazing guitars . the new colours are awesome . to change guitar brands is is great idea. its keeps you from getting to settled on a particular sound and neck shape .
nothing wrong with fender guitars and their history . i think fender have been very creative constantly releasing new models and shapes . and we are so lucky to have both brands of guitars .
really the sound is all in the hands not the guitar . nothing wrong with a strat clone if it what the musician really wants.
My thing is, the Silver Sky looks literally the same as a Strat.
John to Fender: I want to update the Strat.
Fender: No.
John to Paul: I want to update the Strat.
Paul: Ok. Here it is.
John to Paul: wow! I really don’t like it! I want a vintage Strat, Paul!
Paul: (sighs) Fine. Here it is, but it kinda has to look like a PRS, John. That’s the deal.
John: cool, that way I can say I designed it, not Leo Fender… or you.
LOL!!!
i love how badly all these comments aged, in the last 2 years its basically been decided the silver sky is really good
When I watched the first few seconds of this video I thought it might be deepfaked because I never thought I'd see these two together. But it was surprisingly insightful and entertaining!
I wonder if there are any more recording footage on you tube. I loved that video when he showed recording “in repair”
my 62 re-issue american strat is very similar to the silver sky i set up for a friend..... both very nice guitars but my 76 les paul custom that was refretted by paul reed smith is still my baby.... what i liked about paul is he did'nt trash other makers, he was more interested in what worked and what did'nt work in all the different designs..... if i was loaded i would play a modern eagle..... best electric guitar i ever played
Been playing the same PRS for 20 years. Yeah buddy!
"You designed the guitar"
*is an exact replica of the strat*
John “let’s freshen up the electric guitar”. Continues to make as close to a classic guitar as possible without infringing in Fender’s copyrights”. Sometimes John literally makes no sense.
Fender doesn’t own the right to the Stratocaster body design. He just made some extra contours to the strat because he wanted them there
His PRS is hideous looking
@@karterdowd606 Yes Fender owns the Headstock design.
Watch the review with phill knight and Marty music sorry if I missed spelled there name but Phill pointed out fender does not own the strat anyone can make it . Also they made slight changes so they can not get sue, the electric parts are different to.
Damn this is cool, I have a PRS Soapbar SE. Feels nice that a top modern guitarist is rooting for PRS now.
Honestly, I've been super curious about what HIS thoughts are about it. I'd like to hear more about what makes it different and unique, instead of just a rebranded strat...but even if it is just that, I understand going where you're appreciated
Only down side to the Silver Sky I can see is the Nitro lacquer finish on the back of the neck. Hate that sticky feel. Wish this guitar had a satin neck finish instead.
"Playing this thing thats 100 percent mine"
Is a strat with the same neck, radius, 3 single coils, 5 way switch, even a 6 screw tremolo...
He talks like he reinvented the wheel. It's bizarre. Lol
His songs on radio, but he talks about guitars during interview. It's like being both: a star and a rockstar at the same time. Who wouldn't? : )
I have strats and silver sky. Wouldn’t give up either.
Congrats, John Mayer! God bless.
I was hoping that he would list the innovations and improvements.
lol
There would have to be some.
It's a Strat with a PRS head.
@@marcpaola1371 Obviously. But theoretically they made it “better”, as all Strat improvements try to do.
Is it after all just about the money?
Man I love John. But he is so full of it. I finally just got it. I do love John Mayer. So much. He is a phenomenal guitarist. His work particularly in the Coninumn area...was just phenomenal. He is one of the best guitarists over the past 20 years.
I’ve been struggling to come to terms with how much the silver sky looks like a Strat. Maybe I could get on board if it wasn’t for the pick guard. But I know JM’s point of view is that this is the future version of the strat and it’s just Occurred to me why it looks so much like a strat... John says this is the future interpretation of a strat because John Mayer’s ego is so big. Why not just do a different shape guitar? Why not have these fantastic pick ups in a slightly different body and take away the pick guard which so obviously makes it look like a strat? Its just become clear to me John’s ego is so big he thinks he’s redefining the strat. Advancing the most important guitar in history. Well that’s just classic John Mayer isn’t it? What happened to the supposed self-proclaimed recovering ego addict?
Great story apart from the fact that the “totally new” guitar is indistinguishable from a Fender Stratocaster. Look at the St Vincent signature guitar if you want to see what a fresh idea looks like. And even people who don’t appreciate her music love that guitar.
Indistinguishable? Better have another look
He said “redesign the electric guitar” to gain some distance from the old vintage things we always had. Not create something new from scratch. He said he has been a Fender guy his whole life, but when the company decided to stop taking what artists had to say on an instrument, or the ideas to make it better, he just moved somewhere else towards a place where he could actually make something, to have the freedom, and PRS was that place. After the massive success the Silver Sky was, im sure Fender are gonna start taking their artist more seriously
The haters will always be the ones who will comment first. And they say the internet is a nasty place LOL negative people have their safe haven in these comments section
I think I'm picking up what you're putting down, Andrew. His "totally new" story moving forward from these apparent tributes to station wagons to today rings quite hollow when you consider the final product. It isn't exactly a Tesla guitar. Hell, it isn't even one of Ryan Bellamy's designs.
Brian May and his father had a guitar design leap. I am amazed by John's talent, but he and PRS didn't exactly reinvent the proverbial wheel.
well Saint Vincent is kind of an experimental musician whereas mayor is making traditional sounding music. it makes sense that her guitar would be some weird new concoction whereas his would be pretty basic but just filled with his preferred specs.
EVH had the same thing said when he was at Music Man .
Like go anywhere and pull his guitar off the wall and it would be home .
Great stories , Love the Ross
Steve Vai said the same back in 1987 or so about the JEM.
Why did Mayer really leave Fender? This is what I heard don't know if it's fact.... " Mayer was given an ultimatum that he could not perform live with any guitar whose manufacturer isn't owned by Fender (with the exception of Martin Acoustics). I was told JM was open to considering this, but Fender also insisted that all of his stage amps appear to be Fender Amps. JM is well known for his collection of incredibly rare, expensive (and excellent sounding) Dumble Amps. Fender didn't care if he used Dumbles live, as long as they were mic'd on the back line and Fender amps/cabs were stage facing (even if they had no speakers).
John thought this would be "tricking"'his audience and refused. Fender didn't budge, so JM severed ties."
I love how the Silver Sky looks. But can anybody explain to me, what's so different between it and the Stratocaster he used to play?
the headstock is reversed that's it.
@@ved5243 I also notice an extra taper on the lower cutout? Other than that, nothing?
Bruv you also get some matte colour options on the prs. Other than the nebula blue nothing is striking. The Silver Sky is an exact replica of a strat:(
@@ved5243 That's true. It's pretty wild imho that Paul took on this project, I mean, what's next? A PRS Iceman for Paul Stanley?
His ideas for re-imagining a strat must be pretty subtle because the PRS version pretty much just looks like they changed the headstock, which they would have to do for copyright reasons anyway.
Correct.
Lets get real, the evolution of the strat was brought by people like Eddie van Halen and the whole hot rodded supper strats from companies like Jackson, Ibanez etc...But I can see where John Meyer is coming from, because in reality he was longing for a better relationship with a guitar company and PRS was willing to provide that regardless of how little or how much the guitar was improved compared to a Fender.
The only amazing thing about J.M. PRS guitar is the pickups. That is it!!
John sure talks it about how working in a company works. Wonder what job he’s ever had???
Btw 'sOB' rock, reverse is '80s' rock.
Hinting that the album's gonna sound like bands from the the 80s.
My girlfriends dad is one of the founders of PRS, worked with Paul for 35 years, has Carlos Santana’s number in his phone to this day, you wouldn’t believe your eyes if you saw his guitar collection.
I have a prs too but I grew up on using a fender. I need to buy another one. I miss playing on one
John Mayer reminded me of Ray Liotta at the end how he looked while laughing lol
We need the Super Silver Sky please. Humbucker in the bridge, Floyd Rose, neon colors, the works. Just in time for an album inspired by the 80’s.
John Mayer you did update the strat at all, what you have is a strat with prs headstock and yes i owed one. The clapton strat is a much bigger evolution of the strat as is the Gilmore and beck strats than what john mayers prs strat is.
Can’t imagine Fender will lose much sleep over this. Can’t imagine the market is huge for signature guitars so not worth it to them to retool just for a few signature models. Also not really sure what’s in it for PRS. The guitar they built for him is basically saying Mayer doesn’t like our guitars so we had to make him a fender copy.
to be fair he plays their Modern Eagles and non-Silver Sky a lot for Dead and Company and the JMod amps.
@@MaestroJericho Fair enough mate. Don’t really listen to Mayer that much, he’s a fabulous player when he’s jamming but his mainstream stuff isn’t for me really.
@@Yosser70 a marvelous player for sessions but I couldn’t listen to one of his songs for over 30 seconds
Thanks bud, my JM strat has doubled its price.
LOL!!!
Bottom line; Paul Smith paid John more money than Fender to get his endorsement.
The Sky is just another of many boutique Stratocasters and it doesn't do anything more than any of the other company's $2400.00 copies of a Stratocaster in that price range.
John's idea ended simply as a modified Strat. They admit that they 'copied' neck specs and pickup specs from John's vintage Stratocasters. Same wood for body and neck.
The Strat is the most copied electric guitar ever made. 'If it looks like a duck and "quacks" like a duck, it's basically still a duck.
And Fender already gave him 2 and the contract was for 2 guitars so for the third one they wanted to charge and that was outrageous?
It's funny :D
@@LZcool like he can spare the change
🤣🤣 yep. He’s talking about reinventing the wheel but designed the exact same wheel.
@@JazzDefiance A wheel other than round, doesn't roll!
Yeah, I love John's music, but dude... this is nothing but barely veiled marketing hype. Its really pretty lame.
Still prefer the Fender Strat tone to the Silver Sky. He'll go back to Fender full circle eventually. Trust me.
Agreed. His PRS sounds sterile. His Black1 had mojo tone
He already has. He was playing non PRS guitars a lot of the time with Dead an Co.
Let’s think about a different topic then what is being argued. John Mayer truly enjoys PRS’s guitars. That’s all. He probably enjoys a ton of guitars. But he resonates with PRS. I think that’s cool.
I like Fender and Gibson but PRS are more consistent and better quality control. You may hear some imperfect PRS once in awhile but it is negligible compared to how often people hear of issues with Fender and Gibson.
Just like John Mayer said, he can go to a guitar store, pick up another PRS and it be the same. That is difficult to do unless you make guitars slower and focus more on quality which PRS does. They don’t turn out high amount of guitars like Fender and Gibson. PRS prefer steady, consistent quality which I prefer. A quality instrument right off the shelf in my style and color versus testing numerous guitars to find one that is well made but be turned off because the color or style is ugly is not appealing to me. I would see a Les Paul finish I love but then find the neck doesn’t feel right, pickups don’t sound right etc. and similar with Fender. I actually prefer Yamaha even over Fender in terms of consistent quality on low end. Those small changes in looks and feel I notice big on Yamaha and PRS.
If I find a Fender or Gibson I love and have the money I may buy one because I still respect and wanted one but with Gibson’s constant attacks on guitar companies and other issues I’m hesitant to support a company like that. Paul Reed Smith treats his employees and customers with respect and thanks them for the support and that is rare nowadays and I support that.
And notice how Fender has now updated the finishes and some parts of the Strat to be more “today” or “current with time” after PRS Silver Sky was released? Fender realized after the success with Silver Sky John was right and updated the look and now use more young people to advertise it. 🤷♂️
Mayer designed this guitar?
That's like making a mix tape and claiming publishing rights.
It's one guitar pasted to another.
The DJ of Guitar Designers
he literally says he "redesigned" a guitar (that already existed) in the first 30 seconds.
@@haze86 he redesigned the definition of redesign I guess
@@davidgangemi3314 to your point, it looks very much like a Strat and I do think he's being a little silly even implying that what he did is a redesign but... I don't think JM is crazy enough to think he "designed" the guitar himself.
Im glad i watched this. Part of me thought he was probably being a bit of a Streisand with Fender. Good for him.
3:31 i thought elmo was in the room
really expected Jeff Ross to ask John if he was on crack in a sincere manor when he said he was moving away from Fender.
So by creating something 100% new, he really means I took my 64 Strat, put birds on it and now sell it through PRS. And oh yeah, charge $2,600 for it.
Seriously, the Silver Sky is a 60’s Fender Strat made by PRS.
yeah well. do you know how much 60s strats go for? the fact that PRS can make something like that of that quality for that price is really cool.
PRSs and Fenders have wildly different neck feels, really all that’s similar is the shape of the body
you nailed it sir
Fender mustve been drooling with silver sky's financial and cultural success
i love these two together!!
Yet the silver sky is comparable to a vintage Strat spec wise
Probably a fabulous guitar, but it just seems to be higher priced Stratocaster. When I find one I will definitely play it and possibly rewrite this.
I like what he's done with PRS,..I agree that its a better relationship to have with the guys whose name is on the door,.LoL! I am still and always will be a "Strat guy",..but you an life a happy life liking and enjoying more than one thing,..!
"Let's freshen up the guitar"
Because nobody else has ever tweaked a strat design.
His point isn't about tweaking, though (like swapping out pickups or electronics). He's saying the basic design hasn't changed in 60-70 years. The most popular electric guitars-Teles, Strats, Les Pauls, &c.-haven't changed much. The guitar manufacturing business is possibly the most conservative business I can think of. The vintage market has made things worse in that sense, because guitar buyers are so conservative that they think nothing can be improved in the design because Leo Fender or Les Paul "got it right the first time."
@@danielstoddart yeah, and his signature guitar is just a warmed over copy of that design. Like a million others before it.
@@Dram1984 so sorry someone held a gun to your head and made you buy one
@@danielstoddart I'm sure that I'm as conservative as any player out there. Buy the simple truth, and in this case the driving force for new guitar design is the fact that "if it's not broke, don't it." And I'm happy with that.
@@danielstoddart So why did he make something so close to the Strat? You would think he'd do something drastically more modern
There is not enought recognition on the inovation fender has made on the parallel universe and acustasonic series
because those are crap and are overpriced, EXCEPT the orange thinline tele, that's decent
@@marionunziodibartolomeo diferent strokes and all but I'm completely in love with my sixty six
But he basically created a fender strat with a different headstock. There are loads of companies doing newer and more different things that don’t hark back to the 50s
Well there’s no point in changing the things you already like about something, he just wanted to change things he didn’t like
Play one first, those who complain are the ones who will and cannot buy LOL
@@chickenmanoktae I have played 3 and it may well be a fine guitar but for him to say he created something that wasn't just like the old guitars is laughable. It's as close to a strat as he could get PRS to be without them getting sued for copyright infringement (Paul's been there before). That's fine, just don't claim it is something it isn't.
Is this the same camera trick they used with Gandalf and Bilbo in Lord of the RIngs?
There’s 2 sides of a story. John told his side, Fender’s side pending?
John just didn’t have anybody to feed his enormous ego. PRS stepped up
Look its JOE Fender….wazzup joey
PRS provided a more lucrative endorsement.
Lol he hasn’t mastered my fretboard invention doing FretCorner bends yet. I’m the king of the style so no matter how badass any Rock star thinks they are they have to admit they can’t do FretCorner bends as good as me or have never invented any legit modification to a fretboard. Atleast 99.99%. Lastly I offer these guys a free guitar to try and instead of taking up offer .. they bitch tf out. That’s weak af. Kill the ego. Admit you can’t do a style and I’m the best at it.
The funny thing is, any decent guitar player knows that it doesn’t matter what you play, it’s how you play it. Now, you can make that guitar feel more comfortable in your hands and be a certain weight, get different pick ups to make it sound this way or that way. But truthfully, I’ve seen great guitar players play hundred dollar guitars that they customize with their own pick ups and bridge and nut materials, that sound every bit as good as a $5000 custom anything. I always tell new guitar players, any guitar no matter what you pay for it and how custom you make it will only sound as good as the person strumming the strings. So, to new guitar players out there who may be watching these videos… Take your time and learn how to play the cheapest guitar that you can get a hold of. The second that you make that guitar sound good with your playing… then, spend the money you want to or you think you need to and design the dream guitar you’ve always dreamed of. But until you can make that cheap guitar from the pawnshop sound good, there’s no reason to go out and pay a ton of money on anything custom.
That is the absolute same for any instrument. The most important thing is learning not only how to play, but then add your own little intricacies to make it your own style. Knowing how to play forward and back without ever looking down at the keyboard or your strings, becoming the best you can at playing that instrument. Then and only then should you consider anything more expensive than what you already have.
I am speaking from experience. I have and have had dozens of guitars in my life and none of them mean absolutely squat, no matter how much I paid for them without the knowledge and experience behind the fingers playing them. Meaning, no matter what you have, it’s never going to sound any better than your talent or experience level will let it. With RUclips, you have the world at your fingertips with the best of the best musicians teaching you how to play via their years of experience both on stage and off. How some of those incredible musicians learned to play themselves and them teaching you techniques and styles in order to more easily better your own abilities. So don’t worry about what you’re playing, worry about learning how to play it and then move on to greener pastures from that point on. The idea is to make yourself the best musician you possibly can, not a poor or moderately talented musician with expensive looking or playing guitar.
And most importantly, have fun. Figure out the best way you can learn personally. I am better when I am shown stuff in front of me and getting that immediate feedback from that teacher or software, that tells me what I’m doing wrong and how I can fix it. For those who can’t afford music lessons or maybe RUclips isn’t quite doing it for you, get a FretLight guitar. Which has LEDs on every position of the fretboard, that cannot only teach you where to put your fingers, but also scales to teach you leads and even timing. They have guitars ranging from $300 up to $1000, all of them with those LEDs behind every position… With the software also listening to the notes you are playing and giving you instant feedback on where you may or may not be going wrong. They also have games you can play based off of those LEDs and positions, for those who get bored quickly. Sort of like a guitar hero or rock band, except it’s actually teaching you how to play the instrument.
Regardless, once you understand and can play well, spend until your hearts content to get the instrument you’ve always dreamed of. Don’t go out and buy 50 guitars, spend your money on one, two or three decent guitars that will give you the sound in the action that you’re looking for. Go to your local music shops and play to your hearts content to see what works best for you and go from there. Nothing beats hearing those instruments in person. that way you know what you’re buying, Then if you want to do something custom… You can go from that point and add or subtract what you do or don’t want.
And again, it’s all about enjoying yourself and trying to become the best musician you can to limit frustration when you want to learn how to play something or write stuff on your own. Which can be the biggest obstacle in any studio. Getting frustrated because you don’t know how to play something or getting stuck behind technology that you don’t quite understand how to use. Which can stifle the creative process and make you walk away from what could be a masterpiece.
Although never a self described “Fender guy” as John professes to be - (I’m a Gibson Guitar endorser) - i still love their tube combo amps. But in regards to their guitars, i wholeheartedly agree. Like a lot of players, I’ve just reached the end of the road with them. They’re now a big corporate monolith who’ve totally lost site of the magic and beauty in music making. This new game they’ve decided to play with unsuspecting newbies, selling them “Fender” not “Squire” guitars that are NOT made in America is shameful. Then turning around and telling them “oh well if you want a Fender guitar made in America like the old days that’s going to cost you another $700.” For the exact same guitar. And some of these people pay it, totally not understanding the history or what’s going on. Not to mention the total destruction they imparted on both the Guild and Ovation companies… In short, Fender is just not cool anymore.
I got the Spruce Hollow body number 5
If I try a PRS Guitar I still sound like Robin Trower ☮️🎸✨✨✨🎼🎼🎼🤩
I want to invent a guitar for one of these major companies!
But it's a long way to the top if you wanna rock n' roll.