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".
I just wanna use this special opportunity to thank you 🙏 for the love 💕 and support towards me, I’m very grateful and thankful to have you as a supportive fan❤️😍😘🙏✅
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Uhh did you listen to him? I highly doubt he cares as much as you think about endorsement money from a guitar company when his concert tickets are as much as they are and he sells out immediately.
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.
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.
Fender could have had Greg Koch on their team, too, and they gave him the cold shoulder. So now he's making game-changing pickups with Fishman and guitars with Reverend.
My next guitar is probably PRS, (again lol), but I would not buy this in silver or any of the colors that I see offered. I would buy a brown burst or white, not because they look like a station wagon or are vintage in any way, simply because those are colors/ finishes that I like. I have played strats for decades and still like the way the look, nothing to do with the design being 'old' and station wagonish. The bird inlays are something I would also pay to have replaced with dots if it were an option. John's career is based on a Strat and the SRV, Hendrix tone, and licks of both, I see another station wagon, driving by my window..
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'm sure it's a nice guitar to play, but I think he is overselling how much of a departure or update it is from a Strat. It's very close in many respects.
Well a company shouldn’t market a guitar as a signature guitar if it really isn’t. Sounds like Fender just wanted to sell his name…like Mayer just spoke to whichever engineer or manager on duty. I’ve got plenty of Fender Strats and Jazzmasters around, but it feels great to know there isn’t a $6,000 Custom Shop or “real” version of my Silver Sky, the way Fender does their Signature guitars.
@@mitcharney1 you'll agree with me that also a good tool will make the difference, otherwise a pro will still use a 200$ guitar after 10 years. I was just observing how the market has changed in few years.
always $$$$$$$$ No amount of money would make me give up my paintbrush that enabled and gave me the ability to speak my inner voice in music. That's the difference between an artist and a musician. Fender forever baby! My 28 year old telecaster will be by side until it falls apart.
All that talk about innovation in guitar design rings hollow when you look at the PRS signature and it is, with the exception of the headstock, pretty much the same old stratocaster.
@@adityalanka3353 but he didn’t get any SRV’s part with PRS. The Silver Sky almost feel like a strat but with some body shape differences, so I don’t see anything new that would suggest him leaving Fender.
My understanding is that he's brought put a whole new range of guitars being mass produced in different colours etc that he's worked with PRS to produce. That is very different to a signature model
@@adityalanka3353 Definitely, but when I see the final product you wonder how much did he ask Fender to change the original design. Like I said, the change that I see is the shape of the headstock enough to separate both models. I doubt he asked Fender for a 3 x 3 headstock.
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
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.”
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
@@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 $.
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 TH-cam 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.
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
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
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.
"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
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.
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.
@@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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
You need to add grooves to that PRS! I’ll slice right though those bird inlays with my Dremel ha I go hardcore. This is punk rock. it’s a style you never done and admit you gotta start at square 1. Take on the challenge. I don’t care how big you think you are .. you still are below my skill at this style. I’m the king 🤴🎸
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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."
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
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".
I enjoyed this part of the interview,it had the laughter in it , along with the documentary feel.Just 👍 great!.Thanks,for sharing.
I just wanna use this special opportunity to thank you 🙏 for the love 💕 and support towards me, I’m very grateful and thankful to have you as a supportive fan❤️😍😘🙏✅
Damn, I'm so happy with my old Fender station wagon, wish I could get an even older one.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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!!!
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.
Thanks bud, my JM strat has doubled its price.
LOL!!!
Fender mustve been drooling with silver sky's financial and cultural success
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.
I have a prs too but I grew up on using a fender. I need to buy another one. I miss playing on one
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
i love these two together!!
these guys are definitely banging after this was over.
John : Hmm, how can I talk for an hour without saying that PRS just gave me more money than Fender? 🤔
Uhh did you listen to him? I highly doubt he cares as much as you think about endorsement money from a guitar company when his concert tickets are as much as they are and he sells out immediately.
I totally agree
@@chrisfit We all want more don't we?
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.
Tired of guitars based in the past, Releases an album dedicated to the past
The only amazing thing about J.M. PRS guitar is the pickups. That is it!!
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.
Interviewer does not appear to be listening at all… just interjects random stuff
Yeah Jeff Ross is a dork.
A podcast is not an interview
@@valentino8498 even in just normal conversation it is custom to listen to what others say
Ya because he’s a comedian.
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.
If I try a PRS Guitar I still sound like Robin Trower ☮️🎸✨✨✨🎼🎼🎼🤩
Sounds to me like fender blew it
Yeap
So Fender is like Nike now lol
Fender could have had Greg Koch on their team, too, and they gave him the cold shoulder. So now he's making game-changing pickups with Fishman and guitars with Reverend.
My next guitar is probably PRS,
(again lol), but I would not buy
this in silver or any of the colors that I see
offered. I would buy a brown burst or white, not
because they look like a station wagon or are vintage
in any way, simply because those are colors/
finishes that I like.
I have played strats for decades and still like the way
the look, nothing to do with the design being 'old' and
station wagonish. The bird inlays are something I
would also pay to have replaced with dots if it were
an option. John's career is based on a Strat and the
SRV, Hendrix tone, and licks of both, I see another
station wagon, driving by my window..
OK, I want that Canters ceiling Silver Sky, please!
He moved to Prs to made a fender strat with prs inlays and headstock. Lets say all
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'm not offended by John Mayers signature PRS
If anyone out there gives me a guitar I actually like I will happily endorse them!
I wish I could afford a Silver Sky! John make them affordable!
Not for a long time PRS makes more profit on
Silver Sky's than any other USA guitar in their
lineup.
I'm sure it's a nice guitar to play, but I think he is overselling how much of a departure or update it is from a Strat. It's very close in many respects.
Man, what a salesman 👍 💰
Well a company shouldn’t market a guitar as a signature guitar if it really isn’t. Sounds like Fender just wanted to sell his name…like Mayer just spoke to whichever engineer or manager on duty. I’ve got plenty of Fender Strats and Jazzmasters around, but it feels great to know there isn’t a $6,000 Custom Shop or “real” version of my Silver Sky, the way Fender does their Signature guitars.
As often happens, it's the product that speaks, not the brand (anymore)
It's the player that speaks over any guitar that's made. The player makes the Guitar.
@@mitcharney1 you'll agree with me that also a good tool will make the difference, otherwise a pro will still use a 200$ guitar after 10 years. I was just observing how the market has changed in few years.
So why would anyone want to buy a guitar that's bespoke made for someone else?
How is his silver sky any differant ? Lol looks the same...didnt change much
always $$$$$$$$ No amount of money would make me give up my paintbrush that enabled and gave me the ability to speak my inner voice in music. That's the difference between an artist and a musician. Fender forever baby! My 28 year old telecaster will be by side until it falls apart.
Everything but the headstock and the inlays is built like a Strat though.
Movin' on and gettin' oveer, offenderandswitchingtoprs guitarsss
Wanted Jeff Ross TO ROAST THE CRAP OUT OF JOHN!!!
John, can you teach us to play guitar online????
He really should play a .Strandberg* .
All that talk about innovation in guitar design rings hollow when you look at the PRS signature and it is, with the exception of the headstock, pretty much the same old stratocaster.
I tested the Silver Sky it felt great! But can someone here explain to me what exactly he asked Fender to do that they didn't want to proceed
I read that he wanted some of srv’s exact parts and fender didn’t agree…
@@adityalanka3353 but he didn’t get any SRV’s part with PRS. The Silver Sky almost feel like a strat but with some body shape differences, so I don’t see anything new that would suggest him leaving Fender.
My understanding is that he's brought put a whole new range of guitars being mass produced in different colours etc that he's worked with PRS to produce. That is very different to a signature model
@@JRLopez13 I read that fender didn’t make him the guitar he wanted….so he left them for prs..idk I ain’t sure
@@adityalanka3353 Definitely, but when I see the final product you wonder how much did he ask Fender to change the original design.
Like I said, the change that I see is the shape of the headstock enough to separate both models. I doubt he asked Fender for a 3 x 3 headstock.
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.
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
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
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 $.
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 TH-cam 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 🎸🎶
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.
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
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 TH-cam 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?
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.
“Still putting out tributes to the station wagon” 💯😂
That cooking analogy is too accurate!!
"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
This is a gold channel
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.
The silver sky reminds me of homers chili cook off spoon. “They say he carved it himself! From a bigger spoon”
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.
"Cool color Silver Sky, what is it?" "Canter's Kishka Metallic."
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.
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!
"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
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.
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.
@@cornellbobby 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.
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.
You need to add grooves to that PRS! I’ll slice right though those bird inlays with my Dremel ha I go hardcore. This is punk rock. it’s a style you never done and admit you gotta start at square 1. Take on the challenge. I don’t care how big you think you are .. you still are below my skill at this style. I’m the king 🤴🎸
My thing is, the Silver Sky looks literally the same as a Strat.
John sure talks it about how working in a company works. Wonder what job he’s ever had???
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.
There’s 2 sides of a story. John told his side, Fender’s side pending?
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.
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
Btw 'sOB' rock, reverse is '80s' rock.
Hinting that the album's gonna sound like bands from the the 80s.
"You designed the guitar"
*is an exact replica of the strat*
My guitar player has a Silver Sky. Awesome guitar. Best strat style I've played since my friend's 1963.
Yet the silver sky is comparable to a vintage Strat spec wise
“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
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.
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.
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
The strat is like a 67 vette not a station wagon
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.
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
He is full of it. He went to prs for the money. He is basically playing a strat with a prs neck
Only the headstock is PRS, the neck is still a Strat copy. Right down to the radius and nut width.
I love how his shirt cuff is rolled up to show off his watch. This guy is a watch connoisseur.
So... you were sick of vintage strats, so you switched to prs, and continued making vintage strats?
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
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?
I have strats and silver sky. Wouldn’t give up either.
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.
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."