Paul Reed Smith Explains the "Dead Spec" Silver Sky | PRS Guitars

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Published 2023-11-14

Meet the “Dead Spec" Silver Sky - a 1000 piece limited run built exactly like the guitar John played on tour with Dead & Company. The instrument features a satin finished swamp ash body guitar that features a brass nut, a hold down bar at the headstock, a fixed bridge paired with a brass block in the cavity, and an Alembic Blaster Preamp. The Alembic Blaster Preamp provides an adjustable decibel boost controlled by a switch near the output jack. All of these components combine to create a truly unique tone that Paul and John are eager to share with the world.

The "Dead Spec" Silver Sky will be offered in a limited run of 1000 pieces.

For more information, visit: prsguitars.com/electrics/model/dead_spec_silver_sk…

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Chapters:
0:00 - Intro Playing
0:09 - Paul’s Thoughts on John Mayer in Dead & Co
1:14 - The Idea for the “Dead Spec” Silver Sky
1:30 - Paul Calls John About a Prototype
1:54 - "Dead Spec" Silver Sky Specs
3:17 - Paul Discusses the Tone
4:52 - John’s Reaction
5:37 - The Same Guitar John Plays

All Comments (21)

@nvlddmkm1282 8 months ago

PRS is constantly working/evolving, even their SE line is consistently evolving - I appreciate that.
@JJSurma 8 months ago

As a lefty, I can't wait to wish I could play one of these.
@jimmyjames2022 8 months ago

Great story of the "Dead Spec" Silver Sky genesis, and why Paul is so well loved.
@troy8420 7 months ago

Please make more of these at some point. There are a lot of people who would love to get one but weren’t able to at the release.
@WEREWOLFCaT_STORIES 8 months ago

Paul is such a cool dude, what an incredible mind that we as players have working and thinking 24/7 about improving this instrument we all play. Heck yeah paul!
@anotherstart1 7 months ago

The Silver Sky in my opinion is the best Musical sounding sss guitar made today. I had 3 and kept the SE in green and it’s my go to guitar.
@Heavenreck 8 months ago

I love how Paul took the Garcia Alligator Strat that probably John got a hold off and did what Paul does best to make it a more refined instrument. Cant wait to try one.
@tonychen3368 8 months ago

I like how the single coil sounds with that pre amp on my god that's so clean and chimy, nicely done to both you and John. 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
@BrandOdyssey 8 months ago

Paul is so awesome. It has been a long and tough road at PRS to compete against established brands but they have done amazing things. It must be great to work with Paul at PRS. He sounds like the product and customer comes first and everything else including money comes from that. That’s the ideal business. Driven by ideas and passion that make people happy.
@trevorlindsey580 5 months ago

So glad to see you staying faithful to the original Alembic concepts of brass mounted well, and an actual Alembic circuit that is above and beyond anything else out there. Great job!
@13thAMG 8 months ago

Paul is such an amazing genius. Incredible visionary of our time. And we get to live in the same era to witness it. Respect!
@larrylambert2727 8 months ago

I was so hoping they would release this model when I saw Dead and Co this year- it sounded soooo good the whole show.
@jamestonguet1737 8 months ago

Bravo , a great compliment to the Super Eagle . Alembic Electronics are the pinnacle.
@mrlozano 5 months ago

Mr Smith you are a living legend! The Silver Sky is tremendous.
@MelodyMaker218 8 months ago

Super cool!
@coldshotblues 5 months ago

So I’ve been playing guitar for 40 plus years and own several guitars mostly Fenders strats and few Gibsons. Being a blues fan and a Dead Head I’ve been down the rabbit holes of SRV to custom Jerry guitars and chased the “tone” for years now. I had been eyeing the Silver Sky but never sat with one. Missing the day PRS released this guitar in the US (It sold out in a day of the initial offering). I kept my eyes on a few European dealers and when Anderton’s in the UK offered the guitar for sale I jumped on it. Two and a half months after purchasing it made its return journey across the pond to me. First off this guitar will be played and played often this is no closet classic! Being my first ever PRS I can honestly say the attention to detail on the guitar is impressive from fit and finish to sound and playability. A quality instrument for sure! Thanks to all involved in getting this guitar in my hands. From John Mayer to Paul and the builders at PRS, and from the guys at Anderton’s who made this guitars journey possible. I can’t be more pleased with it!
@jerrymckenzie1858 8 months ago

I feel like the partnership between John Mayer and Paul is what really put PRS on the next level.
@nicolasfaisant6445 8 months ago

Awsome great new model 👍
@marcorock101 8 months ago

Paul is such a national treasure
@jfinester 8 months ago

That thing sounds great! I’ve known about the Alembic Stratoblaster preamp for decades—I’m from the Bay Area, grew up in San Francisco, and in the early-mid ‘70s I used to hang out at Stars Guitars, Alembic’s retail store. They worked on a ‘74 Strat for me, they put a 5-position rotary switch in it to replace the stock 3-position pickup selector. (Fender didn’t start installing 5-way switches until 1977–that’s how out-of-touch CBS/Fender was!) These Dead-spec Silver Sky guitars are too rich for my pocketses (eh, precious?), but this has got me thinking about getting an SE Silver Sky and installing a Stratoblaster in it! I’d never considered it before as I didn’t want to boost the output of a Strat too much; I thought that’s what the preamp was for, and I didn’t want to lose my clean sound. Thr Stratoblaster on a slightly-boosted setting sounds great, if this video is any indication.