PRS Guitars has announced the “Dead Spec” Silver Sky Limited Edition. Designed for John Mayer’s prominent work on Dead & Company’s most recent tour, the PRS “Dead Spec” Silver Sky is a significantly modded PRS Silver Sky that pays homage to Jerry Garcia’s iconic “Alligator” guitar tones. Only 1,000 “Dead Spec” Silver Sky Limited Edition instruments will be sold worldwide.
“After playing the Silver Sky designed for the 2023 Dead & Company summer tour, I realized the guitar was special. It quickly became apparent this wasn’t just a tool for one particular job but could be extremely versatile in other players’ hands. I’m excited to hear the music that’s made on these guitars,” said John Mayer.
The foundation of the “Dead Spec” Silver Sky is a lightweight Swamp Ash body (rather than alder) finished in Moc Sand satin nitro that is thin and strikingly sinks into the ash wood grain. The bridge is a modified PRS patented Gen III Tremolo that has been screwed to the body, effectively rendering it a string-through hardtail bridge. Keeping the tremolo’s brass block in the equation adds a musical warmth to guitar. At the other end of the strings are a brass nut and string retainer bar, which also contribute to the guitar’s resonance and tone.
Notably, the Dead Spec Silver Sky’s jack plate has been swapped out for a brass-plate Alembic Blaster preamp. This preamp can be used as a straight boost but has an internal pot that allows players to add between 3 – 14 dB of gain to the guitar when turned on. This not only gives the Dead Spec Silver Sky added punch while maintaining definitive note separation, but it compensates for the capacitance that comes with long stage cables as well. The circuit is bypassed when in the off position.
“When I heard John wanted the tone of Garcia’s old guitar for this tour, I called him and said, ‘I think I can have a prototype to you in five days.’ It was that quick and painless of a conversation. So, we made this non-tremolo guitar with a lot of brass, which gave the guitar beautiful warm midrange, and the Alembic Blaster switch that cleared everything up and gave the guitar some courage. The first time I played it, I was smiling – I really like it,” said Paul Reed Smith. “The other thing I love about this guitar is that the finish sinks into the wood. It’s part of the guitar, so the guitar feels alive in your hands. That’s really cool.”
The PRS Silver Sky (John Mayer signature model) was first introduced by PRS Guitars in the spring of 2018. There have been several limited-edition designs since its introduction, including the Nebula, Lunar Ice, and Roxy Pink colorways. The “Dead Spec” limited edition is the first Silver Sky to diverge this far from the model’s standard specifications. For videos and more information, visit https://prsguitars.com/.
