PRS Silver Sky SE Maple Fretboard Review - Not as good 

I like the consistent grey across the pegs, the truss rod cover, the inlays and side dots. It pulls it all together. Taste is a personal thing.

Changing the cap value could restore those "shaved off highs"

Started as a sceptic, but this video is great! Excellent explanation, keep it going 👍🏻

Hmm yeah you’re right, and for sure I actually like that high end going away a bit, I’ve got a couple of other strats and I like how this guitar distinguishes itself with that more midrange sound, especially on the bridge pickup, where my fenders have been replaced with hum-buckers.

Interesting Andre Fludd recently did a video on the maple SE SS and praised them as big improvement over the rosewood version.

I have Suhr guitars and I have the Silver Sky SE and I don’t find anything wrong with the pickups ! Way better than Fender .

I dont like the gray inlays by themselves either but with the matching side dots and tuning hard wear I do like the way it all flows together.

Very good honest review. I prefer the white birds and rosewood neck. Really love the DTT SS pickups - the clarity is real ❤

Mine came perfectly finished out of the box in terms of fretwork and setup. Neck feels superbly smooth unlike other satin finished guitars that I have played. I feel a thicker satin finish will gloss out eventually, more so than this one. Pickups sound perfectly stratty with a nice round sound without that ice picky bridge that you get on many stock Fenders and Squiers. Some folks like that vintage strat chime and it’s not here, I like a fat mid and round sounding single coil, but pickups on many stock guitars aren’t usually this good. For its price it’s built really well and easy to play and setup. You just can’t compare a $800 guitar to a $2500 dollar US made Silver Sky or Fiore.

Thanks for this critique!

This is the video i'm looking for.. i''m so happy with my Rosewood SE but i'm personally love maple fretboard, but if the quality reduced from the rosewood.. i bettter stay with my rosewood cause i loved it ! Great Video ! i also watched all of your videos when the 1st silver sky SE came out...

Got mine very recently and I love it!

The grey plastic all over the guitar (not just the inlays) was the first thing I noticed about it and was wondering what they were thinking. It's not really that it would be a bad choice as far as color scheme goes, it's just that the plastic looks horribly cheap in this color. It's the color that is associated with the cheapest of the cheap plastics. Maybe they should've went for a darker shade for this very reason? Or do something else entirely?

Colours are amazing.Almost perfect choice.

Spot on bro. Exactly my experience. So not sample size one. Glad you brought out the fiore. That was the neck i was expecting and obviously didn't get it. Not sure I'm interested in putting boutique pups that cost half as much as the guitar in at least this example.

Maple has to be taped off, when fret works done over rosewood, you can sand the whole board. Maple just takes more work. I got a fender Jimi Hendrix strat, and fret ends on the maple board where not all that great, I taped the whole board, and leveled all the frets, and cleaned up all the fret ends. It's my best playing guitar, I hated the upside down neck at first, but the different tension on the low strings, makes them easier to bend and more clear sounding. I fell in love with it. I hated the pickups, so I put Seymour Duncan antiquity surfer 2 and they sound and feel incredible. this is my first maple fretboard guitar, they are brighter and more slippery.

I have the us version and the Se version both have maple fretboard I haven't had any problems with either its all about personal taste

Weird? Everything you dislike about this guitar are the exact reasons I bought it (minus fret ends). These are now $670 at Sweetwater. You cannot touch that price vs quality.

I got one of these the other day in the blue green color. I have to say I think the pickups are great however I’m not a pickup guy 😂 my neck has same fret issues exactly like you said they are fine until about the 12th fret and then you can really feel the ends. I’m not a fan of the finish on the neck either I wish it were just a little more gloss all around really it feels almost raw to me. The looks I wasn’t a fan of the grey birds or tuners at first but they grew on me Overall it’s a great guitar I really like it! If I had to pick between this and my traditional se prs I’m going with the traditional one every time though 🤘🎸

The top frequencies getting shaved that sounds like a John Mayer thing, he usually doesn't roll the tone knob above 5.

Hopefully Paul and the PRS crew see this and get on the QC

I agree with the compression issue. I’ve noticed it with many of their import pickups.

Sound sweet looks good but I think I would get a rosewood version but if money was no object I’d get both

About to buy one, watching all kinds of videos on Strats around 1000 bucks. My impression on this video was that I hated your ring banging against the wood time and time again. I somehow feel that if you ding it 5 times in 5 minutes, your qualification to talk about the neck smoothness takes a dive - at least in my eyes. Now I don't doubt that you're more knowledgeable on the subject than I ever will be, and I appreciate you taking the time to sharing your insights with us. I just hated that ring noise and I subconsciously connect it to not really taking care of your instrument. Yeah, just 2 cents.

11:48 My friend has the SS SE in Dragonfruit with the rosewood. I just recently got the SS SE in Black with Rosewood. I have the same issue unfortunately, and I think all these newer SS SE coming out are going to have the same issue. The neck is noticeably cheaper feeling, as well as cheaper looking. I thought it was just mine, so I went to my local guitar center where they had the Overland Grey with maple fretboard. It was also just as bad, if not worse compared to the Piano Black SS SE…

I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed the lack of high end clarity, it's the only thing keeping me from getting a Silver Sky SE. I can live with everything else about it but I'm just missing that high end brightness. I'm not one to change pickups, I typically keep everything stock. I've been debating it for months but now I think I'm going to pass on it. I think they actually shaved off the high end intentionally and even though it does sounds great in a lot of musical situations and mixes, It's just not quite the classic bright strat sound I'm looking for. It gets me like 95% of the way there but I'm missing that last 5% I want, so I may just get a Fender eventually...It's a shame, I really want to like the S.S., and I do for the most part, just the lack of high end is a deal breaker.

Got my PRS SE Silver Sky Maple Nylon Blue also with rough fret ends. So that’s +1 for your sample set. And also the cable jack was quite loose, and it had two quality control stickers, one above the other, so it seems it got controlled twice and still came out in a not so nice quality :/ But i got a good price on it and will address those fret ends with the help of your other video. So thanks for that!

Dylan , are you sure this review is not a advert for your own pickups ??? 😂 --- All in all a good review man!!

Recently bought a PRS SE Custom 24-08 and tried to love the TCI pickups for several months. Just couldn't do it and you described the problem I had with them. I had to "open up" the guitar with some SD Hot Rodded Humbuckers. The TCI pickups sounded "muffled" to me.

All your thoughts are exactly what I felt. I own the rosewood SE and love it. The Maple definitely felt different and cheaper quality. Hate the inlays color.

I'm totally a non-strat guy, never owned a SSS strat in my life. I also follow what you're saying about the sound of these pickups. I've seen your US vs SE videos back then as well and could tell how the SE pickups were different, and not in the best way. However, since you've swapped the pickups on your PRSes already and will do again, could I get the stock pups? I feel like buying a no-name MIJ strat and installing them just for the sake of it. Because why not. I don't NEED a SSS strat and probably never will, but it could be fun to put one together

Your observation about the pickups losing highs is interesting. I noticed when another channel did a comparison between the Silver Sky SE and a Player Series the Silver Sky sounded muddy. I didn't notice this when you did the same shootout, but I may not have been listening that closely. Also, the SE colours are really not nice. This purple should be amazing but it has a weird subdued undertone. And the others all have weird shades too. The bright colours are not bright enough.

Love that shirt Dylan !

i'm not a strat guy but i'm thinking about getting a silver sky, they're just so good. big negative for me is the colours available, otherwise it's great

I prefer the se neck finish vs the U.S. made. Although the U.S. feels smoother, your hand “sticks” to it more than the SE neck.

I got a maple one and feel the same. The frets are horrible. It was mail order so I didn’t get to play it beforehand. I played an SE 24-08 in a shop and the frets were immaculate. Anyway I guess I’ll do my best to dress them up.

Mayer wanted the clipped highs to mimic vintage sound.

PRS has got the size where quality control is going to be really hard to monitor. PRS have been kings of consistency for a long time. The obvious desire to be a mega company by churning out 1000s of guitars from overseas was always going to be a big risk to their reputation. I think in 10 years people will be moaning about quality just like folks do with Fender and Gibson, inevitable.

Hi Dylan - You mentioned the inverted headstock and now I wonder why the tuners are offset on the headstock (not seen in orher PRS models)

Great review, do the pickups in the rosewood version have the same issue as the maple version?

I sold my PRS Silver Sky moon white because I was given a Gibson Les Paul studio ,should I have kept the silver sky one I had ???

Yes, the same sharp fret ends especially from the 16th on up.

It would have benefited them to send you a good one,why send a bad one.

I have dragon fruit with rosewood neck. When I saw that thing my first thought was "ugly motherfucking guitar" then I read rewies and finally bought one. I love it, maybe I have a good individual guitar but no complaints at all. Best thing is that highs are not so ice-picky and it really screams when wanting those SRV-things to be played.

So you're a pickup guy... any chance you still have those rosewood 635s pups that you could compare to the maple? I swear that they are not at all the same, maybe a different supplier or even a different spec like the first run of us silver skies? It could even be a different magnet. I don't know but the summit pickups are definitely not the same as dragonfruit...

The top end getting shaved off is why I sold my PRS Silver Sky. I loved everything else about the guitar, but it was missing "something". And I guess if you're John Mayer and you've got your reverb turned up to 11, you don't notice. 😂

Just watched a blindfold test on youtube and players couldnt tell if it was american 60 s original or PRS se. Great guitar with low price.

I have a rosewood neck SS SE, and I feel the pickups lack spank and clarity. I might swap them with Antiquity surfers.

Grey inlays are hideous.

Honestly the gray bird inlays and tuner buttons just look all wrong to me on a maple fretboard.

Yeah that matte gray is not appealing and I agree with you on the pickups lacking higher frequency.

I'll say it. I dig the grey birds. I'd know more for sure if I had the guitar in my hands though.

whats the reason for the Baseball cap ??

Dylan could you try a sire s3? for the price offers a really good specs

You no lie...picked up a Maple SE Silver Sky, like you say decent guitar, frets are ok, pickups sound good, floating trem stays in tune, intonation is good...Fret Ends totally suck!. Enough so that I don't want to deal with it. It's not just up on the neck either. It's every fret. DGT &594 SEs, the fret work was awesome, not here though.

That's a Nice/Beautiful GUITAR 🎸 🎶

The purrrrrrrpllllle 😍

I know we all have our styles and preferences, but I just don't get the infatuation so many have with decking their Fender/Fender style vibrato bridges ... that eliminates so many options you have with a floating bridge.

I’m like you, they need to get rid of all the John Mayer requested grey plastic, I could live with the headstock shape then! Hopefully this guitar is a one off, I personally don’t like PRS guitars but all I have ever heard was their great QC work…. Definitely beat Fender by a large margin on their QC.

Man, that sounds like a Monday morning neck build. Get a different guitar all together $$$ and pull an exchange. I really hate bad frets. Pickups, yes they seem to be lacking. Not your usual tone. Guitar playing is on great demo. Thank you.

What you probably should do is return the guitar to the retailer instead of fixing all the issues.

When you added compression, it went into this cheapo tube screamer sort of break up sound.

You're wrong. The SE maple neck is BETTER feeling than my core's. Ya know a little sanding can work wonders in getting the "feel" of a neck right for you. Especially on a sub $1k guitar. My frets are almost perfect too.

I'd change those fugly tuner buttons and truss rod cover as well.

its a pretty big fail when most squiers for a few hundred less have better fret ends. i think they missed on all the color choices on these SE's, all so close to a nice color, but blah.

Do a video where you play guitar, take it apart, put it back together and it doesn't sound the same.... 😀😀😀

The higher end import market is just too competitive to tolerate these complaints which are typical of the imports from 10 years ago. I own quite a few of modern made imports from LTD, Lakland Epiphone, G&L, D'Angelico so I don't need to tolerate cheap pickups and shortcuts in the fretwork. Controlling your Asian factories is one aspect of QC control but only one brand I've mentioned does that. Now we don't know if the first run of SS SE's weren't checked in the US before shipping off to the dozens of RU-vid reviewers in their aggressive marketing campaign. Now I have no trust of the SE PRS brand, and now we get to compare this to the Squier Stratocasters Dylan recently reviewed with the perfect necks. If PRS doesn't retain quality its lost its edge in the market completely. The designs aren't distinctive, and PRS seems busy being a S and T copy cat right now instead of supporting its distinctive designs. Very very odd choices.

That thing is butt ugly ! Who thought using sharpie on the fretboard and spraying grey primer over it was a good idea. Is John Mayer colored blind ? Did someone's 4 year old daughter and there great aunt Rosie design that thing .

cool video 🙂

If I want a fender style guitar I'll buy the real deal a Fender..same with a les Paul and sg I'll buy the real deals Gibson and Epiphone..period

Bought and returned an SS SE (green w/rosewood). Wanted to love it, but couldn't. Tuning stability is good, as long as you leave the trem decked- if you want to float it, good luck to you..... maybe it was just the one I had? Nut is cheap, neck pocket was too big, and quite a lot of buzz, even after a setup. Super disappointed.

No crap , straight forward

not as good as the core?

Too bad , it’s a great looking guitar. I had a chance to finally try one out last week. Felt and sounded great, but it was the stone blue with maple neck.

Why would anyone believe that placing a PRS neck on a strat is worth mentioning let alone reviewing is beyond me.

man dont lie. he has high standards.

The 4 silver sky SE’s I’ve owned had horrible frets, the player fenders starting in 2023 have been great but prior to that they ( fender) had roller coaster frets, sharp ends, and nuts slotted by Ray Charles.

Hello all

Primer grey plastic... ha ha. "From Matel"

Radius 8.5"👎 min.10"👍

Plastic on a guitar is just wrong.

I tried to play one at my local GC . It was unplayable due to how high the strings were absolutely unplayable and awful. Felt cheap as well . I think it’s a $400-500 guitar. Squiers played and sounded much better in my opinion

This is a cursed color.

Sad for PRS to have these slips in quality, it was always their advantage to the selling point.

The gray inlays are so ugly

The reviewer says pickups aren’t great and then proceeds to plug his own brand pickups. Of course these won’t sound as great as most specific after market pickups.

Covid destroyed quality control. PRS have gone to the dogs - the new PRS pedals are trash to.

PRS guitars just never appealed to me visually.

Birds.... uhhhhhh.

The SE is so overrated,

That is a terrible sounding strat..

DYLANS humbuckers are everybit as good as CHINESE ones. Not too BAD. LOLLAR AND BARE KNUCKLE DO AMAZING AUTHENTIC SOUNDING 57 AND UP PAFS AND REWINDS.