Channel the Best of John and Jerry
The Silver Sky we’ve all come to know and love at the hands of Dead & Company’s John Mayer has been reborn with a handful of modifications that will have Deadhead gearheads jumping for joy. The Silver Sky “Dead Spec” Limited nods to Jerry Garcia’s “Alligator” guitar that he frequented in the early ’70s, most notably bearing a foundation of swamp ash, an Alembic Blaster preamp, and a brass nut and string retainer combo at the headstock. Other stellar appointments, such as a surface-mounted hardtail Gen III Tremolo, vintage-style locking tuners, and a trio of 635 JM single-coils, bring plenty of dependability and feel-good playability to the table. Bridging the tones and aesthetics of both Mayer’s and Garcia’s go-to 6-strings, the Silver Sky “Dead Spec” Limited from Sweetwater presents a special energy that’s well-rooted in decades of musical and communal legacy.
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Excitable tonewoods, old and new
The body of this Silver Sky “Dead Spec” Limited provides the same construction as Jerry Garcia’s swamp ash-bodied ’55 “Alligator” guitar. The round, smooth tone of swamp ash offers a warm foundational base that lovingly sparkles on the top end — a Rosetta Stone tone for Grateful Dead tuneage! Its complementing fingerboard and neck combo remains more contemporary, offering 22 frets of rosewood-topped maple for curiously roaming the realms of soft rock, psychedelia, jazz, folk, and beyond.
Three-of-a-kind 635 JMs
If you're a single-coil tone connoisseur, you'll love the Silver Sky “Dead Spec” Limited. Equipped with three 635 JM single-coils, its pickups combine the best elements of early-'60s American electric guitars: a round and full tone with glassy, musical highs that never venture into ice pick land. The chiming harmonics yielded by these pickups are simply jaw-dropping. And when you put them in front of a tube amp, you get a gorgeous growl with outstanding note definition. These 635 JMs have a few modern tricks up their sleeve, too. They exhibit a higher signal-to-noise ratio than vintage models, and their in-between sounds are noise canceling. On top of that, their electronics have been precision valued, ensuring superior consistency from pickup to pickup.
Tone-preserving preamp
While John Mayer’s signature top-tier pickups keep your tone sculpting options wide-open, Jerry Garcia’s preamp of choice — the Alembic Blaster — stands by to assign an ideal stage-ready sound to the Silver Sky “Dead Spec” Limited. Operated via a mini toggle atop a brass control plate and above the instrument jack, the Alembic Blaster preamp helps not only boost your guitar’s output, but also gives you the freedom to level your volume control without suffering tonal hindrances as a result. The perfect appointment for tone preservation? It’s what Jerry would’ve wanted!
Sonically solid hardware
Jerry’s influence on the Silver Sky “Dead Spec” Limited extends into its hardware, too. First and foremost, you’ll find a brass nut behind the first fret that works wonders for achieving that bright and clear responsiveness while also offering plenty of sustain. Also, a string retainer offers stable seating for your strings, so you won’t have to worry about negative tonal impacts from par-for-the-course movement and slips. Plus, a set of locking vintage-style tuners and a modified hardtail Gen III Tremolo help anchor your intonation and leave you with all the confidence you need to sound your best onstage.
PRS Silver Sky “Dead Spec” Limited Electric Guitar Features:
- A unique blend of John Mayer’s Silver Sky and Jerry Garcia’s “Alligator” guitar
- Swamp ash body provides warm and round tone with top-end sparkle
- 22-fret, Birds-inlaid rosewood fingerboard atop maple neck handles jams with ease
- A trio of 635 JM single-coils with a 5-way blade selector serves up a musical sound with endless tone sculpting
- Alembic Blaster preamp boosts output and preserves tone at virtually any dynamic level
- Brass nut maximizes clarity, brightness, and sustain
- String retainer keeps your strings seated properly
- Vintage-style 18:1 locking tuners and a modified hardtail Gen III Tremolo ensure proper intonation under any circumstance
