John Mayer’s Strat-inspired PRS Silver Sky is one of the most controversial signature guitars of all time because of… Well, we forget why. Maybe it was the headstock – it’s probably that. But this controversy shows no signs of abating, with Drew Foppe, the guitar tech of Shinedown’s Zach Myers, copping a whole lot of internet heat after posting a pic of his client’s relic’d Silver Sky.
Bear in mind Foppe does not even own this guitar. It belongs to his Myers. And yet Foppe says he receives abuse on a daily basis because of it, with people even DM’ing him their disapproval. Taking to Instagram, Foppe called out this madness – and it is madness – and offered an explainer for the hard of understanding as to the history behind the guitar, and why it is relic'd like this.
“For people who don’t quite understand what a tribute relic job looks like, and just want to talk trash about what kind of wear and tear a guitar should or shouldn’t have… you’re missing the entire point in the first place!” he writes.
As electric guitars go, it is hard to miss. After all, it is a Silver Sky with a hot pink finish that’s been scarred up and distressed to look like Mayer’s black Fender Stratocaster, aka BLK1. You might have seen it in Myers’ rig tour with Premier Guitar from a couple of years back, which caused enough heat at the time.
The guitar started out out as a black Silver Sky but when it was going through the ageing process Myers wanted it refinished in hot pink (and did so before PRS produced a run of Mayer’s Silver Sky in Roxy Pink).
Posting a picture of Myers’ Silver Sky alongside Mayer’s BLK1 Strat, Foppe set the record straight on this guitar – and argued that people could hate relic’d finishes if they liked but it was undeniable that, viewed side by side, this relic job was on the money with all the details in the distressed finish of Mayer’s original Strat resplendent on Myers’ Silver Sky, only, of course, in pink.
“I get some people don’t like relic guitars, but to talk trash on a really, really good relic job is just ridiculous!” he continues. “Anyone out there who thinks something is over relic’d when it looks almost exactly like the real deal is either completely uninformed or seriously out of touch!”
For the avoidance of doubt, Myers’ Silver Sky is a “tribute” to BLK1, says Foppe – and also, please stop sending him abuse because you don’t like the guitar because that is the definition of crazy. The life of a guitar tech for a touring musician is tough enough. There are a lot of tunings and string gauges to keep track of. Temperatures change and setups are needed. It’s a hard shift.
On the night of a show, Foppe keeps this relic’d pink Silver Sky in D standard and Myers will use it to play Monsters. That’s it. That’s the job. And yet this… “Some of you people have lost your dang minds to speak on something you know nothing about,” says Foppe.
Will sanity prevail? We can only hope so. Maybe a fitting end to this story would be for PRS to bring two of its longest-serving signature artists together on one guitar by releasing a Zach Myers x John Mayer Silver Sky in a heavy relic Roxy Pink finish, complete with Michael Myers engraving on the truss rod cover. It would sell.
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