“It was something we’d never seen the likes of”: The unexpected discovery in John Mayer’s iconic ’64 Fender Strat that helped shape the sound of the Silver Sky

Guitarist John Mayer appears at the Thelonius Monk Jazz Trumpet Competition and All Star Gala Concert at Dolby Theatre on November 9, 2014 in Hollywood, California.

When John Mayer and PRS unveiled the Silver Sky, the reception was divisive. Some praised it for taking the Strat into the modern age. Others dismissed it as yet another Stratocaster clone.

The truth of the matter is that the Silver Sky was the result of two years of research and development, during which Mayer and Paul Reed Smith worked to redesign and retool the classic S-type template.