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 Music Experience presents a special energy that’s well-rooted in decades of musical and communal legacy.

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

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.

What PRS Says...

The PRS “Dead Spec” Silver Sky was designed for John Mayer’s prominent work with Dead & Company’s last tour. Paying homage to Jerry Garcia’s iconic “Alligator” guitar tones, the Dead Spec Silver Sky is a modded version of Mayer’s signature axe with significant spec changes. 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 the 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. Perhaps most 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 crisp 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. Only 1,000 PRS “Dead Spec” Silver Skys will be made. Shipping November 2023 – March 2024.

“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.” – John Mayer.

Surface-Mounted Bridge

Essentially a hardtail adaptation of the PRS patented tremolo, this bridge adds warmth and promotes the resonance of the guitar.

Brass Nut/Retainer Bar

The brass nut and retainer bar bring warm, piano-like tone while promoting string vibration and resonance.

Alembic Blaster

This preamp increases output with 3-14dB of adjustable gain and lowers the effective capacitance of your cable, so you can play with courage.