Silver Sky Pickups

Henrytwang

I’ve been very impressed by the tones obtainable on the PRS Silver Sky . As I own several good Fender Stratocasters I’m reluctant to fork out a couple of grand on a PRS version. I know that PRS are not selling aftermarket Silver Sky pickups but have any aftermarket pickup makers sussed them out and started selling them?

guitargeek62

There’s a set on ebay for ~£400... (not that I think they’ll be worth it!)

Whitecat

McNelly Pickups dismantled a set for analysis a little while ago and documented some of their findings on social media. Apparently a lot of their sound has to do with the rest of the electronics and having higher-than-normal resistance somewhere else in the chain, so you’d need to get the rest of the “system” right. Contact McNelly, perhaps they could wind you something similar and advise how best to wire...

Musicman20

If I'm honest the Silver Sky demos I've heard make it sound like one hell of a Strat. I'm super impressed by the pickups. 

guitargeek62

They really do sound superb, I'm very keen to get one at some point - hoping the SE version materialises and has some of the mojo at an even more reasonable price.

Henrytwang

guitargeek62 said:

There’s a set on ebay for ~£400... (not that I think they’ll be worth it!)

Yes I saw those but being a sceptic I did question their authenticity. It seems odd to me that someone buying an expensive PRS would then devalue it by swapping the pickups and not keep the originals in case they sold the guitar in the future.

Henrytwang

Whitecat said:

McNelly Pickups dismantled a set for analysis a little while ago and documented some of their findings on social media. Apparently a lot of their sound has to do with the rest of the electronics and having higher-than-normal resistance somewhere else in the chain, so you’d need to get the rest of the “system” right. Contact McNelly, perhaps they could wind you something similar and advise how best to wire...

I’ve found a schematic for the Silver Sky and they use an early 60s value capacitor and a a 300k volume pot with a high value resistor in parallel with it in order to trim the value to about 275k otherwise there’s nothing much different to your average Stratocaster. I’m a little surprised that one of the aftermarket pickup makers hasn’t come up with a copy of the pickups yet, there can’t be anything that unique about them just coils and magnets.Maybe I’m just being impatient 

Adam_MD

Have you contacted McNelly yet?  The second reply to your original post gave you the right answer.  McNelly says on his instagram feed they've taken all the measurements and basically said he'll be doing clones of those pickups for anyone who wants them.

Henrytwang

Adam_MD said:

Have you contacted McNelly yet?  The second reply to your original post gave you the right answer.  McNelly says on his instagram feed they've taken all the measurements and basically said he'll be doing clones of those pickups for anyone who wants them.

I’ve looked at the website but would rather deal with someone in the UK. I now have all the circuit information I need and am pretty sure that one of our homes grown pickup makers will sus out the Silver Sky pickups eventually, after all they’re only wire and magnets. It’s just a matter of discovering which magnets and wire and the number of turns.