“John had to send a text with a photo of a piece of paper, where he scribbled, ‘Yes, it’s me!’”: Before the Silver Sky was built, John Mayer cold-called PRS to discuss working on a guitar together – but the phone operator hung up on him

The PRS Silver Sky is one of the most notable and popular electric guitar models of its generation – but despite its monumental success, it turns out the Stratocaster-style build got off to a rocky start.

According to session pro Tim Pierce – a long-time friend of Paul Reed Smith – PRS hung up on John Mayer when he first called about working together on a signature guitar.

Then, in order to prove he actually was John Mayer, the bluesman sent in a selfie to verify his identity. Thankfully, his pic proved sufficient, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Pierce underscored the story by saying how Smith “goes after great guitar artists and collaborates with them like no one else in the world”.

However, in this instance, Mayer had reached out to PRS, quite literally cold-calling the general PRS number to get the ball rolling. After the operator thought the voice on the other end of the line wasn’t the hard-working and hard-not-to-love guitarist, she hung up on him.

Eventually, Mayer – clearly quite keen on the idea of working with Smith – sent in a photo with him holding a note with the words, “Yes, it’s me” written on it so he could chew the fat with Paul Reed Smith about a six-string that would go on to become the best-selling guitar on Reverb in 2023.

Pierce says PRS and Mayer “took a huge risk” with the Silver Sky, which paired a PRS headstock – and its signature bird inlays – with a Stratocaster-styled body.

“It could have been a huge flop,” he adds, “but we all know now that it was not.” In the video, he also praised how the guitar’s sound got extremely close to the vintage ’65 Strat it sought to copy. 

Over the years, the Silver Sky has been made available in some fresh colorways, but its latest cosmetic expansion pack was one of its best. Faded Black Tee is designed to look and feel like your favorite over-worn band tee. Venetian Blue, meanwhile, is a very rare Porsche paint code and is a striking pale blue. Both come in rosewood and maple neck configurations.

Now, the guitar is set for another run of Dead & Company shows after the band recently announced a residency at Las Vegas’ state-of-the-art MSG Sphere. It was believed that the band, which sees Mayer share the stage with Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Mickey Hart, had run its course after a show-stopping ‘final’ show in July 2023.

The allure of playing the super-immersive MSG Sphere, however – and following in the footsteps of the U2, whose residency saw the Irish icons celebrating Achtung Baby earlier last year – was clearly too big to resist.   

The band will play a total of 18 shows between May 16 and June 22, and this time there’s no mention of it being a swan song.

Aside from his Dead & Co duties, John Mayer remains as busy as ever, so there will be plenty more opportunities for fans to see him wringing soulful blues solos out of the guitar. He reformed his blues power trio last year after completing his first acoustic tour in six years.

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