One of many coolest guitar releases of the 12 months thus far – hell, in current reminiscence – was the spate of limited-edition PRS Silver Skys outfitted in traditional Land Rover Defender colourways launched final earlier this month.

It marked the announcement of an surprising partnership between the guitar maker and Jaguar Land Rover, pushed mainly by the Silver Sky’s namesake John Mayer’s love of the legendary SUV. 

The collab consists of eight Silver Sky fashions boasting Defender finishes: 4 USA-made ones sporting traditional Defender colourways like Arles Blue and Sandglow Yellow, and 4 SE fashions carrying some extra up to date finishes, like Petra Copper and Woolstone Inexperienced.

And a giant a part of the collaboration for Mayer was guaranteeing these with extra SE-adjacent budgets weren’t being shortchanged when it comes to the look of the guitars compared to the dearer USA-made fashions.

In a brand new interview with Guitar World following the launch, the guitar maestro – who has additionally simply introduced an enormous six-night residency on the Las Vegas Sphere, his second stint on the venue after a prolonged residency with Lifeless & Firm in 2024 and 2025 – explains why it was necessary to ensure the extra budget-friendly Silver Sky Defenders additionally appeared the half.

Notably, the SE fashions – which regardless of their restricted run are priced at an inexpensive £799 apiece – are the primary Silver Skys to characteristic a extremely requested black pickguard.

“It’s nearly like the primary look of Wolverine. Everybody’s ready for it,” Mayer says. “I believe it’s attention-grabbing that it makes its look on the SE line versus simply having it trickle down from the Core line.”

“I assumed it was good to present one thing to the SE,” he continues. “After I was rising up, the extra accessible guitar obtained punished for being extra accessible. I discovered rather a lot from the SE.

“I initially had the thought like, ‘Oh, you tier it.’ Then guitar lovers of the world spoke to me. I discovered that some persons are going to have an SE perpetually. It doesn’t should be a comfort and sometime you’ll work your means up. That’s after I thought, ‘There ought to be somewhat bit to separate the strains.’”

It’s, certainly, frequent for guitar firms to separate colourway choices for his or her in a different way priced guitar strains, and a few argue that the extra aesthetically pleasing colors are typically out there on dearer fashions. However that was the alternative of Mayer’s strategy to the Defender collaboration.

“Teaming up with Defender to supply the Silver Sky guitar of their legendary 4×4 colours is a dream come true,” stated Mayer, a eager Defender fanatic, when the collab was introduced. 

“I’ve at all times chosen colourways based mostly on objects and supplies that encourage me on the planet, and as a collector and lover of Defenders, this collaboration is the proper crossover between two nice passions of mine.”

Study extra in regards to the new limited-edition Silver Sky Defender guitars at PRS.

Sam is the Affiliate Information Editor for Guitar.com and MusicTech. Completely immersed in music tradition for almost all of his life, Sam has performed guitar for 20 years, studied music know-how and manufacturing at college, and in addition written for the likes of Guitar World, Complete Guitar, Steel Hammer and MusicRadar.