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PRS has been confirmed as one of the firms that has received a cease-and-desist letter from Fender in its bid to enforce legal protection for the Stratocaster.
After it was revealed that Fender had launched a new legal campaign to protect the Strat design off the back of a default copyright ruling in Germany, speculation began to emerge over the identities of those affected.
Until now, LsL Instruments was the first and only company to go on record to confirm it had received such a letter, which called for the company to halt production of its S-style electric guitar, the Saticoy.
However, many commenters, including Phillip McKnight, hinted that multiple US builders had been issued a cease-and-desist letter, prompting widespread rumors concerning the specific models that might be in Fender’s crosshairs.
The PRS Silver Sky – John Mayer’s hugely popular, best-selling signature guitar, which was designed after the Continuum mastermind left Fender – was high up on the speculated list.
Now, it’s been confirmed via the Wall Street Journal that PRS has indeed received a letter from Fender.
In its own article, the WSJ wrote, “PRS Guitars, a company endorsed by the likes of John Mayer and Carlos Santana, confirmed that it is among the companies that received a letter. The company said it disagrees with Fender’s assessment and declined to comment further.”
In a statement issued to Guitar World before the news went public, PRS said of Fender’s legal campaign, “We are aware and investigating. No further comment at this time.”
The involvement of PRS and the targeting of the Silver Sky frames the entire conversation in a new light, and is a huge development in the S-style legal dispute.
In Fender’s response to the widespread backlash over its cease-and-desist strategy, the company strayed away from emphasizing the importance of the specific Strat body shape, stressing it wasn’t concerned with all double-cutaway/two-horned guitars and was instead going after close copies of the Stratocaster design.
However, both Fender and its attorney Bird & Bird failed to provide any characteristics of what they constitute to be a defining feature of the broader Stratocaster “design”, giving way to theories that aesthetic appointments – including the scratchplate shape and control layout – could be a greater consideration.
It now seems likely that this is the approach Fender is taking. The PRS Silver Sky has a different body shape to the Fender Stratocaster, with more refined contours and different proportions, including a scoop on the lower cutaway and longer upper horn.
Other differences included a slightly sloped-shouldered neck joint, and a sharper upper cutaway angle. Since Fender has stated it wouldn’t be going after all double-cutaway guitars, one would assume the proportions of the Silver Sky would render it safe.
As such, Fender is clearly banking on the similarities that can be drawn elsewhere, such as the pickguard – which mirrors the Strat’s a bit more closely – and other aesthetic considerations that gave way to the outpouring of Stratocaster comparisons when it was first released.
This has now become the highest profile case of the entire dispute, and could well be one of the most contested. Though many would no doubt concede the obvious similarities between the Silver Sky and Stratocaster, few would call it a ‘direct clone’ – the type of model Fender is supposedly going after.
To make matters more interesting, the Silver Sky has become a key player in the S-style market, wrestling over a huge portion of players into its ranks over the past few years. It is the Stratocaster’s closest competitor, the SE variant a direct rival to the Player range, the US model a rival to Fender’s more premium American-made Strats.
According to Reverb stats, the Silver Sky outsold the Strat in 2022 and 2023, and has consistently been among the best-selling guitars for the past three years.
Whatever the case, PRS has stated that it “disagrees with Fender’s assessment”, implying it fully intends to fight Fender and defend the Silver Sky.
It could very well define the entire legal dispute – and the outcome of Fender’s cease-and-desist strategy could rest on this case. We’ll bring you developments as they come in.
