FLOWER POWER

PRS’s Silver Sky broke the internet with its derivative style and big league artist attachment, so the new Fiore has a lot to live up to. Does it succeed? Oh, yes – and then some

- Dave Burrluck

PRS FIORE £2,599

What You Need To Know

1 Mark Lettieri – who’s he?

A hugely talented guitarist who many will know as a member of the Grammy Award-winning jazz/world group Snarky Puppy, whom he joined in 2008. On top of that, he’s released numerous solo records, and formed the Fearless Flyers with Vulfpeck’s Cory Wong in 2018. Head over to www.marklettieri.com to find out more.

2 What's behind the Fiore name?

Well, you’ve got to call a guitar something and ‘fiore’ is the Italian word for flower, coined by Mark’s daughter. Continuing the family affair, his artist mother contributed the graphic design on the guitar’s truss rod cover.

3 But it’s just a Silver Sky with a bridge humbucker, right?

As we explore in this review, it does start with the familiar platform of the Silver Sky, but it proves to be quite a different ride. If the ’Sky is a 60s-inspired ‘vintage Strat’, the Fiore jumps a couple of decades – it’s a souped-up ‘SuperStrat’!

John Mayer’s signature Silver Sky needs no introduction. However, bolt-on guitars go back to the very beginnings of PRS when the company was far from the household name it is today. While we detail that first attempt (the Classic Electric) later on in this feature, it’s book-ended here by the new 2021 Fiore, co-designed with PRS’s latest signature artist, Mark Lettieri.