Fender vs PRS and What It Means for Everyone Else (Including RJ Guitars)

So Fender is sending cease and desist letters now. To boutique builders first. Then to PRS.

And the guitar world has opinions about it.

So do I.

I want to be clear upfront that I’m watching this from the outside.

I’m not a lawyer or a music industry insider.

Just a guy who’s been following this story with growing interest because of what it might mean for not just the big brands but for everyone making guitars that look even remotely like a Stratocaster… including brands right here in the Philippines.

Here’s the short version of what happened. A German court gave Fender a default copyright ruling establishing the Stratocaster as protected original creative expression.

Armed with that, Fender started sending cease and desist letters to guitar makers they believe are copying the Strat body design too closely. The first public case was LsL Instruments and their Saticoy model.

Then PRS got confirmed as a recipient over the Silver Sky. And according to Guitar.com at least one other major global brand received a letter and has already pushed back through their own lawyers.

The Part That Doesn’t Add Up

Fender’s own statement said they’re not going after all double cutaway guitars. Just “close copies” that “completely replicate the exact body design of the Stratocaster.”

Fair enough on paper.

But then PRS gets a letter.

Over the Silver Sky.

A guitar with a measurably different body shape, a scoop on the lower cutaway, a longer upper horn, a sharper cutaway angle, PRS’s own inverted headstock, PRS hardware throughout, and bird inlays on the fretboard.

A guitar John Mayer spent four years developing after leaving Fender in 2014.

If that’s a “close copy,” then Fender’s clarification lasted less than 24 hours before being contradicted by their own actions.

And the guitar they’re targeting with their biggest letter has been outselling their own Stratocaster on Reverb for multiple years running. You do the math on whether this is about design protection or market share.

Or maybe they’re going after guitars that if you are a fair distance away from it and you squint it resembles the basic strat body shape?

Side by Side Comparo

I’ve played both.

Not side by side under ideal conditions… I’ll be honest about that.

The Fender I had was a beaten-up unit sold by someone who needed the money fast, and the Silver Sky I tried in person was at a store.

Neither experience was definitive.

But I can tell you both guitars sound good and both play well for very different reasons.

Spec	Fender American Strat	PRS Silver Sky (Core)	RJ Vibecaster Pro
Body	Alder (or Roasted Pine)?	Alder (Swamp Ash on some runs)	Alder
Neck	Maple · Deep “C” profile · rolled edges	Maple · 635JM-R profile · scarfed joint	Maple
Fretboard	Rosewood or Maple · 9.5″ radius	Rosewood or Maple · 7.25″ radius	Maple or Rosewood
Scale Length	25.5″	25.5″	25.5″
Frets	22 · Narrow-Tall	22 · PRS Medium	Stainless Steel
Pickups	Single coils that sounded really good despite their age	635JM Single-Coils (SSS) · full, musical highs	Alnico Single-Coils (SSS)
Controls	Master Vol, 2 Tone · 5-way blade · push-push neck add	Master Vol, 2 Tone · 5-way blade	Vol, Tone · 5-way blade
Bridge	2-point tremolo · cold-rolled steel block	PRS Gen III tremolo · flush-mount · down-only pitch	2-point tremolo
Tuners	Deluxe locking tuners	Vintage-style locking · PRS design	Standard tuners
Nut	Bone	Bone	Bone
Headstock	Classic Fender 6-in-line	Inverted PRS · 3-per-side	PRS-inspired reverse style
Made In	USA	USA (Core) · Indonesia (SE)	Philippines
Price Range	Php 50,000.00 (I think I was able to get it for Php 45,000.00) and sold it for Php 80,000.00 hehehehe	Php 115,000.00 ? (Core) · Php 45,000.00 ? (SE)	Significantly more affordable

The biggest technical difference between the two is actually the bridge setup.

The PRS Silver Sky tremolo is set up flush to the body in the neutral position so it only goes down in pitch, and the increased contact with the body makes the guitar acoustically louder, which improves the signal-to-noise ratio of the single-coil pickups.

That’s a real engineering choice that affects how the guitar sounds and feels, not just aesthetics. The Fender’s 2-point tremolo is more traditional with a cold-rolled steel block for sustain and clarity.

The fretboard radius tells you a lot too.

The Silver Sky has a vintage-style 7.25″ radius with a profile that falls halfway between 1963 and 1964 carves.

The Strat ran a more modern 9.5″ which is flatter and generally preferred for lead playing and bending. The single coil pickups were very round and full, with a musical high end that was never ice-picky or brash.

After all… Fender’s pickups are voiced specifically per position, meaning each pickup sounds slightly different from the others by design.

Both are excellent guitars.

That’s the honest answer.

The Silver Sky feels more refined and considered in certain details.

The Fender feels more traditional and is the guitar the whole industry is built around.

Picking between them depends entirely on what you’re looking for, not on which company’s lawyers are more aggressive right now.

The Fender I played was in rough shape and still sounded good.

The Silver Sky I tried was in perfect condition at a store and sounded great. Neither comparison was fair.

But both guitars convinced me they’re worth what their reputations say they are.

I’d take either one home now.

If I only had the money…

And Then There’s RJ Guitars

RJ Guitars has been making guitars in the Philippines since 1988.

Their craftsmen were trained by Japan’s Deviser/Aska factory, the same people behind respected Japanese brands like Momose, Bacchus, and Headway. As Deviser founder Kei Yatsuzaka put it: “The RJ luthiers we trained can rival the best in Japan.” That is not a small endorsement.

The RJ Vibecaster is directly inspired by the Silver Sky.

They say so without trying to hide it.

The body shape is similar, the pickguard draws comparisons, the whole aesthetic points back to that John Mayer PRS DNA.

And the headstock on the Vibecaster Pro… I genuinely love it.

It looks better to me than the Silver Sky’s inverted PRS headstock, which I always found a little too pointy for my taste.

The RJ version has a cleaner, more balanced shape that I keep coming back to visually.

So if Fender is going after PRS for the Silver Sky, and PRS’s own Silver Sky-inspired guitar made by a Philippine brand is already out there on the market… what does this mean for RJ?

That’s the question this whole story raises that nobody in the international coverage is asking.

But it’s a relevant question for anyone in the Philippine guitar community who cares about a local builder that’s been doing serious work for over three decades.

RJ Guitars makes the Vibecaster with an alder body, maple neck, stainless steel frets, bone nut, and alnico single-coil pickups.

Same fundamental recipe as both the Fender and the PRS, just built here, priced for this market, by Filipino luthiers trained to Japanese standards.

That guitar deserves to exist.

And whatever the outcome of the Fender legal campaign is globally, the fact that it raises questions about instruments like this one is worth paying attention to.

If Fender wins this broadly, the ripple effects don’t stop at PRS or LsL. They reach every builder who ever made a double-cutaway guitar that anyone might squint at and see a Strat in.

The guitar community globally seems to be watching this with a mix of concern and skepticism about Fender’s actual endgame.

LsL set up a GoFundMe.

At least one unnamed major brand has already pushed back legally. PRS has said clearly they disagree with Fender’s assessment and the implication is they’re ready to fight. Ron Bienstock, the lawyer who’s beaten Fender on this kind of claim before, is already involved on behalf of at least one defendant.

I don’t know how this ends.

Nobody does yet.

What I do know is that the guitar industry is tighter and more interconnected than most people realize, and moves like this one have a way of affecting builders and players at every level of the market, including people here in the Philippines who just want a great S-style guitar made by Filipinos at a price that makes sense for Filipino musicians.

Worth watching.

Worth talking about.

And if you’re curious what all the fuss is about, go try a Silver Sky and a Strat back to back sometime.

They’re both worth your time regardless of whoever’s lawyers say what.

And since I’m proud to be pinoy… I’ll only push the RJ Guitars Vibecaster. You can buy it on

Shopee