PRS has treated Mark Lettieri’s flagship Fiore signature guitar to another new colorway, which transforms the funk maestro’s versatile, modern-leaning model into a fully fledged vintage-inspired electric guitar.
Labeled Sunflower, the new finish is reminiscient of classic sunburst colorways that can be found on vintage Stratocasters, and introduces a golden era-esque aesthetic to a range that has previously been exclusively about bold, solid colorways.
PRS itself acknowledges that the Sunflower finish “is a departure from the previous solid colors” available for the Fiore, with the Maryland company hoping to bring “an extra touch of style” to the HSS-configured instrument – as if it needed any more style in the first place.
In the tradition of all previous Fiore colorways, Sunflower doubles down on the family’s floral theme, which is spearheaded by the guitar’s name itself – Fiore means flower in Italian.
Originally debuted in Amaryllis, Sugar Moon and Black Iris finishes, the Fiore was then treated to a more alluring Larkspur colorway early last year.
Aside from the fresh lick of vintage paint, the Fiore otherwise stays true to its DNA, featuring a solid swamp ash body, maple neck and fretboard, and a set of custom Fiore pickups. These pickups are wired to two push/pull tone controls and a five-way switch, which open up a multitude of switching options.
The 25.5”-scale six-string also recruits a 10” fingerboard radius, two-point steel tremolo bridge, vintage-style locking tuners and a bone nut, as well as a Fiore logo truss rod cover and trademark Birds inlays.
“It really is kind of a ‘do everything’ guitar,” Lettieri told Guitar World when the Fiore arrived in 2021. “But not in a way where it does everything at, like, 75%. It does everything at 100%.”
“The goal was to make a guitar that will adapt to as many things as the player wants it to adapt to,” he continued. “In a way the Fiore is a blank slate; when you play it you’re not going to hear the guitar – you’re going to hear yourself.”
Though a sunburst-finished Fiore has arrived, don’t expect Lettieri’s fellow PRS signature artist John Mayer to follow suit any time soon. Back in 2020, Mayer voiced his commitment to forward-looking finishes, ruling out the possibility of a Tobacco Sunburst colorway for his Silver Sky signature model.
The Sunflower Fiore is available now for $2,749.
Head over to PRS for more information.
