With the Silver Sky, PRS found great success in revisiting a classic recipe with John Mayer. Can they do it again with the NF 53 and Myles Kennedy?
While the Silver Sky was a bottom-up recreation of the Stratocaster, the NF 53 and Myles Kennedy Signature are highly considered takes on the Telecaster. In fact, they're based on one particular 1953 Tele owned and loved by Paul Reed Smith himself.
Details about the NF 53
Borrowing its swamp ash body, 25.5" scale length, a bolt-on maple neck, a maple fretboard, and the "53" from Paul's beloved Telecaster, the NF 53 gets the rest of its name from the company's Narrowfield pickups. These are built to have the clarity and ring of single-coils, with the heft and noise-canceling qualities of humbuckers.
The Narrowfield DD (Deep Dish) set that comes standard in the NF 53 are made with lots of windings around its extra-tall bobbins.
"Everyone is telling us that we have something special here," Paul Reed Smith said about the guitar in a press release. "If you are a fan of this style and tone, the NF 53 will take you where you want to go. To me, to have this kind of beautiful high end without the hum is game-changing."
Details about the Myles Kennedy Signature
PRS' Myles Kennedy Signature—the first such guitar for the Alter Bridge, Slash and the Conspirators, and solo artist—is a riff on the same T-style design.
It features most of the appointments of the NF 53, including the scale-length and body (though the NF 53's is slightly offset by comparison). Most notably, the Myles Kennedy's neck is a bit wider, while the pickups and electronics are quite a bit different. The signature has Narrowfield MK coil-splittable pickups and a control system that PRS developed alongside Myles Kennedy give it a special and versatile character all its own.
The Narrowfield MKs and the coil splits are controlled by a 5-way blade switch:
- P1 (Switch Down): Treble Humbucker
- P2: Treble Humbucker & Bass Coil Split
- P3: Treble & Bass Humbuckers
- P4: Treble & Bass Coil Split
- P5 (Switch Up): Bass Humbucker
This 5-position switch frees up the push/pull on the tone knob to do something a little unique: it doesn't control the coil-splits, but instead lets you access a preset tone roll off for the treble pickup.
Grab an NF 53 or Myles Kennedy Signature for yourself on Reverb right now.