Guitar World Verdict
It might be inspired by Fender’s finest but the SE NF 53 is no copy or clone. It’s a finely-made piece with a swamp ash body and hugely versatile Narrowfield humbuckers. Any guitar player could rock this!
Pros
- +
Detailed build, swamp ash body and good weight.
- +
Versatile small aperture humbuckers.
- +
Thin satin finish.
- +
Big neck.
Cons
- -
If you don’t like big necks best avoid.
- -
Doesn’t capture true T-style tones.
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What is it?
When PRS produced the Silver Sky for John Mayer it nearly broke the internet. For some it was simply a ‘Stratocaster’ with the wrong headstock while PRS maintained it was a complete re-tooling of a classic.
A little while later the debate was stoked when a more-affordable SE version appeared. Fast forward to 2023 and the other Fender classic was reimagined as the NF 53 launched simultaneously with the similarly-styled Myles Kennedy signature. Now, halfway through the brand’s 40th Anniversary year, PRS has finally launched the SE NF 53.
Specs
- Launch price: $979/£979/€1,175
- Made: Indonesia
- Type: Solidbody electric
- Body: Swamp ash
- Neck: Maple (scarf construction), NF 53 profile, bolt-on
- Fingerboard/Radius: Maple/10”
- Scale length: 25.5” (648mm)
- Nut/width: 41.65mm
- Frets: 22, medium
- Hardware: PRS ‘plate style’ bridge w/ brass saddles, PRS-design vintage-style tuners with wing buttons
- Electrics: 2x PRS Narrowfield DD ‘S’ humbuckers, 3-way lever pickup selector switch, master volume and tone controls
- Weight: 7.33lb (3.33kg)
- Left-handed options: No
- Finishes: Pearl White (as reviewed) Black Doghair, White Doghair
- Case/gig bag: Gig bag
- Contact: PRS Guitars
Build quality
Build quality rating: ★★★★★
Offered in three solid colors, the single-cutaway T-style influence is clear but the SE NF 53 is no clone. The materials may ape the original – a swamp ash body and maple neck – but that’s about all the new guitar has in common with Fender’s original solidbody.
Unlike the slab body of the original the SE NF 52 adds in PRS’s hallmark contour in the treble cutaway plus we get a forearm and ribcage contour. The neck is slab sawn, with a separate maple fingerboard, but the three-aside back-angled headstock is pure PRS. That said, it does employ the longer Fender scale length of 25.5” although the ‘board radius is 10” and we get those ubiquitous bird inlays.
Another key difference is the PRS plate-style bridge used initially on the S2 Vela before that USA NF 53. The steel baseplate has key-hole-shaped cut-outs to top-load the strings and the two brass barrel saddles can be surprisingly accurately intonated.
The USA NF 53 nodded to the Telecaster with a cut-down version of its scratchplate, direct-mount pickups and rear-mounted controls but the SE version runs with a more production-friendly larger scratchplate that holds both the pickups and the controls. Functionally different, it also creates a big visual difference to the USA model.
A pair of Narrowfield DD small aperture humbuckers were created for the NF 53 and here we have the Indonesian-made ‘S’ versions which first popped up on the three-pickup SE NF 3 last year and are also used on the new SE Special Semi-Hollow and SE Studio models.
Playability
Playability rating: ★★★★★
I can’t fault the fretting and smooth fingerboard feel: first class
Weighing in at 7.33lbs it’s a great weight for a solidbody bolt-on and while so many PRS designs seem to fuss about precious visual style, the SE NF 53 focuses on function: I took it straight to a gig.
The neck is pretty big – measuring 41.7mm at the nut, 22.7mm in depth at the first fret and a pretty fulsome 25mm by the 12th – with an almost raw wood-feeling light satin finish. It looks rather white, quite clean and modern. A little more in-curve to the fingerboard edge and a little more edge rolling might well give it the more rounded ‘big Fender’ feel of the USA guitar but I can’t fault the fretting and smooth fingerboard feel though: first class. There’s no vibrato to worry about either and tuning proves rock-solid.
Sounds
Sounds rating: ★★★★★
Unplugged there’s a big ring to the guitar that translates to the epitome of the cliché ‘Tele on steroids’. The pickups sort of sit between single coils and humbuckers with a little more oomph than the former but more focus than the latter that nods to a good P-90 but with a subtly smoother note attack.
The pickups sort of sit between single coils and humbuckers with a little more oomph than the former but more focus than the latter that nods to a good P-90 but with a subtly smoother note attack
Pull the volume back and pick close to the bridge and there’s obvious Tele-like steely-ness before you wind the volume back up for a nice bit of saturation. Think Pete Townshend, Mike Campbell or classic Stones-y grind.
These are humbuckers though and apply some heavier gain and the bridge is muscular and gnarly while there’s bags of woody depth at neck. This is a T-style for those of us that never got on with one.
Verdict
Any guitar player could use one, which might well qualify it as the most essential guitar yet of 2025
If you just think PRS make guitars for well-heeled doctors and dentists you might have to change your opinion here. Bird inlays aside there’s zero bling and this comes across as a real working guitar that could sit in pretty much any style you can muster.
It might appear bare-bones to some but there’s nothing basic about the build, feel or sounds or the tuning stability. Who cares where it’s made, this is a workingman’s tool pure and simple: any guitar player could use one, which might well qualify it as the most essential guitar yet of 2025.
Guitar World verdict: It might be inspired by Fender’s finest but the SE NF 53 is no copy or clone. It’s a finely-made piece with a swamp ash body and hugely versatile Narrowfield humbuckers. Any guitar player could rock this!
Test | Results | Score |
|---|---|---|
Build quality | It’s not just the attention to detail here that is exceptional, it’s rare to see swamp ash at this price and the big neck is worth the admission price on its own.
| ★★★★★ |
Playability | With its 25.5” scale length it feels very familiar, the fret work is excellent and, as ever, PRS are very in-tune sounding guitars. No fettling required! | ★★★★★ |
Sounds | There’s a hint of T-style at bridge but the overall voicing of the Narrowfield DD humbuckers is a little fuller and juicier but with good definition. Big cleans to big rock!
| ★★★★★ |
Overall | Don’t over think it, any guitar-payer could use this: student to pro. | ★★★★★ |
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