Tele. T-type. T-style. Twang machine.
No matter what you call it (for legal reasons or just to be accurate because it doesn’t come from the big F), it’s an icon of guitar design. For me, it’s the best shape you can cut out of a slab of wood.
But I’m an outlier of a fan. I very much prefer the descendants of the design over the original. The “real” (it’s only a Telecaster if it comes from the Tele region of Corona, CA) ones are mostly prohibitive for me personally to play – slab bodies with no contours are a straight up no-go for me.
So anytime a company drops an iteration of the same basic design, I’m zooming in. Does it have nice forearm and belly contours? Does it come in white? Is it affordable?
When PRS first debuted the NF53, the answer to 2 of those questions was yes. So while I was intrigued, I was hoping that there would be an SE edition (PRS’ import line) so that it wouldn’t be such a wallet bomb.
Lo and behold, my wishes were answered. and the SE NF53 has arrived – and it’s just as great as I’d hoped. For $979, it’s got the looks, the sounds, the feel – the sauce.
The first things I noticed when I picked it up out of the box were:
- The neck is chunky – not a bat, but for some reason I was expecting something a bit slimmer. It feels really good though – just different from my usual shred machine. It’s also unfinished, which I vastly prefer over the gloss neck of some of my other PRS.
- The tuners are non-locking (same as the more expensive USA model).
- It’s very comfortable to hold and play. The upper fret access with the lower horn carve is something I think every single guitar should have.
I can’t directly compare it to the USA version outside of the basic specs and information online, because I haven’t played one myself. But the key differences are:
- Bird inlays: SE version has abalone birds instead of black birds
- Neck shape: SE is listed as “NF53” instead of “Pattern 53”, not sure if they’re actually different or if that’s just a typo
- SE is made in Indonesia.
That’s – it? I honestly am struggling to find anything else listed that’s different between the two. It also just plain doesn’t feel like an import guitar. This is probably due in no small part to the fact that PRS sets up all their imports at the same Maryland factory where the USA models are made.
Really, it almost feels like a dumb business move on PRS’ part. Why on earth would anyone pay USA prices when the imports are this great? As a consumer, I’m liable to just keep my mouth shut and reap the rewards. A sub-$1000 guitar, in this economy, shouldn’t be this solid.
The SE NF53 has two single-coil-sized PRS Narrowfield humbuckers, controlled by a 3-way switch, and standard volume and tone knobs. The biggest surprise for me in the electronics department was a lack of coil-splitting or -tapping option. This feels like a deliberate attempt to distance their design from the grandpa equivalent, which typically only has single-coil sounds. So if you’re looking for those kinds of traditional sounds out of it, then you might be disappointed.
I, for one, have far more need of humbucker sounds than of single-coil, so I’m happy as a clam with the sounds of this guitar. I think it couldn’t have really hurt to make one of the knobs push/pull to add a coil split option of some kind, because versatility never hurts, but I wouldn’t be using it all that much myself.
Here’s a few quick sound samples:
Bridge pickup crunch:
Middle position crunch:
Neck pickup crunch:
Bridge pickup clean:
Middle position clean:
Neck pickup clean:
Bridge pickup heavy:
This is just a small taste of tones you can get from the guitar. It wouldn’t be my first choice for metal, but for crunchy sounds and clean tones it’s totally perfect. It’s a rock’n’roll machine.
The review model was the White Doghair finish, which is a sort of slightly-yellowed raw-looking finish (you can see, but not feel, the texture of the wood through the color) with a gloss coat. I’m personally more partial to a matte or satin type finish (which does exist in 2 colors in the USA version), and I’m hoping they’ll eventually make one in the SE line. But personal preference aside, this is a real good-looking guitar, at a real attractive price.
It’s not a tele, or a T-type, or a T-style, or a twang machine. It’s got some of that DNA, but this genetic mutant is a whole new beast of its own, and it’s awesome.
