"A stand-out guitar for players of any level, boasting a huge range of hum‑free voices.": PRS SE NF3 review review

PRS SE NF3: What is it?

PRS’s bolt-on guitars go back to the brand’s very early history with the 1988 Classic Electric, but its first attempt to actually create a more Fender-style guitar came in the early ’90s with the short-lived first-series EG models.

PRS history is peppered with plenty more, not least the original NF3 from 2011, and then, of course, there’s their most Fender-like and most successful yet, the John Mayer Silver Sky.

So, what is this new three-pickup bolt-on with vibrato bringing to the table? You could certainly argue that it’s a ‘Stratocaster’ for those of us who don’t get on with the 70-year-old hallowed design.

The first ‘fixes’ to the design go back to the original PRS guitars: the vibrato, with its six notched pivot screws, block saddles and push-fit tension adjustable arm that floats parallel to the body, and, more fundamentally, the 25-inch scale length – shorter than Fender, a little longer than Gibson. Likewise, the fingerboard radius which at 10 inches sits between the giants. 

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Body

Like the SE Silver Sky, the NF3 uses a solid poplar body with a similar outline and contouring, but there’s a chamfer to the upper horn that nods back to the original PRS EG, and the output jack moves to the body edge.

Pickups

This new SE introduces a trio of hum-cancelling Narrowfield Deep Dish ‘S’ pickups, Indonesian-made interpretations of those used on the more T-style NF 53 that launched in 2023. 

Controls

Unlike the SE Silver Sky’s two tone controls, the NF3 has master volume and master tone, with the volume placed out of the way of the bridge pickup.

PRS SE NF3: Performance and verdict

Every small detail of the design has been considered over these past 39 years: the friction-reducing nut, the medium-jumbo fretwire and the feel of the neck. It’s called a Wide-Thin profile, but ‘classic C’ is a better description enhanced by a smooth satin finish, rolled fingerboard edges and perfectly installed frets. 

Here’s an Indonesian-made guitar that costs £799 in-store, but actually feels and plays like PRS’s considerably more expensive USA bolt-ons. It’s very in-tune, too, with a rock-solid vibrato system. Hey, it’s a PRS! 

But the key ‘fix’ here are these new pickups. Yes, we have the classic five-way lever switch which gives us those Strat-like selections, yet immediately we’re treated to a fuller voicing compared to our reference SE Silver Sky. Aside from being hum-cancelling, these dance rather beautifully between lower-output full-size humbuckers and classic Fender-style single-coils. 

While positions two and four on the five-way produce the most Strat-like voices, at the neck you’d swear you were hearing a good mini-humbucker, while the bridge balances jangle with a little poke that makes our SE Silver Sky sound rather bright and thin. 

The simple control circuit works very well to shape these voices, too: there’s no treble bleed on the volume, so pulling it back smooths the attack a little that not only cleans things up a little for those jazz/blues flourishes at the neck, but we’re hearing that slightly rounded Rickenbacker jangle at the bridge. But it’s not just a clean machine, it works just as well under heavier gains retaining good clarity.

MusicRadar verdict: The SE NF3 is a stand-out guitar for players of any level, boasting a huge range of hum‑free voices.

PRS SE NF3: The web says

"The NF3 is a full-sounding ‘Stratocaster’-type guitar but, in true PRS style, it also has huge stylistic potential, with remarkable build quality to boot."
Guitar World

PRS SE NF3: Hands-on demos

PRS Guitars

The SE NF3 Maple | Demo | PRS Guitars - YouTube

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Andertons

NEW PRS NF3 SE - Game Changing Pickups! - YouTube

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Guitar Talk

Guitar Talk - PRS SE NF3 2024 Review - YouTube

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PRS SE NF3: Specifications

• BODY: Poplar
• NECK: Maple, wide-thin profile, bolt-on
• FINGERBOARD: Rosewood or maple
• FRETS: 22, medium
• PICKUPS: 3x PRS-designed Narrowfield DD ‘S’ humbuckers
• CONTROLS: 5-way lever pickup selector switch, master volume and tone (w/ pull-switch coil split) 
• HARDWARE: PRS vibrato (cast), PRS-designed non-locking tuners
• FINISH: Ice Blue Metallic (as reviewed), Gun Metal Gray, Metallic Orange, Pearl White
• CONTACT: PRS