An affordable Rock Guitar the PRS SE NF3

Photo provided by: Judy Schaefer Director | PRS Marketing

GEAR SPECIALIST | GUITAR THRILLS MAGAZINE

Eric Dahl

Eric Dahl is a TV/Streaming/Radio/Podcast show host, writer for multiple magazines and a published author. His hobbies include guitar collecting, playing guitar, singing, songwriting, winemaking, and he is a Harley motorcycle enthusiast based in Nashville, TN. Dahl was the third generation of his family born in Peoria, IL and raised in rural Southeast Missouri. He has played guitar since he was 5 years old thanks to his father, Jerry Dahl, who was a bassist. Dahl holds a BA in Mass Communications and a Music Minor in Jazz and Classical guitar from Southeast Missouri State University and briefly studied at Belmont University.

Many of us were raised playing S Style guitars but if you are playing more aggressive Rock, Blues or Alternative music you might be seeking something a bit more powerful.  The new PRS SE NF3 could be just the guitar you’re looking for.  Some key features that separate the SE NF3 from the pack are a trilogy of Narrowfield DD “S” pickups and DD stands for Deep Dish.  Meaning that PRS has designed them with taller bobbins and more copper windings to achieve a hotter pickup in a single coil shape. 

The model reviewed from PRS was finished in Ice Blue Metallic which really pops under stage lighting.  The SE NF3 is also available in Pearly White, Gunmetal Gray, and Metallic Orange.  PRS used Poplar wood for the body construction.  PRS body contours, curves and upper cutaway angles separate this model from other S Style guitars also.  The satin finished bolt-on neck feels fast and silky in your hands.  You can choose between Rosewood or Maple fretboards, the guitar we tested had the maple with standard PRS bird inlays. 

The wide thin neck shape is wider than a garden variety S Style guitar but also thinner in the middle instead of a C shape.  Electronics are simple and self-explanatory on the SE NF3 with a single volume and tone control for all three pickups and a 5-way blade pickup selector.  As opposed to the SE Silver Sky guitar the SE NF3 features the more substantial PRS patented tremolo which stays in tune better, has more screws securing it to the model and solid metal saddles not bent metal. Plugged into an amplifier the SE NF3 is much hotter than traditional single coils but not as fat and dark as humbucker pickups.  This guitar really shines when driven through an opened-up amp with a distortion or overdrive pedal in front of it.  My favorite pickup combinations were the 2 and 3^rd positions. 

Thanks to the maple neck, Poplar body and PRS tremolo the SE NF3 has plenty of sustain and really holds on to the notes.  The guitar sounds great clean too, but it can handle aggressive playing and come back for more.  This is a great addition to PRS’s already popular SE line bringing professional player upgrades in an affordable import package that any level of musician would be happy to gig or record with.  The Narrowfield DD “S” pickups really surprised me with their uniqueness of sound played clean or distorted. The PRS SE NF3 is priced at only $799 and includes a PRS gig bag.  If you have been longing for an S Style guitar but want something more modern looking and robust the PRS SE NF3 is for you.  The satin neck makes soloing and chording effortless. The only thing I would change on this guitar for my personal playing style would be the addition of PRS locking tuners.  Which is an easy retrofit and worth the investment.  The PRS SE NF3 is a guitar tone machine and priced under the $1,000 mark!

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