really enjoyed your review pretty in depth and well covered. This guitar really intrigues me. Ive been really interested in picking up a silver sky but after watching this I think Ive changed my mind.
White with white pick guard and maple, would look really good. Now that I looked again the white guard on the blue would look good too, on either board.
I was really intrigued with some of the new PRS SE guitars. I got mine 2 weeks ago and really dig it! Gunmetal gray w/rosewood. I mean... got it new for $680, and it's really good. Feels like a solid well built guitar. Fantastic when considering the price! Has a p90-ish sound IMO. Records really well. Staying in tune pretty good, but may grab some of the locking tuners, just because. I set mine up with 9.5 - 44 gauge strings and slightly lowered the action for experimentation... like the sting tension better. I think I may keep it there. I did change the speed knobs for black Strat volume/tone knobs I had on hand. At any rate, I own and primarily play higher end/and custom shop guitars. This NF3 and the DGT SE I recently obtained are impressive for sub 1k guitars. Sounds and feels great! I don't mind taking them out or banging them around.
This is the first review I've listened to that points out the downside if you want to mod the NF3. I won't mod mine. Thanx for highlighting that downside - it is something that needs consideration. Aside, I bought metallic orange with A maple neck - gorgeous.
I have the pearl white with maple. It has quickly become my number 1. I absolutely love the pickups and I most play high gain 80s style stuff. Cleans are great as well. It came pefectly set up and very very close to in tune out of the factory box. Not to criticize, I do not understand the constant comparison vids to the Silver Sky. Not even close! I have a core Silver Sky. Thanks for mentioning right off that they are indeed different.
Really dig'n mine in Gunmetal Grey with a rosewood fretboard. I'm kinda picky about light colored neck stains that show the scarf joint. I picked one very carefully that has wood pieces that match. I know we don't really see the back of the neck in the playing position. But the drastic color difference on that one wouldn't fly with me. It's not even close to matching. I'm so critical that I'll zoom in on the Sweetwater photos to see how uniform the grain patterns are. I'm not a fan of odd random grain patterns that have alot of variances. I like I nice even grained, even colored stain application. The yellowish tint they used in the stain. Is much darker on the headstocks than on the back of the neck where more sanding is done. This makes the maple fretboard versions look crappy to me. Way too yellowish for my taste. Yet somehow the headstock alone being a slightly darker yellow, looks killer against the contrasting colors of the rest of the guitar(when optioned with a rosewood fretboard).
I agree - beautiful guitar and the neck feels great, but indeed the scarf joint is a bit of an eyesore. I bought one in metallic orange a few days ago, and scarf joint aside, it's a really nice guitar - the bridge is great, too.
@@gradyolson5149 Just curious where you picked it up? Full list price? I scored one of the new hardcases with mine right away. They're hard to come buy. A bit pricey, but real good quality. I figured if I'm get'n it through Sweetwater, I'm just gonna count on keeping it. Even I'd found issue with that example. I'd just exchange it. I'm very impressed with the overall build quality, and this is actually my first 6pt.floating trem equipped guitar. I'm not a shredder by any means, and value tuning stability over paying extra for unnecessary and complicated bridges. My Cutlass has the 2pt.newer style trem, that I keep decked. It's a very well engineered piece, that I'm kinda partial to. I'm amazed how good this NF3 is, and how ridiculously low I've been able to get the action without an issue. On Wednesday night I finished the few little changes I've made to mine besides straplocks. Oiled the fretboard and changed the strings to my Slinkys. Added a treble bleed curcuit, and swapped the middle and neck pickups around physically in the pickgaurd. These 2 simple, almost free mods. Will transform this guitar, from an already unique and versatile tool. Into something extraordinary. Switch position 5 is middle only now. 4 stays the same, 3 becomes neck only, and most importantly position 2 is now bridge and neck combined. Took me almost a week to figure out I didn't need to change ANY of the wiring, to accomplish what I wanted! Just swap the pickups positions!
The first thing i thought when i saw this was to wonder what the pickup routing is like. They couldn't have made this easy by just doing an HSH routing. I think this with a full size humbucker in the bridge would be a strong #1 workhorse contender. My second thought was whether this really is the size of a ukulele like it appears, or do you have 1' on me and it just seems that way. One thing that is clear to me now is that with the SE line they purposely make sure you can easily tell that it's a multi piece body or neck. I've yet to see an SE with a three piece body where one of them didn't have one piece of completely different grain from the others, or in this case you can see the scarf joint on a 6" screen in 144p from the other side of the room. Paul himself always had this (IMO unfounded) belief that if you make the SE resemble the Core too much, that it'll take sales from the Core line. I just don't think that happens. It's akin to someone going out one day planning on buying a Bentley or Mercedes, only to end up with a Honda Accord because they discovered that it was cheaper. 🤨 Alright, maybe one of the Beverly Hillbillies would make a purchase for that reason, but I don't think the average Bentley or $8000 PRS buyer. EDIT: now that I think of it, the guitar I'm describing is just a Studio, but I think that only comes in the S2 line.
Yeah, Steve, I think this guitar can get you there with what it has in it, and then use amp modeling or amp of choice to dial in what a person would be shooting for...can it sound "humbucker"? Yeah, because they're humbuckers. Can it sound Stratty? I think your demo answers that question. I played guitar in a local band years ago, it was a local band led by the son of the music store owner in our town, and he was not only a great guitarist, he was a multi instrumentalist, and he toured for a while in I think it was the early 80's doing background keyboard parts for Glen Campbell's touring band, He played a lot of different guitar models, but ended up just using a Stratocaster with singles in it, but he played through this Peavey Delta Blues combo amp that had this 15" speaker in it, and because of it's midrange capability, his guitar sound never got lost on stage...you could always hear him through the bass, keys, and drums. Now there was this one venue we would play at where they had dirty power or something...like 60 cycle hum x 20...it was horrible for regular pickups, but his guitar had noiseless singles, so his guitar was immune to it. He also played a Wolfgang for a long time, but eventually ended up just really liking his Strat, so that was all he played, unless something happened like a broken string or something, so he had a back up guitar close enough to his main axe, to where he'd just switch out, which rarely ever happened. Anyway, knowing his taste in the versatility the Strat provided coupled with that Delta Blues amp, I think he would just love that PRS NF3 SE, if he was still alive. I want to get one...I only wish it had a 24 fret option, because I sometimes utilize it in some of the stuff we play in the cover band I'm in...but I would say that for most of those songs, an NF3 SE would suit all of those songs just fine...and with narrow field humbuckers, I wouldn't have to dread it if I ended up in a venue that had prominent 60 cycle hum going on...wow, I typed up a small article, ha! Thanks for the demo of this guitar, and hope you and yours are doing great.
I am watching you from years! What you are doing is very nice and cool! Just one thing I want to mention. So many guitars and so many years but more or less they all sound pretty same! Try them with simple effects please!
I have a 1990 Special. Around 2006 I tried one of their bolt-ons. The difference was so big and I was so disappointed that their cheaper models never appealed to me. However, this one looks interesting. Edit: never mind. Not locking tuners. Btw… 1/64th and 5/64th of an inch… 😂 use the Metric System!
I take lessons at a shop that sells PRS guitars. I tried this one out. I didn’t vibe with it…it was very comfortable and easy to play but there was something about the sounds it produced…I don’t how to explain it, other than it sounded muffled compared to a strat and I enjoy a Strat sound.
😄Another Great review!!!But now I'm in at a stalemate.I was getting ready to order the Yamaha 612 Vll,but since seeing the PRS,I don't know,Hah!!!Thanks alot!Hah!So what I'm asking is which do you think is a better choice?They're about the same price.Thanks!
I have been a long-time viewer of your videos and admire your work. However, I noticed that in your video about Eddie Van Halen's passing, you displayed intense emotion. While I understand your deep admiration for him, I hope you don't mind my mentioning it.
Custom pickguard builders will have a field day with these, as a modder myself this is a bit a of a PITA guitar but if you want the PRS style in a ST format this is it (sorry silver sky!).
My benchmark is; could I play it for 4 hours at a Saturday night gig? Tones, playability, reliability? Interesting tones from that one.... 8) Peace --gary
A small gripe, but enough to bother me. The upper horn's carve looks wonky. What's odd is that the core nf3 didn’t have a sculpted body. It was more like a Stratocaster. Why they chose a carve for the se version confuses me. That said i still like the guitar overall.
I love the way PRS feels, but those birds I hate them. If someone wanted to give it to me, I'd take it, not a fan of the colors either. I've still got my eye on that vola oz
@@waynedoherty7758 Good points. Fender has made some short scale strats but don't think they ever offered 25 inch scale. Some Fender players would probably welcome a slightly shorter scale length.
I don’t quite understand these comparisons with strats or fender. This instrument is different in every department, most notably the feel of a 25” scale will make this guitar feel more like a custom24 or ce24 than any Strat.
It's a middle priced guitar so it will have the usual issues guitars this price have. Tried one myself and wasn't anything special. Pickups are way overhyped
The guitar boom is over you just don't know it yet. I have maybe 8 guitars that are fairly new. I have 4 custom guitar's I've built. We all have them. How many more do you need for your little wall of guitars? Who are you? Why do you think you need to participate in this? It's become a disease at this point. Look at Reverb. Millions of fine instruments that might never sell or take years to move and for pennies on the dollar and they still want to shove more cheap garbage down your throat. PRS making cheap guitars is absurd. The last thing the guitar world needs is a top guitar manufacturer introducing budget models. The price of used gear is already in the gutter how much more can the industry take? You would think PRS might understand but they have a huge company and a bunch of employees to support. It's not about music or guitars or fun anymore it's about making money.
@@ski5150 There are already 10x the amount of guitars for every person to have 10 guitars the market doesn't need more cheap guitars. Was my point but you missed it entirely. TOO MANY GUITARS AND NO BUYERS!!
@@truescotsman4103you’re awfully wrong… the reason why we can find so much guitars on reverb is because of the 9 out of 10 guitarist that stop playing guitars; and now we can see all the guitars that were purchased during COVID when people had more time and wanted to start something new, like playing guitars…PRS has never sold as many guitars as during the pandemic. So obviously 9 out of 10 will end up on the used market. It’s not more complicated than that!
I just don't like that headstock on that body. Yeah I guess I'm a bit stuck in my ways but I love the old Kramer banana headstocks and the Jackson and Ibanez headstocks. 🤘😎🤘
I'm just the opposite. I find the Jackson and Ibanez are a little too pointy. The PRS actually makes a lot of sense. The 3x3 on an S style body is easy to work with.
Narrowfield
This is certainly my next PRS SE purchase. I've owned SE guitars since 2012 and never had a problem with fret sprout.
This guitar has me interested.
PRS is doing a pretty good job with their "strats"... They're similar, but different
In the SE range I think they make sense but in the $2500 range too many options around to consider a PRS strat
really enjoyed your review pretty in depth and well covered. This guitar really intrigues me. Ive been really interested in picking up a silver sky but after watching this I think Ive changed my mind.
White with white pick guard and maple, would look really good. Now that I looked again the white guard on the blue would look good too, on either board.
I was really intrigued with some of the new PRS SE guitars. I got mine 2 weeks ago and really dig it! Gunmetal gray w/rosewood. I mean... got it new for $680, and it's really good. Feels like a solid well built guitar. Fantastic when considering the price! Has a p90-ish sound IMO. Records really well. Staying in tune pretty good, but may grab some of the locking tuners, just because. I set mine up with 9.5 - 44 gauge strings and slightly lowered the action for experimentation... like the sting tension better. I think I may keep it there. I did change the speed knobs for black Strat volume/tone knobs I had on hand. At any rate, I own and primarily play higher end/and custom shop guitars. This NF3 and the DGT SE I recently obtained are impressive for sub 1k guitars. Sounds and feels great! I don't mind taking them out or banging them around.
This is the first review I've listened to that points out the downside if you want to mod the NF3. I won't mod mine. Thanx for highlighting that downside - it is something that needs consideration. Aside, I bought metallic orange with A maple neck - gorgeous.
i have the pearl white with the rosewood neck. i love this guitar. it very feels good and sounds fantastic. you can play anything.
I have the pearl white with maple. It has quickly become my number 1. I absolutely love the pickups and I most play high gain 80s style stuff. Cleans are great as well. It came pefectly set up and very very close to in tune out of the factory box. Not to criticize, I do not understand the constant comparison vids to the Silver Sky. Not even close! I have a core Silver Sky. Thanks for mentioning right off that they are indeed different.
i like the cleaner sounds too. cheers from germany.
I have the same color but with the maple fretboard
Awesome review! Thanks for posting this episode.
Really dig'n mine in Gunmetal Grey with a rosewood fretboard. I'm kinda picky about light colored neck stains that show the scarf joint. I picked one very carefully that has wood pieces that match. I know we don't really see the back of the neck in the playing position. But the drastic color difference on that one wouldn't fly with me. It's not even close to matching. I'm so critical that I'll zoom in on the Sweetwater photos to see how uniform the grain patterns are. I'm not a fan of odd random grain patterns that have alot of variances. I like I nice even grained, even colored stain application. The yellowish tint they used in the stain. Is much darker on the headstocks than on the back of the neck where more sanding is done. This makes the maple fretboard versions look crappy to me. Way too yellowish for my taste. Yet somehow the headstock alone being a slightly darker yellow, looks killer against the contrasting colors of the rest of the guitar(when optioned with a rosewood fretboard).
I agree - beautiful guitar and the neck feels great, but indeed the scarf joint is a bit of an eyesore. I bought one in metallic orange a few days ago, and scarf joint aside, it's a really nice guitar - the bridge is great, too.
@@gradyolson5149 Just curious where you picked it up? Full list price? I scored one of the new hardcases with mine right away. They're hard to come buy. A bit pricey, but real good quality. I figured if I'm get'n it through Sweetwater, I'm just gonna count on keeping it. Even I'd found issue with that example. I'd just exchange it. I'm very impressed with the overall build quality, and this is actually my first 6pt.floating trem equipped guitar. I'm not a shredder by any means, and value tuning stability over paying extra for unnecessary and complicated bridges. My Cutlass has the 2pt.newer style trem, that I keep decked. It's a very well engineered piece, that I'm kinda partial to. I'm amazed how good this NF3 is, and how ridiculously low I've been able to get the action without an issue.
On Wednesday night I finished the few little changes I've made to mine besides straplocks. Oiled the fretboard and changed the strings to my Slinkys. Added a treble bleed curcuit, and swapped the middle and neck pickups around physically in the pickgaurd. These 2 simple, almost free mods. Will transform this guitar, from an already unique and versatile tool. Into something extraordinary. Switch position 5 is middle only now. 4 stays the same, 3 becomes neck only, and most importantly position 2 is now bridge and neck combined. Took me almost a week to figure out I didn't need to change ANY of the wiring, to accomplish what I wanted! Just swap the pickups positions!
The first thing i thought when i saw this was to wonder what the pickup routing is like. They couldn't have made this easy by just doing an HSH routing. I think this with a full size humbucker in the bridge would be a strong #1 workhorse contender.
My second thought was whether this really is the size of a ukulele like it appears, or do you have 1' on me and it just seems that way.
One thing that is clear to me now is that with the SE line they purposely make sure you can easily tell that it's a multi piece body or neck. I've yet to see an SE with a three piece body where one of them didn't have one piece of completely different grain from the others, or in this case you can see the scarf joint on a 6" screen in 144p from the other side of the room. Paul himself always had this (IMO unfounded) belief that if you make the SE resemble the Core too much, that it'll take sales from the Core line. I just don't think that happens. It's akin to someone going out one day planning on buying a Bentley or Mercedes, only to end up with a Honda Accord because they discovered that it was cheaper. 🤨
Alright, maybe one of the Beverly Hillbillies would make a purchase for that reason, but I don't think the average Bentley or $8000 PRS buyer.
EDIT: now that I think of it, the guitar I'm describing is just a Studio, but I think that only comes in the S2 line.
Yeah, Steve, I think this guitar can get you there with what it has in it, and then use amp modeling or amp of choice to dial in what a person would be shooting for...can it sound "humbucker"? Yeah, because they're humbuckers. Can it sound Stratty? I think your demo answers that question. I played guitar in a local band years ago, it was a local band led by the son of the music store owner in our town, and he was not only a great guitarist, he was a multi instrumentalist, and he toured for a while in I think it was the early 80's doing background keyboard parts for Glen Campbell's touring band, He played a lot of different guitar models, but ended up just using a Stratocaster with singles in it, but he played through this Peavey Delta Blues combo amp that had this 15" speaker in it, and because of it's midrange capability, his guitar sound never got lost on stage...you could always hear him through the bass, keys, and drums. Now there was this one venue we would play at where they had dirty power or something...like 60 cycle hum x 20...it was horrible for regular pickups, but his guitar had noiseless singles, so his guitar was immune to it. He also played a Wolfgang for a long time, but eventually ended up just really liking his Strat, so that was all he played, unless something happened like a broken string or something, so he had a back up guitar close enough to his main axe, to where he'd just switch out, which rarely ever happened. Anyway, knowing his taste in the versatility the Strat provided coupled with that Delta Blues amp, I think he would just love that PRS NF3 SE, if he was still alive. I want to get one...I only wish it had a 24 fret option, because I sometimes utilize it in some of the stuff we play in the cover band I'm in...but I would say that for most of those songs, an NF3 SE would suit all of those songs just fine...and with narrow field humbuckers, I wouldn't have to dread it if I ended up in a venue that had prominent 60 cycle hum going on...wow, I typed up a small article, ha! Thanks for the demo of this guitar, and hope you and yours are doing great.
I am watching you from years! What you are doing is very nice and cool! Just one thing I want to mention. So many guitars and so many years but more or less they all sound pretty same! Try them with simple effects please!
What is your signal chain? You've done a much better job demoing just how good the pickups can sound.
I haven't been tempted to buy a guitar in a few years. This one does interest me. I may have to pull the trigger on it.
I have a 1990 Special. Around 2006 I tried one of their bolt-ons.
The difference was so big and I was so disappointed that their cheaper models never appealed to me.
However, this one looks interesting.
Edit: never mind. Not locking tuners.
Btw… 1/64th and 5/64th of an inch… 😂 use the Metric System!
I take lessons at a shop that sells PRS guitars. I tried this one out. I didn’t vibe with it…it was very comfortable and easy to play but there was something about the sounds it produced…I don’t how to explain it, other than it sounded muffled compared to a strat and I enjoy a Strat sound.
Typical PRS. Their pickups sound muffled.
@@mikaelbiilmann6826Standard hotrails wired in parallel would sound the same-probably better.
12th fret action, on delivery?
😄Another Great review!!!But now I'm in at a stalemate.I was getting ready to order the Yamaha 612 Vll,but since seeing the PRS,I don't know,Hah!!!Thanks alot!Hah!So what I'm asking is which do you think is a better choice?They're about the same price.Thanks!
Really good video of a great guitar!!
Are these pickups 4 Conductor? If so, coil splitting would be pointless BUT tapping in Parallel should bring out even cleaner chime!
SfB-are you getting Super Strat-ish vibes from the NF3 (even with 3-pickups)?
I have been a long-time viewer of your videos and admire your work. However, I noticed that in your video about Eddie Van Halen's passing, you displayed intense emotion. While I understand your deep admiration for him, I hope you don't mind my mentioning it.
Your reviews are always great.
Thanks. 🤘🎸
Love the gunmetal gray. I wish it had a black pick guard.
how many times can you say near field? you know it's narrowfield, right? not that it really matters, they sound great.
Custom pickguard builders will have a field day with these, as a modder myself this is a bit a of a PITA guitar but if you want the PRS style in a ST format this is it (sorry silver sky!).
Nice, I have been gassing for the gun metal grey one with the rosewood.
I wish you could buy those narrow field pickups somewhere. Hopefully one day they will make them available for purchase.
My benchmark is; could I play it for 4 hours at a Saturday night gig? Tones, playability, reliability? Interesting tones from that one.... 8) Peace --gary
I really like that one…well done Steve👍
Is there a non SE version of this?
A small gripe, but enough to bother me. The upper horn's carve looks wonky. What's odd is that the core nf3 didn’t have a sculpted body. It was more like a Stratocaster. Why they chose a carve for the se version confuses me. That said i still like the guitar overall.
You got sick tones out of that thing.
Very cool guitar
Sound Good😍
ima hold off on this one. I just know an SE version of the PRS 513 is coming soon and i gotta b ready bros.
not
I'm gonna get the MN Metallic Orange model :)
Thanks For Sharing 🧠🎸🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶
Where ya been, Steve? Haven't seen you for years!
I love the way PRS feels, but those birds I hate them. If someone wanted to give it to me, I'd take it, not a fan of the colors either. I've still got my eye on that vola oz
yeah this is a good one... rock it!
Nice axe bro 🎉
Sounds great, like a strat on steroids
This is very good guitar.
The pups remind me of Gibson mini humbuckers.
That's the one I'm getting the Bailey Sarian Blue Eye shadow!!! PRS SE NF3!!!!
Maple or rosewood... 🤔
Rosewood
Routed for humbuckers!
Just change the pick guard
Keep staring at your guitar without knowing about moisture. No wonder why the defforse is so high.
What does defforse mean?
Does PRS just look at what Fender does now and completely rip it off?
This is much more authentically PRS than the silver sky;
25” scale, PRs trem, PRS p90 like humbuckers, cable placement, controls 🔥
@@waynedoherty7758 Good points. Fender has made some short scale strats but don't think they ever offered 25 inch scale. Some Fender players would probably welcome a slightly shorter scale length.
I don’t quite understand these comparisons with strats or fender. This instrument is different in every department, most notably the feel of a 25” scale will make this guitar feel more like a custom24 or ce24 than any Strat.
sounds great, but i think i still like bananarama better...
It's a middle priced guitar so it will have the usual issues guitars this price have. Tried one myself and wasn't anything special. Pickups are way overhyped
Theyre $300 off rrp atm..
where?
thin and tinny
I think i will pass on this one. I got a silver sky.
Jeeeez, Steve…. you really can rip through it. My taken aback compliments.
Oh yea, wide thin, screaming solo neck!
I wish it had locking tuners
Put some on it they are cheap to buy
Narrow. Narrow Field.
I dont really get whats the big deal with this. Doesnt sound different. Seems hot as p90. Other than that nothing really special.
yeah, no.
Tory Slusher, the best guitarist in the world can make magic with a board, and two strings. Guitars, amps, and pickups mean nothing. It’s your fingers
She is crazy good!
@@picksalot1 best in the world by 100 miles.
The guitar boom is over you just don't know it yet. I have maybe 8 guitars that are fairly new. I have 4 custom guitar's I've built. We all have them. How many more do you need for your little wall of guitars? Who are you? Why do you think you need to participate in this? It's become a disease at this point. Look at Reverb. Millions of fine instruments that might never sell or take years to move and for pennies on the dollar and they still want to shove more cheap garbage down your throat. PRS making cheap guitars is absurd. The last thing the guitar world needs is a top guitar manufacturer introducing budget models. The price of used gear is already in the gutter how much more can the industry take? You would think PRS might understand but they have a huge company and a bunch of employees to support. It's not about music or guitars or fun anymore it's about making money.
Yes… and money makes then build better guitars.. get kids off of Guitar Hero and Call of Duty… maybe they’ll want real guitars, and drive up demand
@@ski5150 There are already 10x the amount of guitars for every person to have 10 guitars the market doesn't need more cheap guitars. Was my point but you missed it entirely. TOO MANY GUITARS AND NO BUYERS!!
@@truescotsman4103you’re awfully wrong… the reason why we can find so much guitars on reverb is because of the 9 out of 10 guitarist that stop playing guitars; and now we can see all the guitars that were purchased during COVID when people had more time and wanted to start something new, like playing guitars…PRS has never sold as many guitars as during the pandemic. So obviously 9 out of 10 will end up on the used market. It’s not more complicated than that!
Nope.prs is equal to greed.
How much?
I just don't like that headstock on that body. Yeah I guess I'm a bit stuck in my ways but I love the old Kramer banana headstocks and the Jackson and Ibanez headstocks.
🤘😎🤘
I'm just the opposite. I find the Jackson and Ibanez are a little too pointy. The PRS actually makes a lot of sense. The 3x3 on an S style body is easy to work with.
It's all about individual taste for sure, but I'm not sure what "difficulty" there is in 6 in a line?