to some of Nashville ’ s finest players . It ’ s raw , honest , and does a great job of showing what these guitars are capable of . Both instruments were released at the same time and share a number of common features including a Swamp Ash body with belly and arm cuts , narrow aperture pickups , a plate Nashville Session Artists Compare the NF 53 and Myles Kennedy Signature Guitars
style bridge with two brass saddles , and a bolton 25.5 ” scale 22 fret Maple / Maple neck . The necks are quite round , so if a big neck is not your thing , these guitars are not for you .
Before we get into the weeds about what distinguishes these instruments from each other , I do want to speak about the one glaring thing that I did not like . Initially , I found both guitars to be too stiff for the way I play . After I slept on it , I decided to start by dropping the NF 53 down a half step and then swapping strings for a custom set of Dunlop Heavy Core 9-42 , and problem solved . While the Nashville players seemed to do just fine with the 10-46 strings these guitars shipped with , for me they were just too stiff . If you get a chance to play one of these in a store , try dropping the tuning down to Eb , and if trying turns to buying , I ’ d suggest checking out a 9-46 set .
Myles Kennedy Signature
With that out of the way , both guitars are great for their own reasons . While they are crafted off a T-flavored platform , they have some smart features that offer even more distinction from a Telecaster than the Silver Sky does a Strat . The NF 53 features PRS Narrowfield DD pickups and the Myles Kennedy feature PRS Narrowfield MK pickups . Both sets are hum cancelling narrow aperture hum-cancelling pickups , Because they ’ re less wide than a traditional humbucker they tend to sound more like single coil pickup in terms of focus , but without the hum . Per the name , the Narrowfield DD pickups have a deeper dish for additional copper wire winds for more power . The Narrowfield MK is a bit wider , and hence a bit fatter . The NF 53 has a threeway pickup selector , where the Myles Kennedy features a five-way switch making it noticeably more Strat-like . The Kennedy instrument also
features a pull-function on the tone control that rolls off the top end and makes for a very convincing traditional humbucker sound when engaged .
If you ’ re preference leans toward a Tele , chances are the NF53 is the better pick for you . This is a particularly good slide guitar , and also
54 October 2023 Subscribe for Free ...