PRS NF 53 Review

Single-Cut Above

While the NF 53’s 25 1/2" scale and bolt-on maple neck are very much in the vintage Telecaster spirit, there are significant differences. The neck is built using 3-piece construction. A scarf joint adds strength in the nut-to-headstock transition area and re-enforces the slightly angled headstock. The truss rod is accessed from just behind the nut, and the fretboard is a separate piece of maple that’s glued to the neck after installation of the truss rod. The neck feels great, too, with a rounded-C carve that seems more akin to a ’59 Les Paul than an early ’50s Telecaster, as well as a 10" fretboard radius and a nut width of 1-41/64". Both dimensions mark a kind of compromise between classic Fender and Gibson standards. But moving across the NF 53’s fretboard feels effortless, and I suspect most guitarists will take to the model easily and breezily.

True to vintage T-style form, the NF 53’s solid body is made from swamp ash, a wood that, today, is much harder to find in consistently high-quality and lightweight supplies. PRS works around this challenge, to some degree, by gluing three pieces of ash together. Vintage- and boutique-guitar aficionados romanticize 1-piece bodies and sometimes sniff at anything more than 2-piece. But I’d rather have a relatively light 3-piece ash body than a boat-anchor 1- or 2-piece—and the NF 53’s very comfortable weight, around 7 pounds, is most certainly on the lighter side. (Anecdotally, I have a ’66 Telecaster with a 3-piece body, and it’s one of the best-sounding guitars I’ve ever owned). The size and depth of the body are very traditionally T-style too. But here again, there are differences. The NF 53 has a shorter horn that’s also contoured for improved upper-fret access. Forearm and rib contours enhance playing comfort, and the body’s waist is ever so slightly offset.

“I suspect most guitarists will take to the NF 53 easily and breezily.”

Obviously, a huge part of the classic T-style formula is the single-coil pickups. On this front, the NF 53 deviates from tradition more significantly by using PRS’ Narrowfield DD (“Deep Dish”) pickups, which are single-coil-sized humbuckers. They’re made with deep bobbins for loading on extra coil windings as well as a mix of magnet pole pieces with steel poles in between. They are wired via master volume and tone controls and a 3-way selector switch.

The NF 53’s bridge adds another twist. It employs a steel-base with string-anchor notches rather than through-body stringing, as well as two brass, 3-string saddles with two adjustment bolts each. The vintage-style tuners sport a Kluson-like appearance but with unique ivory-colored plastic buttons.