Guitarist said the Indonesian-made SE NF3 could be modded to make it “dangerously close to the US builds” with this quick control tweak
(Image credit: Future)
PRS’ SE NF3 caused a huge stir when it landed earlier this year, bringing something truly different to the bolt-on S-style market – not least, its unique noise-cancelling Narrowfield pickups. It looked like excellent value on launch at $799, but this Black Friday you can get 15% off the PRS SE NF3 at Guitar Center.
In past years we’ve gotten used to some of the more, er, outlandish finish options and odder specs getting reduced for Black Friday – but provided those Kylo Ren style p’ups are working for you – then you’re going to bag an absolute beast of a guitar here for the cash.
Guitarist reviewed the PRS SE NF3 back in June and awarded it 4.5/5 stars, noting “it is perhaps a little surprising that it’s solely in the SE line when it could quite comfortably sit alongside the Silver Sky and Fiore, not to mention the NF 53, in the USA Bolt-On range.”
You can save $120 off the PRS SE NF3 list price at Guitar Center this weekend. The model brought something genuinely new to the S-style table earlier this year, with its unique Narrowfield hum-canceling pickups and 25” scale-length – and was described as coming “dangerously close” to the firm’s hallowed US builds. Use the saving to make some minor mods and you’ll have a serious player on your hands...
As I reported last year, the lines have been getting increasingly blurred between US and offshore guitar build quality, particularly post-pandemic, but PRS’ SE range was an early challenger, in that respect.
The firm’s COO Jack Higginbotham explained the rationale behind the SE line earlier this month.
“[It] is incredibly high value for a guitar you can go and buy, and go and gig it,” Higginbotham told Guitarist. “And that’s what I want: it’s not a toy, it’s not for someone to stick in a closet and not use. It has a purpose and that purpose is to make music.”
(Image credit: Future / Phil Barker)
As such, the SE NF3’s spec walks the walk. There’s a sculpted poplar body, a slab-sawn maple neck with PRS’ Wide Thin profile, albeit with a 25” scale-length (compared to the traditional Strat-like 25.5”).
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
Then there’s a trio of those PRS-designed Narrowfield DD ‘S’ humbuckers, five-way pickup selector and Master Volume and Tone.
The Narrowfield humbuckers bring something new to the game, too – coming in somewhere between a single coil and humbucker, enabling you to sweep from a Fender voice into Gibson SG-style territory as you roll back the tone and volume controls.
At the time, expert Dave Burrluck posited that as a package it was just missing one tweak, writing: “If we were to be picky, then the simple ‘seven-sound’ mod would expand your choices, not least allowing you to voice the neck and bridge pickups together.
“Indeed, installing that simple mod and a set of the SE locking tuners would really bring the NF3 dangerously close to the USA guitars. It really is that good.”
Now you can scoop one up for $679, all of which leaves you with a handy $120 off the list price – which should make a nice dent in that mod budget.
Matt is Features Editor for GuitarWorld.com. Before that he spent 10 years as a freelance music journalist, interviewing artists for the likes of Total Guitar, Guitarist, Guitar World, MusicRadar, NME.com, DJ Mag and Electronic Sound. In 2020, he launched CreativeMoney.co.uk, which aims to share the ideas that make creative lifestyles more sustainable. He plays guitar, but should not be allowed near your delay pedals.
