New Guitar Days Adventures

Monahan

Attention all planets of the Solar Federation...
Joined
Apr 7, 2023
Messages
348
Location
Olympia, WA
Quick background:
Recently it became necessary to replace my two guitars for lighter-weight replacements.

The first replacement was a new NF53, which suits me perfectly— love that guitar! Almost went with the Myles Kennedy, but couldn’t find one in the finish and light weight I was looking for. Searching for a complement to the NF53, I gave the Silver Sky a go, but it had problems and honestly, I’m not really a Strat guy. So the search resumed.

Finding a guitar under 7-pounds is not easy these days. Even more difficult is finding one with a thicker than normal neck. Several days spent searching the web, I found one that weighs in at 6.8-pounds, with a nice grain pattern and the right finish!

A7Nm3pA.jpeg


Tuesday the Myles Kennedy arrived. Shipped fairly loosely in its soft case. It’s impressive how well these soft cases work. Speaking of which, the case/gig-bag interior has been updated from nylon to a soft, plush interior.

XIlUSUv.jpeg


About the Myles Kennedy
What can I say that’s not been in every review, and Youtube video…? It’s a Tele that’s been modded by a company that loves guitars and attention to details.

Is a Myles Kennedy redundant if I already have a NF53? Not so much in my case.

This guitar scratches an itch to replace an old Fender ’52 reissue black-guard Tele that was my #1 for over a decade… which I foolishly sold about 12 years ago (it’s a long story).

kXlWivP.jpeg

My old '52 reissue "Thin-skin" Wildwood special run that featured a Duncan neck humbucker... a rehearsal circa 2009

The MK checks the “lighter than 7-pounds” box…

…and the neck shape is very nice! It’s thick front to back, and is nicely rolled at the fingerboard edge making it feel comfortably rounded. It does feel like a baseball bat, but in the best way. I often wonder when someone uses that comparison if they’ve ever actually held a baseball bat— it’s not a cumbersome thing that’s uncomfortable to hold; it’s an instrument that becomes an extension of its user. Heck, Barry Bonds used one to hit 73 home runs in a single season, and 762 over his career. Myles & Paul got this one right ;)

mkrMq09.jpeg

This view captures pretty well the substantial & rounded neck shape. There is a lot of movement in the grain depending on the lighting...

And the birds— the outline version featured on this neck are my favorite; it’s one of the reasons I couldn’t bring myself to order a Silver Sky with the rosewood fingerboard (plain, solid birds).

wUiY9S7.jpeg


Pickups on the MK have a unique tone, but these are also capable of sounding like traditional humbuckers with a few turns of its controls.

Push-pull tone control… doesn’t work as well as I expected. It’s intended to be a preset treble cut, but on this guitar it’s either broken or my ears aren’t tuned well enough to detect the difference. Which doesn’t matter to me as I plan to use it for a bridge coil tap; I need to add a neck humbucker + bridge single coil option (like my old ‘52ri).

In my situation, it’s the perfect complement to the NF53. How do the two compare? I’ll save that for a different post. The two are different enough to justify having both, but the differences have to matter to you ;)

c18vzrA.jpeg
 
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That MK looks amazing, probably one of the best examples I have seen. The finish and grain are subtle yet still having tones of character. Very impressive. It is great to hear it works for you. There is nothing wrong with having redundant guitars... at least that is how I justify my 5 SC594's :cool: I have been trying to figure out how different the NF and MK are in practice, so I am looking forward to any follow-up posts you have on the subject. Congrats on adding a great guitar that fits your needs!
 
Thanks guys!

This post gives me hope that their is a future ;~)) Congrats on those fantastic fiddles! I am with you on the lighter weight (though I have set my limit at 8lbs and have not disposable income at the moment so not an issue for me)!!
Excellent! I'm glad to have provided encouragement for somebody today :D

That MK looks amazing, probably one of the best examples I have seen. The finish and grain are subtle yet still having tones of character. Very impressive. It is great to hear it works for you. There is nothing wrong with having redundant guitars... at least that is how I justify my 5 SC594's :cool: I have been trying to figure out how different the NF and MK are in practice, so I am looking forward to any follow-up posts you have on the subject. Congrats on adding a great guitar that fits your needs!

Yes, you are correct-- there's nothing wrong with having redundant guitars.

There was a time when I had an unhealthy relationship with guitars (and stuff in general). Part of my "recovery" was to determine what was essential to my goals, and let go of the rest. So I try avoiding redundancies where possible :)

A follow up post comparing the two will take me a few days, but I'm looking forward to doing it-- within the next week for sure ;) If there's anything specific you'd like to know, I'm happy to help!

Great looking MK. That back is ridiculous! Great guitar though. I love mine, too. Congrats on 2 great scores!

Thanks! Being that our home is in part of the country known for rain, the grain on this one really spoke to me LOL! Kind of like a window on a rainy day. It also harkens back to my years living in Holland for similar reasons, of which I have very fond memories ;)


Side notes
Some of the things I discovered during this search:

- PRS Teles and the Silver Sky weights normally fall between 7 - 8 pounds
- Fender Teles and Strats weigh in between 8 - 9 pounds
- MANY of the "speciality" companies building these types of guitars are 7 - 8 pounds.

- Fender has stopped using ash in its normal line of guitars (still available in Custom Shop and limited runs), and many of those are usually on the heavier side of 7 - 8 pounds
- Fender Brad Paisley guitars are VERY light weight (5 - 6 pounds), with fat necks. Body woods are Spruce/Paulownia/Spruce

- PRS in 2023 started phasing out the CAB under nitro finishes, and in 2024 all the finishes are now nitro over nitro (keeping in mind the PRS nitro is different than the nitro used in the 50s/60s).

- Gibson just released a new "Studio" version of the Les Paul that's received a new weight relief treatment brining some weights down below 8 pounds(!)

- PRS S2 McCarty Thinline is strikingly similar to a Gibson SG (neck shape, control layout, all mahogany, body thickness...)

- It's still better to speak with a guitar shop over the phone vs. dealing directly through Reverb (for many reasons!)

- Brian Ewald's outro in the recent Vela demonstration...!

Uncle Larry has a YouTube channel!

When in doubt, Ask Zac ;)

... There's more, but that's all that comes to mind at the moment~
 
Quick background:
Recently it became necessary to replace my two guitars for lighter-weight replacements.

The first replacement was a new NF53, which suits me perfectly— love that guitar! Almost went with the Myles Kennedy, but couldn’t find one in the finish and light weight I was looking for. Searching for a complement to the NF53, I gave the Silver Sky a go, but it had problems and honestly, I’m not really a Strat guy. So the search resumed.

Finding a guitar under 7-pounds is not easy these days. Even more difficult is finding one with a thicker than normal neck. Several days spent searching the web, I found one that weighs in at 6.8-pounds, with a nice grain pattern and the right finish!

A7Nm3pA.jpeg


Tuesday the Myles Kennedy arrived. Shipped fairly loosely in its soft case. It’s impressive how well these soft cases work. Speaking of which, the case/gig-bag interior has been updated from nylon to a soft, plush interior.

XIlUSUv.jpeg


About the Myles Kennedy
What can I say that’s not been in every review, and Youtube video…? It’s a Tele that’s been modded by a company that loves guitars and attention to details.

Is a Myles Kennedy redundant if I already have a NF53? Not so much in my case.

This guitar scratches an itch to replace an old Fender ’52 reissue black-guard Tele that was my #1 for over a decade… which I foolishly sold about 12 years ago (it’s a long story).

kXlWivP.jpeg

My old '52 reissue "Thin-skin" Wildwood special run that featured a Duncan neck humbucker... a rehearsal circa 2009

The MK checks the “lighter than 7-pounds” box…

…and the neck shape is very nice! It’s thick front to back, and is nicely rolled at the fingerboard edge making it feel comfortably rounded. It does feel like a baseball bat, but in the best way. I often wonder when someone uses that comparison if they’ve ever actually held a baseball bat— it’s not a cumbersome thing that’s uncomfortable to hold; it’s an instrument that becomes an extension of its user. Heck, Barry Bonds used one to hit 73 home runs in a single season, and 762 over his career. Myles & Paul got this one right ;)

mkrMq09.jpeg

This view captures pretty well the substantial & rounded neck shape. There is a lot of movement in the grain depending on the lighting...

And the birds— the outline version featured on this neck are my favorite; it’s one of the reasons I couldn’t bring myself to order a Silver Sky with the rosewood fingerboard (plain, solid birds).

wUiY9S7.jpeg


Pickups on the MK have a unique tone, but these are also capable of sounding like traditional humbuckers with a few turns of its controls.

Push-pull tone control… doesn’t work as well as I expected. It’s intended to be a preset treble cut, but on this guitar it’s either broken or my ears aren’t tuned well enough to detect the difference. Which doesn’t matter to me as I plan to use it for a bridge coil tap; I need to add a neck humbucker + bridge single coil option (like my old ‘52ri).

In my situation, it’s the perfect complement to the NF53. How do the two compare? I’ll save that for a different post. The two are different enough to justify having both, but the differences have to matter to you ;)

c18vzrA.jpeg
Nice
 
Thanks guys!


Excellent! I'm glad to have provided encouragement for somebody today :D



Yes, you are correct-- there's nothing wrong with having redundant guitars.

There was a time when I had an unhealthy relationship with guitars (and stuff in general). Part of my "recovery" was to determine what was essential to my goals, and let go of the rest. So I try avoiding redundancies where possible :)

A follow up post comparing the two will take me a few days, but I'm looking forward to doing it-- within the next week for sure ;) If there's anything specific you'd like to know, I'm happy to help!



Thanks! Being that our home is in part of the country known for rain, the grain on this one really spoke to me LOL! Kind of like a window on a rainy day. It also harkens back to my years living in Holland for similar reasons, of which I have very fond memories ;)


Side notes
Some of the things I discovered during this search:

- PRS Teles and the Silver Sky weights normally fall between 7 - 8 pounds
- Fender Teles and Strats weigh in between 8 - 9 pounds
- MANY of the "speciality" companies building these types of guitars are 7 - 8 pounds.

- Fender has stopped using ash in its normal line of guitars (still available in Custom Shop and limited runs), and many of those are usually on the heavier side of 7 - 8 pounds
- Fender Brad Paisley guitars are VERY light weight (5 - 6 pounds), with fat necks. Body woods are Spruce/Paulownia/Spruce

- PRS in 2023 started phasing out the CAB under nitro finishes, and in 2024 all the finishes are now nitro over nitro (keeping in mind the PRS nitro is different than the nitro used in the 50s/60s).

- Gibson just released a new "Studio" version of the Les Paul that's received a new weight relief treatment brining some weights down below 8 pounds(!)

- PRS S2 McCarty Thinline is strikingly similar to a Gibson SG (neck shape, control layout, all mahogany, body thickness...)

- It's still better to speak with a guitar shop over the phone vs. dealing directly through Reverb (for many reasons!)

- Brian Ewald's outro in the recent Vela demonstration...!

Uncle Larry has a YouTube channel!

When in doubt, Ask Zac ;)

... There's more, but that's all that comes to mind at the moment~
Cool side notes, totally agree the McCarty Thinline compare to SG.
Oh, and great guitar purchase…..that MK is a beauty!
 
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