Monahan
Attention all planets of the Solar Federation...
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!
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.
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).
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
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).
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
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!

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.

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).

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


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).

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


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