“We’ve been talking about it for a decade – our artists want ‘that’ sound in their arsenal”: How Myles Kennedy and Paul Reed Smith reinvented a classic with the NF 53

Myles Kennedy and Paul Reed Smith

While bolt-on guitars go back to the early days of PRS, the John Mayer Silver Sky cracked the code. “The Silver Sky was a retooling of an historic device,” says Paul Reed Smith today. “It was a goal to get somebody incredibly comfortable with our instruments. This [the new MK and NF 53], on the other hand, is after a feel and sound in a different way.

“We’ve been talking about it for a decade,” Paul reveals, “because our artists want that sound in their arsenal, but the thing that was not okay with me was the hum [from the single-coil pickups]. Very often with those instruments the hum can be louder than the guitar.”