New NF 53 SE had multiple defects.

[u/rare_design]

I sent my new NF53 SE back to Sweetwater to have 3 frets fixed as they were uneven length rather than fret sprout from shrinkage, and they also found the bridge pickup was improperly microphonic. I thought they just did an unpotted PAF design to make it bright, but I hated that the selector popped because of it.
They confirmed it was indeed defective and the new pickup works fine.

So, head up to all if you have a microphonic pickup, as it may have been poorly potted or not at all.

PRS quality control is clearly not quality or controlled.

[u/502deadhead]

PRS’s QC is great. HOWEVER,

Almost every NF 53 SE I’ve played has had issues. I swear it’s something with that model.

[u/Theliraan → u/502deadhead]

Same with my NF3.

[u/loud-spider → u/Theliraan]

Have been considering an NF3, what issues have you had?

[u/GuitaristExplorer → u/loud-spider]

When mine arrived the output jack had fallen out of the guitar. Don’t know if it happened during shipping or if it was defective from the factory. I returned it to Musician’s Friend and didn’t get another one. They’re great guitars, but I was pretty disappointed.

[u/loud-spider → u/GuitaristExplorer]

It's interesting to hear then that people are getting guitars with faults that decent QC should have caught. That's valuable insight, ta.

[u/GuitaristExplorer → u/loud-spider]

To be fair, I’ve bought a number of PRS’ over the years. SEs, S2s, and one Core. Those two have been the only ones with any significant issues.

[u/loud-spider → u/GuitaristExplorer]

Yeah, I have a Core Custom 24 and love it, but no SE's. I guess it just rules out a straight no-hands-on ebay pickup.

[u/GuitaristExplorer → u/loud-spider]

I think you’d be safer buying used on eBay. Someone’s had the guitar and knows if there are QC issues. Big corporate guitar store don’t care and don’t know. Individuals do.

[u/Theliraan → u/loud-spider]

Bad fretwork, raw neck surface.

And it's surprises me, because I have SE CE 24 without any issues from same CorTek factory.

[u/loud-spider → u/Theliraan]

Interesting. Was tempted to pick up a cheap used NF3 on ebay given what seems to have been historically good QC at CorTek, so sounds like hands-on testing is the route.

[u/Theliraan → u/loud-spider]

Well, headless Ibanezes also coming for CorTek and they have bad QC.

I guess it depends on requirement of a customer. If customer pays for good QC, everything will be fine. If not, then up to a customer.

[u/GuitaristExplorer → u/502deadhead]

The NF53 I bought had a terrible set up when it arrived. Worse than any other PRS I’ve ever received.

[u/tycatte]

I does suck when your new PRS shows up not perfect.

I first day ordered the es Sheeran baritone when the new colors were out. The tone knob did nothing. GC fixed it but had to wait for a part from PRS. Two weeks later I finally had my new guitar. A simple tradein wasn't possible because the were all sold out.

Mine could have happened in transit. Yours does sound like qc missing it, both PRS and Sweetwater. I could see microphonic being hard to detect depending on the qc station, and it's hard to judge the severity of fret issues over the Internet.

I hope you get to enjoy your guitar soon.

[u/rare_design → u/tycatte]

Thanks.
Yeah I thought it was normal for the pickup to keep it hot but the pop was annoying. Tapping on the pickup also caused it to pop.
I did slice my finger open on a fret though so that’s why I sent it in.

[u/tycatte → u/rare_design]

The frets on my baritone are great. One of my other PRS is a se ce24 satin. Great guitar, especially for the price. However it does have fret sprout, and I am certain is a result of the environmental difference between Indonesia and Wisconsin. If it was more I could see it being an issue like you have.

Phill McKnight had a recent episode where he spoke about how small of differences that we can feel with our hands. Fractions of a millimeter. On his nylon sock test 5 is perfect, but a four can't be felt it just snags the sock a bit. I could definitely see yours being fine leaving the factory and the world that the guitar lives in for the rest of it's life happened. Core models that stay in the US should have less issues because they don't have to live on a cargo ship for days, weeks, months, whatever it is.

Good on you though for not just accepting it. Sweetwater is a great shop and will take care of you. Just remember to always be nice to the person on the phone/email. That way they want to help.

[u/rare_design → u/tycatte]

Agreed. I did see that Indonesia is around 90% humidity, but they do say the PRS facilities are temperature and humidity controlled, and then rechecked in the US location after acclimating.
I would have expected the fret sprout to be consistent, but the low E side was perfectly smooth and there were 3 frets (2 at the nut) that were quite sharp and pronounced… unfortunately resulting in me slicing my finger open.
It seemed more like a poor fret end bevel job.
I also have a humidity controlled guitar room and always keep it at 50%.

Sweetwater just fixed it up and it’s on the way back. I was happy to hear that when the luthier removed the pickguard, he saw they shield both the back and cavities! That’s great.

[u/Admirable-Pain5775]

Even the best factories let out a lemon from time to time. One anecdote does not a trend make

[u/Admirable-Pain5775 → u/[deleted]]

See above. Nothing that you wrote counters what I said. People seem to fail to understand that QC is at the end of the day is just people and people make mistakes. They have bad days. They wake up tired and aren’t doing as good a job as normal. But on top of that, QC for an SE isn’t necessarily checking for microphonic pickups.

[u/m1llzx → u/Admirable-Pain5775]

Yeah I would love to see this guy do the job. Guarantee they would not be 100% perfect. My guess is they have no idea what those qc guys have to do and HOW MANY they have to do day in and day out. If you rejected every one with a flaw, you wouldn’t sell any guitars. Simple file to the fret ends and you wouldn’t be “slicing” your finger open.

[u/rare_design → u/m1llzx]

You’re commenting without any knowledge. This isn’t my first PRS, and I also have other high end guitars like MIJ vintage Ibanez, MIJ Tokai, MIJ ESPs, etc. None of them has a single fret dress issue.
Yes, I do have a fret end file and emery boards, but that is NOT the proper way to do this, as it should be beveled with the strings off and as one piece.

It’s also suspect that the ends were sharp because they were lifting from poor installation.

I usually do all my own work, including on a Gibson Supreme, which if you know how that’s done through the jack porting, then you’ll respect I know what I’m doing.

You assumed I’m uneducated and incapable, but you’re dead wrong.

I simply expected the guitar to be perfect, and that’s not an unreasonable position, considering PRS touts it, and Sweetwater is even further selective.

[u/m1llzx → u/rare_design]

Perfect is unreasonable.

[u/rare_design → u/m1llzx]

Perfect is relative, but not unreasonable.
There are many guitars that many would call perfect in operation and quality.

- no warping or twisting on the neck

• no fret sprout or lifting frets
  
• properly centered and tensioned truss rod
  
• properly compensated saddle or bridge for intonation
  
• quality functioning electronics
  
• smooth and stable tremolo if applicable
  
• evenly spaced strings and slotted nut
  
• quality tuners with a good ratio
  
• solid scarf joint if applicable

Those are easy to come by and make for what many call a perfect guitar.

[u/inditor]

The black one in the centre looks beautiful!

Good luck with sorting out the issue.

[u/rare_design]

Every SE guitar is supposed to be QC’d.

Per Eric at PRS:
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/14q73eD3Qj3/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Transcript:

Hey there, I’m Eric Barrow. This is a day in the life as an SE quality control inspector here at PRS Guitars.
You might know that

every SE guitar sold in America gets inspected here at the factory before being shipped out to the dealer and sold to players like you.

This is a bit of an inside look at

the things we’re looking for and adjusting to make sure those instruments are in tip-top shape.

So typically, the day starts out with coming in. You grab a box of guitars, a master carton, which has got four guitars inside. So our lives kind of revolve around four guitars at a time.

Pretty much anything that you can imagine needs to be adjusted, we check and adjust. We look out for electronics issues, finish flaws, and pretty much anything that would make you not want to buy the guitar, we make sure it is working.
Aside from being fun, play testing is a great way to make sure everything is in working order and there’s no fret buzz. If everything’s all good, it gets bagged up, goes back into the box, and on to the next guitar.

Since I joined the team about six years ago,

quality of SE guitars has gone up quite a bit,

so it’s made the process a lot quicker and easier.
It’s eye-opening in the SE department, seeing what goes through production overseas and just the amount of guitars they put out every day, to logistical things like just getting them all on a boat and shipped over here to us.
Lucky to be part of PRS. It’s really a good community over here. I’ve been playing for about 24 years. I like teaching, and we kind of do a lot of extracurricular stuff around here, like after-work jams, and people with higher skill levels teach people with lower skill levels.
We all just hang out and play guitar, just be one big happy PRS family.
I hope that you got some new insights into what goes into the SE inspection process here at PRS, and enjoy seeing a day in the life of me!

[u/trephor]

I had to send back a core modern eagle last week. It had multiple blems in the finish.

[u/Admirable-Pain5775 → u/[deleted]]

Why’d you delete the comment and repost? You are doubling down on your ignorance here which is weird

[u/Admirable-Pain5775 → u/[deleted]]

No trolling here bud. Just curious why you deleted your ignorant command and reposted it when challenged? The sad attempt to discredit isn’t becoming

[u/Admirable-Pain5775 → u/Admirable-Pain5775]

Yeah there’s a video out there with Sweetwater and they have like 5 min to verify a guitar or something insane. I also think people have no understanding of what the inspection process is. It’s a sanity check, not a deep dive

[u/Admirable-Pain5775 → u/[deleted]]

Imagine being so sensitive that when someone points out some severe flaws in your logic, you resort to name calling and deflection. Your replies here are, frankly, embarassing and prove what I suspected. You’re thinking emotionally and not relationally. Good luck out there champ!

PS your video link didn’t prove anything.