Nick Jennison reviews the PRS Myles Kennedy Signature Model—a guitar crafted to capture the essence of the Alter Bridge frontman's unique blend of rock, blues, and jazz influences. Featuring a swamp ash body, a 22-fret maple neck and fretboard and PRS Narrowfield MK pickups that combine humbucker boldness with single-coil clarity, the PRS Myles Kennedy is enhanced by a 5-way switch and push/pull tone control for ultimate tonal flexibility.
It's been six years since the launch of the PRS Silver Sky and all the fuss that went along with it. Large swathes of the guitar internet collectively lost their minds over the "Strat with a PRS headstock" and the audacity of PRS to create their own take on the S-type (as if there weren't already dozens of boutique brands doing the same). It should be noted that the majority of criticisms seemed to come from people who hadn't actually played a Silver Sky, but I digress…
Roll on to 2023, and the launch of two "T-style" guitars: the NF 53 and the Myles Kennedy signature. The same outraged voices made themselves known, sure. But while these guitars draw more than a little inspiration from Leo's first design, they're very much their own beasts.
While the NF 53 is overtly "T-style" in its tone, the Myles Kennedy is more of a gutsy affair. The NF MK pickups are voiced less like vintage single coils and more like an intermediate stage between humbuckers and single coils. Given how diverse a musician Kennedy is, this makes sense: he's going to need soulful blues tones, beautiful sparkling cleans, clear and articulate lead sounds, and enough muscle for laying down meaty riffs with Alter Bridge. To this end, the Myles Kennedy uses a 5-way switch instead of the 3-way found on the NF 53, offering full-throated humbucking tones in the outer positions, with three variations of the "in-between" sound in the middle: bridge and split neck, both pickups on full, and both pickups split. Position 4 is ideal for percussive funk and chicken pickin', while position 3 delivers that BB King soulful "sting". Position 2 has a little more weight than 4, but a little more chime than 3, and it's perfect for modern clean tones.
The push-pull on the tone control is not a coil split, but a pre-set tone cut. It's subtle, but it takes off just enough high-end to smooth out pick transients for easier fast lines, and it's particularly useful for slide. "Why not just turn the tone down?" I hear you say. Well, when you're already singing, playing, tap-dancing on pedals, and trying to engage with a crowd, getting the perfect spot on your tone control is one more thing to worry about that you could do without! Of course, the tone knob is still there should you want more granular control…
The maple neck is a very vintage affair, with a meaty profile that fills the hand nicely. This is somewhat offset by PRS's usual 12" radius (as opposed to the 7.25" found on the Silver Sky), which should, in theory, allow for a significantly lower action without chokes. For some reason, PRS insist on setting their guitars up with a rather stiff-feeling 1.4mm–1.8mm 12th-fret action, which seems like a strange choice to me given their exceptionally consistent fretwork will easily accommodate a more playable string height. But if my only criticism is one that can be remedied with the turn of a screwdriver, then PRS must be doing something right.
The hardware is, as you'd expect, entirely bespoke. The bridge is a two-saddle top-loading design with a steel plate and brass saddles—an important part of the "T-style" recipe both visually and sonically—and the locking tuners are a very attractive metal "button" design. I'm really quite taken with the way these look and could see myself retrofitting a set to my Silver Sky.
The PRS Myles Kennedy is a fitting signature model for a musician of such depth, versatility, and skill. It'll go hard on the heavy stuff but also works beautifully as a more traditional guitar for country, blues, jazz, and funk. Combine this with PRS's build quality and a surprisingly palatable price tag, and you have a guitar that every serious player should consider having in their arsenal.
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