Don't miss the point of the NF3. It is a great gigging guitar for a working man that doesn't want to drag around several guitars for getting different tones. It can get "close" to a tele for country, to a strat for blues/funk, and a P90 LP for classic rock/rock stuff. I think you're missing the point if you're just directly comparing it to all of those though. It's not supposed to outdo any of them, but instead be a working mans substitute for all of them if you need to play a variety in a single gig. It's versatility allows for playing across the spectrum of country, blues, and rock, without the need for dragging a tele, strat, and lp style guitar out to every gig. I had its precursor, the Swamp Ash Special and it was my favorite gigging guitar because I discovered I could just bring it and get whatever I needed out of it as far as the listener was concerned. The audience isn't sitting there nitpicking whether the mid range scoop and quack is exactly like a strat, or the thickness is exactly like a p90 loaded LP, or the bridge twang is exactly like a tele. They just want to hear the close approximation of the sound they recognize and that's what this guitar does so well. The guys I have seen review this guitar so far have all missed the point, and no one demos the guitar with that in mind when they show the tones. I'd love to see someone play it who really puts it through its paces on a twangy country song, a texas blues song, and a classic rock song, and tailor their amp settings to each a little bit, because the advantages of this guitar become very obvious when it's used that way. The added bonus is that it can even pull off modern melodic rock tones. So if you play in a band that does a bit of everything and get tired of dragging around 3-4 guitars for different tones, this guitar deserves some serious consideration. It can really make life easier for the working guitarist playing a variety of music.

i want one. Saving my money now. This is my next guitar.

Awesome playing man! :)

You play tastefully and in a way that gives the instrument the transparency it needs to be the focal point. The playing unlocks that, and we thank you for it!

i think the guitar sounds amazing... i bet with a proper amp and overdrive its gonna be a super melodic guitar to play!

That sounds great!!

Nice sounding guitar. On the Andertons Blog, it says "Poplar - a similar tone to alder, though some say it has a better upper-midrange. Although normally understated in appearance, you’ll occasionally see a piece of poplar with stunning grain."

Good review

nice tone man

Play it like a new guitar, different than a strat. What’s the point of playing a new model with its own characteristics, if the bar is how close it sounds to a strat, or a LP, or a P90 guitar.

Really appreciate this review. Lots of gushing in other "reviews" but comparing it to the SAS helped put this in perspective. I actually bought the SAS and have been mostly happy with it but as you mention here the frets definitely needed work. I was also really curious about how these pickups stack up to others including the SAS and when you said these were between singles and P90's told me everything I needed to know.

Would you consider doing any QC with acoustic videos ?

If I listen to it being played and not what it looks like, I hear a tele with a beefier sound and more tones. It may look like a strat, but I hear tele. I'm sure that is an unpopular opinion.

It’s Swamp Ash, not Swamp Ass lol. At least that’s how I hear it.

"Basically the same neck as the swamp ass special." So you get nervous playing guitar?

NOPE.

Been on the fence for days, might as well jump .... rosey board though :{ )