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Anyone ever put a set of Rio Grande's in a Newport?


miragejake

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I've always played buckers, and my main axe now is a Newport w/ phat cats and bigsby...I love the guitar, but I'm thinking of putting humbuckers in it....I have a hard time controlling the feedback w/ it is the main reason.

I'm switching my Newport over to buckers...and have found a nice deal on a Rio Grande BBQ & Texas set...anybody got experience putting these in a Newport?

Are you still thinking this will fix your feedback problem?

You say you love the guitar. Does that include its sound and dynamics (which is significantly shaped by the Phat Cats)?

You're playing a spruce-topped f-hole guitar loudly in a small space, a classic recipe for feedback regardless of pickup design.

If you want more crunch and grind from the bridge pickup I can see that, but you'll be hard-pressed to find a better pickup for the Newport's neck position than the Phat Cat.

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I've always played buckers, and my main axe now is a Newport w/ phat cats and bigsby...I love the guitar, but I'm thinking of putting humbuckers in it....I have a hard time controlling the feedback w/ it is the main reason.

I'm switching my Newport over to buckers...and have found a nice deal on a Rio Grande BBQ & Texas set...anybody got experience putting these in a Newport?

Are you still thinking this will fix your feedback problem?

You say you love the guitar. Does that include its sound and dynamics (which is significantly shaped by the Phat Cats)?

You're playing a spruce-topped f-hole guitar loudly in a small space, a classic recipe for feedback regardless of pickup design.

If you want more crunch and grind from the bridge pickup I can see that, but you'll be hard-pressed to find a better pickup for the Newport's neck position than the Phat Cat.

Any idea why the RGs BBQ & Texas sound so good in a 3 hole duotone, but wouldn't be a fit with the Newport? Not being a smart ass, just want to know.

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I've always played buckers, and my main axe now is a Newport w/ phat cats and bigsby...I love the guitar, but I'm thinking of putting humbuckers in it....I have a hard time controlling the feedback w/ it is the main reason.

I'm switching my Newport over to buckers...and have found a nice deal on a Rio Grande BBQ & Texas set...anybody got experience putting these in a Newport?

Are you still thinking this will fix your feedback problem?

You say you love the guitar. Does that include its sound and dynamics (which is significantly shaped by the Phat Cats)?

You're playing a spruce-topped f-hole guitar loudly in a small space, a classic recipe for feedback regardless of pickup design.

If you want more crunch and grind from the bridge pickup I can see that, but you'll be hard-pressed to find a better pickup for the Newport's neck position than the Phat Cat.

Any idea why the RGs BBQ & Texas sound so good in a 3 hole duotone, but wouldn't be a fit with the Newport?

No, don't get me wrong. I love the Rio Texas/BBQ combo and they probably sound great in a Newport. I've heard them in Pesocaster's custom SuperPro with f-holes and they're fantastic, though that's a maple top. It's just that the poster mentioned before that he "loves the guitar" (Newport), but has a feedback problem and thought that swapping to humbuckers would fix it. I'd hate to see him go to the trouble and expense if it fixed nothing.

But I'm just one opinion and I really wish some people with high volume experience with the Newport and with Rio installations would weigh in here.

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Any idea why the RGs BBQ & Texas sound so good in a 3 hole duotone, but wouldn't be a fit with the Newport? Not being a smart ass, just want to know.

The Duotone is basically an all-mahogany guitar with about a 1/8" spruce cap on it; most of the chambering is off to the side/butt end and not in the vicinity of the pickups (so it's really more a "missing chunk of mahogany with a little spruce on top" - not built like an acoustic guitar. The Duotone is more like an Artist IMHO (mostly solid, with a little chambering for weight/tone). I used to own a Newport, and my impression was that it was much more of a hollowbody than a solidbody tonewise. Can't remember if the Newport spruce top was floating (with bracing)or glued to a center block like other semi-solids. I don't know how well Rios would work mounted to a suspended spruce archtop. One other thing to consider is that the Duotone's acoustic style bridge cuts down on some of the treble of a TOM (I like the Rios in my Duotone, but they're not quite to my liking in my Special FM with the maple top and TOM. just haven't bothered changing them out yet lol). The Duotones are pretty fat sounding to start with, and even a JB doesn't get too shrill in that model.

just my opinion, so wtf do I know lol.

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I will soon be having that experience...

Except I'm putting a MuyGrande humbucker at the bridge (and a Muy grande single in a 3-coil ring) and a half breed in the neck. Both of these are splittable. Th pickups are on order from Young Master Greg at BCR. I'll let you know how it turns out.

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Guest pirateflynn

IMO, you will get much more push out of the RIO's. You might need to keep an eye on the amount of gain because the Newport will compress quickly. After several years playing 3 different Newport Pros I really think that they sound best pushed right UP TO the point of compression, or under. So, in a nutshell I think that the RIO's should work fine with some quick EQ and gain adjustments. I also think the JB is right about the feedback being a volume, amp and guitar space relationship.

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For what it's worth I got a tip from someone here at the board regarding fixing feeback problems with the fat cats.

Take some foamy material. I took some of that white stuff that my new stereo amp came packed with. It is also often used when packing computer monitors etc. I sliced a 1.5-2 cm thick piece the size of about a humbucker frame and then stuck it neatly behind the bridge pickup. I fastened it around the pickup feet. I also stuck a smaller piece ni the neck pickup cavity. This has removed most of my feedback problems, without altering with the guitars original tone. A very easy remedy.

The fat cats are such great pups I would try this first, if feedback is your main problem.

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