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The Newport Appreciation Thread


Sam

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ANYONE own a KORINA Tortoise-Shell bound NEWPORT PRO?

I seen one in CT back in 03. It was a Special Order built for RT-ONE Guitars in Devon CT.

Unfortunatly I had just bought my TO Spruce Top NP a couple weeks earlier. But I did play the guitar. They are out here. The one I played had a 59/JB set of Duncans in it also.

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  • 1 month later...

Thats the basic one I'm thinking off. The one I seen back in "03" I believe it was. Was similiar only with a Stop-Tail and a 59/JB set.

I like that though.

Looks like a Hartford CT exchange too. I'm gonna call it.

As far as the price's? Not sure about NOW. But I could have bought a brand new NP same as the one above only with a Stop-Tail and a 59/JB set for $2000. back in 03. BTW I spoke to Dave..............Nice fellow and the guitars still available as of 12-29-09. Basically it is NEW. So he's at a decent price considering the time period and what not.

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  • 1 month later...

I was talking to Shawn Tubbs (guitarist for Carrie Underwood) about his gear. Along with the gold top

that many of us have seen, he's also got one of the Classictrons.

Check it out here on TGP:

CLICK

LordsoftheJungle has that wonderful Aztec quilt. Anybody know where any others ended up? Of the five of that I'm aware of, 654536 is the one I'd like to get my hands on:

654536-1copy.jpg

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Oh ya those don't come up often at all.

Ya know what I would do. Do the "watch list" on E-Bay for sure. Least you'll have that covered. Between here, there, and everyone else's travels one will more likely come up.

Very Cool Newport though. NPs are a must own in my Book. I find it difficult to believe anyone would play one, and not continue to use one at least somewhat.

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654536-1copy.jpg

Thanks Sam. That is beautiful.

Quick question. Do you know what is going on with the inside of the F hole by the controls? It almost looks like part of the inside is lacquered and part of it isn't. Any ideas? Optical illusion? Anybody?

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Do you know what is going on with the inside of the F hole by the controls? It almost looks like part of the inside is lacquered and part of it isn't. Any ideas? Optical illusion? Anybody?

It's a darker piece of Mahogany used for the back plate. :D

tron_detail3_lg.jpg

BTW, did you see this on Jol's facebook?

21972_274244791341_87755361341_3417249_4656547_n.jpg

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It's a darker piece of Mahogany used for the back plate. :D

tron_detail3_lg.jpg

BTW, did you see this on Jol's facebook?

21972_274244791341_87755361341_3417249_4656547_n.jpg

Thank you Sam. I wasn't even thinking about a back plate on a Newport.

I did see that on Jol's page. He identifies it as the first mock up. Actually, I'm pretty sure that one was number two. I think the top on that one has the undercarve, mine (as pictured earlier in the thread) does not as the program for the CNC was incomplete at the time. Jol's is fully fretted, mine is not- so that one is the first first fully functional prototype. I can't remember if the one Jol is holding was ever completed. Mine is staying just as it is- complete with Jol's handwritten notes on it. Someone offered me a lot of money for my prototype a few weeks ago because it had Jol's writing on it. I had to decline.

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It is quite likely that the notes/measurements you see here (the one I have).

DSCN0074.jpg

Were taken from here (the one Jol is holding on his Facebook page).

newportproto2.jpg

Another reason I believe mine is the first is the fact that I used scrap wood on it (notice the worm hole by the controls). The one Jol is holding is a little nicer quality wood- indicating to me the CNC program was probably tested. I would have risked the lowest quality wood first.

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Sam,

I'm not sure what happened to that second prototype. IIRC, the first one that was completed had a spruce top. It was finished in orange (I can't remember if that one had the silver sparkles in the finish). It did have the same control layout (3 knobs and a switch). The controls were moved around because of the Bigsby. I'm not sure why that particular Bigsby model didn't make it onto the production models. I know they tried a few different ones to see what mated the best with the carved top. It turns out none of them were a satisfactory match. That is why you have the aluminum shim under the Bigsby. Those shims were made in house in the tool room.

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Thanks for the info. The blog entry showing the metal work done for the B5 was very interesting (hope that the blog isn't taken down!)

6a00e54ee874da883301127946543e28a4.jpg

I gotta say that the B5 on my '07 is much more effective (smoother/responsive) than the one fitted to my former '04.

-

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Thanks for the info. The blog entry showing the metal work done for the B5 was very interesting (hope that the blog isn't taken down!)

6a00e54ee874da883301127946543e28a4.jpg

I gotta say that the B5 on my '07 is much more effective (smoother/responsive) than the one fitted to my former '04.

-

The blog entry is still there (and that is the first time I've seen it). Thank you. I didn't even know they were tweaking them in house like that. They have raised the bar considerably since I left 10 years ago. Those are the details that go unnoticed by 90% of the people that encounter Hamers.

Keep up the good work guys.

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newportproto2.jpg

Very interesting, Bob. I wonder what happened to the second proto - perhaps Jol knows.

Any idea why the B6 Bigsby didn't make it past the prototype stage?

As to the picture above, the B6 does not have the downholder bar like the B5 (see green arrow below). The other week I re-strung my Newport late in the evening and forgot about to lead the strings around the downholder bar. It was nearly impossible to play the guitar as the strings did not put enough tension on the bridge. The strings snared and slid off the bridge sometimes while playing.

...

Why are the tailpieces on non-Bigsby Newports so far back? They look out of place to me.

See the red arrows in the pic. Both tailpieces have about the same distance from the bridge. That would make both guitars evenly sound, behave and look I'd say.

Newport.jpg

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Oh ya...The Old Vari-Tone used as a 5-way pick-up selector. Now I see why.

I haven't used one in awhile but if you don't have them tightened down with Loc Tite or such. They could start to spin and become problematic.

Last time I used one was with a Blues Hawk I gutted rewired and added straight up P-90s to it.

Looks very Cool on that NP though. Thats a seriously nice take of the Newport.

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Does anybody know what is in these things that required the use of a back plate?

I have the back plate on mine as well.

newport-4.jpg

I don't have anything fancy in mine -- Seth Lovers and standard control config. The back plate does make it easier to access the inside for pickup & wiring installation...

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Do you know what is going on with the inside of the F hole by the controls? It almost looks like part of the inside is lacquered and part of it isn't. Any ideas? Optical illusion? Anybody?

It's a darker piece of Mahogany used for the back plate. :D

tron_detail3_lg.jpg

BTW, did you see this on Jol's facebook?

21972_274244791341_87755361341_3417249_4656547_n.jpg

My information indicates that the raw newport in the photos is a "case plug" not a prototype. Prototypes are stamped as such on the back of the headstock. A case plug just calls out the dimensions for the case manufacturer (see the TKL case tag on the guitar in the mirrorimij post). The newport was the first of the larger bodided Hamers and needed a new case size. This plug would have been made from unusable parts and sent to TKL for that. Still a great pice of Hamer/Dantzig lore.

tron_detail3_lg.jpg

Does anybody know what is in these things that required the use of a back plate?

As per Jol:

"the switch and everthing else normally goes through the bridge pickup hole just fine—the guitar is fully hollow there. The classictron guitars have a solid block through the center which forces the use of a back-door for the electronics."

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My information indicates that the raw newport in the photos is a "case plug" not a prototype. Prototypes are stamped as such on the back of the headstock. A case plug just calls out the dimensions for the case manufacturer (see the TKL case tag on the guitar in the mirrorimij post). The newport was the first of the larger bodided Hamers and needed a new case size. This plug would have been made from unusable parts and sent to TKL for that. Still a great pice of Hamer/Dantzig lore.

As per Jol:

"the switch and everthing else normally goes through the bridge pickup hole just fine—the guitar is fully hollow there. The classictron guitars have a solid block through the center which forces the use of a back-door for the electronics."

Thanks for the info on the Classictron. Didn't know about the block.

The Newport in my photos is the case plug AND a prototype (most likely #1 for the reasons I gave above). I was heavily involved in the Newport project and the prototype shown was given to me by Jol. If anyone has access to the one on Jol's FB page, run your finger along the inside of the F hole. If its carved, its #2.

I never saw a Hamer USA with the words prototype on the back of the headstock (but that doesn't mean they don't exist- but it wasn't common practice between 1991 and 2000). I own several prototypes I got from Bill Kaman and none say prototype on the back. They do have special serial numbers though (and features that never made it onto the production models.

Prototype Daytona and T51 headstocks...

DSCN0011.jpg

DSCN0014.jpg

No prototype stamp to be found. And in case there is any doubt about their provenance.

DSCN0321.jpg

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So the rear contol cavity plate is a prototype? Makes perfect sense.

So how many of the Gretsch style NPs were built?

What would you say is a safe bet.............5-10?

First off were they an order to a Hamer dealer that was cancelled, or is it just a electric that was prototyped in Hartford with a couple built that wasn't really produced in any numbers? Seems like that guitar would have been popular. But its so hard to call it with Hamer.

BTW I never seen one till I seen the first one in this thread and now the second one in this thread? Is it a later 07-08 design?

I wouldn't sell it either and would leave it just as it is. You know its only gonna go up. Nice piece of History without a doubt.

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