Hamer Newport, what is it good for?

[Harkonnen]

Hi all,

Please allow me to introduce myself. I have been playing guitar on and off for the last 20 years.

I have a modified MIM Strat that has been with me for the better part of my life, I have a Guild

acoustic, and I even built myself a 10 pounder, Les Paul style monster. All of these guitars I love,

but I feel the time has come to find a new member for our family.

Initially I was looking for a versatile solid body guitar, something like a PRS Custom 24. However,

I live in a small European city and there are no stock ones that I can try. So I just started shopping

around checking the goods. Now, I am not (yet?) a Hamer fan but at the very least I can say I have

a very intense crush. I have come across a Newport which feels and sounds absolutely fantastic.

I was just going through some of the guitars on the shop and this particular one felt right in my hands to

play. However, I have no experience with semihollow or hollow bodies and since the Newport has

a quite large internal chamber I am afraid that it may give me trouble in the long term, such as

feedback issues when playing hard stuff. I play a large variety of styles, from jazz to blues to hard rock

to saturated lead stuff (think Satriani), and I would like this guitar to be capable of reasonably handling

all of them. I would probably retain the neck pickup while changing the bridge P90 for a humbucker.

So, dear Hamer Fans, this is where I currently stand. I would love to hear your thoughts on the issue:

What can or can't a Newport do? how far can it be pushed in terms of distortion before it has feedback

issues? How well does it adapt to a bridge pickup change? Should I go ahead or just buy a different guitar?

Whatever you have to say, I will be grateful to hear. Thanks in advance and sorry for the long first post!

[gorch]

Long story short. It covers all your needs and, personally, I would not swap the pups anyhow.

And...welcome to the boards. You are just right asking your questions.

[hamerhead]

Welcome!

The Newport was the biggest surprise of any Hamer I'd bought. Very versatile. The Phat Cats are perfect. It may howl at the extremes, but it'll most definitely handle everything else

..... I have come across a Newport which feels and sounds absolutely fantastic........

That right there says 'buy it'. You'll love it. And if it doesn't work out, flipping it will be pretty easy.

[veatch]

^^^

This, on all points.

The Newport covers a lot of ground, but under high gain and/or high volume, feedback (or the control of it) can be challenging. Personally, that's one of the things i love about semi-hollows and hollows - the ability to lean back and make it howl.

It sounds like given the guitars you have and given the broad styles that you play, the Newport will be a good addition. No guitar is "all things to all music", but the Newport is *very* versatile. Would it be my first choice for playing Satriani on? Likely not, but jazz, blues, classic rawk, etc - certainly.

FWIW - I change pups on almost all of my guitars, and a bucker/P90 combo is one of my favorites. But, opinions vary - if it sounds good, it is good, so trust your ears.

Bottom line, if you like the guitar and can afford it, get it. As said above, it won't be hard to sell - do a little research and make sure you are paying a fair price in case you do decide to flip it..

Oh - and welcome to the forum!

[django49]

Assuming the price is reasonable, I doubt you will regret it. Newports are ALL good. I have one with pickups upgraded to the hotter side of "PAFs" and that does make it a bit more susceptible to feedback when played with more volume and gain. But in a good way (IMO).....It is very controllable and really makes that guitar feel alive. Much less of an issue than such as a vintage Gibson ES-330, for example.

As above, I would spend some time with it before swapping out the pickups. The Phat Cats are special! They may be the perfect addition to the things you already have.

[gorch]

Here's a German speaking gallery of mine. And a recording of the same on Soundcloud covering any of the 5 switching modes of mine.

http://www.guitarmaniacs.de/cgi-bin/gallery.pl?action=gallery&id=2134&E-Gitarre%20(6-saitig)_Hamer_Newport

https://soundcloud.com/gorch_de/rock-on-newport

The Phat Cats are wax potted. So, they will allow a lot of gain before resonating. The pickups are fairly hot. Many people turn the volume down significantly to play cleaner stuff.

The Newport is pretty much sought after here on the boards.

[anotherfreak]

DO it!

if you are doubtful, find a used one, Stock pickups are fantastic, before you swap anything out, do some height adjustments. It is amazing the amount of change you can dial in with the height of the pickups.

The Newport is STILL my favorite Hamer design across all of it's formats, but I am a bigger fan of the spruce tops fro sound and response

[geowolves]

First off I am not an expert by any means just a satisfied owner of a Newport. There are quite a few experts here on this board. A few items from your post say it all. It felt right in your hand's and feels and sounds absolutely fantastic. That should be enough to go for it.

The phat cats sound phenomenal and were designed for the Newport. You definitely want to give them a chance they can go from super clean to gritty as well as any pickup out there. I have not had any tuning issues with the bigsy if that is the model you are looking at. The Newport is a guitar I hope to never let go of. As you wrote in you post your not (yet?) a Hamer fan. Buy the Newport and that will change along with the warning of becoming a Hamer addict not just a fan!

[cmatthes]

Geowolves pretty much said what I was going to say, so +1!!

[tbonesullivan]

The on I have happens to have either had the stock pickups switched out unfortunately, but it's a great guitar even without being PLUGGED IN. It sounds alive. It feels great. It LOOKS great.

I can play just about everything on it, and it is SO LIGHT. Love it!

[Harkonnen]

Thanks all for the warm welcome and the fantastic feedback! Thanks gorch for the soundcloud link! Certainly helps. The guitar I'm looking at is also a natural vintage model. The design of the guitar didn't impress me at first glance, but it is slowly growing on me. The electronics mod you have done to it is certainly something I will do in the long term if I finally get it.

To contextualize some of the ideas in the thread: the guitar is new, it has been gathering dust for years in the back room of a shop but has had no previous owners. I am not sure of when it was built, but the tuners are Schaller (I understand that the first Newports shipped with Grovers). Regarding pricing, I have found used ones online for less money, but not at all close to me. If I wanted to sell it I don't think I would be able to get the money back: for some reason used Hamers seem to be quite cheap nowadays compared to new ones, and Hamer guitars seem to be more valued in the US than back in the old world.

So, if I get the guitar I have to be reasonably sure that I will keep it. Your comments certainly encourage me not only to buy itr, but also to leave the bridge P90 on for a while and fiddle with height a bit like anotherfreak suggested. My initial impression of the bridge sound was not that good, but then again I don't like playing too loud in a guitar store. I can always give it a try at home. I'll let you know what I decide, but just the quality and warmness of your replies make me hope to be part of this community in the long term. Keep them coming!

[geowolves]

Thanks all for the warm welcome and the fantastic feedback! Thanks gorch for the soundcloud link! Certainly helps. The guitar I'm looking at is also a natural vintage model. The design of the guitar didn't impress me at first glance, but it is slowly growing on me. The electronics mod you have done to it is certainly something I will do in the long term if I finally get it.

To contextualize some of the ideas in the thread: the guitar is new, it has been gathering dust for years in the back room of a shop but has had no previous owners. I am not sure of when it was built, but the tuners are Schaller (I understand that the first Newports shipped with Grovers). Regarding pricing, I have found used ones online for less money, but not at all close to me. If I wanted to sell it I don't think I would be able to get the money back: for some reason used Hamers seem to be quite cheap nowadays compared to new ones, and Hamer guitars seem to be more valued in the US than back in the old world.

So, if I get the guitar I have to be reasonably sure that I will keep it. Your comments certainly encourage me not only to buy itr, but also to leave the bridge P90 on for a while and fiddle with height a bit like anotherfreak suggested. My initial impression of the bridge sound was not that good, but then again I don't like playing too loud in a guitar store. I can always give it a try at home. I'll let you know what I decide, but just the quality and warmness of your replies make me hope to be part of this community in the long term. Keep them coming!

If you are worried about buying new and losing money if you sell it then look into a used Newport. I bought all three of my USA Hamers without playing them. I did start off with a few imported Hamer guitars and that led me to buying the USA models I now own. Still own all three USA Hamers and the imports plus a few more imports besides the first two. The USA models are so well made and now that you tried the Newport and liked it you have options. Buy new and the value will drop but if you keep it who cares. Buying used as long as you see pictures and it wasn't owned by an as#hole you should be fine. Hamers are undervalued here in the USA but not the fault of the builders. They are a hand crafted instrument that will provide years of joy. I bought my Newport after reading all the great comments about it there on the HFC even though I never held one in my hands. Good Luck with your decision if you can afford the new one go for it if not you have options. Welcome to the HFC.

[Feynman]

Newports, as they say, are 'magical.' I think a good Newport can do almost anything, but if you start layering on the gain I find that the spruce top models can get a little mushy in the bass. This is more than compensated for by the wonderful mids and trebles though.

When you want your hardest rock, just grab another guitar. For everything else, a Newport may change how you think about electric guitar responsiveness.

[Ted]

Welcome to the Forums too!

[gorch]

Go and try it in the shop. You will buy and keep it anyway.

[DBraz]

I love my Newport Pro Custom. It sounds absolutely wonderful with mild/mid gain and the volume set at about 8. Very playable guitars as many have already alluded to.

[belgian]

No good for anything - where's the link to the sale ?

[gorch]

No good for anything - where's the link to the sale ?

Words from the most significant Newport collector.

[Teh]

My Newport custom is currently the only Hamer in my herd. It's also the only electric in the herd that I've never once considered selling.

Visual and tonal perfection. 'Nuff said...

[bcsride]

absolutely nothin, say it again.

Really - two pages into the thread and I'm the first jerk to post that?

[gorch]

Harkonnen, you don't forget to post pics, will ya?

[Harkonnen]

Indeed bcsride, that took an unexpectedly long time.

Don't worry gorch, I will. I'm just making up my mind, will try to bring my amp head to the store this weekend to hear it through a known rig, and I predict I will just buy it on the spot. Let's see what happens.

[Jib]

Newports are evil. My korina was a gateway drug and now I have two Hamers and am itching for four more. Save yourself before its too late and point out any newports to me. Lol

[Harkonnen]

Newports are evil. My korina was a gateway drug and now I have two Hamers and am itching for four more. Save yourself before its too late and point out any newports to me. Lol

Too late for me... I've been bitten. Pics coming next week.

[geowolves]

Newports are evil. My korina was a gateway drug and now I have two Hamers and am itching for four more. Save yourself before its too late and point out any newports to me. Lol

Too late for me... I've been bitten. Pics coming next week.

Congrats, Looking forward to the pictures. Beware of the Hamer acquisition addiction. It's not the worse thing that could happen to you.

[gorch]

It's an unwritten law put down somewhere in the depths of the forums. "Hide your purse".