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Thinking of maybe expanding my Hamer collection...but which direction?


draelyc

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Newport. Everybody needs a good everyone-loves-me guitar in the pile.

 

Personally, anything with a Sustain Block is the only way to go.

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6 hours ago, JohnnyB said:

In case there's any misunderstanding, I was merely bird-dogging that Newport. The finish on that one is like new. However, I'm not a fan of swapping out Phat Cats for production line Duncans, and finding a replacement truss rod cover could be a bitch.

Maybe I'm spoiled. I bought my Newport when it was hot out of the factory, with handwound Phat Cats from Seymour Duncans Custom Shop, which were designed by Seymour Duncan himself, specifically for the Newport.

I've also had a 25th Anniversary Artist since 1999. It's a simple yet attractive platform, and for two pickups and a 3-say switch it has a wide range of available tones. It makes for a really nice-sounding jazz box without all the bulk and fragility. And when you crank it up for distortion, you can get all the compression, sustain, and wailing you could ask for, and yet--thanks to the semi-hollow all-mahogany construction, it retains a sweet, melodic tone throughout. 

Here's one for $999. I'm not selling, just passing along the listing at Reverb.com.

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Just picked up a 25th Anniversary like Johnny's above. Man I can't describe how good it feels iny hands and it sounds great. I also have a Vanguard Mahogany with Fralin P-90' also a deep red transparent finish, so it's like having twins but each has their own thing going on. I can't say enough about the Phat Cats in my Newport, I love them some people are not fans but to each his own. 

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46 minutes ago, geowolves said:

 I can't say enough about the Phat Cats in my Newport, I love them some people are not fans but to each his own. 

I'm inclined  to think that Phat Cat/Newports are rather dependent on a good amplifier match. A couple months after I got my Newport, I stopped in at a pawn shop. There, in near excellent condition was a Mesa/Boogie DC-10 packing 2 channels, 100 tube watts, and two cast frame 12" speakers. I checked the price tag--$299!

I plugged a guitar in and ensured that everything worked. Paid the money and took off with it. Then I stopped in at a vintage store where they checked it against Blue Book, which was somewhere around $1,000. SCORE!

I took it home, still with low expectations because my main amp was a handwired PTP Top Hat Club Deluxe.

It turns out that Newport/Mesa combo was sheer magic. I played the hell out of that combo for the next several months. My Top Hat sounds fantastic with my Anniversary (mahogany artist), but wouldn't sing with the Newport. The Newport also sang wonderfully with a Gibson Goldtone 2x12, basically a reworked Trace-Elliott.

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