Brian Scherzer Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 I admit to liking Hamer after buying that used Archtop Custom, and want to expand a bit. The Newport appears to be a nice hollowbody that can (perhaps) do more than a 335 can due to its smaller body size. If the neck I have on the Custom is a medium, do the Newports tend to have a thicker neck by any chance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sw686blue Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 It's hard to fight the sickness. One Hamer is NEVER enough! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardheartedbill Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 I know where to find a sweet Newport Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pirateflynn Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 The necks on my Artist Custom and Newport Pro are very similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Scherzer Posted April 4, 2006 Author Share Posted April 4, 2006 Bill.............If I knew that playing guitar was going to stick with me, you wouldn't own that gorgeous Newport anymore! Right now, I need something that I wouldn't be afraid to play, and yolur Newport would make me spend all of my time staring at it instead of playing it!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArnieZ Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 Brian,The Newport came out as Hamer was moving towards a more "vintage" chunkier neck profile. My guess is that most of the Newports, unless they were ordered with the modern profile will be bigger than your mid 90's model.ArnieZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyB Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 The Newport appears to be a nice hollowbody that can (perhaps) do more than a 335 can due to its smaller body size. If the neck I have on the Custom is a medium, do the Newports tend to have a thicker neck by any chance?The Newport can definitely do more than an ES-335, but I'd say it's more owing to the spruce top, the selection of tonewoods, and (in the case of the Phat Cats, anyway), some really responsive handwound pickups. If you were to get a maple-topped Newport with humbuckers, you'd get more of that mid-rangey "pop" of a 335. But the spruce Newport has such incredible range, a more linear response, an extended treble that's easily controlled by the taper of the tone pot, and the tone has the air and wood in it normally associated with larger hollowbodies. Yet they aren't prone to the boomy feedback you're more likely to get in something like an ES-175.The neck on mine is perfect for me. The necks on my 1998 Phantom Custom and 1999 Anniversary are very similar and I love them all. It's large enough to fill the hand and minimize fatigue, but not so large as to draw attention to itself or get in the way while playing. The Newport can give you sooo much of that organic guitar sound that jazzers spend so much money to get in a jazz box, but the Newport is compact and comfortable to play with much better upper fretboard access. Beyond jazz, however, the Newport is about the ultimate blues axe for its dynamics and expressiveness, does great retro and classic rock, cops the '50s Gretsch vibe really well, and can do country, surf, rockabilly, and in a pinch can stand in for a Tele. There's a good reason it's such a go-to axe for sessionmeisters such as Lyle Workman and Matt Smith--you can tease just about any tone or style out of it.Bluesman Keb Mo' also plays a Newport--in korina. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
straightblues Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 The necks are roughly the same. The newport may be a little bigger but not much. They are very different guitars. You will enjoy them both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tk Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 I have two Newports - a 2000 and a 05. Both stock with Cats and Bigsby.The 2000 has a considerably chunkier neck than the 05. The 00's neck isthe fattest I have personally seen on any stock Hamer I have played. The 05'sneck is what I would assume is what Hamer calls its "vintage" neck.I love both of them. On paper they would be considered the sameguitar but they truly both have there own personality. I picked up the 05from Dave's in LaCrosse when they were here in Chicago last May at a guitar show.I went into the show with carte blanche from the wife to buy whateverHamer I wanted. Dave's had pretty much everything there. I tried all of theHamers they had there - all of the hollowbodies to the Triple Threat and ended upwith another stock Newport.I play mine mostly through my Boogie Subway Blues -20 watts 2 84's 5 knobs 10"combo- and for me the Newport is the ultimate tone machine. By just tweakingthe vol. and tone controls you can achieve an array of sounds. I personally like cleantones for Jazz and for Bob Dylan covers. For me the the phat cats, Bigsby and Spruce give the Newport its mojo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomteriffic Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 Brian, odds are that between, the 95'-96' Studio you got and a typical Newport, the Newport would probably have a bit fatter neck. A Maple top Newport can get pretty doggone loud without feedback problems. Can't vouch for the spruce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halide Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 oops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halide Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 the spruce topped ones can stand up to some stage volume too. especially if the unpotted seth's get the boot. i have fralin unbuckers in 2 newport pros and play at pretty decent stage volumes wth no problems. i would say the neck sizes on my newport pros are medium. not too big and not '60 skinny either. both are a little skinnier than my 25th anniversary if that helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Scherzer Posted April 4, 2006 Author Share Posted April 4, 2006 You guys are great in helping me out. I kind of want to apologize for all of the questions, but Hamers are new to me, so I have questions! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilroy is all about... Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 B.S. are you the gear-page guru, icon-type of dude and you're hanging with us hamerites ....wow! if true, then WE'VE ARRIVED. ... fair warning ...my first hamer post was in late of '04 and since then...well several 4-digits standardS; a few late 70's sunbursts, some late 80s californians, and soon....you all will see the BIG III. proceed with caution, yet enjoy the hamer sound and superior cost-benefit of a true custom shop outfit without marketing hype of fender/gibson, etc.. kilroy posts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Scherzer Posted April 5, 2006 Author Share Posted April 5, 2006 Kilroy..............I'm actually an anti-guru kind of guy! You guys "made it" wayyyy before I made my first post here, and I'm just here to learn, get advice, and have a place to talk about Hamers. If you think about it, it would be tough for me to post much about any brand on The Gear Page because of my position there. Even though I still run the Melancon Forum, I don't post much about Melancons on TGP because I feel that it would conflict with my attempts to be totally neutral. That makes posting here a lot "safer"! I'm going to try to be fairly PC about things in this post but, if you know the history, you'll understand what I'm saying. My biggest deficit, and one of the major reasons I am relying on folks here, is that I have never been a guitar player. As a bassist, I am totally lost with guitars, and my only guitar experiences have been with PRS because of my past role running the PRS Forum. For that reason, almost all of my comparisons have to be with PRS instruments. Although I am still fond of the McCarty, especially because I like the neck size, I feel that they (and Gibsons) are priced too high. As a result, when I started looking at guitars again, Scott pushed me to try out a Hamer. I owe Scott for that suggestion! So far, the necks are a bit smaller (depth, not width) than I prefer, but I found the quality and playability of the Hamers I have tried so far to be extremely good. I'm still surprised at the low resale value for used Hamers, but have to say that this is what is allowing me to pick up more than one guitar. In my opinion, Hamer is to set-neck guitars what Melancon is to bolt-on Fenderish guitars......incredible price to quality ratio. Hopefully, that explains why I'm here......plus the fact that I can just enjoy being a member and don't have to respond to complaints or do other admin/moderator duties. This forum appears very well run and I feel at home......no "guru" stuff from me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
straightblues Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 You guys are great in helping me out. I kind of want to apologize for all of the questions, but Hamers are new to me, so I have questions! Thanks! No need to appologize. I found Hamers about a year and a half ago. I now have 7. They are just the right guitar for me period. There is always a lot of good advice here. The Newport was my first real Hamer and it is still my favorite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elduave Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 In my opinion, Hamer is to set-neck guitars what Melancon is to bolt-on Fenderish guitars...... I love the fact that you said that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disturber Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 I have been wanting a Newport sinceI joined this board in 2000.Yesterday I finally got one. YES!It was made in 2000 and has a prettyfat neck. I think (hope) I can live with this neck, but It'snot ideal for me. The width on the newer Hamer necks area bit to wide for me. The old 79 Standardsand 4 digits have the best necks of anyHamer's I've tried so far.An old Standard or Sunburst seems tohave a width around 45mm, theNewport is about 47-48 mm. (measuredat 5th fret). A big difference in feel andplayability for me.But this Newport sounds like a million bucks.I can now hear (see) what JohnnyB has beenraving about all these years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirDaniel Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 is that the trans red one? If so, it was probably mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pirateflynn Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 I have been wanting a Newport sinceI joined this board in 2000.Yesterday I finally got one. YES!It was made in 2000 and has a prettyfat neck. I think (hope) I can live with this neck, but It'snot ideal for me. The width on the newer Hamer necks area bit to wide for me. The old 79 Standardsand 4 digits have the best necks of anyHamer's I've tried so far.An old Standard or Sunburst seems tohave a width around 45mm, theNewport is about 47-48 mm. (measuredat 5th fret). A big difference in feel andplayability for me.But this Newport sounds like a million bucks.I can now hear (see) what JohnnyB has beenraving about all these years. Very, very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belgian Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 is that the trans red one? If so, it was probably mine. This one was sold in Germany. Congrats, Disturber. You won't find a lot of these in Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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