Fender Newporter Special Review

Well made instrument

This guitar's size makes it a nice fit. It has great tone and nice playability. I applied the bonus bucks offered to an Acousticore 30 Amp. The two together sound great. Thanks Sweetwater!

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Excellent for the price point!

This guitar is beautiful and instantly comfortable. Sounds great plugged in too. It is unbelievable for the price point. The single cutaway gives excellent access to the highest frets. This was a must for me. The neck is very comfortable (and I'm super picky!).

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Really a incredible Value

I purchased my Newporter Mahogany from Collin Blue at Sweetwater. I had 4 to choose from which you never see anywhere else. Mine is so highly figure it is hard to believe it is a solid plank of mahogany. I just started Busking on Ocean in Ft Lauderdale and didn't want to risk bringing my Martin D41. Well I received the package and pulled out the guitar and played it. It sounded… read more great but unusually bright for a Mahogany guitar. So I put it through my guitar BootCamp LOL. Changed strings, Applied Dunlop Strap Locks. Cleaned up nut with sandpaper and applied graphite. Took out bridge and shaved it down a few Millimeters. Now I place it on top of my Sub Woofer and play Meditation Music with multiple frequencies. 200hz-999 hz. For about 2 weeks. Bring it outside in 90 degree humidity and back inside to AC multiple times.This may shock some of you, but it will be playing many gigs outside in sunny warm weather. Meanwhile playing it in between it's meditation sessions.LOL. It now sounds like a different guitar. So full and clear. No fret buzz. I really haven't stopped playing it. Which everyone says but in this case it is true. I am leading my relatively new Duo act thru a 30-40 song set lists. This requires me to practice 1-2 hours a day in preparation. I play thru 2 Bose S1 Pros and use a Behringer 1002B battery powered mixer(Purchased at Sweetwater). The guitar is routed into a BoxKing battery powered pedalboard(18,12,multiple 9 volt high milliamp outputs) with TC Helicon Play Acoustic and a EHX Mel 9, Oceans 11 Reverb and Carbon Copy delay. This required me using a step down transformer. ( What a pain,but it is necessary, What a fantastic setup. The electronics sound fantastic. I need to use a sound hole plug to stop feedback. But really NO feedback. Which to me is a major benefit. So I am totally happy. Here is my Pro's and Con's list. Pro's: Fantastic price on all wood guitar Case is absolutely fantastic. Hard shell soft case. Light and protective. Electronics are superb Neck is very conformable Size is perfect a little larger than OM model. Con's: Tuning pegs make locking the string down difficult (Open top). This makes initial tuning slip a lot. It stopped slipping after I locked the string down. No Sunburst options for color. The natural is nice but I like another option Maybe colored sun bursts). They D/C'd the Red and Blue option in the Classic models. All in all this guitar is simply fantastic and the sales team (Collin Blue) was so helpful.

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Fender Newporter

Beautiful instrument. The mahogany matte finish is excellent. Took it to my guitar tech for a pro setup and he loved it. Fantastic full rounded sparkling sound.

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Just get one already!

It seems there is a shortage of reviews for this guitar. I'd find it hard to believe they aren't selling so I'm lead to think that the people who bought them are too busy playing them to share a review. This guitar is incredible. I know that over the years Fender hasn't been the first brand that people think of for a nice acoustic. I hope this changes if they keep making guitars… read more like this. So why is it nice? The look is amazing. I've always liked guitars that "stand out" from the normal. So when you see an acoustic guitar with a "Viking" bridge and Stratocaster headstock you take notice. Granted this wasn't my first fender or even fender newporter. I've also owned a player series model in champagne but the color never grew on me. Those are nice too for the price. But I was wanting an all solid mahogany guitar and this one fit the bill. The set up is great. The fit and finish are great. The tone... Is... WOW! Every thing you'd want a solid Hog guitar to be. Lot's of mids. There is tons of resonance. This is a very open sounding guitar with smooth highs and robust mids. A tad bit quieter than my spruce top guitar but not much. The unique tone is really something. I have yet to use the electronics but based on the demos of the matte black models I've heard online they sound very natural for an under saddle pickup. it's really impressive how the preamp in mounted underneath the side and only the controls show. A much cleaner look than a whole unit sized hole having to be cut out of the wood. The gig bag is really sturdy. It's sort a gig bag and hard case hybrid. Somewhere in between in terms of support. Knowing it ships in that should ease any fears in ordering one.

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Great sounding Newport Special 6 string

This is my first Guitar, it's been fifty years since I picked one up Since I retired I decided to learn how to play. I did a lot of research with friends and family and decided on the Newport, medium sized fits great. Everyone at Sweetwater has been great. Sincerely, Jim

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Nice guitar

Decided to get back into guitar playing. This model caught my eye so I decided to grab it. I've had it for a week now and it's been a blast to play. Came tuned and ready to play right out of the box. My finger tips are killing me right now....lol Can't put it down. I bought the junior 100 watt acoustic amp to go along with it and that is working out great. Great mid / entry… read more level guitar that sounds and looks incredible. My rep Austin Zachrich is a great guy to deal with!

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Hits a sweet spot

I have high end Taylors and Martins. Plus a couple other in this price range (GS Mini, Ibanez solid mahogany parlor). I love every one. This one fits very well along with those and I love it, too. I played a Newporter Player, and liked it a lot, but I'm a solid wood snob, so I ordered this one without playing one. I was very impressed with the sound quality once I got it. I am… read more very happy with it. It came perfectly set up with a very familiar Fender electric neck. I often have to get the nut files and sandpaper out, but not with this one. The build and paint job seemed to be perfect. Compared to my other acoustics, this one has a very smooth sound. You might call it midrangy or compressed. Exact opposite of jangly. Very clean sound. Smooth, pure notes, no matter where you hit the string. More like a solid mahogany acoustic. I like the sound a lot. Nothing like the Taylors or Martins. I think it"s exactly what Fender went for. The YouTube videos show this pretty well. Volume string to string is even. Acoustically, it's clean, smooth, well behaved, comfortable, and sounds great. Amplified it sounds terrific. I think amplified, it may have an advantage over my other acoustics. The sound is cleaner. It also takes punch. Nothing bad happens when you hit the strings hard. You just get those pure notes. I really like this guitar a lot. It"s like nothing else I have. Very versatile, looks like the whole thing will be pretty rugged. Part of why I bought it is the whole marketing hype ( Calif surf dude guitar), part of it is Dick Dale plays one (or maybe the Classic version), part of it is it"s Newport, as in Newport Beach, not the Malibu or Redondo models, which I didn"t like. I live near Newport Beach and am a old surf dude. Plus, the neck is very familiar ( I also have Strats and Teles). One thing I would improve on, which is the only reason I gave it a 4: the edges of the frets. I prefer the angle of the cut to be more straight up, not as sloped. And I prefer frets to go right to the edge of the fretboard. Warmoth is the gold standard on this. The fret ends on this guitar are on the other end of that spectrum. After I saw Taylor put string spacings of a 1 3/4" neck on a 1 11/16" neck (my T5), I've emulated that on a bunch of my guitars. On this one, the sloped shoulders on the fret ends won't allow that. But no issue if you don't plan to monkey with the nut.

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Amazing Acoustic Guitar

As an electric guitar player, I learned to be comfortable with a the slimmer profile necks. I have tried acoustic guitars over the years, but could never get comfortable with the wider profile necks. I"ve tried a Fender Stratacoustic Deluxe & wasn"t impressed. Still, I wanted an electric/acoustic sound after seeing utube video demos of Fender"s crew California Series Newporter Guitar.… read more I"ve purchased 7+ items (guitars, amplifiers, effects processors) now from Sweetwater, & I knew my sales rep, Derek Senestraro would be able to help me make an informed choice. As always in the past, he was able to help me with comparisons of similar items as he already knew my preferences. I settled on the Newporter Special model which is in between the Standard & the Classic. I asked that they change out the nut & set it up for 10 gauge strings (comes with 12"s). I received my shipment the very next day & couldn"t be more pleased. The setup is perfect & this instrument is very well made & comfortable to play. I get a very rich acoustic sound plus any effects my processor can produce. Buying anything off the internet can be iffy especially since an item like a Guitar is very personal. Sweetheart technical & customer support staff are always knowledgeable & professional & I can count on them to help me make the best choice for my playing style. They make certain I"m satisfied with follow up, & if I"m not, they take it back!

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