Fender Newporter Special - Mahogany 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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